Allied Health Professional Support Workers join celebrate their value during virtual conference

CNWL’s Allied Health Professional Support Workers (AHP SWs) gathered for a virtual conference last week to celebrate the value they bring to the trust and to discuss how they see the role developing in the future.

The event – which was facilitated by our AHP SW Leads, Arron Miller, Caroline Toes and Pip Watson – featured a number of guest speakers who shared their thoughts on the importance of AHP SWs.

Tomas Ince, AHP Workforce Fellow at Health Education England, also joined the meeting to give an overview of the national campaign and to reinforce the fact that AHP SWs deserve to have consistent and occupation-specific career pathways.

His words were echoed by CNWL’s Director of Therapies, Ryan Kemp, who made it clear that each AHP has the power to chose their own path.

He said: “Even if you are unsure about what you want to do, come and work for us and we will support you throughout your career journey – whether you want to progress into a new role or not.”

Zoe Rymer, a Therapies Practitioner in Milton Keynes’ Community Learning Disability Therapy Team, told the inspirational story of Charlie.

Charlie, 21, is diagnosed with a number of complex neurodisabilities and is therefore a primary wheelchair user. But he wanted to walk.

With the help of Zoe and the team, Charlie was soon able to stand and walk using a Meywalker.

Charlie’s story highlights the vital work that AHP SWs do, often without receiving the credit they deserve.

Attendees then split into groups where they had the opportunity to have their say on how the project should move forward and express their interest in becoming an AHP SW Champion.

These are AHP SWs who represents the interests of their peers by providing feedback to management, organising events and acting as a general point of contact.

If you are interested in becoming a Champion or you would like more information, CNWL staff can visit the AHP SW Trustnet page.