The University of Cumbria and North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust have launched a new joint board, which brings together academic and clinical expertise to strengthen the region’s health and care workforce.
The North Cumbria Allied Health Professionals collaborative board will support joint working across the full range of allied health professions, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, diagnostic radiography, paramedic science, and other Health and Care Professions Council registered professions working across the region.
The university said the board builds on existing partnership working, including its physiotherapy clinic, and would create a formal structure for developing shared approaches to education, professional development, and research.
A central ambition is to break down the boundaries between classroom and clinical practice, getting clinicians into teaching and supporting academics to contribute directly to frontline care.
The board will also develop shared pathways for workforce development, supporting staff from support worker level through to advanced practice within allied health.
The university said it reflected a shared commitment to building a sustainable, skilled, and progressive workforce that meets the long-term population health needs of Cumbria.
A key early initiative under the board is the Honorary Clinical Lecturer programme, which will enable trust-based professionals to supervise postgraduate research dissertations at the University of Cumbria.
Students will work on research grounded in real clinical questions, producing findings that are relevant to the trust and directly applicable to improving patient care.
Associate Professor Tom Davidson, director of Allied Health Professions at the University of Cumbria, said: “This board is about building something that works for the whole allied healthcare professional community across Cumbria.
“We want clinicians in the classroom and academics in practice, because that connection is what produces the best learning and the best care.
“We also want to create real development pathways for our workforce, from the very start of a career right through to advanced practice, and to anchor our research in the questions that actually matter to the people delivering and receiving care in this region.”
Professor Sarah Elliott, associate director of AHPs at the trust, added: “The initiative aligns closely with the AHP Strategy for England 2022 to 2027 and the AHP Educator Career Framework 2023, both of which emphasise the need for strong links between education and clinical practice to deliver safe, effective, and person-centred care.
“The AHP Collaborative Board will help develop a more skilled and flexible workforce tailored to local population needs, enhance retention through structured development opportunities, and strengthen research and quality improvement in day-to-day practice.”
The first board meeting has taken place at Cockermouth’s community hospital. Representatives from both organisations agreed a shared direction and the university said it could become a nationally significant model of integrated AHP education and practice.
