Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2019 | Page 22

FEATURE AWARDS
FELLOWSHIP AWARDS
Fellowship Awards are the highest awards handed out by RCOT and are given for
exceptional service and outstanding contribution to the profession during their career.
Since 1972, 104 members have received a Fellowship.
SUZANNE RASTRICK OBE: leading – and listening to – AHPs in England
Chief allied health professions officer, NHS England
Suzanne’s role as NHS England’s chief AHP officer has given both leadership and a voice to all the allied
health professions in England.
Suzanne advanced through roles in acute care, community services and finally primary care, where
she took on the role as the matron of a community hospital – one of the first AHPs to hold a substantive
director of nursing post.
After taking on leading management roles in various NHS organisations, Suzanne was appointed as the chief allied health
professions officer for NHS England in 2014. In the role she is the principal adviser to both the government and Health Education
England for all 14 allied health professions. She is a vocal supporter of AHPs, including her highly-active presence on Twitter.
Perhaps most representative of her work is the first crowdsourced national policy document, AHPs in Action, which was
developed using national policy priorities and over 16,000 suggestions from patients, carers, the public, AHPs and other
professionals, to develop a people-powered plan for change.
The result is a national framework and strategy that includes 50 examples of innovative practice that supports the delivery of the
NHS Long-Term Plan. Suzanne and her team are also now seeing how it can help increase the pipeline of AHPs and enable the
workforce to deliver and grown.
Her RCOT contributions include serving as a member of the Professional Practice Board, chairing the English Board and
serving as a Member of Council.
DR KATE RADFORD: leading research and developing the next generation
Associate professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham
Kate’s leading role in research and education has resulted not just in her own contributions to the field,
but also extensive work in generating opportunities for the next generation of researchers.
Kate worked her early years in people with long-term conditions, particularly in stroke and traumatic
brain injury. Since 2003, while working in a community neuro-rehabilitation team, she developed an
interest in vocational rehabilitation and this is now the primary focus of her research.
She has a long record of developing tests and assessments that are now in common usage. While
studying for a PhD at Nottingham she developed and validated cognitive tests to determine driving fitness in people with brain
damage. They include the Stroke Drivers Screening Assessment, which is recommended in national guidelines, as well as being
translated into several languages for use abroad.
Her robust support to develop researchers including her instrumental role in establishing the Centre for Doctoral Training in
Rehabilitation and Healthcare Research, where she is now the deputy director, providing PhD training for clinicians what want
take on part-time doctoral studies alongside a clinical role.
Her deep support for research has included generating £8 million in research income in her role as an associate professor
since 2012.
Said Kate: ‘I am honoured to receive this award and grateful to my nominees and the Royal College, which has
supported me in making great things possible through its pump-prime research funding, and research capacity development
opportunities.’
22 OTnews October 2019