OTnews May 2011
Welcome to the May 2011 issue of OTnews
Since OTnews published last, health secretary Andrew Lansley has faced a barrage of increasingly vocal opposition to his NHS reforms, leading the government to announce that a natural pause will allow it to listen to the views of medical professionals by the end of this month (see page 6).
Dave Prentis, general secretary Unison, responded to the news on the day at the Unison health conference in Liverpool, saying: 'Andrew Lansley talks about a "natural pause". Well, we say, keep your dirty paws to yourself, and keep your dirty paws off our health service!' Turn to page 7 for the full report and photographs of the demonstration.
One initiative that does not look set to be halted by a hiatus in reforms is the use of social enterprise for future public services delivery.
The government defines social enterprises as 'businesses with primarily social objectives, whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.'
One service that has already suffered as a result of government cuts is the condition management programme, and in this issue OTs from West Wales and Somerset look at its decommissioning in their areas.
On page 26, Caroline Day and Angela Tostevin regular contributors on the development of CMP look at what their service achieved between its inception in July 2004, and its sad demise in March this year. Then, on page 27, Sian McNally, the last band five OT to go on rotation in CMP with the Hwyel Dda Local Health Board, reflects on the challenges facing all staff and service users when a service is closed down.
Finally, it¹s nearly re-registration time again, so on page 20, we look at the experiences of three OTs who were selected for the Health Professions Council audit last time around, and get some hints and tips from HPC assessors on how to get it right first time, if you are selected this year.
- Putting the development into CPD - Three OTs share their experiences of the HPC CPD audit
- The ABCs of CPD - The HPC shows what to do and what not to do at audit time
- CMP the end game - The last days of a condition management programme in Somerset
- The decommissioning of a valuable service - The end of an OT rotation in a West Wales CMP
- Sensory integration in an adult mental health setting - How sensory integration helped one client with Asperger¹s
- OT for patients with dementia and delirium - Occupational engagement in dementia care
- Enhancing the healing environment in dementia care - How OT is helping nurse-led teams to improve dementia care
- Grow it, cook it, eat it - Clients of an addiction service get the gardening bug
- Working with low awareness states - How a benchmarking project on best practice is being developed
- Promoting a positive approach to growing older Pilot lifestyle matters groups give purpose to older people
- Origami horizons in occupational therapy - A recent graduate finds unusual work in a tricky job market
