Where a PCN employs or engages an Occupational Therapist under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, the PCN must ensure that the Occupational Therapist:

a. has a BSc in or pre-reg MSc in Occupational Therapy under a training programme approved by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists;

b. is a registered member of the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC);

c. is able to operate at an advanced level of practice; and

d. has access to appropriate clinical supervision and an appropriate named individual in the PCN to provide general advice and support on a day to day basis, in order to deliver the key responsibilities outlined in section B10.2.

B10.2. Where a PCN employs or engages one or more Occupational Therapists under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, the PCN must ensure that each

Occupational Therapist has the following key responsibilities, in
delivering health services:
a. assess, plan, implement, and evaluate treatment plans, with an aim to increase patients’ productivity and self-care;

b. work with patients through a shared-decision making approach to plan realistic, outcomes-focused goals;

c. undertake both verbal and non-verbal communication methods to address the needs of patients that have communication difficulties;

d. work in partnership with multi-disciplinary team colleagues, physiotherapists and social workers, alongside the patients’ families, teachers, carers, and employers in treatment planning to aid rehabilitation;

e. where appropriate, support the development of discharge and contingency plans with relevant professionals to arrange on-going care in residential, care home, hospital, and community settings;

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f. periodically review, evaluate and change rehabilitation programmes to rebuild lost skills and restore confidence;

g. as required, advise on home, school, and workplace environmental alterations, such as adjustments for wheelchair access, technological needs, and ergonomic support;

h. advise patients, and their families or carers, on specialist equipment and organisations that can help with daily activities;

i. help patients to adapt to and manage their physical and mental health long-term conditions, through the teaching of coping strategies; and

j. develop, implement and evaluate a seamless occupational therapy support service across the PCN, working with community and secondary care where appropriate, and aimed at continuously improving standards of patient care and wider multi-disciplinary team working.

B10.3. The following sets out the key wider responsibilities of Occupational Therapists:

a. provide education and specialist expertise to PCN staff, raising awareness of good practice occupational therapy techniques; and

b. ensure delivery of best practice in clinical practice, caseload management, education, research, and audit, to achieve corporate PCN and local population objectives.

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