Alan Shatter
Question:49 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to increase the number of occupational therapists. [12593/02]
Written Answers. - Occupational Therapists.
In response to my concern regarding shortages of qualified therapy personnel, including occupational therapists, my Department commissioned a report on current and future supply and demand conditions in the labour market for certain professional therapists from Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates.
The Bacon report, which was published in July 2001, concluded that a major expansion is essential in the numbers of occupational therapists requiring a very significant increase in training places to meet the long-term needs of the health service. The report therefore advocated an annual increase of 75 training places for occupational therapy in order to achieve an increase of over 150% in the number of occupational therapists over the next decade recommended in the report.
To advance this core recommendation of the report, an inter-agency working group has been established comprising representatives of my Department, the Department of Education and Science and the Higher Education Authority, HEA. The Higher Education Authority has initiated a formal bidding process between third level educational institutions to respond to the training needs identified in the Bacon report. The proposals received are currently being assessed by the inter-agency working group with a view to early progress in the provision of the extra training places recommended.
Initiatives to progress other key recommendations included in the Bacon report are set out below: the planned establishment of a national network of clinical placement co-ordinators to support the provision of additional clinical placements; concerted overseas recruitment of scarce therapy personnel undertaken on behalf of all the health boards by the Northern Area Health Board; the establishment of the health skills group under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness to support the development of integrated workforce planning and improved human resource planning in the health service; the ongoing implementation of the report of the expert group on various health professions to address outstanding issues including workload, working practices and skills-mix highlighted in the Bacon report; and the preparation of a scheme for the statutory registration for health and social care professionals, consistent with the requirement for a person-centred health service.