Management

Key areas of management responsibility that all practitioners have

All occupational therapy practitioners have some element of management within their work, whether it is of themselves, their time, their own immediate environment, or a broader responsibility for others. As a practitioner you are accountable for the ‘governance’, or the quality, safety and appropriateness of the service(s) you provide.
 
The principles of governance apply equally to all occupational therapists, in all settings.  You have a duty to provide an occupational therapy service of the highest competence, safety, quality and value.

Health and safety

Employers are legally obliged to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees, so far as is reasonable.  Employees have a duty to care for their own health and safety, and to care for the health and safety of those who may be affected by what they do (Great Britain. Parliament 1974). These duties also apply to lone and self-employed workers in respect of their own and others’ safety.
 
Health and safety includes your responsibility to follow local infection control guidance and policies; and your duty to establish and maintain a safe and suitable work environment, including any equipment that you use as part of intervention.

Risk management

Risk management is an intrinsic part of governance, service user safety and the provision of a quality service, an inherent part of your everyday practice.  All service providers should have a set of policies and procedures in place relating to the assessment and management of risk.
 
Risk management is a plan, strategy or programme that aims to manage an incident, event or hazard, removing those elements that would do harm, or reducing them to an acceptable level. It can also enable any opportunity for positive gain to be taken as safely as possible. For you, the primary aim is to protect people from harm, but there are secondary benefits of protecting a service or organisation from a loss of standards, safety or reputation, and of avoiding financial loss through compensation claims.
Adapted from Risk management (COT 2010m, section 1)
 
More information is available from the College’s guidance on Risk management  (COT 2010m).

Monitoring quality

Using national and professional standards and guidelines enables you to monitor the quality of your practice and/or service, demonstrating to yourself and others that you are meeting national requirements. Your service users’ experience of your service needs to be considered as an important part of your evaluation.

9. Management

9.1 You manage your own workload to make effective use of your time and skills, and of the resources available to you

Criteria
9.1.1 You offer an equitable service to all your users in terms of time, opportunities and resources
9.1.2 You recognise the limits of your own capacity and do not extend your workload to the detriment of the quality or safety of your service
9.1.3 You work as effectively and efficiently as possible to be cost effective and to sustain resources
9.1.4 You monitor the use of resources and facilities, along with the outcomes of the service, to ensure their optimum efficiency and effectiveness
9.1.5 You report where resource and service deficiencies may endanger the health and safety of service users and carers
9.1.6 As a manager you act on any reports concerning resources and service deficiencies to protect service users and carers
 

9.2 You must take reasonable care of your own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do, or do not do

Criteria
9.2.1 You abide by national and local health and safety regulations, policies and procedures
9.2.2 You systematically assess and document the likelihood of risk to the health and safety of anyone affected by your activities
9.2.3 You develop, record and implement risk management strategies to eliminate, avoid or reduce the likelihood of adverse events
9.2.4 You enable positive risks to be taken safely by service users, in cases where such risks are a necessary part of intervention
9.2.5 You recognise and learn from significant events, positive and negative, changing your practice if necessary
9.2.6 You use your local incident and/or near miss reporting systems as appropriate
9.2.7 You fully co-operate with the investigation of incidents if they occur
9.2.8 You follow local infection control guidance and policy
9.2.9 You select and use equipment appropriately and with regard to the safety of your service users, yourself and your colleagues
9.2.10 You provide adequate information and training to your service users and/or their carers, to ensure safe use of equipment
9.2.11 You handle and transport equipment safely, taking account of good manual handling practice and transportation guidance
 

9.3 You establish and maintain a safe practice environment

Criteria
9.3.1 Your work environment is suitable for its intended purpose
9.3.2 Your working environment is safe and free from unmanaged hazards
9.3.3 You are aware of, and make others aware of, any possible temporary hazards within the environment
9.3.4 You are provided with and use suitable facilities, equipment and/or clothing to manage any possible hazards
9.3.5 You follow local reprocessing, recycling and waste management procedures
9.3.6 Any equipment used with, or provided to, your service users is appropriate, safe and hygienic for use
9.3.7 Any equipment is stored safely and securely
 

9.4 You ensure that you provide a service of consistent quality, effectiveness and safety, in line with local, professional and national standards

Criteria
9.4.1 Your practice is based on national guidelines and published evidence where possible
9.4.2 You monitor the performance and quality of your practice and/or service against relevant local, national and professional standards and guidelines
9.4.3 You monitor the effectiveness of your practice or service with the use of outcome measures
9.4.4 You use the results of your monitoring to improve your service
9.4.5 You seek the views and opinions of your service users concerning their experience of the service you provided
9.4.6 You raise awareness of and co-operate with the local complaints procedure
9.4.7 You act on any comments and complaints you receive
9.4.8 You draw attention to any areas of concern about the service
9.4.9 You participate in the development of and co-operate with local quality and governance systems
9.4.10 You use any incident/near miss information available to monitor and improve the safety of your service
 

9.5 You abide by legislation and guidance concerning moving and handling, while enabling your service users to gain optimal occupational performance and autonomy in their lives 

Criteria
9.5.1 You work to an agreed protocol for the moving and handling of service users
9.5.2 You work in partnership with your service users and their carers to formulate personal moving and handling plans for them
9.5.3 You balance the autonomy and choice of your service users, with their safety and the safety of those who may assist them
9.5.4 You formally assess and manage the risks where the moving and handling strategy is deemed to be at all hazardous
9.5.5 You make full and proper use of any system for moving and handling provided by your employer/organisation
9.5.6 You ensure that you, and those for whom you are responsible, are trained and competent in moving and handling techniques, including the selection and use of equipment
9.5.7 You ensure that you, and those for whom you are responsible, (if untrained, lacking in confidence, or having musculo-skeletal problems), do not perform tasks which will pose a risk to yourself or themselves
9.5.8 You inform your manager or employer if you identify hazardous moving and handling activities
 

9.6 You fulfil national and local requirements in terms of recruitment and employment practices

Criteria
9.6.1 All necessary safety and suitability checks are completed before employment commences
9.6.2 All necessary registration checks are completed before employment commences
9.6.3 All staff are provided with clear roles and responsibilities, and with terms and conditions of employment
9.6.4 All staff are supported by a structured supervision and appraisal programme
9.6.5 All staff are up to date on their statutory training, including risk management, health and safety and moving and handling
9.6.6 All staff are provided with opportunities for continuing professional development
9.6.7 All staff are fit and competent for their work, having the right qualifications, knowledge and abilities
9.6.8 The Health Professions Council is informed of any factor that may affect a practitioner’s fitness to practice
 

9.7 You ensure that your service meets the ongoing needs of your service user population

Criteria
9.7.1 You access and analyse local data to understand the needs of your service users
9.7.2 You identify where your services may not meet these identified needs
9.7.3 You plan the development of your service to meet these needs, considering available resources
9.7.4 You work with your organisation to bring about the required changes
9.7.5 You ensure that people affected by your service are not harmed as a result of any changes made
9.7.6 You review your service in the light of any changes made
 
Right click and save Professional Standards Audit Tool - Management
 
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These standards link with:
Code of ethics and professional conduct, section(s) 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.6, 4.1, 4.4, 5.1, 5.4 (COT 2010a)
Common core principles to support self care, principle(s) 6, 7 (Skills for Care, Skills for Health 2008)
Doing well, doing better: Standards for health services in Wales, standard(s) 1,5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 22, 23, 25, 26 (Welsh Assembly Government 2010)
Guidance about compliance: essential standards of quality and safety, outcome(s) 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17 (CQC 2010)
National care standards - principles, principle(s) 4, 5, 6 (SCRC 2002)
Quality standards for health and social care, section(s) 4.3, 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.3, 8.3 (DHSSPS 2006a)
Standards of conduct, performance and ethics, standard(s) 1, 4, 5, 11, 12 (HPC 2008)
Standards of proficiency: – occupational therapists, section(s) 1a, 2c (HPC 2007)
The NHS knowledge and skills framework and the development review process, core dimension(s) 3, 4, 5; dimension(s) General (DH 2004)