Allied Health Professions - education and workforce policy review: recommendations

1. Background

The Programme for Government 2021 made a commitment to review Allied Health Professions (AHP) Education in 2022. The aim of the review was to consider what actions are necessary to ensure that policy for AHP education provision is congruent to the current and future needs of our students and the future health needs of the people of Scotland. The scope of the review was extended in December 2021 to include workforce considerations.

The review considered the actions necessary to deliver a national education and workforce plan for AHPs, giving full consideration of all aspects of workforce measurement, planning and education needs for the future. The review was led by a National AHP Strategic Oversight Group ensuring collaborative working across the AHP education and workforce sectors through five thematic subgroups (Workforce and Recruitment, Education Solutions, Advancing Practice, Practice Based Learning and Research, Innovation and Relationships). The outputs of these groups were used to form recommendations for the review.

The National Strategic Oversight Group met to agree a suite of recommendations for the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Mr Yousaf, that focused on key thematic areas. Mr Yousaf, has now agreed the recommendations and has instructed Scottish Government officials to work at pace to develop an implementation plan. Mr Yousaf has expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders involved in the review.

The recommendations are set out in Annex A and a full list of stakeholders involved are included at Annex B.