The Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO) Awards is a unique opportunity for AHPs to receive recognition for their personal contributions towards delivery of exceptional care for patients. The awards also promote adoption and scale of good practice through celebrating and sharing success.
The awards are open to all 14 Allied Health Professions (AHPs) including support workers, assistant practitioners, registered professionals, and pre-registration apprentices. You can either nominate yourself or another AHP. However, nominations of another AHP will be kept anonymous. Please note that the CAHPO Awards is for NHS or publicly funded initiatives/projects.
- Nomination period: Thursday 1 May and closes at 11:59pm on Sunday 1 June
- Nomination form: NHS England – Citizen Space: Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Awards 2025
- Queries: england.cahpo@nhs.net
Award categories
| Award | Sponsor |
|---|---|
| AHP Creative Provision of Placements Award | Council of Deans of Health |
| AHP Public Health Award | Office for Health Improvement and Disparities |
| AHP Digital Practice Award | NHS England |
| AHP Workforce Transformation Award | NHS England |
| Greener AHP Award | Greener NHS |
| AHP Innovation and Improvement Award | NHS England |
| AHP Leadership for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion | NHS Race and Health Observatory |
| AHP Research Impact Award | Council for Allied Health Professions Research & National Institute for Health and Care Research |
| AHP of the Year/CAHPO Award | The Chief Allied Health Professions Officer will select the overall winner from the winners of the above eight awards. |
Scoring criteria
| Criteria | Score 3 (strong) | Score 2 (good/adequate) | Score 1 (lacking detail) | Score 0 (not explained or included) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Is the nomination aligned to the impacts, priorities and commitments outlined in AHPs Deliver? | Strong alignment with several of the impacts, priorities and commitments in AHPs Deliver, and which demonstrates relevance to patient care, quality or service improvement. | Topic of relevance to one or more of the impacts, priorities and commitments in AHPs Deliver. | Topic only weakly linked to one of the impacts, priorities and commitments in AHPs Deliver. | Not relevant to AHPs Deliver. |
| Is the problem/reason for implementing clearly defined? | Reason for initiative clearly defined, with use of comprehensive and relevant baseline data and evidence on quality, outcomes, including service-user experience. | Reason for initiative defined, with some use of relevant baseline data and evidence. | Reason for initiative defined but lacks adequate detail. | Little or no sufficient definition or reason given. |
| Are aims & objectives for the initiative clearly defined? | The aims, objectives and innovation are clearly articulated, and appropriate to the topic/area of practice. Clear link between aims, objectives and innovation and the problem/reason for implementing. | Adequate description of aims, objectives and innovation. Weak link to problem/reason for implementing. | Aims, objectives and innovation are included but lack adequate detail. No clear link to the original problem identified. | Little or no reference to aims, objectives and innovation. |
| Method and implementation approach | Implementation method clearly described with a strong reference to partnerships and collaboration. Co-production is evidenced. | Method adequately described, with some reference of partnerships and collaboration. | Method described but lacks detail and little to no reference partnerships and collaboration. | Little or no description of the method/approach used. |
| Results, evaluation and demonstrating impact | Quantitative and qualitative data/findings clearly articulated and demonstrate the shift from baseline position. Impact on quality (experience, effectiveness, safety) and efficiency of care/services is presented. | Data/findings presented adequately, the shift from baseline is evident, however may be some gaps in demonstrating impact across quality or efficiency of care. | Data/findings briefly presented but lack adequate detail. | Data/findings insufficiently clear or misinterpreted. |
| Key learning points | Lessons learned that are of importance and relevance for future similar projects are included. This includes what didn’t work well as well as what did. | A number of lessons learned, of relevance to similar projects and initiatives are articulated however there may be gaps in insights shared. | Minimal lessons learned are included but clear gaps in learning opportunities are apparent. | Lesson learned not included, or not relevant to other projects or initiatives. |
| Sharing/implications for practise | Clear, comprehensive, and ambitious plans for sharing are in place and elements have already been enacted. | Plan for sharing/spread are included; but no evidence of delivery. | Some evidence of sharing but significant missed opportunities, minimal evidence of sharing/implications for practice. | No evidence of consideration or plans for sharing. |
Timeline
Nominations open
- Thursday 1 May 2025
Nominations close
- Sunday 1 June 2025
All nominations reviewed and marked
- Friday 1 August 2025
Nomination outcomes communicated
- Friday 15 August 2025
Shortlists shared externally by the CAHPO
- Friday 29 August 2025
Winners announced by the CAHPO
- October 2025
The Awards are open to all 14 Allied Health Professions and are for NHS or publicly funded initiatives/projects.