A huge congratulations to Dr Jed Jerwood, Advanced Clinical Academic Art Psychotherapist, who has recently been awarded the inaugural Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO) Gold Award for Allied Health Professional (AHP) Excellence.

The CAHPO Gold Award for AHP Excellence has been launched this year to acknowledge, reward and celebrate significant and exceptional work within the AHP community.

Marking her decade in office, Professor Suzanne Rastrick OBE, CAHPO for England, personally identified 22 individuals from across the country who always go over and above, consistently lead by example and demonstrate strong NHS values in their work.

After careful deliberation, the winners were announced on Monday 14 October to coincide with AHP Day, and we are delighted that BSMHFT’s Dr Jed Jerwood was amongst those selected.

Since training as an art psychotherapist at BSMHFT in 2009, Jed has worked as part of the Arts Psychotherapies Service delivering less verbal psychological therapies to our service users. Jed always looks at opportunities to do things differently to meet the needs of the people and communities we serve. In addition, he has undertaken several improvement projects with NHS England to enhance understanding of the allied health professions, expand placement provision and support the development of arts therapies. As a researcher he has led innovative developments into palliative care, mental health and physical health inequalities. 

When asked what this formal recognition means to him, Jed commented:

I am surprised and pleased to receive this award. I am lucky to work in such a supportive team and in a Trust where I have been supported to grow and develop different ways of delivering services to meet the needs of people who are often marginalised or underserved in health care.”

Kirsten Jones, Chief Allied Health Professional at BSMHFT said:

Jed is an asset to both the Trust and both the AHP and Psychological Professional workforce as well as being an advocate for our patients, service users and carers. His passion in the research arena has made him a trailblazer for AHP research at BSMHFT. This is a very well-deserved award and am so proud that all of Jed’s hard work, dedication and passion has been recognised.”

For future nominations for the CAHPO Gold Award for Excellence, from 2025 onwards, nominators will be asked to submit a CAHPO Gold Award Nomination Form. Completed nominations will be reviewed and approved by NHS England’s senior management team for the Allied Health Professions. The nomination form and eligibility requirements will be shared on NHSE’s webpage in the coming months.