During Carers Week 2022 I launched the Twitter @OT_CarersUnite account specifically for
Occupational Therapy professionals, return to practice professionals, students, apprentices,
assistants, retired OTs and allies. This was to highlight the challenges that carers experience, help to
advocate for their needs and bring about change in professional discourse about carers. By Carers
week 2023 the platform had gained many followers from the United Kingdom and other areas of the
world. During Carers week I facilitated a number of carer chats and shared information on caring
across the lifespan. During this time, it became apparent that some people would like a more secure
platform to interact. I asked some contributors if they would help me to set up a more focused
platform of support. Thankfully they said yes. And so, a small group of us decided to launch a
CARERSOTUK affinity group to sit alongside the pre-existing affinity groups: ABLEOTUK, BAMEOTUK
and LGBTQIAOTUK.
So why did we decide to launch the CARERSOTUK Affinity group on 5 th July 2023? Well it is because
linking the group to a historical event helps to garner interest and places it at a specific time in
history. The 5th July 2023 is the 75th Anniversary of the NHS, something to celebrate given the
tumultuous change that has occurred due to cuts in services, workforce issues and the effects of the
Covid 19 pandemic, where Occupational Therapy staff have had to adjust their working practices and
take on new or more demanding carer roles due to caring for others with Long Covid.
Recent publications highlight the importance of #UnpaidCarer support to the functioning of the NHS.
Sadly however, the workforce plan did not consider the number of people who face barriers to
employment and other challenges due to the fact they are unpaid carers. Part of the reason for
launching the affinity group is to redress the balance and make people aware that although carers
are only protected under the Equality Act 2010 by their association with someone who has a
protected characteristic, carers have needs too, that must be considered in the NHS and other
organisations that employ staff e.g. local authorities and the voluntary sector too.
We need to #ThinkCarer and support carers who wish to join or remain in the Occupational Therapy
Workforce
And so I hope that you will join us as the CarersOTUK Affinity group
With best wishes
Jocelyn
Refs
NHS England » NHS Long Term Workforce Plan
NHS Long Term Plan » NHS Assembly
NHS England » The NHS in England at 75: report summary
NHS75 #NHS@75 #OT_Carers @OT_CarersUnite @CARERSOTUK
Here are some of my thoughts …
- What does the NHS mean to you?
The NHS has been part of my life since birth….
I was born In an NHS hospital and was a happy and healthy baby. As a new born, my mother allowed
medics to sample my blood to compare with a less fortunate baby!
Some months later, I had an allergic reaction… The NHS saved my life by packing me in ice.
Strangely I still have an aversion to heat and the cold too!!!
As a young child I was seriously injured in an accident and suffered multiple internal and external
injuries. I had life saving surgery and was hospitalised for weeks. I had to learn to walk again.
As a young adult I had surgery to remove adhesions, probably from the earlier accident/surgery
As an early middle aged, still young at heart, adult I had more surgery on my legs where my bones
had twisted, and I had further abdominal surgery for life threatening adhesions too.
As a school child I did voluntary work in the hospital where I was born. I enjoyed talking to people on
the wards.
I decided to train as an OT. I absolutely loved my university years despite having to work multiple
jobs to pay my mortgage! I cycled everywhere!
I have had an exciting career in the NHS. There is no other profession that has such an expansive
field of work & no other profession would suit me! I particularly loved community mental health
work, sports and leisure activities.
The greatest irony of #NHS75 #NHS@75 is that there are plans to promote partnership working
between the NHS, Local Authorities and the voluntary sector My last NHS role, nigh on 15 years
ago, promoted partnership working but did not fit NHS priorities. And so when the NHS
Commissioners decided to close my wonderful, award winning, service our shared expertise was
lost! If only the NHS Commissioners had kept the service open! They were too short sighted!
Finally, and to put it simply, the NHS has saved my life and afforded me opportunities to save other
peoples lives too. It has been a major part of my existence over many years. - What would you like future generations to know about the NHS in 2023?
The NHS is under tremendous pressure as a result of the Covid 19 Pandemic and many years of
under investment from central government. I fear that the NHS may not make it to 100. Unpaid
Carers provide services equivalent to a second NHS but many face hardship and social isolation. It is
so sad. - What stories have been shared in your family/workplace about the NHS over the past 75yrs?
When the NHS was founded my family lived in an owner occupied house that the government
condemned as a slum, largely due to war damage of nearby properties. They were moved into council flats that have now been condemned too. The redevelopment of the land is costing Billions! Prior to the NHS there was no free or easy access to doctors, so communities pulled together to support one another.
- What NHS items/artefacts are important to you and why?
I will have to say a wheelchair. As a young teen I used to push my nan around in a wheelchair.
Poor love. She frequently had to stop and take angina pills because I used to almost tip her out
when pushing her down kerbs! I had received no training. When I had my accident I used a
wheelchair, albeit briefly as I was determined to walk. And now my mum is a wheelchair user….
I am glad to say that I attended wheelchair training as an OT so I know a little more about
wheelchairs now but in over 40 years the foot bars at the rear of attendant propelled
wheelchairs (where anti tippers are placed on self propelled chairs) have not changed in all that
time. They have not been developed to prevent carers from sustaining injuries when levering
the wheelchair, sans wheelchair user, up kerbs/ steps. Imagine the load going through your
ankle time and time again…If bicycles can have suspension why not wheelchairs too? I implore
people to #ThinkCarer in wheelchair design and plan to prevent injuries!
I also think that current policies that exclude older adults and their carers from accessing the
motability scheme is deeply unfair. People on benefits have restrictions put on the amount they
can save so it is nigh on impossible to save up for a suitable wheelchair accessible vehicle. Older
adults on attendance allowance do not receive a mobility allowance. Charities such as AgeUK
have highlighted the seemingly discriminatory rules but, the government gets round this by
saying motability is a working age benefit, but how does this policy help working age carers, who
sustain injuries moving and handling wheelchairs and indeed older adults in and out of
inappropriate vehicles? It doesn’t! - What images of the NHS would you keep and why? (Do feel free to take photographs)
Ooh I have lots of images in my head of old style mental health asylums, derelict buildings and brand
new hospitals with modern cafes and shops. Thankfully, I think local archives have photographs! - How will you store and share your reflections on the NHS?
Well I’m going to upload a digital record on twitter but who knows how long information may be
stored. Like Coco the movie, people only ‘live’ for as long as they are remembered. There may
come a time when there is no twitter and no NHS . What will happen to digital records then?
Well this narrative will disappear but hey by that time I expect I will be long gone…especially if
there is no NHS to save me in years to come !
What will you do on 5th July 2023? #NHS75
Come and join @CARERSOTUK at 6pm, 5th July 2023 for a Twitter Chat
AffinOT 