Since joining RCOT in March, I've been visiting members around England and speaking to countless more online. With the general election campaign in full swing, I've been reflecting some things members have told me and how they’ll shape what we'll be telling the new Government.
‘We can help people so much more when we get to see them earlier’
As a sports fanatic, I was keen to head over to Basildon after hearing about Sport for Confidence, a collaboration of partners that provide occupational therapy through physical activity in local leisure centres. I was amazed by how many people that Lyndsey’s team could support from one leisure centre, tailoring interventions to each person’s specific situation.
In Leeds, I spent a day with Joanne Duncan and Jenny Jubb. They started the Ageing Well service a year ago. They’re among the 200 OTs in England based in GP surgeries, helping elderly people with frailty. Sharing a corridor with GPs, pharmacists and care coordinators helps them promote occupational therapy benefits, ensuring people get support at an early stage, in their own home.
I also visited Jo Tyler and her amazing team from North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT). I saw a prime example of whole person care. They address physical, emotional, and social needs, and show how community rehabilitation can reduce the need for hospital services.
Throughout my visits, I heard many stories of how occupational therapy has changed lives.
Political parties set out their plans for health and social care
With the UK general election approaching, one key issue is how parties plan to fix the health service. The main parties have now released their manifestos. All of them highlight the importance of delivering care in the community.
We’ve heard the Conservatives promise to ‘move care closer to people’s homes’. The Liberal Democrats commit to ‘enable patients to leave hospital when they no longer need by investing in social care and community care.’ And yesterday, the Labour Party, saying they’ll reform the NHS ‘from a model geared towards late diagnosis and treatment, to a model where more services are delivered in local communities’. Labour will also trial Neighbourhood Health Centres, bringing together different health workers under one roof.
The examples set by Jo, Jenny, Lyndsey and Joanne and their brilliant teams, show how embedding occupational therapy services into community settings - community rehabilitation teams, GP surgeries or leisure centres - occupational therapists can be part of this solution. This will help get waiting lists down, relieve pressure on acute services and help people stay healthy for longer. This is the vision we’ve set out in our Workforce Strategy. We’ll be engaging with the new Government to ensure that OT is front and centre of their agenda. We need your help to make this case.
‘I love occupational therapy. But sometimes we're not great at promoting ourselves!’
Which brings me to my final point. Many members have told me that despite the transformative work they do, the profession often struggles to promote itself. Some say they need more tools and support to help them do so. As part of our Workforce Strategy, we’ll support members to be changemakers.
In the meantime, visit our general election page. You can download a briefing on occupational therapy to help your conversations or use our tool to write to your local parliamentary candidate.
Share our guidance on voting with people you work with
Voting is an occupation. And a right. But a survey we’ve run found that one in six (17%) people in the UK aged 18 and over would be put off voting because of their physical or mental health – equivalent to over 9 million people. You can read more about the results in our press release.
Many people feel excluded or encounter obstacles such as transportation issues, lack of information, language barriers and the complexities of the voting process itself. With members help, we’ve created advice to help break down the obstacles that many people may experience voting. You can help by sharing this advice with the people you work with, colleagues as well as friends and family.
I’ll be back to provide another update after the election.
By Joe Brunwin