A LOCAL allied health professional has become the first person in the UK to win the new NHS England's Chief Allied Health Professions (AHP) Officer badge.

This follows Sue Norman's introduction of an electric falls and frailty car for the North Hampshire Urgent Community Response (UCR) team.

Her work in leading a service improvement project resulted in launching a bespoke community response vehicle which reached 95 per cent of patients within two hours, within its first year of operation.

Ms Norman said: "I'm so honoured to be the first person to receive the new AHP greener badge with this award, and glad to be raising awareness of how we can contribute to net zero, although it's a small van it's making a big difference."

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This reduced ambulance journeys and the need for other community services. A majority of the 635 patients seen remained at home, aiding the NHS’s green goals.

National AHP Lead, Suzanne Rastrick awarded Sue the Greener AHP Award, commending her for designing sustainable healthcare innovations.

The frailty car, originally part of Sue's Master’s degree studies, now makes a substantial contribution towards the NHS net-zero commitment by supporting therapeutic interventions and assessments at patients' residences.