Written question WQ85180

Occupational therapists are employed throughout the health and social care system in Wales. Decisions about appointing to posts are the responsibility of the employer. However, the Welsh Government National Rehabilitation Framework and the Allied Health Professions (AHP) Framework: Looking Forward Together set out our policy for ensuring that services use the skills of allied health professionals, including occupational therapists, in community rehabilitation and supporting people to remain in and return to work. The AHP Framework programme includes a National Lead for Person-Centred Rehabilitation and a Clinical Fellow has been appointed to refresh and update the National Rehabilitation Framework.

The recently published Planned Care Plan identifies investment for community rehabilitation and prehabilitation. The Six Goals Handbook also launched this spring identifies the importance of multi-professional community based services, which should include occupational therapy.

Welsh Government continues to invest record levels in training and education for health professionals, including occupational therapists, and have more training places than ever before. This supports the supply of occupational therapists qualified and registered to work in health and social care in Wales.

The new Plan for Employability and Skills 2022 will drive forward our Economic Mission to help more people in Wales to upskill, access, and thrive in work. One of the main pillars of the Plan will be supporting people with a long term health condition to work including working with the market and key stakeholder organisations to explore innovative ideas to increase the purchasing of multi-professional Occupational Health by SMEs and the self-employed.

Welsh Government are working with DWP to ensure the necessary legislative changes are made to allow a wider range of healthcare professionals to certify fit notes including occupational therapists. This is a welcome move to recognise the wider workforce that can be enabled to use their skills to assess fitness for work and provide guidance to the employee, employer and clinician or GP on appropriateness of work and any necessary adjustments required. This will be introduced later this year.

Our In-Work Support Service provides rapid access to occupational therapy support to people with mental and physical health conditions. The service plays a vital role in helping people to retain employment by aiming to prevent people becoming absent from work due to a mental or physical health condition, and to help those on a sickness absence to return to work more quickly. £1.3m in funding will go into expanding the service in 2022-23.