The first ever AHPs day is scheduled for October 15th 2018.
An opportunity for those working within allied health professions to showcase, celebrate and allow others to recognise the contributions made by AHPs across all sectors.
But frankly what is an Allied Health Profession (AHP)?
I thought I’d take the opportunity to let you know about the varied and eclectic family of AHPs working in Dumfries and Galloway.
When I think about allied health professions it makes me think of an analogy I picked up when working in Vancouver. This visually described the multicultural society present in Canada as a “patchwork quilt”. Canadians aim to preserve their multicultural heritage by valuing the differences in being Chinese Canadian, Italian Canadian, British Canadian and so forth. They become Canadian but keep their root heritage alive, contributing to a rich cultural diversity.
So when it comes to the term allied health professional this is a bit like becoming Canadian. We keep our individual professional identity while gaining from joining the allied health professions family. Across Scotland the number of AHPs employed is comparable to the number of doctors and dentists. There are 14 professions included in the AHP family, which makes it the 3rd largest workforce group within the NHS.
The potential contribution therefore to health and well being is significant, albeit varied.
As with the visual patchwork analogy the variety of skills and approaches available within the AHP family would suggest they are key players in creating a Healthier Scotland; where care can be delivered closer to home and people live longer and healthier lives. The Scottish government AHP policy document, “Active and Independent Living Program”,aims to focus the contribution AHPs can make, working with other professions and partners across agencies, to designing and delivering better health, better care and better value for people and communities.
Locally in D&G we have 8 of the 14 allied health professions currently employed in various settings across health and social care. In alphabetical order these include:
The AHP team in Galloway celebrating 70 years of the NHS
How to become an AHP in D&G
We have both registered and unregistered jobs available within each of these professions locally.
The registered posts require people to study at university to either degree or masters level. Courses are available at various universities across Scotland. Information on where the courses are for each of the professions can be found using the following link I want to be an AHP
There are also very diverse support worker (unregistered) roles across the 8 professions. These posts require standard grade qualifications and usually provide ‘on-the-job’ training with access to further SVQ training as appropriate.
If you or someone you know might be interested in finding out more about allied health professional careers go to the following website link NHS Careers Scotland- AHPs
This site will also allow you to find out about current vacancies and job opportunities within the 8 professions across the region.
Meanwhile the AHP Therapies department staff (Speech & language therapy, Physiotherapy, Dietetic, Occupational therapy) and I would like to wish all allied health professionals in D&G and across the UK a happy first #AHPsDay, #AHPsDayScot.
Wendy Chambers is an AHP Practice Education Lead and Occupational Therapist at NHS Dumfries and Galloway
We invite you to reflect on your own “way with words” and use the poster to explore what you tend to say and what you could say to explore how changing our words can help inspire, motivate and bring about positive provocations.
The seven C’s of Caring Conversations
Communication is key; how often do we hear this? The Senses framework is a useful tool to enhance communication and good relationships whether it is personally or professionally.
During my Aspire to lead journey, I used image cards at the beginning and end of a Dafne Pump week long course to capture expectations and experiences of the course. These sessions were always part of the course curriculum and delivered using verbal only methods. I changed this session by inviting participants and facilitators to choose an image that described how they felt about starting the course and how they felt after completion. It is worth noting that people are invited to only share what they feel comfortable with. The sharing generated was much more detailed and allowed emotional connection within the group. All of which influenced discussions and interactions throughout the week and at follow up appointments.
Since ASPIRE, I have been able to use appreciative language to be courageous about how I feel in the moment. I have been able to communicate my goals in my career, and my needs as a person at home in a clearer way. I am now in a Trainee Improvement Advisor, undertaking the Scottish Improvement Leaders (ScIL) course. ASPIRE gave me the tools to compromise and collaborate with people in situations I previously would not have had the self confidence to try.
Aspire to lead has provided me with many valuable tools that I use daily in my professional and personal life. Using these skills I have been able to be more courageous. I have recently started a secondment with the patient safety and improvement team out with my clinical speciality. During this time I have been involved in several improvement projects all of which I have continued to notch up my skills from Aspire by working collaboratively with others and also celebrating achievements. Probably the biggest challenge for me which I am still working on from the 7 C’s is sharing with people ‘how did that make me feel’, rather than what I think about the situation
Since Aspire I have become more conscious of my language and using the different Aspire tools have made a significant difference both in my personal and professional life. It has enabled me to be more courageous and become the STL for Ophthalmology. It has helped me to connect emotionally to team members and consider other perspectives while agreeing on different working arrangements. Following Aspire I have also completed the SIS Course at QI Hub and designed and led a major Service Development Project. Using appreciative inquiry has helped me to collaborate with all the major stakeholders. Using the 7 C’s of Caring Conversations has also helped me to enable the team to work together harmoniously towards achieving the aim of the project, which is ultimately to make our patients happier by seeing them closer to their home address in the West of D&G. Finally I got accepted unto and started in September 2018 Cohort 11 of the Scottish Quality and Safety Fellowship! I am excited about this amazing opportunity and I am curious about the work of other fellows. I feel the next step for me is to encourage the team(s) I am working with to celebrate more our successes and achievements!
We have recently welcomed many new trainee doctors to our beloved Dumfries and Galloway. The first week in August always brings back memories of my own first job..known then as “house job”, when change-over day was 1st of August, whatever day of the week that may be. In 1982 that was a Sunday. I arrived eagerly to Heathfield Hospital, Ayr on the Saturday, expecting to be able to find my way around and meet the staff prior to fully starting on the Monday (no induction or shadowing), having been informed that the “local boy” who knew the hospital would cover Sunday. However a last minute change of plan and alarming phone call informed me that I was to start on Sunday morning, be on call for medicine and was the CCU team with 2nd on call at home a few miles away. Thankfully a Registrar who stayed in residencies helped on his day off and I will never forget his kindness to reduce my terror.
Shadowing and induction programmes have improved the starting process hugely but do we do enough to welcome our new colleagues and do we all always remember how scarey this process is? Many of us have worked here for many years and it is easy to take for granted our familiarity with the place, people, who to ask, geography, processes but for our trainees everything and everyone is new.
All sorts of issues are covered and many resolved; issues that are causing stress or reducing enjoyment of the job and many good ideas for improvement are implemented. We are all busy but half an hour per week that can make such a difference must be worth while!
Second is a scavenger hunt, the brainwave of Dr Dutton. We live in a stunning, fascinating area yet we weren’t convinced that our trainees always got to explore and realise the beauty of the region. Our game enthusiastic trainees have gone out exploring following clues to places of interest. Selfies are required to confirm that they have successfully solved the clue.
Of course this applies to all trainees and new starters, not just medical staff. The focus on trainee doctors is simply because August sees the biggest change in staff in the whole year, but whenever someone new joins us, we should welcome them, put ourselves in their shoes, be inclusive, be creative, and be kind!
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