NEWS
RCOT promotes good practice to Welsh Parliament health committee chair
RCOT has met with the chair of the Welsh Parliament’s
health, social care and sport committee to explain
the work of occupational therapists during the COVID-19
pandemic.
The Royal College met with Dr Dai Lloyd MS, alongside
representatives from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, to
explain the work of its members.
Dr Lloyd said: ‘Clearly occupational therapy is key to
supporting people at home in the community. Over recent
months I have had family experience of the excellent contribution
occupational therapists have made in ensuring that elderly
relatives are safe and rehabilitated in their own homes.’
RCOT will be giving evidence to the committee about the
role of occupational therapists during the crisis.
Quote of the month
I have had family experience of the
excellent contribution occupational
therapists have made in ensuring that
elderly relatives are safe and
rehabilitated in their own homes
Dr Dai Lloyd
Welsh Parliament health committee chair
Delivering occupational therapy for
people with Huntington’s disease, one
window at a time
A multidisciplinary team has been finding innovate ways to continue
working in Gwent, even meeting with clients through windows.
The specialist community team works with people with
Huntington’s disease, as the area has a higher-than-usual incidence
of the condition, with 79 patients in active contact with the team.
Heather Arthur, an occupational therapist in the team, says: ‘We
are used to visiting people a lot, and it can be difficult not to work
face to face as with Huntington’s there are often communication
and cognitive problems that require you to be quite direct. We often
need multiple visits over a number of weeks, and it’s a job that can
require a lot of persistence. But building that relationship is really
important for when difficult situations arise.’
That posed a problem as lockdown prevented easy faceto-face
contacts, meaning the team had to find other ways to
work with their cohort. WhatsApp and Skype have played a role
in working with some people, and the team anticipate retaining
those tools after the pandemic if they need quick access to a
particular patient.
But there are other people who they work with who haven’t
been able to connect virtually – and the team has had to start
meeting with them through their windows.
‘It’s only for a small number of them,’ says Heather, ‘but it
makes a huge difference. I have been able to talk to them or a carer
through a side window, while having a presence almost within their
space. It makes the connection with them so much easier.’
The team has also set up a virtual group for carers which they
anticipate keeping online in the future to allow people to join without
needing to travel.
‘What has been important is having a whole raft of ways to stay
in contact with people,’ she says.
Lothian occupational therapist on
COVID-19 vaccine trials
Kate Pirie, an NHS Lothian
occupational therapist, is taking
part in Oxford University’s major
trial for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Kate, who works at the
intermediate care Liberton
Hospital in Edinburgh, said: ‘I’m
on a rotation at the moment and
have been here since November.
Winter was busy and then there
was COVID-19. It’s been a stressful time with a lot of changes;
every day there was something new to take on board, and there
have been really sad times for patients, families and staff. So when
I saw an email about taking part in the vaccine trial, it seemed like a
little bit of optimism.’
Kate attended an in-person assessment the next day, from
which she found out she does not have any COVID-19 antibodies
and was therefore eligible for the trial.
She will either have had the trial COVID-19 vaccine, or an
existing vaccine for meningitis, but like the other 10,000 people on
the trial, she won’t find out for a year which she has had.
In the meantime, she will contribute swabs for the next eight
weeks (‘it’s as uncomfortable as it looks, and I’ll be taking them to
work to see if colleagues can help me,’ says Kate) as well as blood
tests.
Kate’s participation in the trial was covered in the Daily Record,
marking the second story in the paper from her family after her
older sister, a nurse in Glasgow, published a poem about the death
of a patient.
Kate Pirie
‘Everywhere you go there has been something sad,’ says Kate.
‘I wanted to do whatever I could do to get rid of it.’
OTnews July 2020 7