TODAY is Allied Health Professions’ Day, an opportunity for AHPs to come together and celebrate being part of the AHP family.
Did you know that at Bradford Teaching Hospitals we employ a total of 368 AHPs across six different job specialties?
AHPs Day is a social movement which aims to help AHPs collaborate within services, organisations and regions to
- Improve awareness of the roles of the fourteen allied health professions
- Demonstrate the achievements of local services, and their impact on patient care and population health
- Support integrated working with other services and organisations
AHPs are now the second largest healthcare workforce with significant opportunities to support delivery of the NHS long term plan.
At Bradford Teaching Hospitals we employ into six AHP specialties from the 14 recognised AHP occupations in the NHS.
They are:
| Dietician | 63 |
| OT | 43 |
| Orthoptist | 20 |
| Physiotherapist | 123 |
| Radiographer | 113 |
| Speech and Language Therapist | 6 |
Below you’ll find profiles on three of our talented, hard-working and much-valued AHPs.
Occupational Therapist Razina Patel
Name: Razina Patel
Job title: Occupational Therapist
Age: 25
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy
Why did you decide to become an AHP? I decided to become an AHP after completing work experience abroad with children from underprivileged backgrounds. This experience highlighted the rewarding and fulfilling roles available as an AHP, particularly Occupational Therapy, which facilitates recovery and improves quality-of-life through function. I chose to specialise as a Community Occupational Therapist as it provides a holistic approach to treatment and management, addressing physical, psychological and social factors.
How did you train for your role? I completed my A-levels and then went onto study Occupational Therapy at The University of Huddersfield
Length of time in role: Four years
Length of time at BTHFT: 18 months
What do you do? As a Community Occupational Therapist, I treat patients with long-term health conditions who most often have complex co-morbidities in the city of Bradford. My role involves assessing patients in their own environment to enable independence within daily living. This includes assessing functional tasks, completing transfer assessments, and providing aids and adaptations to promote rehabilitation. Therapy input focuses on identifying and setting individualised goals to allow patients to achieve their potential. Treating patients with complex health conditions involves educating family members and encouraging self-management to prevent hospital admissions and deconditioning.
What do you enjoy most about your job? The most enjoyable part of my job is working collaboratively within an MDT (multi-disciplinary team) setting. This holistic approach is fundamental to promote rehabilitation and support vulnerable patients to reduce risk in the long term.
What professional achievement are you most proud of? We recently reduced waiting list times from four months to seeing a patient within two weeks. This was achieved by working closely with physiotherapy staff to triage regularly and offering patients an appointment at time of triage. This has been an achievement as it prevents deconditioning and patients are seen earlier in the referral process.
Which other teams do you work with? I also work with the Living with Pain Team.
What are your future career plans? I would like to stay with the Trust and explore further opportunities available in the organisation.
Dietitian Rebecca Little
Name: Rebecca Little
Job title: Highly Specialist Dietitian – Inpatient Team Leader
Age: 35
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Food, Nutrition and Health; Postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics
Why did you decide to become an AHP? I always knew I wanted to care for people and I love food! The two came together when I worked with a dietitian on work experience during my undergraduate degree and I realised a career as a dietitian was the one for me.
How did you train for your role? After completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Huddersfield I went to Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett University) and completed a two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics.
Length of time in role: Four years in my current role as inpatient team leader, critical care and enteral feeding specialist dietitian.
Length of time at BTHFT: 11 years – I have worked here since I qualified in 2008 in a range of settings from diabetes to oncology and surgery.
What do you do? On critical care I develop individualised care plans for patients, which usually involves nasogastric tube feeding. I review these patients throughout their stay in critical care. I am part of the Trust’s Enteral Nutrition Team, and see patients requiring complex nutritional decisions and assess them for longer term artificial feeding. I also line manage three dietitians and a dietetic assistant practitioner.
What do you enjoy most about your job? I love the variety and complexity of patients in Bradford. It really is true that no two days are ever the same and this keeps me on my toes. I also really enjoy supporting our team and helping everyone develop in their roles and fulfil their potential. We eat a lot of cake too!
What professional achievement are you most proud of? I am most proud when I see the patient who we first met three years ago who was so malnourished they were close to death. They are now at a point where life is starting to return to normal and they are a healthy weight. This is the most complex patient I have ever seen and a fairly rare example of where a dietitian can save someone’s life.
Which other teams do you work with? I work with a lot of other teams including physios, speech and language therapists, nutrition nurse specialists, pharmacists, doctors, nurses, catering, clinical engineering and lots more.
What are your future career plans? Currently I am settled in the role I am in and hope to continue leading the adult inpatient team for a while longer. Perhaps in the future I would like to take on more leadership responsibilities but I can’t imagine ever not working in Bradford; the dietetics team here is fantastic.
Orthoptist Hafsah Hussain
Name: Hafsah Hussain
Job title: Orthoptist
Age: 24
Qualifications: Degree in Orthoptics
Why did you decide to become an AHP? I wanted to do something in my career that is challenging, interesting, and makes a difference to people’s daily lives. In the Orthoptic profession you deal with many aspects of patient care, and I enjoy the variety in the routine.
How did you train for your role? I studied at the University of Sheffield for three years. During this time I attended lectures and seminars. Throughout the year I also took part in clinical placements, which saw me attend many different orthoptic departments around the UK.
Length of time in role: Two years
Length of time at BTHFT: Two years
What do you do? As an orthoptist my role is to investigate and manage disorders of binocular vision and defects of eye movements.
What do you enjoy most about your job? There are many aspects I enjoy. However the most rewarding and satisfying is being able to help rehabilitate patients and give them their ‘normal’ back.
What professional achievement are you most proud of? I’m most proud of being the first member of my family to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
Which other teams do you work with? Ophthalmology, Maxillofacial, and the Stroke Ward
What are your future career plans? I’d like to study further and specialise in a specific category of orthoptics. I would also like to focus on the study of neurology and eyes.