What can Occupational Therapists (OTs) do in primary care?
OTs are one of five First Contact Practitioner (FCP) roles in Primary Care under the Additional Roles Reimbursement scheme (ARRs). For more generic and detailed info on all FCP and Advanced practitioner (AP) roles please see the Advanced practice section (coming online soon).
Occupational Therapists help individuals to live their best life at home, work and anywhere else which holds importance. There is great meaning behind individuals being able to do the things they need, would like and have to do.
Occupational Therapists see beyond diagnoses and limitations, and help individuals work towards achieving their hopes and aspirations. They aim to be practical, realistic and personal to each individual, helping to achieve the’ breakthroughs’ which are needed to gain meaning and purpose to everyday life.
Within Primary Care, Occupational Therapists have three ‘superpowers’ and work with: Frail, older adults; individuals experiencing mental health problems; and working age adults experiencing employment difficulties. Below are some examples of the work which OT’s may support:
Frail/Older Adult
- Use of frailty indexes to identify individuals needing a proactive approach.
- Rapid crisis response to prevent hospital admission or to speed discharge.
- Assessment and interventions to ensure individuals can manage independently at home, including support for carers.
- Short term rehabilitation interventions and referral on to specialist services if indicated.
- Use of digital and assistive technology to ensure safety at home.
Individuals experiencing mental health problems
- Risk assessment for acute distress.
- Personalised care plans for self-management.
- Individual discussions to identify personal goals and motivation.
- Social prescribing, as well as signposting or referral onto recovery support and services.
Working age adults experiencing employment difficulties
- Vocational rehabilitation – OT’s identify practical and purposeful interventions to promote recovery and overcome barriers for participation in work.
- Use of Allied Health Professions (AHP) Work report, in place of GP fit note for sick pay.
- Personalised advice to support workplace modifications.
A short video on OT ‘superpowers’ below:
Royal College of Occupational Therapists
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists has developed a range of resources to support occupational therapists and their employers, in primary care. These include capability frameworks, sample job descriptions and case studies. To access these resources please click here.
A helpful webinar produced by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists is below:
Patient impact example of an OT in Primary Care can be found below:
Feedback from a GP on having OTs in Primary Care:
Training and Supervision
Pre-requisites
OTs will hold a BSc in Occupational Therapy and hold registration with the Health and Care professions (HCPC).
Training
As mentioned above, OTs within Primary Care are banded at level 7 as FCPs. To become an FCP, professionals will need a minimum of 5 years postgraduate experience. Workforce Transformation and Education (HEE) have developed ‘roadmaps’ to outline the required training and experience needed to progress to an FCP level, and onwards to advanced practice, as required/appropriate.
The roadmap for OTs can be found on the right hand side of this page.
WT&E Roadmap FAQs can be a useful source of information: Roadmap FAQs | Workforce Transformation and Education (hee.nhs.uk). Updated information on roadmaps can also be found below.
The Royal College of OTs has also produced this guide and a video which can be found below:
Supervision
A roadmap supervisor will be needed to support FCP OTs in their training and ongoing development. Further information on roadmap supervision and how to book supervisor courses can be found at https://swpca.org.uk/supervision/multi-professional-clinical-supervision-2.
Recruitment
An example job description can be found on the right of the page.
We do also have an OT in the Training Hub team who can provide advice to practices and PCNs as required.