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 of collaborative working between a task force involving strategic lead occupational therapists from around England and RCOT. The standards will support and encourage consistency in practice between employing organisations.
We encourage all local authorities to ensure their staff are represented in the first year. In order to ensure that the employer standards are being met, the task force have also created an occupational therapy specific survey – Occupational therapy in social care, employer Standards Check in It's for staff employed to perform local authority duties, including those who are professionally registered and those who are unregistered but provide occupational therapy-based interventions.
The survey will be open from 17 October 2022 to 23 January 2023, with 140 councils and external organisations having the opportunity to opt-in via email - workforce@local.gov.uk.
The survey will take just 10-15 minutes to complete, so please register your interest via email - workforce@local.gov.uk.
The survey findings will help us to understand better the current occupational therapy provision and inform future delivery of effective occupational therapy practice. It will also identify key issues, ensure the voice of OT staff is paramount, and help develop a national/regional picture of the wellbeing of the occupational therapy profession in England. It can be used by leaders in each organisation to measure progress against the employer standards, so we encourage all OTs, at whatever level to ask how the standards and survey will be implemented.
The occupational therapy survey results are fed into the CQC quality assurance framework, as is the intention for the social worker health check survey.
If you are the Principal/Strategic Lead Occupational Therapist for your organisation, register your interest now via email workforce@local.gov.uk. The live survey will be launched later this year, so look out for more information to follow.
“Occupational therapists have a unique set of skills in identifying solutions to problems that, sometimes, people are not aware that they have. OTs work resiliently and resolutely to support those on their caseload, or colleagues, whilst facing constant and increased demand for their interventions.
This often leaves little time for them to consider their own professional and personal needs. The first national Local Authority OT workforce survey will provide an opportunity to promote the identity of OTs, working in local authority settings, offer a focal point for them to articulate their views and opinions, engage in leadership and professional development and enable them to facilitate influencing practice to make their services the best that they can be.
We would encourage all services to give their staff time to complete it.”
Dr Anita Mottram, Kirklees Council