Scottish allied health professions public health strategic framework implementation plan: 2022 to 2027

Strategic Goal 2: Demonstrating Impact:

To ensure AHPs will be able to demonstrate their contribution to improved population level health outcomes through robust evaluation and research.

We know that across the AHP professions that significant impact is made on the health and quality of life that people experience as a result of the services, support and care that they receive from AHPs. Nevertheless insufficient data collection means that AHPs have the opportunity to better evidence the vital differences that their expertise and skills make to the health and wellbeing of the wider population. Improving the scope and the quality of data collection from AHPs will improve the opportunity to learn from best practice both within and across Health Boards, as well as driving innovation in AHP led service design and delivery.

Key outcomes include:

• AHPs understand that inequalities require to be a fundamental consideration of their practice;
• AHPs have access to agreed tools which demonstrate the impact of their contribution to public health;
• AHP practice incorporates early intervention and prevention approaches;
• AHPs have access to practical resources to enable them to fulfil their public health role.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) AHP Fellowship Project Report

In July 2021, a report was produced on the work carried out in NHS Ayrshire and Arran scoping the potential contribution that AHPs could make to the six national Public Health Priorities published jointly by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in July 2018. The project focused on six AHP disciplines: dietetics, occupational therapy, orthotics, physiotherapy, podiatry and speech and language therapy, although it was acknowledged that the learning from the project would be relevant to the other AHP professions.

AHPs were invited to participate in an appreciative inquiry session or complete an online questionnaire to identify factors that would enable AHPs to fulfil their contribution to the Public Health Priorities and the barriers that hinder their contribution. From the responses, it was apparent that there was variation between and within professions on knowledge and understanding of the social determinants of health and population health. In addition, there was low awareness of the six national Public Health Priorities. As a consequence it was difficult for some participants to identify and articulate what their profession's contribution to the Public Health Priorities and improving population health could be.

The report recommended that insights from the project should be used locally to inform service redesign and nationally to inform the development of an implementation plan for the UK AHP Public Health Framework in Scotland.

What?

We will promote the use of the UK-wide Allied Health Professions Hub hosted on the Royal Society of Public Health website as a repository of information, best practice and success stories of professionals who do incredible work every day to protect and improve the public's health.

By when? (short, medium or long term)

Short

Partner

• AHP Directors
• AHP Federation Scotland

What?

We will promote and disseminate the King's Fund 'My role in tackling health inequalities: a framework for allied health professionals' and other existing Four Nation resources to support professional development and practice. We will also review the need for any additional Scottish-specific resources for AHPs.

By when? (short, medium or long term)

Short

Partner

• Health Boards

What?

We will support career development for the AHP workforce in the public health sector in Scotland through the AHP Careers Fellowship Scheme and disseminate evidence based learning across Scotland from work-based projects aimed at addressing health inequalities.

By when? (short, medium or long term)

Short - medium

Partner

• Scottish Government
• NHS Education for Scotland
• NHS Boards

What?

We will commission a review to map existing tools available to support AHPs in measuring the impact of their interventions on population health and use this to identify any gaps and further opportunities.

By when? (short, medium or long term)

Short - medium

Partner

• Scottish Government

What?

We will create Scottish-specific resources and promote resources such as the NHS Health Education England 'Embedding Public Health into Clinical Services' to transform AHP practice and include more prevention and early intervention approaches.

By when? (short, medium or long term)

Short - medium

Partner

• NHS Education for Scotland