Occupational Therapy News OTnews February 2019_Joomag | Page 17

PERSONALISED CARE FEATURE
if we look at it this way. It looks at the moment like a bit of a
win-win situation.’
The numbers who require change is small. Of the 615
people with a notional personal wheelchair budget last
quarter, only two took one up. While all 615 people will be
getting a considered discussion about what outcomes they
want, the shift so far hasn’t uncovered a lot of unmet need.
‘One of the biggest fears with personal wheelchair budgets
was a massive shift in what the wheelchair provision was,’
says Patience. ‘That hasn’t happened in our audience so far.’
What it does mean is the chance to build new connections
between funders and pathways when people do need support.
Another case saw a woman starting a new job need a
wheelchair to access work. Her employer and Access to Work
were separately looking at a static chair and a wheelchair;
instead, they will be working together to get something more
suitable.
Says Patience: ‘It took a lot of conversation to understand
what you’re trying to do, and that involves using money
in a different way. You need to set up pathways for that to
happen.’
A lot of Patience’s work in this has been explaining the
process and benefits to potential partners. But a lot of work is
also going into helping frontline staff to understand the health
economy – ‘where the pockets of money are and who pays
for what’, as Patience puts it. All referring clinicians took part in
workshops to learn how to navigate it and help more people.
With personal wheelchair budgets under way, new projects
are now being looked at. There are close conversations with
colleagues in social care to examine what connections can be
forged, and Patience is also looking at new patient groups,
starting with children.
‘When I very first started looking at personalised care,
it reminded me of when I very first started to train,’ says
Patience. ‘I was encouraged when I trained about the various
ways we could meet a need, and really to be creative about
those ways we could do so. But when you go into individual
teams they can become more siloed and more prescriptive.
‘I think we’re moving away from that more prescriptive
approach and for me that’s what is really important; we’re
encouraging occupational therapists to think creatively outside
the box. That’s what this is about: let’s think about what this
person’s needs are, let’s look at what outcome they want, and
how could we meet that.’
See Patience and Dylan talk about his wheelchair at: www.
youtube.com/watch?v=8GbygovFqS4.
RCOT will be working to make sure occupational therapists
can make the most of the personalised care agenda across
the UK. Share your best practice on the personalised care
agenda with [e-mail] to support its efforts.
Personalised care in the nations
• In England, personalised care is put at the heart of
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the NHS Long-Term Plan, as reported on page 12.
A universal personalised care model has also been
launched: www.bit.ly/2t11uil.
In Scotland, 2018 saw the launch of the self-directed
support website to provide focus for both service users
and professionals: www.selfdirectedsupportscotland.
org.uk.
In Northern Ireland, a co-production guide was
launched last year as part of its Delivering Together
2026 programme: www.bit.ly/2pkcmGk. RCOT also
recently ran a social prescribing workshop to share best
practice and look at the challenges to current initiatives.
In Wales, the drive towards co-production and
personalisation came from the Social Services and
Wellbeing Act: www.socialcare.wales/hub/sswbact. Last
year’s A Healthier Wales also suggested refocusing on
community, prevention and co-production: www.bit.
ly/2t19EqF.
Andrew Mickel, journalist, OTnews, email: andrew.mickel@
rcot.co.uk
OTnews February 2019 17