Occupational Therapy News OTnews January 2019 | Page 16

FOCUS ON VOLUNTEERING
Informing and
influencing
New and outgoing members of the RCOT
Board: Learning and Development explain why
taking up such an opportunity is so vital to both
the profession and personal development
W
ould you like a new challenge for 2019?
Are you interested in the continuing
professional development agenda and
educational issues? Might you like
to support RCOT, working with new colleagues and
advancing education for all members throughout the UK?
If your answers are yes, why not consider joining the
RCOT Board: Learning and Development as your New
Year Resolution for 2019?
RCOT boards play an important advisory role, with
members bringing together a diverse wealth of experience,
expertise and individual perspectives to inform and
influence the work of the Royal College.
They provide a ‘sounding board’ for the organisation,
helping to shape its key areas of work, and providing an
opportunity for two-way communication between RCOT
and its membership.
The board focuses on discussing issues including new
and emerging policy, as well as other areas that impact
on the education of occupational therapists and the
development of the workforce.
The board certainly has a lot to consider. Those
members who have a particular interest in pre- and post-
registration education will be keenly aware of the profound
effect of the pace and volume of change in the sector,
alongside tight financial constraints.
In recent times, we have seen the introduction of a
new model of funding for pre-registration education,
particularly in England, plus expansion in the number of
providers UK-wide.
Apprenticeships for occupational therapy, the
development of healthcare support workers and advanced
clinical practice are now emerging.
Funding for continuing professional development (CPD)
has become a rare commodity, and there seems to be
an ever-increasing portfolio of frameworks designed to
establish capabilities in various practice domains, while
‘credentialing’ is gathering momentum in some quarters.
These types of areas have been subject to the attention of
the board to date.
16 OTnews January 2019
The board has also discussed the evolution and launch
of RCOT’s Career Development Framework, which has
been exceptionally well received, and a rich variety of case
studies are now being collated to illustrate its effective use
by all segments of the membership.
Considerable energy is being invested in developing
a portfolio of readily accessible learning resources to aid
the progress of individual career development plans within
and across the four pillars of the Career Development
Framework.
Early in 2019, RCOT anticipates launching its
new Assured Learning scheme, to provide quality
endorsements from RCOT for learning opportunities
offered by external providers, adding to the attractive range
of CPD resources members can source.
RCOT has begun a review of its Standards of learning
and development for pre-registration education and has
commissioned some research examining its unique role
in supporting the delivery of high-quality practice-based
learning for pre-registration students.
This will certainly be a focus of attention at the board
this year. The Royal College continues to work closely with
the Trailblazer Group to navigate the requirements of the
Institute for Apprenticeships and progress the entry-level
apprenticeship pathway ever-closer to the point of being
approved for delivery.
Challenging, but exciting times, and plenty for the
members of the board to contribute to, whether as a
manager of staff with CPD needs, a practice-based
educator or as an education provider.
Outgoing member Wendy Hall, Cambridgeshire and
Peterborough AHP Trust adult and specialist services
lead says of her experience on the board: ‘Education is
every occupational therapist’s business, whether working
clinically, educating our service users, our colleagues and
ourselves, or managerially developing our staff and the
future workforce.