Allied Health Professions: Past, Present and Future
London South Bank University was proud to mark their 120 years of education provision by hosting a celebration of the Allied Health Sciences department on the 6th December.
The evening commenced with a convivial opportunity for alumni, trust partners and current students to informally chat about their experiences over refreshments of working in the current healthcare climate. Following this was an inspiring keynote talk by Karen Middleton CBE, Chief Allied Health Officer for the Department of Health. In her motivating presentation, Karen highlighted both the challenges and opportunities for the allied health professions and shared a tweet message she had received stating "allied health was the future".
There was also a strong message for the professions to raise the profile of their contributions the public health, rehabilitation and enablement. This point has particular resonance at LSBU where Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Diagnostic Radiographers and Therapeutic Radiographers are trained every year for the NHS. Rehabilitation is also a strong theme in the department of Allied Health Sciences where a training programme has recently been developed with the Parliamentary Limb Loss Group, to train individuals who will work with amputees resulting from conflict and trauma.
In the question and answer session which followed, topics such as prescribing, service cuts and patient care for the future provided an excellent debate, with everyone getting an opportunity to contribute. In summing up Karen suggested that in this time of change it was not enough for the professions to sit and wait but to "be accountable" and "be courageous" if we want the best care for our patients.
Reaction from guests:
“Tonight’s event was an interesting insight into Allied Health, past present and future. As current Occupational Therapy (OT) students, we were all pleased that OT played a prominent role in this discussion.”
Tom, Andrew, Katie and Sophie, Year 2 students, MSc/PgDip Occupational Therapy
“Interesting to hear from somebody at a central government level that is responsible for designing the changes. Great to hear different AHP experiences and hear the challenges. This was a fantastic opportunity to attend such an event."
Emma Collins, Occupational Therapy alumnus, class of 2011
“It feels lovely to return to LSBU and I found Karen Middleton’s speech particularly relevant to my practice as a Physiotherapist. LSBU continues to be at the forefront of AHP activity and I look forward to coming back in the near future.”
Andrew Nwosu, Non-Medical Prescribing alumnus, class of 2011
View Karen Middleton's presentation slides