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Ireland Newsletter - October 2008
Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland
AOTI promotes the profession on behalf of all members in Ireland. It is a limited company registered under the Company Act. It has a Board of Directors and a Council of Management. AOTI can be contacted at AOTI-Ground Floor Office, Bowbridge House, Bow Lane, Kilmainham, Dublin 8. Ireland. Tel 00353 1 6337222, Email aoti@eircom.net, Web www.aoti.ie.
AOTI Project Manager
AOTI received funding from the Department of Health & Children (DofH&C) for a full time project manager to work as part of an interdisciplinary Therapy Project Office in 2007. The project manager for AOTI worked closely with the Physiotherapy and Speech & Language Therapy Project Managers. The work focused on Practice Education, CPD and Public Information and is now completed
Therapy Advisory Unit
The Therapy Advisory Unit (TAU) was established in the DofH&C in 2004. The Chief Therapist Advisor and the two Advisor positions can be selected from any of the six therapy professions. The main responsibilities of the TAU are to advise and assist the Minister and DofH&C on the planning and development of therapy services, for example – staffing levels, skill mix, integrated workforce planning criteria, validation and recognition of overseas qualifications, identification of barriers to quality therapy in Ireland and support research.
AOTI Web Site
The AOTI has developed a Strategic Plan for 2006-2009. This and other information is available on the revamped website at www.aoti.ie
Research
The Health Research Board recognizes that the therapy professions constitute a growing proportion of the Irish public healthcare workforce, playing a significant role in the provision of healthcare. In association with the TAU this board provided funding for €70,000.00 to fund research to identify research priorities for the therapy services in Ireland.
Validation
Occupational Therapists who have qualified outside the Republic of Ireland must have their qualifications validated by the DoH&C. Ms. Annette Lyons ( NVP, HR Directorate, HSE, Merlin Park, Galway City, Co. Galway. Ireland.) in the National Validation Project is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the process. annette.lyons@mailn.hse.ie
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Practise Education Hours
In 2006 AOTI Council established the Working Group for the Review of Practice Education Hours to review the AOTI Contextual Requirements for Practice Education. In September 2007 The Minimum Standards for Practice Education in Ireland was formulated. It is currently awaiting ratification.
ENOTHE
A very successful Thirteenth meeting of ENOTHE was held in University College Cork in October. There were 400 attendees from across Europe.
Registration
The Health and Social Care Professionals Council was established following legislation which was enacted into law in December 2006. The purpose of this Council is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence. This legislation will facilitate the introduction of state registration of several professions including Occupational Therapy. The current focus is on developing the necessary infrastructure and background work for the establishment of Registration Boards and future opening of the Registers. Information sessions have been arranged by the Education committee for AOTI members to keep them informed.
AOTI Conference
After the enormous success of Conference 2008, the AOTI Conference 2009 will once again be held in the LyrathEstate, Kilkenny, from Wednesday 29th April to Friday 1st May 2009. AOTI looks forward to welcoming the 50th Meeting of the COTEC Delegates. The Lyrath Estate provides a beautiful setting which actually makes it difficult to leave
Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy
The Journal sub-committee have been busy working on regular publications of our professional Journal. The new cover design was launched for the Spring 08 edition. An article has been submitted by the AOTI Delegate to COTEC for the next/Autumn edition giving an account of the recent COTEC Congress in Hamburg. The authors guide and submission template are on the website or can be requested from aotijournal@gmail.com.
AOTI Newsletter
The aim of this bi-monthly newsletter is to provide a dynamic way for members to communicate, as well as a forum of communication to members from AOTI Council and other committees and job advertisements. Subject to Council approval, advertisements are accepted on a full/half/quarter page basis. Contact them at aotinews@gmail.com.
AOTI Publications
Two publications, 'Irish Adaptation of the Handwriting Speedtest' and 'Housing Guidelines for Occupational Therapists', have been successfully completed and are available to purchase.
Skill VEC OT Assistants FETAC Programme
After two successful programmes, in Dublin and Galway, the third phase is now being rolled out. Twenty-nine OT Assistants have participated to date. A new badge for these graduates has been commissioned.
AOTI Advisory Groups
These groups work in partnership with Council. Active groups are as follows – Oncology, Rheumatology, Older Persons, OT Managers, Intellectual Disabilities, Paediatrics, CAMHS, Mental Health, Private Practice and Housing. Acute Neurology and Practice Education groups are in development.
Thanks to my AOTI Delegate colleague to WFOT, Helen Cornelissen, for help with this newsletter. Please email any queries to heather.frizzell@hse.ie. Many thanks.
News from Ireland September 2006
AOTI: The Association of Occupational Therapists is the professional representative body for Occupational Therapists in Ireland.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE: The Annual AOTI Conference held in May 2006, went very well. The theme was "Advancing through Occupation - 40 Years on!" and was chosen to mark the 40th Anniversary of AOTI. Conference 2007 will be in the Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore, Co. Offaly 17th – 19th May. The theme will be “Occupational Therapist-Doing the Ordinary – Achieving the Extraordinary”. Call for papers will be in September 2006.
EDUCATION: A National Implementation Group (NIG) on Clinical Placements has been set up. AOTI have been represented at this forum by AOTI’s Education Officer, Odhran Allen, Higher Education Institutes (HEI) Representative Dr. Elizabeth McKay, University of Limerick, and the National Occupational Therapy Manager’s Group Representatives Nuala Tierney and Deirdre Rowe. The NIG has been meeting since June 2005. In that time significant funds have been made available. In December 2005 our Health Services Executive awarded funding to support three professions, including OT, to develop and build up increasing numbers of quality placements for students. Additional posts were created which will be advertised soon. An Education Forum established by Yvonne Finn-Orde, AOTI Chairperson, has supported this process. In addition, funding was also allocated to fund a 1 year Project Manager post.
Odhran Allen has completed his Education Officer position and has taken up a new post. We thank him for his excellent contribution to this work with AOTI and wish him every success for his future plans.
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PROFESSIONALS BILL: State registration will soon be mandatory. This Bill will require all Occupational Therapists who wish to work in Ireland to be State Registered. It will ensure protection for both the profession and the public.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANTS: There has been a lot of activity lately on this area of development. The tender for the provision of training for support staff in the health services has been awarded to a consortium of Vocational Education Centres. Since early 2006 members of each of the working groups, i.e. OT, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language Therapy, have met with staff from the VEC, the Department of Health and Children and the SKILL Project Team within the HSEA and have had several discussions in relation to the training programme content. On April 10th the three chairs of these working groups met with the above parties together and confirmed the modular content for therapy assistant training. All participants must complete 8 modules to receive their qualification. Training commences very soon and reaching this stage of the process is a credit to all involved. Dearbhla Birdy represented AOTI in this process.
COTEC NEWS: Rosie Gowran, Alternate Delegate to COTEC, will be retiring from her position in December this year. We wish her all the very best for her future plans.
OVERSEAS APPLICANTS: The AOTI Validation committee continue to meet monthly to keep up to date with applications. Contact mellany.mcloone@erha.ie for information on the requirements for validation of your qualification to practice in Ireland.
WEBSITE, NEWSLETTER and JOURNAL: AOTI was delighted to launch the new look website www.aoti.ie last March. This is part of our investment in web systems within the organisation which continues to be developed. The monthly newsletter is now being distributed via e-mail and can be contacted at aoti@eircom.net.
PRIMARY CARE POSTS: AOTI welcomes a recent announcement of 52 new Primary Care OT Posts. This is a significant development for OT in Ireland. These posts will be located throughout the country and are part of the primary care reform process. The closing date for applications was in mid-September. AOTI have recently published a position paper.
CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIOS: AOTI has recently developed this resource for AOTI members which focuses on guidelines for best CPD practice. The portfolios were launched at Conference and are available to all members of AOTI. The portfolio has been designed to be comprehensive and user-friendly. It attempts to capture the full range of CPD activities. The aim is to support members to make CPD a core part of their daily practice.
WEBSITE, NEWSLETTER and JOURNAL: www.aoti.ie
continues to be developed. The monthly newsletter is now being distributed via e-mail and can be contacted at
. The next issue of the Journal is due in September with space given over for a student corner to encourage active student participation.