Spotlight on development opportunities for Allied Health Professionals

A new online career resource which highlights the wide range of development opportunities that are open to the country’s Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) is being launched by Health Education England (HEE) today.

The resource covers eight potential areas for career development, providing a wealth of information to raise awareness of the many available options which AHPs can pursue, whilst keeping their day to day clinical role if they choose.

AHPs will also be able to hear about the experiences of other AHPs from across the 14 disciplines who have progressed their careers.

Career development opportunities covered in the resource include:

• exploring new routes to advanced clinical practice and consultant roles;
   
• developing teaching interests by becoming a practice-based educator; lecturing or getting involved in academic research;
   
• participating in innovative health research with a view to taking on the role of a lead investigator; and
   
• secondments that provide clinical leadership opportunities to step outside of your day-to-day responsibilities and take on a challenging new task, project or role

As the NHS’s third biggest professional group, AHPs have a major part to play in the future sustainability of the NHS and raising awareness of career development opportunities.

Beverley Harden, AHP Programme Lead at HEE said:

AHPs are incredibly well placed to make a significant contribution to improved care and support to individuals at every stage of life and across all aspects of their care wherever they may be.

The increasing AHP presence and voice within health systems is helping to open doors and build opportunities for career development and influence

We are really excited by opportunities for extended scope clinical AHP roles both in primary and secondary care; the growing number of AHP director posts; and by how the advanced clinical framework is starting to make headway for those AHPs who want to stretch their abilities to the next step.

Laura Rogers, AHP Clinical Fellow at HEE said:

As AHPs, we need to recognise our own incredibly valuable transferable skills. There’s no right or wrong career path and we are fortunate to have so many options. The careers resource is designed to help AHPs decide what’s right for them and help them create those opportunities”.

 It has been inspirational to have the opportunity to work so collaboratively across the system with all of the professional bodies, experts in national bodies and AHP clinicians themselves who have all contributed selflessly to create a resource of practical use to frontline staff.

The animation and resource pack will be available at www.e-lfh.org.uk/ahp