PRIMARY CARE FEATURE
the main reasons for referral have been for issues with poor sleep , support with developing coping strategies , support with
routine development , issues ‘‘...
with low motivation and support with managing deadlines .
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once non-essential face-to-face consultations can resume and the students are settled in after the summer break .
I also developed a relaxation group that could be delivered online . At the time of writing this article , I had successfully run the group four times and planned to run the group again in September . It runs over four weeks , begins with a quick introduction to group work and then introduces one relaxation technique each week . Time is allowed for patients to practise each technique and ask questions , alongside space for peer support .
The group has been well received , gaining good feedback from patients , and it appears to be helping them to make time for developing coping strategies for their anxiety .
Throughout my time at the practice , I have tried to keep lines of communication as open as possible and provide information on what occupational therapy can offer in primary care in various ways .
This has been done formally and informally through presenting at multidisciplinary meetings , emails and screen messages to highlight the service , individual meetings with new members of staff and through many chats in the kitchen over a cup of tea or lunch .
I feel it is very important to be as visible as possible within the surgery so that people feel comfortable discussing patients that they think you can support , and to be flexible in how , when and where these discussions take place , so that people can talk to you in whichever way they feel most comfortable .
I have collected basic data on the patients I have been seeing and found that the main reasons for referral have been for issues with poor sleep , support with developing coping strategies , support with routine development , issues with low motivation and support with managing deadlines .
I provided a total of 1,395 appointments between October 2020 and March 2021 , with 58 per cent of these being initial screening appointments . Nine per cent were one-off review appointments , seven per cent were appointments to complete the occupational self-assessment short form and collaboratively set goals , and 15 per cent were appointments to review progress towards those goals .
I have presented this information during multidisciplinary team meetings at the surgery , and the work completed so far in this role has been welcomed and supported by the various members of staff at the GP surgery .
I have had only a handful of face-to-face appointments so far and am excited to see what this role will look like now we are able to give patients the choice as to whether they have their appointments over the telephone , via video consultation , or face to face .
I have also supported facilitation of the walking group that has been set up by the health and wellbeing coach . This group is a great opportunity to role model healthy behaviours and provide support in a more informal setting . The surgery has recently appointed a social prescriber and an additional occupational therapist who have both settled into their roles and the team very quickly . They are both keen to add new groups to our existing programme and the team is working closely with the university support services to create a robust pathway for students to access support from the right professional or service at the right time . We promoted our services at various welcome week events in September , with the hope that this would encourage students to reach out for support as soon as they need it . All the services offered at the surgery are , of course , also open to our non-student patients .
In addition , I am also hoping that we will be able to start offering placements to occupational therapy students in the future and have been planning for this with the local university and leaders from across the primary care network that the surgery is situated within .
Amy Smith , occupational therapist , University of Nottingham Health Service , email : amy . smith137 @ nhs . net
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