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Welcome to the September issue of OTnews. We have an eclectic mix of features for you this month, but we are delighted to be able to focus on housing as our cover story.

We're collaborating with Health Education England to complete a series of projects that will shape the future of the occupational therapy workforce.

We’re launching a new Leadership Advisory Group and looking for our profession’s strategic leaders to join. If you work in strategic management positions, we want to hear from you.

Tuesday 27 September 2022, 18:00 - 19:30 Online, free to attend Delivered by Simone Welch On Tuesday 27 September 2022 we’re welcoming Simone Welch, Senior Specialist Occupational Therapist in Stroke, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, to speak to us and the occupational therapy community. This...

We’ll be delivering a series of six webinars this autumn focussing on practice-based learning (placement) related topics. We want to feature good practice examples of placement opportunities and approaches which positively impact pre-registration education, career development of practice educators...

UNISON is asking its members to pledge to take industrial action over the latest NHS pay award for staff in England. Their ‘ Pledge Yes for the NHS ’ campaign asks members to promise to vote for industrial action in their ballot due to take place in late October 2022. The campaign and subsequent...

This month’s issue has a real focus on you, our members, and why you volunteer your time to support RCOT, be it on Council, for your region, or for one of our Specialist Sections. We kick off with a Q&A with Odeth Richardson, who took over the reins as our new Chair of Council, from Professor Diane Cox, on 1 July.

The Government in England has published the long-awaited outcome of the 2020 consultation on raising accessibility standards for new homes. Newly built homes will now have to achieve an increased level of accessibility and adaptability in line with Part M4(2) of the building regulations, a standard...

We’re delighted to announce our 2023 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture speaker will be Keir Harding. Keir Harding is a highly regarded occupational therapist specialising in mental health, supporting people who use self-harm and recurrently feel suicidal. He is currently the CEO and Clinical Lead...

RCOT and Health Education England (HEE) are joining forces to create an Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Workforce Reform. It is a 12-month project to shape the future of the AHP personnel.

A report by the Health and Social Care Select Committee, issued today, describes thousands of unfilled roles in the NHS and social care in England including many for occupational therapists and other allied health professions (AHPs).

Over 1,000 people came together virtually last month to share in RCOTs 45th Annual Conference, and in your July issue we report on some of the many and varied plenary sessions, papers, posters and presentations.

We have joined forces with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) to produce a series of principles for practice-based learning.

We’re running a survey looking into children’s access to occupational therapy across the UK. The survey is open until 9pm on Friday 29 July 2022.

I want to say a huge thank you for the warm welcome and congratulatory messages I’ve received since being appointed as Chair. I’m aware there is a lot that I don’t know about the role and will be requiring your support as I get to grips with the requirements of the role.

We’re delighted to welcome Odeth Richardson as our 21st Chair of BAOT/BAOT Council. Odeth took over the reins from Professor Diane Cox, who stepped down after three years, at last night’s AGM.

On Tuesday 19 July 2022 we’re welcoming Rebecca Swenson (she/her) and Hannah Spencer (they/them), NHS Occupational Therapist, co-founders of LGBTQIA+ OTUK network to speak to us and the occupational therapy community.

Pride month is ending, but that doesn’t in any way mean that queer visibility is finishing. For me, June started with announcing to all my colleagues that I was queer and is ending with me launching the RCOT LGBTQIA+ Colleague Network.

This year marks a big year for Pride – 50 years since the first Pride in the UK in 1972. Much progress has been made and much more still needs to come. We have changed the ‘O’ in our RCOT and OTnews logos for this month to show solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ members, staff and people everywhere.

Over 1,000 people from the global occupational therapy community are expected to join our 45th Annual Conference over the next two days, to ‘learn, discuss, debate and grow’.

Dion Sutton is one of our many valued volunteers at RCOT. He is a committee member for the RCOT Wales (Cymru) region. We caught up with Dion to learn more about his career and hear why he chooses to volunteer with RCOT.

After carefully considering the different views and findings from our community discussion events, we’ve decided to support the addition of a pre-registration doctoral level entry route into the occupational therapy profession in the UK. This will be an additional route – it will be one of many...

Health Education England (HEE) has released a new elearning programme, AHPs in Neonatal Care , which RCOT helped to produce. If you’re new to working in neonatal care or thinking about being an occupational therapist in this area, this elearning is for you. You’ll find two sessions about the role,...

The Northern Ireland Department of Health has announced that there will be an additional 10 undergraduate occupational therapy places at Ulster University for the 2022/23 intake. Commenting on the additional places, Karin Orman, RCOT Director of Practice and Innovation said: “We welcome the Health...

Odeth will become our 21st Chair of Council when she takes over from Professor Diane Cox on Thursday 30 June 2022.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you, those of you who can make it, to the upcoming 2022 BAOT/RCOT Annual General Meeting (AGM) this June. On Thursday 30 June, the RCOT AGM will take place virtually. Here are some of the things happening at the AGM: Chair, Diane Cox, will speak about the work of...

We are delighted to announce that world-famous author and children’s poet, Michael Rosen will be one of our keynote speakers at our 2022 Annual Conference. Rosen who is renowned for his book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt , contracted COVID in March 2020 and was put into an induced coma for 40 days...

In our April issue, the cover story is about the value of occupational therapy within addictions services.

Karin Orman, Director of Practice and Innovation, commenting on the Department of Health’s Health Inequalities Annual Report in Northern Ireland said: 'The Health Inequalities Report published this morning shows that while there have been improvements in healthcare in Northern Ireland, there is...

Steve Ford, Chief Executive, commenting on the UK Government’s announcement about the health and social care levy, said: “We welcome that there will be more resources for the NHS but are concerned that the needs of social care have been pushed back.

We’re looking for the speaker at our 2023 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture . Our lecture is an opportunity for the chosen speaker to talk about a topic important to them and the profession. If you know an occupational therapist who has made or is making a significant contribution to our profession...

We’re looking for OTs to be part of a campaign to encourage people to choose occupational therapy as a career. Being part of a campaign like this will help raise your own profile and that of our profession. You’d need to be happy to share photos, possibly a video or blog with us. If you’re chosen,...

In our March OTnews , we caught up with Dr Sidney Chu ahead of his online Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture on Thursday 28 April 2022. Dr Chu will talk about Optimising performance, clinical and economic outcomes in occupational therapy service delivery. We wanted to find out more about what...