Services for Local Authorities & CCGs
At a time when the health and social care system is under strain The OT Practice is able to continue to offer additional support to local authority and CCG commissioners, whilst their internal resources may be redirected to the front line.
Through embracing technology we can deliver a wide scope of OT services remotely with the aim of maximising a client’s independence in the own home, reducing risk and preventing hospital admissions.
With pressure set to significantly increase in the social care system over the coming months, it is important that existing waiting lists continue to be serviced where possible, ensuring services are not overwhelmed once restrictions are lifted. We are expecting an increase in demand for social care in the community once the repercussions of the pandemic moves pressure from the NHS to the social care system. The OT Practice team are now well trained and experienced in both the delivery of remote occupational therapy services for local authorities and CCGs and also the client assessment to identify suitability for this model of delivery.
The OT Practice is registered on the Crown Commercial Service COVID-19 Buyer's Suppliers Catalogue (Offer ID: P2530)
Services we are delivering remotely
These are examples of services we are delivering remotely. Please give the team a call to discuss your client's specific needs.
Discharge planning
There is currently a significant need and priority around clearing as many acute beds as possible. Where discharges have always been time pressured, now more than ever before hospital trusts with the support of their CCG and Social Care colleagues are needing to expedite discharges into the community. Once a client has been identified as medically fit for discharge, our discharge planning service can support this process and facilitate a timely discharge.
Many elements of a client’s occupational therapy needs for a hospital discharge can successfully be co-ordinated remotely. For those clients with more complex needs, where appropriate, we would endeavour to visit the client at home. Here you can find out more about our Face to face visits.
Waiting List Triage & Management
Where a social care team has a waiting list for OT assessments, we can temporarily help manage this while existing teams are redeployed or unavailable. Our triage service offers a triage call to new clients and a risk assessment to be completed to ascertain their level of need. This acts as a duty function and ensures that clients with the greatest needs are able to access services.
Waiting lists need to be triaged and managed throughout this time to ensure they accurately reflect the needs of the clients waiting. Part of our waiting list management service includes regular calls to clients on the list to review their needs and re-categorise as required. This waiting list cleansing is an important to maintain the integrity of the list and provides an up to date picture of resources required for the in house team once normality returns.
Waiting list clearance
Where a social care team has an OT waiting list they need help clearing (or during these challenging times, simply help controlling) we will support by identifying which clients can be looked after remotely and who is appropriate for a face to face visit. This includes a thorough risk assessment and review of technologies available for each client. During this time it is increasingly important that waiting lists are minimised to ensure the teams are able to respond in a timely fashion to the expected surge in requirement for their services over the coming months.
Video & telephonic assessments
Clinical OT assessments including those for housing and equipment can be completed remotely if the client has the ability and technical competence to engage, or they have support with them to help facilitate. The OT will complete a risk assessment to ensure clinical suitability for a remote approach. If a client is likely to have a better outcome with a face to face assessment, we will discuss this with both the referrer and the client. Find out more about our Face to face visits.
Remote support for equipment provision
Where it is clinically appropriate, we can recommend and support with equipment provision through innovative methods of practice, ensuring where equipment is needed and where practically possible, it can still be provided to clients.
The step by step process
If you are enquiring on behalf of a local authority please email us at enquiries@theotpractice.co.uk or call us on 0330 0249910 and ask to speak to Nikki to discuss your specific requirements.
If you are a CCG client:
- Call or email the office team as normal to discuss the clinical needs of your client and request an online assessment quote.
- Complete your referral in the usual way.
- We will contact the client for an initial screening call. In this call we will complete a risk assessment to ensure the client will be able to engage with a remote assessment either telephonically or via video conference (using Zoom). If we do not feel that the client is suitable for a remote assessment either due to their emotional, physical or cognitive abilities to engage or because we consider them to be high risk we will highlight this to you. We will then discuss whether your client meets the criteria for a home visit as defined by our essential services.
- If during the call the OT feels it is clinically appropriate to proceed with a remote assessment, we will arrange a mutually agreed assessment time for this to take place. The OT will then provide the client details for the assessment and any preparation tasks they need to complete.
- The assessment will occur via the pre agreed method (telephone or video conference) and the report will be sent to you within 7 days.
Working differently
We recognise that some clients will have an existing level of technical ability themselves or through support of others. For these clients a remote service will be relatively straightforward, however for others it will be more unfamiliar and will require time and support from us, both for set up and the acclimatisation, before we are in a position to maximise any therapeutic benefit. This is part of our role and would often contribute to part of our assessment. There are a variety of tools and techniques available to us to ensure the success of remotely delivered intervention. To find out more about how we conduct remote assessments and input see our Remote Services page.
Timeframes
Through the remote model, the timeframe between referral and assessment can be significantly reduced, offering clients more immediate access to therapeutic support.
Deliverables
For CCG’s this is likely to be the assessment and monthly progress report as normal. For Local Authorities, depending on the requirements we will agree the deliverables with you.
Duty of care
During this time we recognise that clients are likely to have a heighted sense of anxiety and possibly loneliness. As healthcare professionals, our first priority is to ensure that clients are safe and well. If we identify during our initial call if we identify that the client is need of emotional or physical support and provide advice and guidance to the client where we can.
