“AHPs have made significant contributions to tackling public health challenges”
Hi, my name is Saleha and I work as an orthoptist at Whipps Cross Hospital.
Orthoptics is a niche and one of the smaller allied health professions. Orthoptists work as part of a multidisciplinary team amongst optometrists, ophthalmologists and nursing as part of the eye care team. They are involved in many areas of care, including paediatrics, neurology, community services, neonatology, and maxillo-facial surgery. They diagnose and treat visual function disorders, abnormalities of eye movements in children and adults such as amblyopia and double vision, consequently improving vision and quality of life.
During the pandemic, a flexible approach was adopted to respond rapidly to the critical and challenging situation. AHPs were redeployed to new roles and environments to contribute their existing skills, experience, and learn new skills to respond to the pandemic, emphasising the versatility of AHPs and their role in tackling public health issues and improving wellbeing of the population.
With a shift towards an ageing population, there are complex health needs and falls amongst the elderly that have become a major public health concern. AHP play an important role to assist in prevention of falls and rehabilitation. For example, the management of visual impairment is essential to the rehabilitation of elderly patients following a fall or stroke, enabling them to regain their mobility and independence. AHP’s are critical to ensuring our populations recovery from the impact of the pandemic and long-term sustainability of the health and social care system.
I enjoy being an AHP because we work in a multidisciplinary way to provide a better quality of service and empower people to maximise their independence and focus on what matters to them.
AHPs have made significant contributions to tackling public health challenges by and promoting and embedding wellbeing within their practice. Making every contact count is an approach that uses the hundreds of thousands of day-to-day interactions that AHP have with patients to offer health advice and signpost to local services. They have a broad scope of influence on health and wellbeing with the opportunity to encourage change in behaviour which is critical to the future of healthcare.
What my typical day of work looks like in a few images:
