Royal College of Occupational Therapists announces collaboration with Somek & Associates to support occupational therapists to become expert witnesses
OTs interested in expert witness work can access resources and support professional development
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) and Somek & Associates, one of the UK’s largest providers of independent expert witnesses, today announce a new collaboration. The arrangement will provide education, insight and resources to help occupational therapists develop the skills, confidence and professional understanding needed to become expert witnesses.
RCOT is the professional body for the occupational therapy workforce and Somek & Associates is a medico-legal consultancy that supports a national network of more than 300 expert witnesses across a range of health care professions.
By working together, both organisations will highlight the value of occupational therapy in expert witness work and raise awareness of the standards and skills needed for these roles. The collaboration will also support ongoing professional development and career progression for occupational therapists in this field, helping to strengthen safe, ethical and evidence-based contributions to legal and rehabilitation processes.
Over the next year, occupational therapists interested in expert witness work will be able to access educational webinars, articles and practical resources designed to build understanding of the role and support professional development.
Gary Waltham, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, says:
‘We’re pleased to work with Somek & Associates to open up new opportunities for occupational therapists interested in expert witness work. Together, we will highlight the unique value of occupational therapy, while equipping our members with the knowledge, confidence and support to step into expert witness roles and deliver high‑quality, impactful work.’
Jessica Thurston, Managing Director of Somek & Associates, says:
‘Occupational therapists bring valuable expertise to legal cases involving injury, illness or disability, helping courts, legal teams and insurers understand the impact on a person's daily life and future rehabilitation needs. Through this collaboration with RCOT, we want to help more occupational therapists understand what expert witness work involves and provide access to the knowledge, guidance and professional support needed to build confidence in this field. By supporting occupational therapists to develop as expert witnesses, we can help ensure legal decisions are informed by high-quality, evidence-based expert opinion that contributes to fair outcomes for everyone involved.’
To find out more about what an occupational therapist does, or to find a registered occupational therapist, visit rcot.co.uk.
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For more information, please contact:
Thea Healy, RCOT Head of Profile and Campaigns, on 020 3141 4661 or [email protected]
Notes to editor:
About Somek & Associates
Established over 27 years ago by an Occupational Therapist, Somek & Associates is one of the UK’s largest and most trusted providers of expert witnesses. We are an award-winning medico-legal consultancy with over 300 experts, able to provide both breadth and depth of expertise in quantum and liability reports for lawyers in the clinical negligence and personal injury space. Medico-legal specialisms we offer include care and occupational therapy, nursing, mental health nursing, midwifery, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and paramedics, orthotists and prosthetists.
Now run by legal and clinical experts who understand the demands of litigation from all sides, we take pride in providing an end-to-end service that matches the right expert to every instruction. Each of our experts has a minimum of 7 years’ experience in their field and remains currently practicing, enabling them to bring up to date knowledge and specialist experience to every report. Our consultancy empowers our experts by providing ongoing training, quality assurance and wrap around administrative support, to enable our experts to focus on the case in hand and provision of an outstanding report for instructing clients.
For more information about Somek & Associates, visit somek.com.
About the Royal College of Occupational Therapists
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) is the professional body for occupational therapy. We’ve championed the profession and the people behind it for over 90 years; and today, we represent over 36,000 members across the UK. Then and now, we’re here to help achieve life-changing breakthroughs for our members, for the people they support and for society as a whole.
We support and enable members to learn, research, teach, practice and continuously improve their knowledge and skills. We also work with healthcare commissioners, political leaders and others throughout society to position occupational therapy as a solution at the heart of health and social care.
Occupational therapists see beyond diagnoses and limitations to hopes and aspirations. They look at relationships between the activities you do every day – your occupations – alongside your illness or disability and your environment to recommend adjustments. These are practical, realistic and personal to you, to help you achieve the breakthroughs you need to elevate your everyday life.
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