OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSESSMENTS

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSESSMENTS

Additional information: Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) is seeking to establish a framework agreement with a suitably qualified service provider to supplement the Council in house OT team. The NCC occupational therapy service undertakes assessments and provides practical support to enable people to recover their independence, health and mobility after a period of ill-health. The service supports people of all ages to overcome the effects of disability caused by illness, ageing or accident so that they can carry out everyday tasks or occupations. This may include, for example; advice on approaching a task differently, using equipment or assistive technology, adapting living or working environment and finding strategies to help people reach their chosen goals. The aim of the NCC OT service in providing adaptations, equipment, signposting, advice and guidance to eligible disabled people living at home is to maintain and improve their independence, increase self-esteem and general well-being. These goals assist to reduce hospital admissions, residential and nursing care placements and the incidence of re-referral to both health and social care. With it's emphasis on promoting health, wellbeing and independence, the service contributes to delivering key outcomes of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the Council's Strategic Plan and the Adult Social Care and Health strategy. The Council currently employs around 60 OT staff both qualified and unqualified. The staff work with both older and younger adults and are based in a variety of teams including the Adult Access Service, Older Adults, Physical Disability Intermediate Care and Re-ablement Teams. Within Adult Social Care The target timescale from receipt of a contact assessment to completion is 28 days. From 1st January to 31st December 2014, 5,728 Contact Assessments were referred to the Adult Social Care requesting an OT Assessment. Demand for OT assessments is steadily rising, due to demographic increases in numbers of older people, more of whom are supported with complex needs for longer in the community. In August 2014 this increased demand led to a waiting list high of 704 cases across the county, with 328 of those cases being out of the 28 day timescale. The increased demand is built around the demographic of the population of Nottinghamshire, becoming older together, living longer and living at home in the community with more complex needs. New ways of working are being introduced in order to manage the demand and avoid waiting lists rising in the future. This approach has had a positive impact and reduced the waiting list down to 355 cases in February 2015, of which 73 cases are out of the 28 day timescale. On average across the county teams there have been around 35 cases each month that miss their 28 day target and so go out of their target timescale. It is these out of timescale cases that would be transferred to the chosen provider each month.