Chief AHP's blog

Date of release: 28 March 2024

Spotlight on AHP Support Workers

By Dr Ros Leslie

Staff who “hold the team together” were celebrated at the first local Support Worker Celebration Day led by AHPs.

Hosted by the Black Country Nursing and AHP Faculty at Himley Hall, Dudley, this was an acknowledgement of the non-registered Nursing and AHP workforce and its crucial contributions.

Support workers, senior support workers, assistants and assistant practitioners work alongside registered Nurses and AHPs, providing high-quality, life-changing care across a range of acute and community services.

Lorraine Allchurch, System Lead AHP Support Worker based at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, invited me to close the event.

I had a fantastic day listening to inspirational career journeys, hearing examples of personal growth, leadership and resilience.

For me, there were three clear themes. The first was how much we value our support workers in the Black Country. Speakers described our support workers as ‘change agents’, ‘experts’ and ‘the glue that holds the team together’, having the biggest influence on patient care.

The second was learning and development. We heard several top tips from the speakers, including “be comfortable with being uncomfortable” and “face your fears in order to grow”.

Also, we heard of the importance of seeking out opportunities, knocking on doors and not being afraid to ask.

There were many examples of developmental opportunities for our support workers, such as contributing to audits, service improvement, research, leadership and education.

Finally, the third theme was sharing and showcasing. This means sharing local resources, such as the Black Country Apprenticeship Handbook (mentioned in last month’s blog), the Higher Development Award and a new Learning Hub.

National resources, resulting from Health Education England’s (HEE) national AHP support workforce programme to be shared, are, for example:

• AHP Support Worker Competency, Education and Career Development Framework
• Readiness toolkit
• AHP support workforce – grow your own workforce strategies
• Making learning work for AHP support workers
• AHP support workforce – understanding education, qualifications and development 

Seven support workers shared their inspirational career journeys and experiences to showcase the art of the possible – what you can actually accomplish is what matters the most, often far beyond your expectations.

To close the event, six support workers, including Natalie Russell, Speech and Language Therapy Senior Assistant (pictured with Lorraine Allchurch), received a book as a personal gift from Lorraine.

In 2022, Lorraine received book token from HEE to reward her outstanding leadership. She wanted to do something meaningful with the award and decided to present a book as a gift to support workers who have demonstrated great leadership.