Two BDA members were recently awarded with Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO) Awards for innovation and advancement in their fields.
The annual CAHPO Awards celebrate outstanding contributions by allied health professionals (AHPs) in delivering care and developing best practices.
We are delighted that this year two BDA members have been recognised for their work - Dr Claudine Matthews and Gemma Stott.
Consultant dietitian Dr Claudine Matthews received the Innovation and Improvement Award for advancing care for patients with sickle-cell disorder.
The Sickle Cell Nutrition Academy was established to address nutrition knowledge and care provision gaps and inequalities in sickle cell disorder in the NHS, by improving access to nutrition services and enabling patients to better self-manage their condition, improving their health outcomes as a result.*
Reflecting on her award, Claudine commented, "Winning the CAHPO Award for Innovation and Improvement by NHS England for me is more than an award, it's national recognition of my personal courage and leadership, fighting for a cause I absolutely believe in, a cause that's bigger than me, a cause that requires relentless determination and action and risking being the first to go where no one else has dared to go!
"The CAHPO Awards offer our dietetic workforce the opportunity to be that visible force with an audible voice, showcasing great personal and professional leadership empowerment, vision and impact, thus amplifying the value and strength of our profession as systems leaders, change makers and innovators in a dynamic modern day health and social care landscape."
Learn more about Claudine's work to improve dietetic care provision and outcomes for sickle cell patients in her Diversifying dietetics webinar.
Consultant dietitian Gemma Stott received the Research Impact Award for creating The Universal Dietetic Patient Complexity Tool (UDPCT).
This tool, which is endorsed by the BDA, has been proven to be a valuable tool for dietitians, assisting with the assessment of patient complexity and supporting job planning, safe staffing and caseload management. Available electronically and with potential to be used in multiple languages, the UDPCT is also accessible.
Commenting on being recognised for her work, Gemma said, "Receiving the CAHPO Award for Research Impact was a delightful surprise. It's an honour to be recognised by Suzanne Rastrick for the contributions made by so many dietitians in the development and validation of the UDPCT over the past 8 years, with official validation taking place in 2023/2024 across four nations, including 12 sites**, 204 dietitians/assistants and 417 patients.
"I'd like to extend special thanks to Rhiannon Bullen, a student dietitian at the University of Surrey at the time of the research, who encouraged me to pursue the validation study and played a pivotal role in study design and statistics. Rhiannon is now a critical care dietitian at Queen's Hospital in Romford, London. I also owe gratitude to Dr.Tim Noblet, Consultant Physiotherapist, who guided me through the process of obtaining ethics/IRAS/HRA approval, and to Rebecca Sherridan, Senior Dietitian at St. George's Hospital in London, who motivated numerous dietitians to get involved in the research."
The BDA is pleased that Claudine and Gemma have been celebrated for their pioneering contributions to healthcare and that the dietetic workforce has been represented in these prestigious awards.
*Some of the initiatives included an NHSE Funded Nutrition Project, co-designed with sickle cell patients/carers, that led to the development of the novel Sickle Cell Nutrition Eatwell Guide available on the SCNA website (now being used by HCP in practice), the 'Food as Medicine - video education series', commisioned by the NE&Y HCC, and nutrition education workshops for nurses and parents of children with sickle cell, sponsored by the Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity.
** Acknowledging all 12 participating research sites for the validation study: Barts Health NHS Trust, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland), Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Fife (Scotland), The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Swansea Bay University Health Board – NHS Wales, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Various guidelines and consensus opinion were used for the content design.
