Trust appoints its first Chief Allied Health Professional
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust has appointed Andy Brammer as its first Chief Allied Health Professional (AHP). Andy, previously Divisional Director for Clinical Support Services, began in post earlier this year.
As Chief AHP, Andy will provide professional leadership and direction to the Trust’s AHP, and AHP support workforce.
Allied Health Professionals are collectively the third-largest workforce in the NHS, following nurses and doctors, respectively. The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust employs over 500 AHP and AHP support colleagues working in 9 out of the 14 recognised professional groups encompassed under the AHP title, in the following roles:
- Diagnostic Radiographers
- Dietitians
- Occupational Therapists
- Operating Department Practitioners
- Orthoptists
- Orthotists
- Physiotherapists
- Podiatrists
- Speech and Language Therapists
Allied Health Professionals provide system-wide care to assess, treat, diagnose, and discharge patients across a variety of settings including the Trust’s community sites, patients’ homes, educational settings, and at Rotherham Hospital. AHP colleagues provide treatment for, and help to rehabilitate adults and children who are ill, or have disabilities or special needs, to live life as fully as possible.
When discussing his new role, Andy said: “I’m delighted to have been appointed as the Trust’s first Chief Allied Health Professional (AHP). Although Chief AHP is a new role for the Trust, we’ve seen similar appointments at Trusts throughout the country, and I’m very much looking forward to supporting and representing our valuable and diverse AHP and AHP support workforce.”
Andy is a diagnostic radiographer by background, spending his early clinical career in general radiography, CT scanning and after further training, the reporting of x-rays. He then moved into managerial roles, first at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and then United Lincolnshire Hospitals, moving to The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust in 2016 initially as General Manager for Clinical Support Services, and then in 2020 becoming Divisional Director.