Representing you and our profession in your nation and beyond – June 2025

We’re delighted to announce the appointment of Paul Smith as our new Policy and Public Affairs Lead for Wales.

Paul is an experiences policy professional whose career spans consultancy, high‑level roles within the third sector and senior positions inside national political parties.

He joins us in early July, enhancing our capacity to influence policy and promote occupational therapy across Wales.

We hosted an exhibition stand at the Allied Health Professions Conference at Ulster University in Magee, where we promoted our Workforce Action Plan for Northern Ireland. This plan is central to our efforts to build a sustainable and well-supported OT workforce across the region. This event followed on from the recent news that the Department of Health will fund an additional 28 occupational therapy training places at the University which represented a significant investment in the future of the profession.

As members of the Community Rehabilitation Alliance, we attended a series of roundtable meetings with members of the five main political parties in Northern Ireland. These meetings were a vital opportunity to build cross-party support for the introduction of a Rehabilitation Lead and Network across health services. This initiative aims to embed rehabilitation more firmly within the health system and ensure OTs are recognised as key contributors to service transformation. We’ve been working with members in Northern Ireland to develop a comprehensive response to the Department of Health’s consultation on the Neurology Review. This is an important opportunity to highlight the need for neurorehabiltation services, which currently do not exist in all parts of Northern Ireland. 

As part of the Allied Health Professionals Network in Northern Ireland, we met with the Chief Executive and Director of Nursing at the Public Health Agency to understand the evolving governance arrangements for AHPs following the agency’s restructure.

We convened a meeting with Dr Sally Payne and OT Paediatric Leads from all five Trusts to explore how occupational therapy can better support children with special educational needs (SEN).

We also participated in the Long Term Conditions Alliance planning group, contributing to strategic discussions on service delivery and integration.

We’re continuing recruitment for the Northern Ireland Workforce Strategy advisory group, with strong interest from across the profession.

If you’d like to take part please do fill in our short form.

Join our Workforce Strategy Northern Ireland advisory group

Katie, your Policy and Public Affairs Lead for Scotland, now chairs the Allied Health Professions Federation Scotland (AHPFS) policy group, where she is leading on delivering their workplan, developing consultation responses and preparations for the upcoming elections.

She is also supporting with organising an Allied Health Professions Federation Scotland Parliamentary event in September to raise the profile of occupational therapy amongst stakeholders.

• We’ve responded to the Scottish Labour Policy Forum consultation, contributing to their manifesto development.
• We’ve met with Scottish Government stakeholders to advocate for the role of OTs within local authority social work teams, as part of our ongoing influence on the development of the National Social Work Agency.
• We attended the Primary Care and Community Health Steering Group, chaired by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, to discuss the implementation of the Service Renewal Framework and Population Health Framework—two major policy documents recently published by the Scottish Government.

We held a Workforce Advisory Group meeting, where we agreed on new ways of working and a focus on long-term conditions and election readiness.

We also supported Members’ Day in Edinburgh, marking the first time this event has been held in the capital and celebrating 100 years of OT in Scotland.

The UK Government’s Spending Review committed over £29bn to the NHS and £4bn+ to adult social care, with additional funding for education, employment and prevention.

We welcome the focus on prevention and innovation, aligning with our Workforce Strategy and we’ll continue to advocate for clarity on how this investment will support occupational therapy – especially as we await key policy documents including the 10-Year NHS Plan and the SEND White Paper.

We contributed to the Local Government Association’s report on occupational therapy in local authorities – calling for targeted investment to transform services. This summer, we’re updating our Care Act 2014 resources in collaboration with the Principal OT Network for publication later this year.

In partnership with the Community Rehabilitation Alliance, we’ve written to leads in each Integrated Care Board calling for a dedicated rehabilitation leads in every region. This comes as ICBs prepare for budget reductions and the merger of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England.

We’re closely monitoring the national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services, launched by Wes Streeting. The review will address safety and equity, with implications for perinatal occupational therapy. We are supporting the DHSC in promoting this initiative.

Ahead of this, on Wednesday 2 July, Sally Payne – one of our professional advisors and specialist in children and young people’s OT – gave oral evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee as part of its inquiry into the First 1000 Days of Life. Sally highlighted the critical value of OT in early childhood development and family support.
 

In our response to the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we highlighted the critical role occupational therapy play in supporting people with long-term health conditions and disabilities to access, remain in, or return to work.

Ahead of this, we hosted a successful Work and Health webinar featuring Dr Gail Allsopp, Chief Medical Officer, discussing occupational therapy’s role in employment and health pathways. 

We have also responded to the Benefit Reform Bill, highlighting serious concerns about changes that would limit eligibility.. Our submission stressed that PIP is not just a financial benefit, but a crucial enabler of independence, daily function, and employment, andwarned that reducing access could worsen health outcomes and increase the risk of unemployment. 

We also:

• supported Jobcentre Plus OT pilot sites in Barking and Birmingham
• prepared for discussions on Fit Note reform.

• We briefed Baroness Bull ahead of a House of Lords debate on Dyscalculia, highlighting our survey data on service demand and complexity.
• We provided feedback to Parkinson’s UK on their workforce policy and will attend a parliamentary event next month to support them.