Annual conference
Plan for the future and work together to ensure our profession has maximum impact , delegates are challenged
At the end of a fantastic two days of , learning , debating , discussing and connecting , RCOT Chief Executive Steve Ford closed the 45th Annual Conference by thanking delegates for their ‘ engagement , enthusiasm , participation and positivity ’, and everyone who contributed to making this event such a success .
He said : ‘ This time last year was my first conference , and people were saying to me , Steve we want stronger leadership from RCOT . We want better understanding , more communication , more noise about occupational therapy .
‘ We want an increased sense of inclusion and a stronger focus on EDB . We want to have greater clarity about the benefits of membership and a sense that membership is relevant to us .
‘ And there was a sense that RCOT needed to modernise , be less London centric and to be more in touch with its members and the issues and challenges that you face .’
Reflecting on January ’ s collective launch of our new strategy , vision , values and brand , he went on to pledge that ‘ the new RCOT will be an exciting place to be ’ and that ‘ we will be the advocate and champion that occupational therapists deserve .’
He said , ‘ we will be a forward-looking organisation , which shares and celebrates powerful outcomes , leads the profession forward boldly , and is proudly and actively inclusive .’
Exclaiming , ‘ now is the time for occupational therapy ,’ he went on to say : ‘ There are so many opportunities [ and ] the need for occupational therapy at this stage in health and social care is crucial , so it ’ s vital that we ’ re able to step up and deliver the change that people want to see .’
Thinking about our five-year strategy , and the ‘ Rise Up ’ promise to increase our profile and form collaborative alliances to benefit occupational therapy , he said : ‘ I hope you ’ ve seen the changes here , where we ‘ re trying to be much more confident , engaging and inclusive through social media .’
Sharing RCOT ’ s current focus on tackling the estimated ‘ 1 in 10 ’ vacancy rates for occupational therapy posts and growing our future workforce , he added : ‘ There ’ s a recognition that we can ’ t be waiting for all of these new learners to qualify and march over the hill and save us .’
He went on : ‘ We need to think about occupational therapy as a really valuable resource that needs to be targeted and focused where it has maximum impact . So , increasingly , you ’ ll be hearing more from RCOT about working with local services to think about , how we use that scarce resource in the most effective way to have the maximum impact ?
‘ How do we organise our services ?
Steve Ford
How do we learn from each other and share best practice ?’ The overarching message was that we need to use our expertise effectively .
On the theme ‘ Open Up ’, he said that we want to make sure we ’ re engaging with our members more often and more meaningfully , and to expand our work with public contributors and expand the pool of members who can act as RCOT representatives .
For ‘ Lift Up ’ he talked about the ‘ exciting work ’ planned for 2022 around revitalising our offer for members and supporting future and current occupational therapists ’ success . And then he talked about ‘ Build Up ’, which will create a valuesled culture that empowers our people to thrive .
Changing tack , he moved on to think about the future and reflect on scenario planning , and he asked delegates : ‘ What are you all going to be doing in 2040 ?’
Referencing students and newly qualified occupational therapists – and the education providers currently training them – he challenged people to think about the year 2040 , as ‘ you will be at the peak of your careers and leadership roles … and yet we know 2040 will be such a different world than now .’
Six significant drivers are set to shape our world , he stressed : demography , climate change , the workforce , the gig economy , privatisation and technology .
‘ As a profession ,’ he concluded , ‘ we need to bring together those people who can envisage the future and identify these trends and work together so we can get on the front foot of this , and we can be these people using these changes as opportunities for us to position ourselves to have maximum impact .’
His final message was a simple yet rousing ‘ join us in making it happen .’
Words All reporting by TRACEY SAMUELS , Editor OTnews editorial @ rcot . co . uk
July 2022 OTnews 23