University News Last updated 13 July 2023
One of the country’s top health bosses has championed the growing role of allied health workers as crucial to the future of the NHS.
Beverley Harden MBE, Allied Health Professions Lead at Health Education England (HEE), made the remarks ahead of receiving an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University (BCU) for her outstanding services to healthcare.
“The contributions of the many different health and care professionals – from radiographers and physiotherapists to paramedics and prosthetists – is so important, yet not properly understood,” said Harden.
“Each allied health profession exists for a reason, to meet different health needs. We need to realise the potential of every health professional’s unique and shared skillset and not try to wrap everything up into one generic worker.”
A key figure behind creation of the Centre for Advancing Practice, which works to help clinicians develop skills such as shared decision-making and self-care, Harden believes that more joined-up working between professions will improve outcomes and ease pressure on services.
She says that by working more closely with traditional healthcare professions such as doctors and nurses, allied health workers will be able to play an even bigger role in meeting the needs of NHS patients.
“We have now established core standards for advanced practice training and are developing speciality pathways, which will allow health and care workers to get to advanced practitioner level, in an environment where different professionals work together side-by-side.”
A seasoned NHS professional with over 30 years’ experience – including in senior leadership roles – Harden started her career as a physiotherapist.
“Nothing had prepared me for what an incredible profession physiotherapy is – the breadth and depth of opportunity is endless.
“I’ve worked in the NHS, volunteered abroad, led large and complex services – and now I’m privileged to work to set the policy direction for allied health professionals for the next decade and beyond.”
She will receive the top university honour at a ceremony at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall in July, which will see hundreds of future healthcare workers cross the stage to graduate.
Her message to this next generation is a powerful one: “We do our best work together as a health and care team – never in competition – all working to our strengths.”
“As NHS workers, we learn about the phenomenal courage of people and to never underestimate the strength of the human spirit.”
BCU is one of the country’s leading trainers of healthcare workers. In 2021/22 it trained more undergraduate nurses than any other university in the UK.
The university boasts new, state-of-the-art simulation facilities for its health, education and life sciences students, hosted at its City South campus in Edgbaston.
Harden was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year Honours list for services to healthcare and is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
Outside of the NHS, she is a trustee for Carers UK and, as a carer herself, is a passionate advocate for unpaid carers across the UK.