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A profession is made up of a uniquely defined group of individuals that is accepted by the public as possessing specific knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning

derived from research education and training (Delulius, 2017).
OT Practice, The American Occupational THerapy Association, March 12 2018.

“Transitions from classroom to clinic”.

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The duties identified (or what employers were seeking) included: rehabilitation, functional assessment and training, program development and promotion, community education and liaison, therapy, supervision and administration, and working with people with disabilities. In this case, what employers were seeking seemed to be a mix of general skills as well as some skills more related to specific areas of occupational therapy practice.
Mulholland, S. and Derdall, M. (2004) ‘Exploring what employers seek when hiring occupational therapists’, Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(4), pp. 223–229. doi:10.1177/000841740407100407.

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An occupational Therapist is one who collaborates, is an effective communicator, and works in teams to meet the primary health needs of the public.
Baum, C.M. and Law, M. (1997) ‘Occupational therapy practice: Focusing on occupational performance’, The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 51(4), pp. 277–288. doi:10.5014/ajot.51.4.277.

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Client centred and evidence based practice

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Client centred and evidence based practice

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This type of practice also requires evidence that the occupational therapy services delivered are effective. For practitioners, this means using standardized measures and basing our practice on client-centered goals and evidence based practice.
Baum, C.M. and Law, M. (1997) ‘Occupational therapy practice: Focusing on occupational performance’, The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 51(4), p. 287. doi:10.5014/ajot.51.4.277.

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Oxford dictionary definition.

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Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

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Details of standard

Occupation summary

Occupational therapists work across a range of settings, including health, social care, education and other private and voluntary sector organisations. They work with individuals of all ages, including those with physical and mental health conditions, injuries, learning disabilities and palliative care needs, as well as those who are displaced or marginalised from their communities. Occupational therapists also work with families, carers, employers and organisations that support the individual.

An occupational therapist's primary goal is to enable individuals to participate in occupations in a meaningful way. In a therapeutic context, the term 'occupation' refers to everyday activities that people want, need, or are expected to carry out. Using a holistic person-centred approach, informed by evidence-based practice, occupational therapists support service users to carry out everyday occupations, such as dressing, eating, catching the bus to work, or other activities that are important to them.

Occupational therapists work as autonomous, accountable practitioners, individually or within a team. Through assessment, intervention, critical reflection and applying analytical skills, they reach collaborative solutions to service users' needs. Occupational therapists are responsible for reflecting on the effectiveness of their actions and ensuring their knowledge and skills are current, with the aim of continually improving the service they provide. They demonstrate leadership and management qualities, and are required, within the professional and regulatory standards, to contribute to the development of the profession by supporting student therapists and supervising those in other roles.

Typical job titles include:

Entry requirements

Typically 3 A levels or equivalent access qualifications

Occupation duties

Knowledge

K47: The use of the current philosophical models for occupational therapy that focuses on service users and holistic person-centred care, and a person's ability to participate in occupations, taking into account physical, biological, psychological and social factors and the environmental context. Back to Duty

Skills

S10: Obtain valid consent, which is voluntary and informed, has due regard to capacity, is proportionate to the circumstances and is appropriately documented. Back to Duty

Behaviours

Qualifications

English and Maths

Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the End-Point Assessment. For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship's English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.

Other mandatory qualifications

BSc (Hons) degree in Occupational Therapy or Level 7 qualification approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) where the apprentice already holds a Level 6 degree

Level: 6 (integrated degree)

Additional details

Regulated standard

This is a regulated occupation.

Regulator body:

Health and Care Professions Council

Training Provider must be approved by regulator body

EPAO must be approved by regulator body

Occupational Level:

6

Duration (months):

48

Review

This apprenticeship standard will be reviewed after three years.

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Occupational therapists work across a range of settings, including health, social care, education and other private and voluntary sector organisations. They work with individuals of all ages, including those with physical and mental health conditions, injuries, learning disabilities and palliative care needs, as well as those who are displaced or marginalised from their communities.

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Punctual
Timely and respectful communication
Dress appropriately to the environment
Good recording skills
Keep up-to-date of emerging health (long Covid)
Following procedures (risk assessments, safe guarding)

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Poor standards = kick off register and HCPTS

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Poor standards = kick off register and HCPTS

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HCPTS | (hcpts-uk.org)

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I can get on Padlet now so don't worry about adding the thing for me 😊

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For the first time, the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice have been combined into one document.

The Professional standards for occupational therapy practice, conduct and ethics defines an agreed set of ethical principles and standard statements that guide the work of the occupational therapy workforce. The Standards apply to all RCOT members wherever they work, whatever the scope, in any role and at every career level.

Maintaining these standards will enable the occupational therapists to be safe, effective and ethical practitioners providing a high-quality and inclusive service. They will also help members to meet the registration requirements of their regulatory body - the Health and Care Professions Council.

The standards will enable occupational therapy staff to monitor and improve their service. The audit tools can be used to structure individual or team CPD activity to inform, develop and re-evaluate practice.

The standards are available in English and Welsh.

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RCOT Professional standards and ethics - RCOT

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For the first time, the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice have been combined into one document. The Professional standards for

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Please note it's currently taking longer for registration statuses to be updated following payments made via WorldPay. This may affect those registering for the first time or completing renewal. We are working to resolve this as quickly as we can.

The standards of proficiency for occupational therapists

These standards came into effect on 1 September 2023, replacing previous versions.

These standards set out safe and effective practice in the professions we regulate. They are the threshold standards we consider necessary to protect members of the public.

Professionals must meet all the standards of proficiency to register with us and meet the standards relevant to their scope of practice to stay registered with us.

Expectations of you

A note about our expectations of you
You must meet all the standards of proficiency to register with us and meet the standards relevant to your scope of practice to stay registered with us.

If your practice is called into question, we will consider these standards (and the standards of conduct, performance and ethics) in deciding what action, if any, we need to take.

The standards of proficiency complement information and guidance issued by other organisations, such as your professional body or your employer. We recognise the valuable role played by professional bodies in providing guidance and advice about good practice which can help you to meet the standards in this document.

We also expect registrants to meet the HCPC standards of conduct, performance and ethics and standards for continuing professional development.

Your scope of practice

Your scope of practice
Your scope of practice is the area or areas of your profession in which you have the knowledge, skills and experience to practise lawfully, safely and effectively, in a way that meets the standards and does not pose any danger to the public or to yourself.

We recognise that a registrant's scope of practice will change over time and that the practice of experienced registrants often becomes more focused and specialised than that of newly registered colleagues. This might be because of specialisation in a certain area or with a particular client group, or a movement into roles in management, education or research. Every time you renew your registration, you will be asked to sign a declaration that you continue to meet the standards of proficiency that apply to your scope of practice.

Your particular scope of practice may mean that you are unable to continue to demonstrate that you meet all of the standards that apply for the whole of your profession.

As long as you make sure that you are practising safely and effectively within your given scope of practice and do not practise in the areas where you are not proficient to do so, this will not be a problem. If you want to move outside of your scope of practice, you should be certain that you are capable of working lawfully, safely and effectively. This means that you need to exercise personal judgement by undertaking any necessary training or gaining experience, before moving into a new area of practice.
More information on scope of practice

Meeting the standards

Meeting the standards
It is important that you meet these standards and are able to practise lawfully, safely and effectively. However, we do not dictate how you should meet the standards. There is normally more than one way in which each standard can be met and the way in which you meet the standards might change over time because of improvements in technology or changes in your practice.

We often receive questions from registrants who are concerned that something they have been asked to do, a policy, or the way in which they work might mean they cannot meet the standards. They are often worried that this might have an effect on their registration.

As an autonomous professional, you need to make informed, reasoned decisions about your practice to ensure that you meet the standards that apply to you. This includes seeking advice and support from education providers, employers, colleagues, professional bodies, unions and others to ensure that the wellbeing of service users is safeguarded at all times. So long as you do this and can justify your decisions if asked to, it is very unlikely that you will not meet the standards.

Language
We recognise that our registrants work in a range of different settings, which include direct practice, management, education, research and roles in industry. We also recognise that the use of terminology can be an emotive issue.

Our registrants work with very different people and use different terms to describe the groups that use, or are affected by, their services. Some of our registrants work with patients, others with clients and others with service users. The terms that you use will depend on how and where you work. We have used terms in these standards which we believe best reflect the groups that you work with.

In the standards of proficiency, we use phrases such as 'understand' and 'know'. This is so the standards remain applicable to current registrants in maintaining their fitness to practise, as well as prospective registrants who have not yet started practising and are applying for registration for the first time.

These standards are effective from 1 September 2023.

The standards include generic elements, which apply to all our registrants, and profession-specific elements, which are relevant to registrants belonging to one of the professions we regulate.

The standards are not hierarchical and are all equally important for practice.

The generic standards, which apply to all professions, are written in bold text.

The profession-specific standards are written in plain text.

At the point of registration, occupational therapists must be able to:

1.2 recognise the need to manage their own workload and resources safely and effectively, including managing the emotional burden that comes with working in a pressured environment

1.3 keep their skills and knowledge up to date and understand the importance of continuing professional development throughout their career

9.2 manage records and all other information in accordance with applicable legislation, protocols and guidelines

9.3 use digital record keeping tools, where required

10.2 recognise the value of multi-disciplinary reviews, case conferences and other methods of review

10.3 recognise and evaluate the potential of occupational therapy in new and emerging areas of practice

We first published standards of proficiency for occupational therapists when our Register opened in July 2003.

We review the standards regularly to look at how they are working and to check whether they continue to reflect current practice in the professions we regulate. Our most recent review began in 2019 and included a formal consultation and close collaboration with key stakeholders, registrants and professional bodies. The revised sets of standards for all 15 professions were formally approved by our Council in March 2022 and came into effect on 1 September 2023.

The profession-specific standards for occupational therapists were developed with the input of the relevant professional bodies and the views of stakeholders during our consultation work. We are confident that the standards are fit for purpose and reflect safe and effective professional practice in occupational therapy.

As part of our commitment to ensuring the standards remain relevant to current professional practice, will continue to listen to our stakeholders and keep the standards under regular review.

This may result in updates to the standards in future, which may include corrections, amendments or changes to ensure the standards remain relevant.

This is a crucial component in fulfilling our purpose to promote excellence in the professions we regulate, and championing high quality care that the public can access safely and with confidence.

This document contains minor amendments to typographical errors, meaning it may differ slightly from previous versions published on our website.

The publication code for these standards is 20230901POLPUB OTSoP .

What's changed?

On 1 September 2023 the updated standards of proficiency came into in effect, which included changes to the standards for all professions and changes to profession-specific standards.

To see the changes between the previous and updated sets of standards, download the comparison table for occupational therapists.

You can also view information on the view key changes for all professions, access comparison tables for the other professions. helpful resources or

Published:

01/09/2023

Resources

Standards and guidance

Subcategory:

Professional standards

Audience

Registrants

Profession

Occupational therapists

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Please note it's currently taking longer for registration statuses to be updated following payments made via WorldPay. This may affect those registering for the first time or completing renewal. We are working to resolve this as quickly as we can. These standards came into effect on 1 September 2023, replacing previous versions.