Prime Highlights
- Wales appoints Gareth Evans as Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, strengthening its shift toward preventive, community-based care.
- Evans will offer strategic leadership on Allied Health Professions across health, social care and public services.
Key Facts
- Allied Health Professions cover 13 groups, including physiotherapists, dietitians, podiatrists and speech and language therapists.
- Cabinet Minister for Health and Care Mabon ap Gwynfor welcomes the appointment as a health reform priority.
Background
Wales has named Gareth Evans as its new Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, placing him in a leadership role that arrives as the nation’s health and care services lean further into prevention and community-based support.
The appointment puts Allied Health Professions at the center of efforts to reshape healthcare delivery across Wales, with services increasingly designed to help people stay healthy, independent and supported within their own communities.
In his new role, Evans will offer expert professional leadership and strategic guidance on the contribution Allied Health Professions make across health, social care and wider public services. His work will back the Welsh Government’s push to build stronger preventative healthcare and lift outcomes across the population.
Allied Health Professions span 13 distinct professional groups and form a substantial workforce spread across the NHS, social care, education, housing and community services, including physiotherapists, clinical psychologists, dietitians, podiatrists and speech and language therapists.
These professionals support people throughout their care journey, contributing to prevention, early intervention, rehabilitation, reablement, recovery and long-term condition management, helping individuals stay well, recover from illness and live independently for longer.
A podiatrist by background, Evans brings broad experience across health and care services to the role. He said the position would let him strengthen the contribution of Allied Health Professions as Wales moves toward community-based care, while championing the profession and offering expert leadership across the wider system.
Cabinet Minister for Health and Care Mabon ap Gwynfor welcomed the swift appointment, calling Allied Health Professions vital to the health system and pledging to work with Evans to improve outcomes for people across Wales.
