Allied Health Professionals or AHPs are the 3rd largest clinical workforce in the NHS, and play a vital role in patient care. There are 15 professions under the AHP umbrella and we employ all of these professionals within North West London. Some you may be more familiar with - such as physiotherapist and dietitian. Other professions are less well known, but also play crucial role, for example:
- Operating department practitioners are involved before, during and after surgery within an operating theatre;
- Podiatrists treat and care for people whose feet and legs have been affected by injury or illness; and
- Occupational therapists support patients to live as fully and independently as possible in the context of their condition, injury or disability.
To find out about each allied health profession, please explore the links below
There are many different ways to become an allied health professional, this is different for each professional group.
All the AHP roles are protected, accredited titles with the Health and Care Professions Council therefore you must complete an accredited course in order to practice as an AHP.
You can find out more about starting a career in one of the allied health professions via each of the links below.
An AHP support worker is someone who works alongside registered AHPs and assists in caring for patients. They undertake work that is assigned to them by a registered AHP through a process called delegation. Often called assistants or technicians, AHP support workers can work with one professional group e.g. a physiotherapy assistant or radiography assistant, or across several professions to provide joined up care to patients e.g. a therapy assistant or rehabilitation assistant. AHP support work can be a career in its own right in the NHS or it can be a steppingstone into studying to become a registered AHP.
AHP support workers generally develop the knowledge and skills required to work in their roles through work-based learning and in particular through the apprenticeship programmes developed specifically for healthcare support workers, many of which have AHP profession specific education routes.
Find out more about training education and careers for AHP support workers here.
All AHP support worker roles are advertised locally through recruiting organisations. NWL NHS Trust vacancies can be found here: NW London Vacancies : North West London ICS (nwlondonicb.nhs.uk)
