DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by The Government News Network on 16 July 2008
Allied health
professionals (AHPs) will have the chance to achieve more in their
careers under a range of new measures and reforms announced today
by Health Minister Ann Keen.
As one of the key elements of Lord Darzi's NHS Next Stage
Review, Modernising Allied Health Professions Careers: A
Competence-Based Framework, sets out new web-based tools for AHPs
that will help them plan a more flexible career path.
This is a move towards a competence-based model for AHP careers
that focuses on the skills required for patient-centred services,
rather than the professions themselves. This will allow AHPs to
develop the skills they need to take on new and extended roles in
their profession.
Managers and teams can use the framework to describe the full
range of competences required to meet patient needs. By
identifying roles by competences rather than professional groups,
service planners and managers can consider new styles of provision
and role developments for AHPs.
Health Minister Ann Keen said:
"These tools provide a win-win situation - they are good for
patients but they are also good for AHPs. It has always been clear
to me how incredibly important AHPs are to health and social care.
They are key to health promotion whether advising on diet,
exercise or supporting children to communicate so they can access
education. They also have a key role in the housing, education and
social care sectors. They are truly invaluable to the health service."
Karen Middleton, Chief Allied Health Professional Officer, said:
"In England we have ambitious plans for improvements to the
health and well being of the population and this is nowhere more
evident than in the Darzi Next stage review of the NHS. The Allied
Health Professionals are critical to delivering the transformation
of health and social care we wish to see for the public, patients,
clients and their families."
Note to Editors:
1. You can find copies of Modernising Allied Health Professions
Careers: A Competence-Based Framework on the Department of Health
website: http://www.dh.gov.uk.
2. The tools are available on the Skills for Health website: http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/
3. There are 76,928 allied health professionals working in the
NHS across 14 disciplines that are often the first-contact
practitioner across the community and hospitals settings.