Physios and AHP Federation receive public health and wellbeing awards

A physiotherapist helps a patient taking part in the ESCAPE pain programme at the Fusion Lifestyle leisure centre in London

The awards celebrate good practice in public health and recognise achievements that have promoted health and wellbeing.

Public Health England and the Allied Health Professions Federation (AHPF) received a joint award for their AHP public health programme, which aims to increase recognition of the contribution of AHPs to the public health agenda.

The AHPF represents 12 AHP professional bodies, including the CSP. Ann Green, the CSP’s vice-president and chair of the AHPF, told Frontline: ‘The CSP has been at the forefront of supporting this focus on public health and in doing so has helped secure the achievement of this prestigious award.

‘AHPs are the third largest workforce in the NHS and therefore have a huge contribution to make to public health, which is why the AHPF was so keen to partner with Public Health England to maximise this potential.’

Linda Hindle, lead AHP at Public Health England, accepted the award. She said: ‘Winning this award will continue to raise the profile of the contribution AHPs can make to the populations health; right from influencing and shaping the agenda to delivering health and wellbeing interventions.’

ESCAPE pain

The Health Innovation Network, the academic health science network for south London, received an award for its ESCAPE Pain programme.

The programme was set up in 2014 to improve the self-management of arthritis through exercise. Since its launch the project has involved the input of physiotherapists.

Professor Mike Hurley, clinical director at the Health Innovation Network, said: ‘ESCAPE pain is a programme we have been working on for many years and we’ve shown that is clinically effective, cost effective and people like it.

‘Up until recently it has only been delivered in NHS physiotherapy outpatient departments, but we now have a drive to get the work we have been doing - helping people with knee and hip pain - outside of traditional NHS environments and into the community and workplaces.

‘The programme is now running in 20 clinical departments up and down the country and the CSP Charitable Trust is also funding a clinical trial in Bristol.’