Occupational Therapy News OTnews November 2019 | Page 12

NEWS
Progress too slow on multidisciplinary
primary care teams in Wales
The introduction of multidisciplinary teams in primary care
settings has been hampered by gaps opening up elsewhere in
the system as staff are moved, according to a report from the
Wales Audit Office.
The model has also been slowed as new roles require
supervision, training and mentoring that are taking time to set up.
New ways of thinking about how to introduce the roles, such
as with more standardised training, job descriptions and specific
career paths, are all suggested in the report. It is also calling for
data on staff numbers in the new teams to be published.
RCOT met with the health and social care minister Vaughan
Gething during October to discuss primary care and the long-
term plan for health and social care, A Healthier Wales.
Dai Davies, RCOT policy officer for Wales, said: ‘We know
how valuable having occupational therapists in GP practices can
be, as with the great work happening at the Hywel Dda University
Health Board, which we highlighted to Mr Gething – but it is
not a model that is operating everywhere in Wales yet, and we
discussed what is needed to get that into action.’
Read the report at: www.audit.wales/publication/primary-
care-services-wales.
Hospital discharge report launches in
Northern Ireland
More support from volunteers and the community could help
improve patient flow and outcomes during hospital discharge,
according to a British Red Cross report.
Life Beyond The Ward was launched in Northern Ireland and
also recommends that a five-step independence check should
be put in place as part of the discharging process of patients,
and increasing resources for community services to help people
to recover successfully following discharge from hospital. A
quarter of delayed bed days were found to be due to a lack of
domiciliary care packages.
The report references the RCOT report on reducing pressure
in hospitals.
The report is available at: www.bit.do/beyond-the-ward-NI.
RCOT’s reports are available at: www.rcot.co.uk/ilsm.
Culture change will embed
research in profession, says
RCOT’s new research vision
A UK-wide culture that embraces engaging in and with research
will be embedded in the occupational therapy profession over
the next decade, according to the vision for research set out in
RCOT’s new Research and Development Strategy.
RCOT’s Research and Development Strategy 2019-2024
highlights that engaging in or with research is every occupational
therapist’s business. Recognising that this will not be the same
for everyone, the strategy identifies and values a spectrum
of engagement, from working actively with existing research
evidence to inform practice, to participating in the development of
the evidence base.
The strategy informs, guides and directs the development
of research in the occupational therapy profession in the UK,
as well as outlining what RCOT will do to deliver its vision.
The new strategy has been developed over the last two years
in consultation with RCOT members and its staff, as well as
health and care experts from across the UK, and is aimed at all
occupational therapists in the UK.
Dr Jo Watson, RCOT assistant director – education and
research, said: ‘Throughout the two-year Research and
Development Review that informed the writing of the strategy, our
members working in a range of practice and research contexts,
health and care experts beyond the profession, policy drivers
and the literature consistently highlighted the importance of using
evidence-based interventions, of robustly evidencing the impact
and effectiveness of our services, and of continuing to expand the
evidence base, particularly as the scope and nature of practice
evolves.
‘RCOT’s vision for the research is that the professional culture
of occupational therapy across the UK will evolve to position
engaging in and with research as a matter of professional pride
for every occupational therapist, underpinning the quality and
effectiveness of the services we offer to the individuals, groups
and communities we work with.
‘Achieving the strategy’s aims and vision will be a shared
endeavour between RCOT and its members, and the work being
taken forward by RCOT is already being shaped by the new
strategy. RCOT is committed to supporting members to build
their skills and confidence in engaging in and with research for
the benefits for those accessing occupational therapy services,
departments and organisations, individual occupational therapists
and the profession as a whole. ‘
Read the strategy at: www.rcot.co.uk/research. There will be
an in-depth look at the strategy in the next edition of OTnews.
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12 OTnews November 2019