Responding to comments from Professor Sir Mike Richards on this morning's BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, Julia Scott CEO of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists said:
“The NHS and the nation owe Sir Mike Richards a huge debt of gratitude for his many years of commitment and dedication to improving the quality, safety and efficiency of the health and care system. Sir Mike is right to point out that whilst an increase in funding would of course be welcome, the NHS needs to do more to ensure that where best practice is identified it is implemented across the whole system quickly.
"Too often the health and social care sector fails to put in place the right services to prevent admissions to hospital and to get people back home again as soon as they are medically fit. For example all the evidence, supported by recent draft NICE guidance, shows that deploying occupational therapists at the front line of the NHS and alongside ambulance services prevents unnecessary admissions. This is both better for patients and cheaper for the NHS yet it is still not in place everywhere.”