AACE Chair Jason Killens recently met with England’s Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, Suzanne Rastrick, to discuss how more paramedics might be recognised in the next round of the Chief AHP Officer Awards in 2026. While this year’s entries are now closed and finalists are being celebrated, only two paramedics appear across the eight category shortlists. That’s a proud achievement, but it also suggests there’s room for greater representation.
The CAHPO awards are a rare opportunity to highlight the outstanding contributions of allied health professionals across England. They celebrate not just individual excellence, but also the spread of good practice and innovation across the system.
Paramedics are central to that story. Whether leading new models of urgent care, improving clinical education, or driving inclusion and equity in frontline services, their impact is clear. What’s missing is wider recognition, and that is something we can all help change.
AACE is now making an early call for ambulance service colleagues across England to connect with their chief paramedic and begin identifying colleagues who could be strong contenders for the 2026 awards.
Nominations open on Friday 1 May 2026 and close at 11:59pm on Monday 1 June 2026.
The nomination form will be shared by the NHSE AHP team in March 2026, and any queries can be directed via email to england.cahpo@nhs.net.
An instruction pack is available here and could be used to prompt early conversations among staff about who they might put forward.
The awards are open to all 14 AHP professions, including support workers, assistant practitioners, registered professionals and pre-registration apprentices. You can nominate yourself or someone else, and only the names of shortlisted candidates will be published. Nominations must relate to NHS or publicly funded projects within England, and some entries may be relevant to more than one category.
