NEWS
RCOT steps up its in-person lobbying activities at party conference
RCOT attended both the Labour and Conservative party conferences this year , meeting politicians and activists in person to further the profession ’ s objectives .
The Royal College ’ s purposes were : first to find out where the parties are on issues relating to occupational therapy , and whether there are any key topics that are neglected . Second , what arguments should RCOT be using , especially with those who disagree . And third , who might be partners for future work ?
The Labour Party conference took place between 25 and 29 September 2021 in Brighton , while the Conservative Party conference was held on 3 to 6 October , in Manchester .
RCOT ’ s senior policy and public affairs manager , Richard Fernandez and public affairs manager , Benjamin Powick attended over 22 fringe meetings , three roundtables and five meetings across both events , to address varying subjects , such as mental health , workforce , primary care , health inequity and the attitudes of the public .
Richard said : ‘ One challenge in public health is public understanding . We don ’ t think that enough people understand what ‘ health inequalities ’ ( nor , for that matter ‘ health disparities ’) means , and although much of our work in this field is aimed within health and social care , where people do
understand it , a lot of the pressure on the NHS and social care is generated from the public . We need them to understand our work , to support it and to ask for it .’
One of the roundtables at the Labour Party conference that RCOT took part in was on mental health and regional inequalities . Richard spoke about the issue of digital equity and the need to get occupational therapists into schools to support those who have both mental and physical ill-health , and how occupational therapists can help people to stay in the workforce .
The importance of timely , person-centred occupational therapy was also a topic of discussion .
Read Richard ’ s Blog about the party conferences at : www . rcot . co . uk / news / rcot-party-conference-england .
© Andrii Yalanskyi via Getty Images
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