FEATURE INTEGRATION
RED
Complex tasks, evidencing the additional skills and training
required to deliver them
AMBER
Tasks wider than currently undertaken within a care group,
but which if added to current roles would reduce the need for
onward referral, and provide a speedier, smoother journey for
the service user
GREEN
Core tasks which occupational therapists undertake routinely
whichever care group they work in
There is also a fine
balancing act to be
made for those staff who
work in teams where
they have to deliver on
some generic work in
their multidisciplinary
teams — in rehabilitation
teams there is a core
assessment that is
completed on behalf of the
team, for example.
The overall effect for staff
has been the chance to use a
wider range of their skills, bolstering
their professional development and providing
variety in their day-to-day working. Staff involved
have noted in particular how the peer support allows
them to both extend their own knowledge and
also how it allows themselves to be a resource to
colleagues in other teams.
There has not yet been a formal review of the
impact of the changes for service users, but the
overall effect
for staff has been the chance
to use a wider range of
their skills, bolstering their
professional development
and providing variety in their
‘‘The
day-to-day working.
hope is that they now have a smoother journey which
involves fewer staff and helps to
meet their needs quicker than
in the past. Staff may in fact
now work longer with a
given client as they have
more input than before,
but the overall effect
should be saved staff
time.
Future work will bring
in other care groups:
homelessness, addictions,
reablement and learning
disabilities are next on the list, with
specialist children’s services and adult
mental health to follow later.
For now the focus is on embedding the system
and seeing the first movement from amber to
green. ‘It’s been a lot of work for us to develop this
approach,’ says Dorothy, ‘but we’ve stuck with it as
we know there are big benefits for doing so.’
Andrew Mickel, OTnews journalist, email: andrew.
[email protected]
50 OTnews August 2020