North West winners of national AHP support worker awards

Allied Health Profession Support Workers are integral to the workforce as they are able to give more time, build rapport and provide valuable person-centred care. The celebration event had over 460 award nominations, 56 shortlisted and nine winners. The north west winners were recognised for their outstanding contribution to person centred care, demonstrating respect, kindness and compassion. Christine Guilford and Margaret ‘Mags’ Clarke won the Supporting our people award at the national AHP Support Worker Awards held in December 2022. 

They are both advocates for prompting health and wellbeing and undertaking collaborative work with wider health and social care systems. 

Winner of the Supporting our people award, Christine Guildford

Christine is a therapy assistant with the Macmillan Cancer Rehabilitation Team working alongside physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and dietitians. She fell into the role after volunteering for riding for the disabled and working in learning disability day services within social care as an occupational therapist assistant. Christine now supports service users through diagnosis, treatment, mobility rehabilitation, return to work, anxiety, fatigue, health and wellbeing and end of life care. 

Christine was the winner of the supporting our people award for exemplary work with a service user who was extremely anxious and difficult to engage. Through a trusted therapeutic relationship Christine advocated for this service user to ensure their medical concerns were followed through, and as a result a further cancer disease progression was found early. Christine is well known by her team as always going above and beyond to ensure that service users receive the best care possible. 

Christine said “supporting people is the most rewarding aspect of being a support worker, being a small part of the service user's journey, spending time with service users to gain their trust and become a voice for them if needed.”

Runner up for the Supporting our people award, Margaret Clarke

Mags currently works as a Rehabilitation Assistant with the Central Manchester Falls Prevention Team, working with nurses and physiotherapists. She supports a case load of 20-30 service users, delivery tailored Otago home exercises programmes for people in the Manchester area.  Mags got into AHP support work after working in a learning disability and specialist epileptic centre, which she says was always very challenging. 

Mags was nominated for her person-centred approach to supporting a service user with addiction issues. She is flexible and creative in finding alternative ways of engaging service users and is known for having consistent positive outcomes for ‘hard to engage’ service users.  This person-centred approach is why Mags was recognised by her contribution to the profession. 

Mags stated the “key element to AHP support workforce is they time and rapport we are able to build with service users, without it we would not get the individual outcomes that we do”

Both Christine and Mags were shocked to find that the had been nominated for an award, they felt appreciated and Mags said “it is a privilege to do something that I love.” 

Health Education England and all colleagues in the north west would like to congratulate Christine and Mags on their achievements and their contribution to the Allied Health Profession.