It’s my six-month work anniversary at RCOT. In this time, I’ve met with members from across Scotland and a wide range of settings – including prisons, acute in-patient wards, GP practices, housing, community rehabilitation services, oncology services and more.
The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Social care committee has launched a second consultation on the National Care Service Bill which allows us to highlight the essential role of occupational therapists in social care. We’ll be responding to the proposed amendments, and we would love to see as many of you responding too.
I’ve met with many occupational therapists who work in local authorities and they’ve all been open and honest about the challenges they face in their role. I’ve heard that they’re paid less than their NHS counterparts and don’t have the same career progression or training and development opportunities. And if their experiences aren’t reflected in the National Care Service, they’ll be even further disadvantaged. That’s why it’s so important to respond to the consultation.
There’s a wealth of evidence showing that early intervention means better outcomes for people accessing services. We know it’s incredibly cost effective. By providing holistic care and making adaptations as soon as someone needs it, we can significantly reduce long-term care costs. It also decreases the chance of them needing future treatment and acute care needs. Occupational therapists are central to this early intervention approach.
That’s why occupational therapists must be included within the National Care Service and any other relevant agencies (including the National Social Work Agency). We recently made a Freedom of Information request which revealed that in some Local Authorities, 35% of all referrals into social work services are directed to occupational therapists. But they make up much less than 35% of the workforce. Considering occupational therapists are delivering a significant amount of the service, it’s completely unacceptable to not involve them in this process.
We’re at a vital stage of the National Care Service debate. Although the bill was first introduced back in 2022, it was only recently voted on in parliament. It passed stage 1 and is now progressing into stage 2. We’ve had constructive conversations recently with Scottish Government, as well as being involved in the Expert Legislative Advisory Group.
Earlier this week, Neil Carnegie, Occupational Therapy Team Lead and RCOT Council member; Suhailah Mohamed, Head of Practice and Workforce at RCOT; and I met with the Chief Social Work Advisor, Iona Colvin, and her team to illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities. This was the first time we’ve met with Iona and her team. We’ll keep talking and working together.
The consultation is open to everyone to respond.
We’ll be responding to the consultation and I encourage you to as well – the more voices the better. You can find out how on the Scottish Parliament website. Or you can contact me and feed into our response.
Katie MacGregor