Search

1540 results found.

The Innovation Hub pilot has been live for one month and we’ve been hearing from occupational therapists (OTs) about their cases for change with their improvement ideas. We’ve identified two categories of change with improvements aimed at: identifying people who may benefit from early and...

Welcome to our first issue of 2023! Here at RCOT, a lot happened last year that we’re proud of and so we kick off a brand-new year with a look at our impact in 2022 and a focus on some of our plans for the year ahead, with the insight of our Chief Executive Steve Ford, Chair of Council Odeth Richardson and members of our Senior Leadership Team. Find out more on pages 14–21.

On 13 January Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited a newly developed therapeutic allotment in Gloucester which is helping people with mental health conditions on their road to recovery. The allotment is managed by service users, occupational therapists and other colleagues from the...

We are offering two paid internship opportunities for recent graduates or pre-registration occupational therapy learners. The roles are in Research and Innovation and Practice and Policy. We welcome candidates who have a minimum 2:1 honours degree/merit for pre-registration masters or equivalent...

We’re hosting three complimentary webinars in January and February 2023 to inform, inspire and develop the knowledge and skills of neonatal OTs at an enhanced level of practice.

RCOT welcomes today’s announcement from the UK Government as a positive step towards recognising the value of rehabilitation and its important role in hospital discharge.

We’re here to support members involved in leading and delivering international recruitment in the NHS and social care. Our aim is to encourage and enable good practices and processes for international recruitment of occupational therapists. Around 7% of the existing occupational therapy workforce...

We recognise and value the important role our support workforce plays in delivering safe and effective care to those who access occupational therapy (OT) services across health and care. We're committed to ensuring our OT support workforce has access to appropriate education, training and...

Do you want to get more out of your membership this year? We’ve got some ideas for you… Join us at events We’ll have hundreds of virtual and in person events for you this year – giving you the chance to learn and network. Many of them are free as part of your membership, including our placement and...

We encourage all occupational therapy practitioners working for the NHS in England to respond to a new consultation on the colour of Allied Health Professionals’ (AHPs) uniforms.

As part of our workforce strategy to help occupational therapists move into paediatrics, Dr Sally Payne, Professional Adviser – Children, Young People and Families shares her advice on how to give yourself the best chance at getting a role in children’s services. I recently spoke to an occupational...

Emma Grover, Professional Development Lead at RCOT, talks about the ways we can better record our continued professional development.

Did you know that you can influence the profession and develop your leadership skills by becoming a member of our Boards. In 2023 we have ten positions vacant across five RCOT Boards. If you’re someone from or with knowledge in an area listed below, we’d love your input. We value the diversity of...

Advanced practice We are working with RCOT members, aspiring to, or working at advanced and consultant levels of practice. We’re reviewing our existing web content and seeking member involvement to establish what other guidance and support is needed at these levels of practice. Advanced practice...

In collaboration with key partners including HEE, Skills for Care (SFC), ADASS and strategic lead occupational therapists (OTs) across England, we looked at the barriers and opportunities to career progression in social care, from student through to advancing levels of practice. The aim was to...

Primary care research project showing impact of occupational therapy in GP surgeries We want to show that occupational therapists in primary care make a difference. We want to tell GPs, ministers, and funders how we improve patient care. In collaboration with Rocket Science , RCOT has been working...

We want highlight OT innovation for people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or autism across the UK. We want to inspire you and give you new ideas. We interviewed occupational therapists (OTs) who are leading the way to improve and transform services. We asked them about their...

Are you a mental health or learning disability occupational therapist (OT) thinking about how to grow your career?  Do you feel you could make a difference to the lives of people you are working with, who're subject to restrictions imposed by the Mental Health Act 1983?  Would you be interested in...

We recognise and value the important role our support workforce plays in delivering safe and effective care to those who access occupational therapy services across health and care. We are committed to ensuring our occupational therapy support workforce has access to appropriate education, training...

We understand it’s important to support newly qualified occupational therapists as they move to their first role and beyond. Our commitments within and beyond this project complement national programmes of work to develop improved support for newly qualified Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) to...

We’re offering a live OTs as approved clinicians webinar at 12– 2pm on Wednesday 8 February 2023 . We’re keen to inform and inspire occupational therapists about becoming an approved clinician, so we can increase the number of therapists in this role and explore: how occupational therapists working...

We’ll be hosting a live ‘ Meet the innovators ’ Q&A session at 6-7pm on Tuesday 31 January 2023 . The aim of the event is to provide you with a deep insight and explore how OTs are using their digital skills to: collaborate with others improve digital literacy and inclusion improve outcomes for...

Welcome to our last issue of 2022. If continuing professional development and effective supervision are of interest to you, you’ll enjoy our articles by Emma Grover and Kat Phoenix. 

British Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT) which is the parent of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists has said today: BAOT supports its members in Northern Ireland who are taking industrial action this week. BAOT members can access appropriate support and guidance directly from...

We have written jointly to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, as part of the Community Rehabilitation Alliance, to call on the government to recognise the need to invest in the rehab workforce and to take our calls into account as the NHS workforce plan is finalised. Karin Orman,...

Our Innovation Hub project is about developing the right environment for occupational therapists to share and learn from others about what they are improving. As part of the pilot, we’re asking you to submit an improvement journey to help us capture the service challenges the OT profession is...

All occupational therapists and occupational therapy support workers, irrespective of background and/or characteristics, should feel valued, respected and supported to develop their talents to the full.

Rachel Booth-Gardiner, one of the founding members of AbleOTUK explains the Spoon Theory and how this aligns with occupational therapy.

Over 1,000 of you helped us choose the themes for Annual Conference 2023 , our annual flagship event. We try and make this two-day virtual event all about what’s important to occupational therapists today, The programme will be packed with interactive sessions, opportunities for informative...

Natalie Hicks, one of the founding members of AbleOTUK shares her story about becoming disabled and why being an ally is important.

Do you want to talk to our Senior Leadership Team? We want to engage with you more, hear what’s important and answer some of your questions. Join one of these informal events so we can listen to you, discuss subjects that matter and share updates about delivering our strategy. Our next get together...

This event has now taken place. If you missed the event or want to recap you can watch the recording . Join our leadership team for an open conversation at the first of our ‘Let’s get together’ events, at 6.30–7.30pm on Thursday 8 December 2022. We want to engage with you more, hear what’s...

Rachel Booth-Gardiner, one of the founding members of AbleOTUK explains what Disability History Month is and why we should celebrate it.

Occupational therapists help people elevate their everyday life. And whether they focus on finding ingenious ways to help someone do what they love or carry out valuable occupational therapy research – we’re here to support them every step of the way. RCOT is leading the way. Our values and...

Georgia Vine, Occupational Therapist and Founding Member of AbleOTUK shares her experiences of employment, disability, health and wellbeing.

People across the UK are celebrating Disability History Month all November and as part of that, we bring you a fascinating article that reflects on our profession’s strong connections to the disability movement.

We'll be at the Occupational Therapy Show at the NEC Birmingham on 23–24 November 2022, to find updated information, new resources, and support from peers, all in one place.

Steve Ford, Chief Executive, commenting on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement said: ‘The commitment of an additional £3.3bn of funding for the NHS is a positive recognition by the Chancellor that the health system is desperately in need of a cash injection. But this new money will only help tackle the NHS’ top priorities, rather than help reduce pressures at all levels within an exhausted system.  

Over 100 health and care organisations, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, have signed a letter to the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt in support of publishing the NHS long-term workforce plan in full – including assessments of how many staff will be needed to keep pace with demand. 

We’re hosting a webinar to bring supervisors and employers together to discuss how best to support OTs to return to practice. Join us at 1–2pm on Wednesday 30 November 2022 to hear from Anne Keen, Professional Adviser – RCOT Professional Practice Enquiries Service.

UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) was set up in 2010 to create a platform from which a focus on the history of Disabled people's struggles for equality and human rights could be highlighted and advanced through education. The theme of this year’s UKDHM looks at how disability, health and...

At RCOT, our vision is that people everywhere value the life changing power of occupational therapy. That’s why for OT Week 2022 we launched our ‘Lift up your everyday with OT Life Hacks’ campaign. As part of the campaign occupational therapists are encouraged to share life hacks to help people overcome challenges to do things they love and need to do.

Do you want to champion the value of research within our profession? Can you help to promote, showcase and celebrate occupational therapy research? Become a research champion and help us to shape RCOT Research Connect, a new UK-wide virtual network of members launching in spring 2023.

Thank you to everyone who submitted possible themes for our Annual Conference 2023, taking place on 14–15 June. We had around 400 great suggestions! Your valuable input will help us create an event that’s led by what’s important to occupational therapists.

Watch a recording of ‘Meet with Steve Ford, CEO and Odeth Richardson, Chair’ which took place on Thursday 3 November 2022 . An opportunity to understand more about the changes we are making to deliver our strategy. The event starts 01:05 minutes into the recording. If you wish to view the recording...

Today, on the first day of Occupational Therapy Week 2022, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) is launching its first ever public health campaign ‘Lift up your everyday with Occupational Therapy (OT) Life Hacks’. The professional body for occupational therapy’s campaign is designed...

We’re unhappy that the payment of HCPC fees has not been included in the pay settlement for occupational therapists working in social care in Scotland.

Every child wants to play. It’s how they learn about themselves and the world around them. Play helps build children’s confidence, sense of identity and feelings of connection. But the most important thing about play is having fun! Play happens in many shapes and forms, places and occasions. Every...

Work can sometimes be rewarding and challenging in equal measures. A lot of the time we spend more active time in the workplace than at home and with those we love. It's important to find ways to protect our wellbeing, especially when faced with pressure at work.

Children and young people spend a long time in the school environment, learning to socialise, discover friendships and navigate difficulties - alongside mainstream learning. If you're in school, some days might feel more challenging than others, and you might find the environment isolating at times...

Life has its own rhythm of daily chores and rituals that can sometimes feel challenging, especially if you are recovering from illness or not feeling strong.

Lift Up Your Everyday Do you need a little help doing the things you love or need to do everyday? We're here to support you. Life is about the moments when you're doing something you love, taking care of your wellbeing and staying motivated. When we're missing these lifts, perhaps because of...

This Occupational Therapy Week (7-13 November) we’re launching a new public-facing campaign, 'Lift Up Your Everyday'. We’d like your support to promote and share the campaign so that as many people as possible know how to access the advice from occupational therapists. Life is about the moments...

Tell us about yourself and the journey that led you to study occupational therapy. My name is Shir Grunebaum and I’ve concluded my first year of an MSc Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) course at Oxford Brookes University. From a very young age, I always dreamed of studying occupational therapy.

As Steve Barclay takes on the role (again) of Secretary of State for Health and Social care, he will no doubt be aware of the myriad opportunities and challenges in the sector, particularly as we brace ourselves for a challenging winter. The workforce challenge remains a top priority that must be...

In March we changed our leadership structure so that we could grasp the opportunities for occupational therapy and for us as a membership body. Since then, our Senior Leadership Team have been looking at our team structures to ensure that we have the right roles and the capacity we need to deliver...

Have you been recommending compression gloves to patients with rheumatoid or another form of arthritis? We carry out our literature searches annually to monitor our practice guidelines. Through this process, we’ve found new evidence that impacts our recommendations in the Hand and wrist orthoses...

As part of Black History Month 2022 we’re hearing from Kwaku Agyemang, Occupational Therapist, OT & Chill Podcast Host and member of BAMEOTUK , about his journey into occupational therapy and how it has progressed.

We’re calling on Rishi Sunak as the new Prime Minister to make health and social care a key priority. The cost-of-living crisis is worsening pressures on health and social care systems which are still dealing with COVID-19 and Long Covid. It’s exacerbating the huge demand for rehabilitation...

This is your opportunity to have your say and make your voice heard in the first UK wide workforce survey of occupational therapists. We’re running a survey to help us build a picture of the experiences and issues affecting the occupational therapy workforce. Our survey is open until 11pm on Sunday...

We’re working in partnership with Skills for Care on a webinar event called Occupational therapy career development in social care which take place 10:00am - 12:25pm Tuesday 29 November 2022 via virtual workshops using Zoom. This webinar is geared towards occupational therapists working at all...

We recognise the threat to human health and that of our natural world from the impacts of climate change. We understand our need to review and make changes both as an organisation and in how we support our members to do the same within their sphere of practice and wider networks.

As part of Black History Month 2022 we’re hearing from Dr Dave S.P. Thomas around actions to take for improving sense of belonging.

In celebration of this year’s UK Black History Month – ‘Time for Change: Action not Words’ – your October issue of OTnews brings you the key messages to emerge from the incredible BAMEOT UK Inaugural Symposium, a personal account of using reverse mentoring to understand students’ experiences in a unique way and a university project to develop understanding and resources for practitioners on allyship and being an active bystander in the workplace.

This is a new role which will focus on the implementation of our strategy, delivering projects and initiatives that improve your overall experience with us.

We’re pleased to share the first ever LGA Standards for Employers of Occupational Therapists in England 2022 with you. We consider this to be a tremendous step in recognising the unique value of the occupational therapy workforce in local authorities on a national scale. The standards are a result...

The Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) is running a series of webinars on its current fees consultation.

The core concept of my project highlights the under reporting of racist and discriminative incidents within the NHS.

We’ll be delivering a series of six webinars this autumn facilitated by Kalimah Ibrahiim focussing on practice-based learning (placement) related topics each with a different focus.

On Thursday 20 October 2022 we’re welcoming Dr Kee Hean, Senior Lecturer Occupational Therapy, Brunel University, London, to speak to us and the occupational therapy community.

Are you an occupational therapist working with children and young people? We’re calling for your input on the first edition of the practice guideline Occupational therapy and play.

Clare Steedman is Co-Founder & Clinical Director of The Eating Disorder Specialists. She tells us why she chose to specialise and work in mental health.

How will RCOT be using this information? RCOT will be collating this anonymized data and using it to improve our Innovation Hub resources sharing it with members through the Innovation Hub so they can build on lessons learnt sharing it internally to inform our business activities. Tell us about...

We have written to Kelly Tolhurst MP, Minister for Schools and Childhood, Department for Education to outline how occupational therapists are the key to resolving the difficulties facing children’s services in England.

We’re pleased to be launching our principles of practice-based learning, which we developed with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

We’re looking for an occupational therapist who is a member of RCOT and works with older people to join our Publications Group. The group is a small review panel consisting of ten occupational therapists and three public contributors.

The Social Prescribing Student Champion Scheme is once again inviting AHP students to its champion programme, after a highly successful first year following integration with medical students into the Scheme

Our Innovation Hub is a networking space for the occupational therapy workforce to learn together about leading change. The members of our Innovation Hub form a virtual networking community for the OT workforce who are actively interested in leading change. We network through a digital communities...

The theme of this year’s UK Black History Month is ‘Time for Change: Actions Not Words’. As with every Black History Month (BHM), and throughout the rest of the year, it’s important for us to acknowledge that there’s still so much more we can do to make our profession, our organisation, and our...

Enabling our members to understand and act to embed sustainability in their interventions and work with service users is an important workstream for RCOT. In June, occupational therapist Pete Vesey joined us as our new Professional Advisor – Environmental Sustainability. He tells us about his role and how you can get involved

RCOT and NHS England (formerly Health Education England) joined forces to deliver a year-long Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Workforce Reform project, which set out to identify ways to increase the number of occupational therapists working in health and social care. The learning and insights are...

Since the pandemic and the introduction of flexible working, the RCOT HQ building has been significantly underused. It’s important that we make the most of all our investments, including our building, so that they help us to develop and enhance the services and benefits we offer to our members. We’...

Olivia, one of our valued members and occupational therapy student at Oxford Brookes University, talks to us about what inspired her to study occupational therapy. She also shares her experience of being a member with us

The second edition of our guideline Occupational therapy in neonatal services and early intervention is out now to inform your practice.

In collaboration with the National Centre for Creative Health and UCL's MASc in Creative Health, we’re hosting a free interactive Creative Occupational Therapy webinar on Monday 31 October 2022 at 10am-1pm to demonstrate how OTs can work with the creative sector to address health and care in innovative ways.

Demand for occupational therapy in children's services across the UK has risen sharply, the findings of our latest survey into children’s services show. The survey’s findings paint a stark picture, showing that children’s services are overstretched, underfunded and that staff are worried they can’t...

If you're having problems booking onto one of our RCOT run events, please follow the steps below to make your booking. Registering on our website is the first essential step before booking onto an event. 1. Register on our website If you haven’t used your RCOT web account since 17 November 2021,...

Search

You are here

Search

Pages