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Current opportunities to get involved
Current opportunities with us
Are you ready to take your professional development to the next level while making a meaningful impact?
We’re on the lookout for passionate volunteers to help us build dynamic and thriving communities within RCOT. Our new practice, professional, and regional networks have recently launched and we need your energy and expertise to make them a success.
Find out more
Why volunteer with us?
- shape the future: be at the forefront of creating vibrant communities where members can connect, share and grow together
- develop new skills: gain valuable experience in leadership, collaboration and professional development that will enhance your career and meet CPD requirements
- build strong connections: network with like-minded professionals and form lasting relationships within your area of practice
- make an impact: lead initiatives that reflect the needs of your community and drive positive change.
- recognition: receive acknowledgment for your contributions and achievements
- supportive environment: benefit from a comprehensive onboarding journey, peer support groups and an annual reflection process to track your progress.
Find out more about our networks here.
Transforming health and social care campaign
Use our resources to build an understanding of the value of occupational therapy, its role in health and social care and where it needs to be positioned to have maximum impact. Get your resources here.
Innovation Hub is a space for the occupational therapy workforce to learn together about leading change.
Join our digital Innovation Hub community and share your innovations or search our database of real-world improvements. To become an early adopter, submit your improvement journey by sharing a challenge, change idea, or completed project.
It takes 15-30 minutes to answer questions about your service challenges and ideas. We welcome submissions from everyone in the occupational therapy workforce. Find out more about our Innovation Hub.
Open consultations give our members a chance to take part in our work at a strategic level. Contribute to our response to policies and legislations affecting the profession and delivery of services. Discover our current open consultations.
The Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO) Awards is a unique opportunity for AHPs to receive recognition for their personal contributions towards delivery of exceptional care for patients.
The awards are open to all 14 AHPs including support workers, assistant practitioners, registered professionals, and pre-registration apprentices. You can either nominate yourself or another AHP for NHS or publicly-funded initiatives / projects.
The 2025 CAHPO Awards nomination period is now open and will close on Sunday 1 June 2025.
We are looking for two members with experience of carrying out research and experience teaching research within an occupational therapy degree programme to join our Research and Innovation Advisory Group.
You will provide expert advice and support the implementation of our new Research and Innovation Strategy.
The advisory group includes people with experience of innovation, academic research, OT learners and people with lived experience. Normally we meet three times a year online.
If you are interested in joining, please complete our expression of interest form by 11.59pm, Thursday 31 July 2025.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch with Dr Gillian Ward, Head of Research and Innovation gillian.ward@rcot.co.uk
We will contact the successful members by email by mid-August.
Our networks and cafés
Our new network is the perfect space for RCOT members interested in research. Whether you're a learner, early career or experienced researcher, or just curious to learn more, we welcome you to join us.
1-2pm, Thursday 26th June 2025
Increasing Placement Capacity in Schools
Learn how Brunel University of London's innovative school outreach programme has successfully increased OT placement capacity using a group supervision model and a tiered approach to school-based practice. This session offers practical guidance for practice placement educators aiming to expand placements while embedding research, community impact, and OT theory into student experiences.
Session Facilitators:
- Dr Mellissa Prunty, Honorary Reader in Occupational Therapy, Brunel University of London and Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy at the University of Limerick
- Caroline McHugh, Occupational Therapist, Brunel University of London
12.00-1.00pm, Wednesday 25 June
This month we'll be joined by Jemma Austin, Clinical Research Practitioner/Occupational Therapist and Rose Cottam, Research Occupational Therapist who will be sharing their insights into their journey into research delivery and their day-to-day roles, including how they maintain their OT identity.
Visit our Research Café page for details on how to join this session
Current opportunities within our profession
Support and care for parents who experience early pregnancy loss in England
The aim of the Sunflower Project, led by the University of Bedfordshire, is to understand the challenges and identify priorities in early pregnancy loss care in England, from the perspective of individuals who experience miscarriage and healthcare professionals who provide their care, to collectively identify policy-driven solutions to improve psychological outcomes for individuals who experience trimester one pregnancy loss (<13 weeks gestation).
If you have experienced an early pregnancy loss and would like to share your experience, take part in their national survey, or find out more about the project.
UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC) is launching a survey for AHPs across the UK to gather their ideas on how to reduce the environmental impact of our care.
Take the survey - share your views
Why should AHPs be interested in UKHACC?
- climate change is the greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century, but it is also the greatest opportunity to redefine the social and environmental determinants of health
- AHPs are well-placed to provide solutions and need to be prepared for changes as our world changes
- your profession’s voice should be heard at all levels.
This is the first stage of UKHACC's work to identify the top actionable carbon reduction interventions for each AHP profession.
Please also share this survey with your networks.
Results back by the end of March. If you have any queries, please contact Frances.Slowie@nhs.net.
Create a learning session in the 2025 Student Competition for your chance to shine! All students on HCPC-approved pre-registration programmes are invited to design an engaging 30-minute learning session focused on the topic of speaking up and raising concerns.
There is a top prize of a £300 voucher and two £150 vouchers for runners-up. Submit your entry by Monday 1 September 2025.
Full details an be found at www.hcpc-uk.org/student-competition
If you are looking for funding to support your upcoming PhD study or a post-doctoral study, consider applying to us for this substantial award of £15,000. It is payable over three years or more by agreement in the case of part-time study to occupational therapists working in any sector.
Professional links to Liverpool and/or to Constance Owens’ commitment to Occupational Therapy internationally will be looked upon favourably.
All applications are dealt with by email and should be made on the application form which can be
obtained from Rathbones Trust Company Limited in Liverpool by emailing Lois.King@rathbones.com
Applications for these awards are welcome from individual registered occupational therapists who are interested in registering or who are registered for full or part-time studies in the following:
- PhD studies
- professional doctorates in occupational therapy
- professional doctorate in education (related to occupational therapy)
- or who plan to undertake post-doctoral study.
Closing date for all application forms and accompanying documentation is 31st August 2025 for
consideration at the November meeting of the Trustees.
Get all the details by downloading the flyer.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has announced their Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR). It aims to grow a portfolio of research programmes led, co-led and shaped by the insight of health care professionals or methodologists that have been historically under-represented across NIHR as research leaders and/or co-applicants.
They're seeking to drive transformational changes for patients and the public, with particular interested in funding research that purposefully aligns with the UK Government's Health and Growth missions and DHSC Areas of Research Interest 3: ‘Shaping and supporting the health and social care workforce of the future’.
To find out more, please take a look at the ring-fenced funding opportunity and sign up to our webinar on 30 June.
Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Beyond Kraepelin's divide
Thursday 11th September 2025
Hilton Leeds City, Neville St, Leeds LS1 4BX
9.30am to 4.30pm
6 CPD Points
This full day conference is chaired by Dr Tariq Mahmood & Dr Maheswarappa Hosalli, Consultant Psychiatrists at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and the programme is led by multiple expert speakers and will cover topics including:
- Neuroimaging Endophenotypes and other Biomarkers of Schizophrenia: New Developments with Professor Peter Woodruff
- Neurobiology of Bipolar Disorders with Dr Steven Clapcote
- New Antimanic Drugs with Dr John Cookson
- Drug Trials to Clinical Practice in Schizophrenia with Dr Prakash Hosalli
- New Antipsychotic Drugs with Michael Dixon
- Bipolar Disorder in Perinatal Period with Dr Rose Mozdiak
- Migration and Psychosis with Dr Tariq Mahmood
This course offers 6 CPD points suitable for Psychiatrists, Doctors in Training, Medical Students, Mental Health Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Social Workers and Psychologists.
We are offering a reduced rate for Occupational Therapists, please visit their website for more information or to book your discounted ticket online.