Welcome to the May 2012 issue of OTnews
It's that time of year again, where new occupational therapy graduates are joining the job market and looking for that first step on the career ladder. As always, we have dedicated a fair slice of this month's packed issue to newly qualified OTs, focusing on the help and support BAOT can offer existing and new members through this transitional time from student to practitioner.
Welcome to the April 2012 issue of OTnews
Hours before OTnews was about to go to press last month, Labour was granted a rare emergency debate in the Commons to demand that the Health and Social Care Bill does not become law until the government publishes its risk register. Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham initially called for the debate, but Health Secretary Andrew Lansley accused Labour of ‘political opportunism’ and told MPs the debate was ‘a debate for no purpose’.
Welcome to the March 2012 issue of OTnews
Last month, COT and the Allied Health Professions Federation dropped their support for England's Health and Social Care Bill, currently in the report stage of the House of Lords . As your professional body, BAOT/COT has joined several other organisations, including the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy - which has gone a step further and come out in 'outright opposition' to the bill - to voice its concerns over the controversial reforms.
This month brings readers a real variety of member-submitted feature articles related to new and innovative ways of working, service redesign and specific assessment tools and toolkits.Welcome to the January 2012 issue of OTnews
We kick of this first issue of 2012 with a report from journalist Andrew Mickel on the first day of industrial action taken by BAOT/Unison members in the history of the two organisations’ partnership. I know many of you pledged to join the strike with a heavy heart, but by adding your voice to the hundreds of thousands of other healthcare workers over the issue of pensions, you have undoubtedly added strength in numbers to the campaign (see pages 6 and 20).
Welcome to the December 2011 issue of OTnews
What a year 2011 has been. Regardless of the sector you work in, I am sure everyone has found themselves facing enormous changes and challenges; changes that have undoubtedly given people a real sense of uncertainty about their jobs, the services they deliver, and of course, the impact on vulnerable service users.
I know that every member cares about all of these issues deeply and living with such uncertainty is disheartening at best, and damaging at worst.
This month sees us present another ‘special focus issue’, with examples of the innovative work and research out there around occupational therapy with older people and dementia.
This month, I’d like to kick off by welcoming all the new student members who have chosen occupational therapy as a future career and congratulating all this year’s occupational therapy graduates on their success – as you start to make your mark on the profession I hope that the magazine continues to be an indispensible resource and a source of inspiration for you.
Anyone who buys a newspaper, watches the news, or listens to the radio would have found it hard to miss the seemingly daily warnings in the media that Britons face a dire retirement, with pensioners seeing their retirement income falling far short of what they had hoped.
The current climate for occupational therapists working as practitioners or educators, and within both the public and private sector, might be one clouded by looming financial cuts and threats to jobs and pensions, but the positivity, enthusiasm and commitment that the profession seems to thrive on was still very much in evidence at this year’s national conference, held in June in Brighton.
