UK Shortage Of Occupational Therapists

The National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom is currently facing a chronic shortage of occupational therapists, says a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit.

With only about 3,000 active practitioners for a population of 56 million people, it falls well below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average. The NHS is estimated to need at least 2,500 more trained therapists by 2020 to meet demand. “NHS England has set an ambitious goal to increase therapy services as part of its Five Year Forward View and improve mental health outcomes” says Diane Jones Crawshaw, Analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit . “But if the report's findings are correct, this will be difficult to achieve.”

Looking at the UK's NHS and allied health service providers, the report found that occupational therapists are in short supply: “As a result, there is an acute shortage of occupational therapists across the whole of the UK healthcare system.”

The shortage is most acute in some areas, including northern and eastern England. Some secondary care trusts (SCBs) have shortages of up to 40% and one large SCB has a 20% shortfall. There are also some shortages in the south and west.

Not surprisingly, occupational therapists' workloads are increasing. “It is widely accepted that the work of occupational therapists will increase significantly in the next five years,” says Jones Crawshaw. SCBs routinely have to make time for extra sessions as a result of waiting lists for services such as physiotherapy and osteopaths.

Yet recruitment is also falling short of demand, according to the report: "With more people seeking therapy services than there are practitioners trained, many SCBs have resorted to introducing staff hours restrictions on occupational therapists so they can cover these waiting lists.”

The report says the profession is under particular pressure from the increasing number of older people seeking therapy. “Increasing awareness about good health and the potential for chronic disease means that older adults are increasingly seeking services,” Jones Crawshaw notes.

Yet additional training is needed to meet demand: “According to NHS England, UK occupational therapists would need 5,000 more practitioners by 2020 to meet expected demand in all settings. However, it would take until 2023 before they had reached even half of this level of resource.” The report finds that there is a strong preference among therapists for working in large SCBs because they offer better career prospects and greater job satisfaction.

Jones Crawshaw concludes that, “The UK has made progress in improving the health of people with mental health problems. However, if occupational therapists are to meet the growing demands for their services and improve productivity, further reform is needed.”

Simon Phillips, Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Follow him on Twitter @siemphillips . Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit . Article Published: 26-Sep-2015.

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I am not sure what to think about this shortage. I can see both sides of the issue. On one hand, I don't want to see people suffering from chronic illness or disabilities unable to get the services that can help them live normal lives and do the things they love. That's bad for everyone. However, on the other hand, where do you draw the line? If we have a surplus of occupational therapists and other health care workers (nurse, doctors, etc), that means there are a lot more jobs available than there are people to fill them (in all likelihood). If the government forces more OTs to be trained, where will they find work? Who will pay more taxes to support them? It's a delicate balancing act. It's no wonder that the European Union is having so much difficulty getting things organized in its own countries. Again, this is not a black and white issue.

I think between 2020 and 2023 might be too late for England in particular. The "baby boomers" are well into their 50's now and beginning to have chronic health issues. If they had been taught good health habits earlier in life, these problems would not be cropping up now (or at least not as bad). But, of course, we don't know if OTs were being taught good health habits years ago, or even decades ago. It's hard to tell because the media is not interested in reporting on this issue. My guess is that OTs have received a lot of training in the 50's and 60's (I believe OTs have been around since the 19th century), but that it has become rare over time because of personnel cuts and lack of government support for their work. I think OTs are a very important part of health care and should be valued as much as acupuncturists or herbalists etc.

If you'd like to read more about occupational therapy and its importance check out this article from Psychology Today .

There is also a book called Occupational Therapy: A Science Based Approach to the Practice of Occupational Therapy by L. Ellis and S. Stoughton . It is an older textbook with some outdated information, but there has been an update since then and it's still worth reading.

Additional Resources:

This article was written by Kristina Cook Cook and published in November 2012 on her blog, "The Strength Within". You can visit her blog here .

This article is a post from the Knowledge of Health blog.

Don’t forget to look at Kristina’s new book, Encouragement for the Heart: Overcoming Depression Through Encouragement From Proverbs, available on Amazon.com (paperback or Kindle) and Barnesandnoble.com (Nook). Part of the Nook proceeds go toward helping Kristina continue to provide free resources here on her blog. You can learn more about Encouragement for the Heart: Overcoming Depression Through Encouragement From Proverbs here .

Kristina is a blogger and writer focused on encouragement, hope, and practical steps to overcoming depression. Kristina's book Encouragement for the Heart: Overcoming Depression Through Encouragement From Proverbs shows readers how to live a life of encouragement through Proverbs 31 (NIV). In her spare time, Kristina enjoys writing, reading, and spending time with her husband and daughter. Kristina graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1996 with a degree in Psychology after completing two internships in the mental health field. She has been actively blogging since 1999.

This post was originally published on June 1, 2013.

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