FEATURE CHILDREN ’ S SOCIAL CARE
We are regular contributors to the safeguarding process and feel it is key that , not only do we have access to mandatory training , but that we continually discuss and learn from our social work colleagues where safeguard concerns arise .
In turn we have produced a training course for our colleagues in children and families regarding the risks associated with the incorrect use or non-compliance of using specialist equipment and the progression of adaptations . This has been received extremely well , following recent delivery to a wide audience , including child protection chairs .
Being embedded within our Children and Young People with Disabilities teams enables the organic conversations that has contributed immensely to our development in this area .
The expanding role of occupational therapy Essex County Council employs 6,627 workers within social care ; 1,372 of those workers are in the children and families sector ; children ’ s occupational therapists make up 13 of these 1,372 workers , around 0.9 per cent of the workforce for this sector according to the ECC annual diversity report 2019 – overall headcount numbers in children and families .
In a fast-moving social care environment , we have come to recognise the immense importance of being able to quickly provide a succinct fact-based overview of the service we provide .
Being able to do this at a strategic planning level has meant that over the last 10 years we have routinely demonstrated where staffing ratios were insufficient to meet the demands of the service and successfully lobbied for more occupational therapists .
Over 10 years , our service has a growth rate of over 60 per cent , which has only been made possible by continuing to highlight to our executives the value that occupational therapy brings to the quality of life of the families we work with and succinctly providing factbased evidence on our service provision and needs .
The occupational therapy team manager presents frequently at a senior management level meetings to share updates on our service , run by the executive director of children and families .
The voice of occupational therapy has developed with great strength and has now led to the development of two separate role emerging occupational therapy posts within the Leaving and After Care Team and Fostering and Permanency Services .
The voice of occupational therapy within Children and Young People with Disabilities is branching further and with influence , support and networking the scope and reach of occupational therapy for children ’ s social care is limitless .
COVID-19 – our response The pandemic has dominated a huge part of the last 15 months and , as with many other contributors to this magazine , we continue to steer our service through the pandemic and beyond .
Just like other organisations we had to act quickly and decisively to implement an action plan for our service . As the nation locked down in March 2020 , we collated and reviewed the evidence and recommendations both locally and nationally to write an initial response and plan for our service .
This was time critical to provide clear direction to the team as to our continuing responsibilities and how to safely carry out our role . Our plan remained under constant review for many months as new evidence arose , and guidelines adapted .
Working with such a complex and vulnerable service user group has provided many challenges to us all we will have much reflection on these extraordinary times in the coming years .
Measures of success In summary , we have recognised the benefits of delivering an occupational therapy service for children and young people with disabilities within children ’ s social care .
We strongly believe , evidenced by our successes , that being embedded within the children ’ s social care teams has vastly improved our service delivery , achievements in leadership and improved outcomes for the children , young people and families we work with .
This has led to an inclusion in the bigger picture of a child and young person ’ s overall journey through social care .
We also recognise that none of this would have been possible without a team of enthusiastic , dedicated occupational therapists with a shared vision .
Reference
Royal College of Occupational Therapists ( 2010 ) Social care : occupational therapy for children , young people and families . ( Position Statement ). London : RCOT . ( Withdrawn )
Barbara Wingrove , occupational therapy team manager , and Laura Martin , senior occupational therapist , Children and Young People with Disabilities Service , Essex County Council . Email :
Barbara . wingrove @ essex . gov . uk
54 OTnews July 2021