National acclaim for consultant physiotherapist 

A consultant physiotherapist has received a presitigous excellence award from NHS England (NHSE) for services to his profession. 

Matthew Low, consultant physiotherapist, at University Hospitals Dorset (UHD), has been awarded the ‘Chief Allied Health Professions Officers Gold Award for Excellence 2024’, representing the field of physiotherapy.

Announced on Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Day on 14 October, the new award commemorates a decade of service for Professor Suzanne Rastrick, Chief AHP for NHSE, with recipients honoured for their “outstanding and exceptional contribution to their work.”

Matthew, who has worked as a consultant physiotherapist at UHD for six years, is also a visiting fellow from the Orthopaedic Research Institute at Bournemouth University, and has previously been involved in a groundbreaking international research study into complex medical conditions.

Mattthew said: “I’m very proud and honoured to have received this award. It means a lot to me to be recognised at a national level and be one of the 22 well-deserving recipients across our diverse AHP workforce. Receiving this accolade would not have been possible without my colleagues and friends at UHD, and this award is as much for them as it is for me.”

Professor Rastrick said: “The recipients of this award represent the very best of their AHP community, consistently leading by example, demonstrating strong NHS values and high levels of commitment and quality throughout their role. I have had the privilege of personally identifying individuals who have strengthened the work that I and my team have undertaken over the past ten years, and I thank them most sincerely for their contribution.”

Siobhan Harrington, chief executive officer at UHD, said: "I am delighted to see Matthew recognised in this way. Every day, our allied health professionals at UHD play a crucial role in helping patients live their lives as fully as possible, and Matthew is no exception. This is a much-deserved honour, and we wish him many congratulations."