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Tackling our workforce challenges
Is enhanced practice an opportunity to strengthen our workforce and support structured professional development for occupational therapy ?
W orkforce challenges in health and social care are widely recognised , with issues of retention particularly at mid-career level . The Nuffield Report ( 2023 ) and Health and Care Professions Council ( 2023 ) retention data illustrates the scale of the issue for AHPs .
Retention within occupational therapy is a key , with a variety of nation and profession specific strategies seeking to address career progression and opportunities for professional development to tackle this .
In 2022 , NHS England ( formerly Health Education England ) launched a programme of work focusing on the development of a national schema and curriculum for enhanced level practice .
This work has now been published and seeks to provide practitioners , employers and educational providers with structured guidance on the development of enhanced practice programmes , ensuring profession specific expertise and experiences are at the centre .
What is enhanced practice ?
Enhanced practice is a level of practice that is situated between preceptorship and advanced practice . Enhanced level practice already exists within the AHP workforce , delivered by established clinicians who are autonomous , making a significant impact on care and clinical services .
It is essential that enhanced practice is recognised as a career destination in its own right , valuing the profession specific knowledge , skills and attributes of those who work within this level . For some , it may be a transition point toward advance level practice within their career journey .
Enhanced practice education is seen as a key part of the improved career pathway for AHPs and will realise the full potential of the skill mix found within the health and social care workforce . Recognising and formalising enhanced-level practice will drive cultural change , support with workforce retention and provide a positive impact on services .
Each of the nations have developed career frameworks that include enhanced level practice and set out key descriptors that enable registrants to recognise their professional domains and capabilities for practice .
The frameworks provide the opportunity to develop structured educational pathways to support professional growth .
Development of enhanced practice schema and OT profession specific curricula
NHS England ( Workforce , Training and Education ) commissioned the University of Salford and Coventry University , as an innovation partnership , to develop a nationally recognised enhanced practice schema and model curricula for seven of the allied health professions : diagnostic radiography ; dietetics ; occupational therapy ; operating department practice ; physiotherapy ; podiatry ; and prosthetics and orthotics .
This innovation partnership enabled both education providers to collaborate across professions , utilising their expertise and maximising opportunities and allowing development at an accelerated pace to deliver the work within a short timeframe .
Working in collaboration with professional bodies and key stakeholders , profession specific workforce priorities were identified and reflected in the occupational therapy model curriculum :
• The role of occupational therapy within health promotion across multiple sectors and groups of people across their life course proactively supporting people to maximise their personal and community resources to contribute their own health and wellbeing and of others .
• Harnessing the value and contribution of occupational therapy within social care , using a strengths-based approach and technology to enable people to live at home and be connected to their communities . ages via Getty Images
18 OTnews May 2024