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

One of the key pillars of the Government’s new 10-Year Health and Care Plan is moving more care into communities. But the sudden collapse of NRS Healthcare – one of the UK’s largest suppliers of community equipment – shows just how fragile that ambition is without resilient, well-funded equipment services.

Community equipment is the quiet backbone of health and care. It enables safe hospital discharge, supports end-of-life care at home and helps thousands of people live safely and independently. The liquidation of NRS has disrupted OTs across England and Northern Ireland – and created real risks to safety, dignity and wellbeing – including many who worked for the organisation itself.

We’ve been hearing first-hand from members through two extraordinary Leadership Café sessions. The picture is concerning:

• depleted stock
• urgent needs only being met
• delayed discharges
• OTs under pressure to juggle ethical, legal and professional responsibilities.

Yet once again, our members and OTs in general are showing extraordinary professionalism and agility – redesigning pathways, sharing stock and stepping up to keep people safe. We’re taking action. 

We’ve:

• Launched a survey to capture the scale of impact.
• Written to Ministers across all four nations to demand answers.
• Raised concerns with the HCPC, who have issued a statement reassuring registrants they won’t be held accountable for failures outside their control.
• Opened a dedicated discussion thread on RCOT Communities for members to share solutions and support.
• Met with MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Access to Disability Equipment to highlight how the situation is affecting OTs.

This crisis highlights the urgent need for sustainable funding and commissioning of equipment services. We’ll continue to press for answers and ensure OTs are central to shaping long-term solutions. Visit our news section to read more about this ongoing issue. 

Earlier this summer, the Community Rehabilitation Alliance (CRA), which we're a member of, wrote to NHS England calling for stronger strategic leadership for rehabilitation within Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). We made the case that without senior rehab expertise embedded at system level, ambitions around prevention, personalised care and reducing inequalities cannot be met.

NHS England has now responded, recognising the vital role of rehabilitation in delivering the 10-Year Health and Care Plan and emphasising that Allied Health Professionals are central to transformation. While they stopped short of mandating specific rehab leadership roles within ICBs, they confirmed that senior AHP leadership should be retained at all levels and committed to working with the CRA to strengthen guidance and share best practice.

This is an important acknowledgement of the value of rehabilitation and the leadership of OTs and other AHPs. We’ll continue to press for consistent, visible rehab leadership in every ICB – and to make sure occupational therapy is at the heart of community services.

It’s set to be a busy political autumn, with several key developments on the horizon that will shape the context for occupational therapy and wider health and care:

• Schools White Paper – expected in the coming weeks, setting out the UK Government’s vision for education. We’ll be pressing to ensure the role of OTs is recognised, particularly in supporting children with special educational needs and disability requirements.
• NHS Workforce Plan – with ongoing pressures across health and care, the next iteration of the plan will be critical for securing the future supply of OTs and other AHPs.
• Keep Britain Working review and Pathways to Work Green Paper – both are due to report back, with important implications for vocational rehabilitation, return-to-work support and tackling economic inactivity.
• Autumn budget – the Chancellor’s statement will be a test of whether the Government is prepared to invest in prevention, rehabilitation and community-based care.
• Party conferences – a key moment to influence the political agenda. We’ll be at the Labour Party Conference, making sure occupational therapy is visible in debates on health, care and disability.

You’ll be aware that NRS Healthcare, a major provider of community equipment services in Northern Ireland, collapsed and went into administration in recent weeks. We know this is likely to have a serious impact across Northern Ireland. While many of our members are currently managing with existing equipment stock and short-term arrangements, we’re hearing concerns about how this may affect your ability to support people safely in the weeks and months ahead. 

We wrote to the Chief AHP Officer and Minister for Health in Northern Ireland, seeking answers and pressing for action to secure supply continuity and support frontline staff. We heard back from the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt MLA, who made clear the Department of Health understand the significant impact this could have. We have also been advised by the Minister that there are contingency plans in place to secure continuity of services. 

The impact of this will likely continue to unfold in the coming weeks so please do get in touch with me if you are experiencing any difficulties. A huge part of our response has been shaped by what our members have told us, so please do get in touch at cliona.mcsherry@rcot.co.uk.

One of the issues our members consistently raise is the lack of leadership opportunities for occupational therapists and the AHP community more widely. We’ve even had it reported that an OT was excluded from applying for the Executive Director role on the Trust Leadership Board, as this must be a nursing colleague. We know this affects morale and job prospects.

This month, as part of a delegation representing 13 allied health professions, we attended a meeting with Mike Farrar, the newly appointed Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health. This meeting focused on the ways that AHPs can contribute and play a part in solving the challenges facing health and social care in Northern Ireland, but only if we are at the leadership table. 

We challenged the Permanent Secretary directly on the exclusion of Allied Health Professions from key decision-making forums – calling out the real-world impact this has on our members across Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts. We made it clear that occupational therapists and our AHP colleagues are essential to the future of health and social care in Northern Ireland. But to unlock our full potential, we need systemic reform and a seat at the strategic leadership table.

You may also be interested to know that we are currently delivering a wider project relating to advanced practice occupational therapy. This builds on the outputs of the Reimagining Advanced Practice project that concluded in April 2025.

I am so grateful to the hundreds of you I have met over the last year, who have generously shared your expertise and experience with me to shape and inform our policy work. One of the main avenues I have for engaging with our members is the Workforce Strategy Advisory Group. This group was established last year to support the development of our Workforce Strategy Action Plan, which was published earlier this year. 

Read the action plan

Since its publication, the Advisory Group’s remit has broadened. This includes looking at how we campaign and influence to achieve our vision. In recent months, members of the Advisory Group have attended meetings on our behalf with senior stakeholders, including the Minister for Health and Chair of the Health Committee.

We’ve recently been recruiting members of the Advisory Group, and we’re delighted that we have six fantastic new colleagues on board. A huge thank you to Emma, Laura, Marie-Clare, Sheena, Kimberly and Beth for their interest in joining this group and adding so much to our work in Northern Ireland.

We’re really pleased to share that occupational therapy now has a place in the National Social Work Partnership in Scotland – a big step forward for the profession.

Through consistent work with our members and in partnership with UNISON, we played a key role in making the case to the existing partners: Scottish Government, CoSLA and Social Work Scotland. This is a significant step forward. 

Occupational therapists bring a unique lens to social work – one that focuses on enabling people to live independently, participate fully in their communities and maintain dignity through meaningful activity. Being part of this partnership ensures our voice is heard in shaping policy and practice at a national level.

Importantly, this inclusion directly supports the delivery of our Workforce Strategy. It strengthens our ability to advocate for better recognition, career development and working conditions for OTs in local authorities – ensuring that our members are represented where decisions are made.

We will continue to work with members as we join this partnership to navigate the challenges facing OTs working in local authorities.

Read more about what this means in our news section.

We were proud to attend the unveiling of the Margaret Barr Fulton memorial plaque at the Fulton Clinic in Aberdeen, marking 100 years of occupational therapy.

Margaret Barr Fulton was a pioneer whose legacy continues to inspire generations of occupational therapists. Celebrating this centenary not only honours the profession’s history but also reminds us of the transformative power of our profession. We look forward to further events next month to continue celebrations!

We’d love to see your celebrations too so please do share on BlueSky or LinkedIn and tag us!

With the next Scottish Parliament election on the horizon, we’re working hard to make sure occupational therapy is front and centre in the conversations that matter. 

Along with our colleagues at the Allied Health Professions Federation Scotland (AHPFS), we developed a manifesto ahead of our upcoming parliamentary event on Thursday 11 September.

This manifesto outlines key priorities for Allied Health Professions in Scotland – covering everything from routes into the profession, fair access to services and stronger leadership roles on Health Boards and Integration Joint Boards. For occupational therapists, this is a chance to influence decision-makers and advocate for the profession’s strategic importance in health and social care. 

We will be sharing this manifesto with MSPs and other decision makers at our Scottish Parliament event on Thursday 11 September – and we’ll keep you updated on how it lands. 

We’re also developing our own RCOT manifesto, which will launch in the coming months. It’ll be shaped by your voices and focused on what matters most to occupational therapists across Scotland.

An influential group of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are investigating ADHD/ASD pathways and support. We have responded to Health and Social Care Committee inquiry to ensure occupational therapy perspectives are considered. A recent member survey highlighted significant challenges around waiting lists, including:

• demand far exceeding capacity across both adult and children’s services
• funding reductions despite rising referrals
• under-resourced multidisciplinary teams
• fragmented service structures.

Additional concerns include Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services absorbing neurodevelopmental funding without clear accountability, inconsistent service models across regions and complex, siloed referral pathways that contribute to delays and inefficiencies. 

Thank you to members who responded to our survey and shaped our response. We’ll keep you updated as the inquiry progresses.