Date of release: 30 May 2023
Spotlight on Our Inaugural Black Country AHP Leadership Summit
By Dr Ros Leslie
More than 70 leaders from six provider NHS Trusts attended a key summit hosted by the Black Country AHP (Allied Health Professionals) Council at Himley Hall.
The inaugural Black Country (AHP) Leadership Summit began with a networking opportunity where leaders had the chance to meet with provider colleagues, members of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and NHS England (NHSE) Midlands.
An enthusiastic welcome from James Severs, Chief AHP at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, got the main event underway. From that moment, it was clear the day was going to be something special!
Starting the first of several informative presentations was Gordon Bigham, Regional Chief AHP, NHS England – Midlands, with a useful overview of the AHP Strategy for England (AHPs deliver) and the Implementation Framework.
Gordon set the day’s theme with a quote from the Building Strong Integrated Care Systems (ICS) Everywhere document: “Fully inclusive, multi-professional clinical and care professional leadership is clearly central to designing and delivering integrated care and meeting the complex needs of people, rather than just treating their individual conditions.”
Meg Parr, AHP Workforce Lead, NHSE Midlands, provided a motivating presentation entitled ‘Unleashing the Potential of the AHP Workforce’, also referring to our AHP Strategy.
Delegates at the Black Country AHP (Allied Health Professionals) Council at Himley Hall left with “new knowledge and valuable insights”, says Dr Ros Leslie, Chief AHP at RWT
Keynote speaker Sally Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer and Deputy Chief Executive of the Black Country ICB, shared her vision for clinical and care leadership within our ICS.
This includes having clinical professional leadership roles undertaken by a broad range of clinical representation – including AHPs – recognising the breadth and depth of clinical expertise.
After a short break, it was straight into an update on the current workstreams from the Black Country AHP Council, led by Karen Lewis, Chief AHP, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Council Chair, with contributions from Council and Faculty members.
This was followed by a summary of the Black Country AHP Leadership Review led by Shajeda Ahmed, Chief People Officer, Black Country ICB.
A thought-provoking address from Seema Gudivada, Chair, Midlands AHP BAME Strategic Advisory Group, who challenged us to reflect on the diversity of our leaders, closed the morning session.
Another networking opportunity over lunch was followed by an inspirational presentation from Simon Whitehouse, Interim Chief Executive for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.
Simon shared his own journey on how he believes he has become a successful leader, after starting his AHP career as a physiotherapy support worker.
Afternoon events continued with world café discussions that provided a platform for participants to learn from each other’s experiences, exchange ideas and identify common challenges and opportunities for growth.
Without doubt, everyone left with new knowledge and valuable insights. And to know we are building a system-wide team of AHP leaders is truly exceptional.
Kind regards,
Ros
