We’re calling for the candidates in the Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership election, and contenders to be the next First Minister of Scotland, for their commitment to support the occupational therapy workforce.
We believe it's crucial that the next First Minister tackles six areas to make a positive difference to health and social care in Scotland.
What the next First Minister must do:
1. A commitment to a “Once For Scotland” approach to rehabilitation supporting universal access to high quality, person-centred rehabilitation as a right, and for this to be reflected in the National Health Services (NHS) constitution and the National Care Service (NCS) legislation.
2. Deploy occupational therapists in schools, early years and community settings to ensure children receive earlier focused interventions. By providing solutions-focused support earlier, this will reduce the need for specialist services and referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Support.
3. Ensure parity of recognition, esteem and funding between health and social care.
4. Long-term investment in occupational therapy services within GP practices across Scotland to improve access to preventative and early interventions. This will build on the success of the First Contact Practitioner Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists in all NHS Lanarkshire GP surgeries.
5. Be clear about how the shift to early intervention and prevention will be resourced, measured and achieved. Provide greater clarity on what’s meant by “care” in the title National Care Service, as it means different things to different individuals and organisations. To ensure that people are supported by the NCS to live their best lives there must be a shift from viewing care as a passive “done for you” approach to a more enabling “do with you” approach.
6. The NCS provides a great opportunity to enshrine safe staffing for all health and social care professionals into law. We want to see occupational therapists specifically mentioned by name in the legislation to ensure they are protected by law.
We’ve written to Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes and we will continue to lobby the new First Minister once they are chosen.