Allied Health Professionals (AHPS) are the third largest workforce in healthcare and play a huge role in supporting the NHS to deliver high quality care.

We employ a range of AHPs; Art Therapists, Drama Therapists, Music Therapists, Podiatrists, Dietitians, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Speech and Language Therapists. We are committed to offering high-quality placements to pre-registration AHPs supporting students to build confidence, knowledge and skills to share our passion for supporting our people who use services to benefit from improved health and wellbeing. We also want to ensure we have a strong future AHP workforce to provide safe and effective care. 

Our AHPs are based in a variety of different services, delivering inpatient, community and specialist services to people who have mental health difficulties and/or a learning disability of all ages in Surrey and North East Hampshire. 

What students have said about us 

“I felt that my educators would provide an excellent quality of care for a friend or family member. It was really lovely to see people who were passionate, thoughtful and kind within their practice”

“I thoroughly enjoyed my placement with Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (adult). I felt really supported and welcomed by the whole team. I was introduced to everyone and they were all engaged in ensuring I got a wide range of experience which made it feel like I was part of the team. Everyone I worked with was so engaged with client care and with further learning and it was inspiring to see a department that worked so closely with other teams to ensure the best care for clients. People took a great deal of effort to ensure they sent me additional research they thought I might find interesting and to ensure that I was able to meet my goals. I feel much more confident as a result and it has cemented my interest in working with adults with LD/mental health needs.”

“I really enjoyed my placement at Surrey and Borders.  As a student they offer a lot of support from within the therapy team as well as the occupational therapists working with the community and other settings” 

“My placement was a fantastic experience, especially working with other healthcare professions and seeing how passionate they were about their jobs was really refreshing. Also, the wide variety of conditions people have and how each person’s occupational needs and strengths are unique to them. No one person t is the same. The occupational therapy team were fantastic with support and staff well-being and I really gained confidence in my abilities”.  

 “My Practice Educator was very supportive and encouraged me to ask questions whenever appropriate. She ensured that I felt comfortable within the team and facilitated opportunities for me to contribute...(The most valuable aspects of the placement were) I learnt how to adapt sessions in the moment to promote  engagement. I also learnt how to manage more appropriately behaviours that challenge, with trauma informed care in mind.” 

Useful videos about AHP Professionals in Mental Health Services and student placements 

We look forward to welcoming you.

See our AHPs webpage for more information or contact Louise Wiggins, Professional Lead for Allied Health Professionals: Louise.Wiggins@sabp.nhs.uk.