Role of allied health professionals

In a comprehensive report from QualityWatch in the UK, researchers examined the role and quality of care of allied health professionals in the NHS.  Allied health professionals: Can we measure quality of care? looks at a diverse group of 12 professions who often work across mulidisciplinary teams and across sectors of care.  

The authors of this report express concern that the contribution AHPs make to overall healthcare is undervalued.  The different AHP groups include chiropodists, dieticians, music therapists, occupational therapists, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, radiologists and speech and language therapists.  They found that AHPs made up 6% of the NHS workforce in 2013.  "We suggest that a better understanding of both the levels of care and the quality of care provided by AHPs will be increasingly important in a financially constrained NHS."