Annual conference
Dare to lead , dare to change ... find your tipping point ... and share your impact . Share , share , share . Lever the power of the many – the power of the crowd – because moving that power of the few , creates influence of the many .”
Annual conference
Report
She said : ‘ Most people I see present to their GP in crisis regularly . Usually with anxiety and depression , but often with an undiagnosed complex trauma . [ They ] are rarely in work or education , and are almost always living in poverty , and most struggle to leave the house for any nonessential reason .’
Often with co-morbid conditions and unhealthy lifestyles , they want to change , but lack the confidence and money to , Laura shared how she uses her OT skills to set goals , increase occupational function and participation , building people ’ s skills and confidence to self-manage , by working in partnership with a wider team and the voluntary sector .
Delegates then heard from GPs Tom Holdsworth and Tom O ’ Brien on how OTs are making a difference in Sheffield ’ s PCNs .
Tom Holdsworth , Townships 1 PCN Clinical Director and Chair of Sheffield PCN Clinical Directors , explained how when bidding to set up a new service , he ‘ knew almost nothing ’ about occupational therapy , until a colleague encouraged him to ‘ take a leap of faith ’ and to recruit an OT .
Tom O ’ Brien , GP Partner at Green Cross Group Practice and Clinical Director of the SAPA5 PCN , added that , ‘ the beauty of PCNs are that it allows us as GPs … to be a little bit more creative and daring in our approach to how we manage patients .’
He said : ‘ We too didn ’ t have a really good idea of what occupational therapy would bring to our network ’. But rather than employing someone they had a good knowledge of and saying ‘ this is what we want you to do ’, instead they employed an OT and said , ‘ this is the issue we want you to address ’, then giving them the freedom as to how they would accomplish it .
Tom Holdsworth said : ‘ The real strength of occupational therapy is the way the approach is so holistic , avoids over-medicalising things , is problem solving and solution focused , and it ’ s a great natural fit as part of a multidisciplinary team ’.
While it has required changes in the way practices work , he concluded : ‘ It ’ s a really proactive model . It ’ s not firefighting same day demand … we proactively go out and find unmet need . It really has been one of the best things we have done as a PCN .’
The session also covered the importance of hosting and undertaking leadership placements , led by Natalie Jones , Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust . Natalie was joined by Oli Ridge and Simran Sangha , Sheffield Hallam University students , who talked passionately and insightfully about their experiences ( see page 16 ).
We also heard from Jennifer Read , University Teacher ; Research Fellow and state registered Occupational Therapist , University of Sheffield , on her top tips for getting involved in research in primary with ‘ Four top tips for getting involved in research and evidencing your role ’ ( see page 16 ).
Dare to lead , dare to change ... find your tipping point ... and share your impact . Share , share , share . Lever the power of the many – the power of the crowd – because moving that power of the few , creates influence of the many .”
Natalie Jones , Clinical Academic Occupational Therapist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Growing primary care : take home message
The real strength of occupational therapy is the way our approach is holistic , avoids over-medicalising things , is problem solving and solution focused , and it ’ s a great natural fit as part of a multidisciplinary team .
July 2022 2023 OTnews 15