Lobbying leads to new working group to tackle access to therapies for children with SEND
Steve Ford
Over recent months , RCOT has been leading a taskforce bringing together the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists , the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists , the British Academy of Childhood Disability and the Disabled Children ’ s Partnership , to call for greater access to therapy support for children and young people .
After gaining support back in November from the children and families minister Vicky Ford MP to protect children ’ s therapists from redeployment , the taskforce met with the minister in April 2021 , to
highlight concerns that therapy support for children with disabilities was sitting at just 30 per cent of the level it was before the pandemic .
The minister was quick to act on the advice and sent an email to all schools in England on 24 April to emphasise the guidance and ask that all therapists and health professionals have access to schools to help the most vulnerable children .
Because of this work , the minister is now setting up a working group made up of NHS England , the Department for Education , Department for Health and Social Care and Public Health England , to look specifically at access to therapies for children and young people with SEND .
RCOT has been invited as a key driver to sit on this group and advise on the next steps to ensuring that the education , development and mental health of children and young people is not ignored .
The proposed working group is a welcome opportunity for occupational therapists to raise awareness of their role in enabling children and young people with physical , learning and mental health needs to realise their potential and participate as valued members of their community .
RCOT will be pushing for cross-departmental support to ensure all children can access occupational therapy at the right time , and in the right place .
Commenting on this development , RCOT chief executive , Steve Ford said : ‘ This is really positive news , demonstrating how lobbying by the RCOT public affairs team gets results for our members and society .’
Read the letter at www . rcot . co . uk / news / new-working-groupchildrens-therapies-established-following-rcot-led-call-greater-access and look out for further opportunities to engage with activity related to this working group ; updates will be shared as opportunities arise .
Healthy housing for Scotland briefing paper published
Public Health Scotland has published ‘ Healthy housing for Scotland ’, a briefing paper setting out evidence on how housing can influence health and wellbeing .
The aim of the paper is to assist the Scottish Government with impact assessing intended policy developments related to its Housing to 2040 strategy . It is also a tool for housing colleagues – who will be developing and implementing policy and carrying out associated impact assessments – and to support public health colleagues who are working locally , regionally and nationally .
The paper gives an overview of available evidence that is relevant to the broad issues covered by Housing to 2040 , and focuses on priorities such as : affordability ; accessibility ; quality and conditions ; low carbon , energy efficiency and climate resilience ; marginalised communities ; homelessness and health ; mental health ; and place and communities .
Katrina Reid , health improvement manager , health and housing , Public Health Scotland said : ‘ In order to improve physical health and mental wellbeing and tackle health inequalities in communities across Scotland , we need to ensure everyone has access to a warm , dry , safe , affordable home that meets their needs .
‘ Housing can influence health directly through condition , security of tenure , overcrowding and suitability for inhabitants ’ needs . Wider aspects of housing that influence health indirectly include affordability and poverty , housing satisfaction , choice and control , social isolation , access to key services such as health care , and environmental sustainability .
‘ The publication of Housing to 2040 is therefore a significant development and we have produced our paper to support consideration of the links between housing and health in its implementation . We know that adequate housing which is safe , accessible and high quality is key to achieving the highest attainable standard of health . We can ’ t have one without the other .’
‘ We welcome this useful paper highlighting the crucial factors linking housing and health , many of which occupational therapists address in their daily interventions across Scotland ,’ says Jill Pritchard , housing occupational therapist and Scotland rep for the RCOT Specialist Section – Housing . ‘ In particular , the recognition of the accessibility challenges that many older and disabled people face and which impact not just on their safety and independence , but also on their general health and wellbeing and ability to participate equally and fully in their communities .
‘ We look forward to continuing to work with our integration partners both at strategic levels , using the impact assessment tools , and also at local levels working together to improve services for individuals and communities using a place-based approach .’
Read the full briefing paper at : www . publichealthscotland . scot / media / 7483 / healthy-housing-for-scotland . pdf . Access Housing to 2041 at : www . gov . scot / publications / housing-2040-2 /.
6 OTnews July 2021