§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what assessment has been made by his Department of the impact of community care policies on the demand for occupational therapists.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe greater use of community care has implications for the deployment of occupational therapists. The precise demand depends on the level, nature and organisation of National Health Service and local authority occupational therapy services in a particular locality. We are examining the organisational issues and the relationship between the two services to ensure that trained occupational therapists are used in the most effective manner.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy in relation to the number of occupational therapists to be trained each year in the future.
§ Mr. WhitneyWe are making 10 additional bursaries available to students entering training in September this 411W year and with the help of contributions from the North-East, South-East and South-West Thames regional health authorities we hope that a new school at Christ Church college, Canterbury will open in September 1987. Officials are also exploring with interested regions the feasibility of establishing a second new school within the next two to three years.
Meanwhile we are urging health authorities to ensure that practising therapists are deployed as effectively as possible, to persuade qualified staff who for whatever reason, have taken a break in service to return to active practice, and to consider the possibility of establishing appropriate conversion courses for mature and experienced helpers.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information is available to his Department on the latest number of vacancies for occupational therapists in (a) health authorities and (b) local authorities.
§ Mr. WhitneyInformation on numbers of vacancies for occupational therapists is not collected centrally either for health or local authorities. The results of a sample survey of health authorities last year, however, suggested that nationally, about 19 per cent. of funded posts for occupational therapists were unfilled after three months.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give for each year since 1975 (a) the cost of training occupational therapists, (b) the number of training places available in occupational therapy schools and (c) the number of occupational therapists completing their training.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information is as follows:
Occupational therapists.England and Wales Financial year Centrally funded training costs £000s Annual intake* Therapists completing training 1975–76 † 448 321 1976–77 † 484 359 1977–78 606 520 333 1978–79 1,660 534 449 1979–80 3,011 561 398 1980–81 4,103 582 432 1981–82 4,548 603 461 1982–83 4,381 653 475 1983–84 4,526 641 509 1984–85 4,975 636 500 1985–86 5,182 646 589 * This figure includes students funded by Health and Local Authorities and privately, the cost of whose training is not known and therefore not available centrally. † Figures not available.