From physios to podiatrists, occupational therapists to dieticians, Sirona care & health employs hundreds of Allied Health Professionals committed to helping people live a full and active life.
The not-for-profit social enterprise will be marking national AHP’s Day (14 October 2020) by celebrating their achievements and raising awareness of the varied roles available.
Sirona, which provides NHS funded community health services, have 563 AHPs working across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
These include:
- Physiotherapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Dieticians
- Podiatrists
- Paramedics
- Art Therapists
- Drama Therapists
- Music Therapists
Mike Richards, Director of Therapies and AHPs, said:
“They offer a range of rehabilitation programmes to enable people to live a full and active life. They and their colleagues across our community services ensure we deliver the kind of personal approach that we take pride in and provide the high standards of care that we’d expect for our own family and friends.”
Like many other healthcare professionals, Sirona’s AHP teams have also had to quickly adapt their services to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, many have had to get used to virtual consultations and working remotely.
Carys-Iona Lant, Speech and Language Therapist at Sirona, said:
“Before the pandemic I would say my job was very ‘hands on’, all my sessions were face-to-face, and I had never used a remote video consultation platform. Since we have been working remotely the best part of my job is still meeting and interacting with our service users, what has changed is how we meet and interact. It has changed my job day-to-day but the elements of it that I love still remain.”
Neil Gokani, Specialist Children’s Physiotherapist, said:
“The pandemic has changed the way we provide services but the nature of AHPs is to be resilient and adaptable and by utilising rapid emergence of technology we have been providing video calls to our children and families that we work with, ensuring we are still using one of our vital skills of communication to encourage our children and young people to be as active as possible.“
Today, Mike Richards will be connecting online with colleagues across the organisation to talk about this year’s challenges and successes and make sure that Sirona’s AHPs have everything they need to continue to provide great community services on a personal level at such an uncertain time.
