Day in the life- OT in reablement

Get to the office, look at the referrals that have come in on the computer, pop them on the spreadsheet so the team can see what work we have coming in.

Check my emails after a day off- 16 unread, not too bad!  One voicemail to listen to.

Care Support lead comes for chat- asks Occupational Therapist to speak to Customers who may be achieving their aims (therefore allowing new people to enter the service). 

Telephone calls to Customers and then complete closures for ones who agree to stop having reablement care support as they are completing the task themselves.

Print up paperwork to take on a visit to review someone having reablement support via a local care agency.  Customer has been at home for two weeks but already presented back at A+E and may have some cognitive issues.  Prior to visit, family call and inform Occupational Therapist that Customer has been re-admitted over 48 hours therefore visit cancelled.

Occupational Therapist tries to arrange another visit to another Customer that requires their care and equipment needs reviewed, no such luck.  Occupational Therapist realises she has an oil leak, so is quite thankful no more visits today.

Occupational Therapist spends the rest of the day focusing on paperwork and ordering equipment for other Customers already seen.  Oh and trying to remember to squeeze in lunch!

So, whilst this doesn't demonstrate much in terms of the visit content, it does demonstrate how often our day changes rapidly from one day to the next, and from what may have been originally planned.  It also highlights how important transport is to our role and how it effects the work we can do.

Is your day quite varied and fluid or are your days more predictable? I'd love to hear :)

 

NHS V Social Services

In January I began work for Local Government, a switch from my previous experience working for the NHS.  So what I noticed is different?

Organisation:
Even before my first day, it was evident how organised they were compared to my previous experience in the NHS.  Now, maybe this can be attributed to better management, but I also think this has a lot to do with the systems in place.  From my first day, I had computer access, an email account, diary, printer access and training booked for the computer system.  THE FIRST DAY! It took month to get half this stuff within the NHS!

Training opportunities:
Maybe this is bias due to my NHS career being on rotation, however I got no training barr mandatory at all.  I think this impacted my confidence as an OT because we weren't given the skills to add to our tool box so to speak.  Since starting at Social Services I have been on really excellent training which have really helped me to gain confidence in my role, for example basic and advanced adaptations.  These two courses taught me about looking at and drawing scale drawings for extensions, bathrooms and whole houses in order to be able to meet client's needs.  For some people this probably sounds a bit technical or boring but I love it! I can't wait to put this skill into practice and have actually just picked up a complex case involving a 1st floor extension so I cannot wait to get stuck in.

Attitude:
Interestingly, people working for the NHS seem to recognize the fact it is a National Service, so although they tend to moan about situations, they also seem to let the service off a bit, almost understanding why things are so bad.  I've noticed within Social Services that people tend to moan. A lot.  I have come to think that people have perhaps had it so so SO good in the past, that they don't know how lucky they were! I personally, find it really hard to see how they moan as much as they do because for me things seem heaps better than they are in the NHS.