The conference was chaired by Emma Crowcroft, Regional Occupational Therapy Director for Cygnet. She opened the day by speaking a little on the growth of Occupational Therapy at Cygnet – we now have 173 Occupational Therapists and 88 Occupational Therapy assistants in post. The growing network includes service line leads which allows the team to deliver specialist support and training.
The Keynote speaker was Claudia White, Claudia is a qualified Occupational Therapist who has also experienced therapy as a service user. She shared her unique perspective and experience as a service user at Cygnet Hospital Woking. “As a patient, the lack of control in a busy environment can be really difficult. I now think back to my own experience and try to imagine how others are feeling. I try to give them as much control as possible.”
She urged other Occupational Therapists to consider all factors when supporting others, not to underestimate the impact they can have, and closed with the advice “Be kind to yourself and encourage patients to be kind to themselves.”
For the remaining morning sessions we heard presentations on how we can adapt environments for individuals with sensory needs, and how can we create sensory spaces in existing services. We also heard about projects going on within services to upgrade environments, and to reshape how teams were delivering therapy to meet the needs of the service users.
Another highlight was a video of Ryia Farrow, Occupational Therapist and a former service user from Cygnet Raglan House. She was admitted in 2019 and shared how unwell she was, which impacted every aspect of her life. She had no routine or motivation and found lots of things difficult. Thanks to the support of the Occupational Therapists at the service, she regained confidence and was able to build up a structure to her day.
The service user shared how the team helped her reconnect with her faith and supported her to attend Church again – something she would do regularly before she became unwell. She is currently volunteering at Cygnet Raglan House whilst she completes her level 2 course in Health and Social Care, she hopes to apply for a paid position there very soon. It was inspirational to see how far she has come.
Later, we were joined by a a service user at Cygnet Brunel. He also shared his experience with Occupational Therapy, and how the team supported him to find purpose again through vocational activities and routine.
There was such a wide variety of topics covered throughout the day, the importance of reflective practise, co-production and student placements presentations were all shared. It was great to see all of the positive comments from attendees in the chat, and viewers were invited to ask questions following each presentation.
Between the presentations were the Occupational Therapy awards, we heard about the members of staff going above and beyond their roles, delivering excellent care and inspiring others. The full list of winners can be found below:
Occupational Therapy Awards Winners 2023
- Developing the Environment Award – Sebastian Forrest
Sebastian was nominated for his hard work in showing that Occupational Therapy can be made accessible for everyone. We heard about how he had adapted a PICU environment to improve the service user experience. - Supporting Individuals Award – Louise Blackburn
Louise was nominated for her positive approach and fantastic therapeutic relationships with service users. She has supported many individuals who felt fearful of leaving the service to access the community confidently. There were over 170 nominations in this category. - Empowering Staff Award – Fiona Safrany
Fiona has supported many occupational therapists and the wider team in general, she was recognised as being investing in ensuring both service users and staff reach their full potential. - Evidencing Value Award – Adele Wheway
Adele was recognised for her high standards and friendly approach. She has provided training for other services and raised the profile of the profession. - Student Educator Award – Dishna Parmar
Dishna was praised not only by her colleagues, but also by students who were able to complete shadowing and training with her. Dishna was described as a champion for the Occupational Therapy role at Cygnet, and one student said they ‘couldn’t have asked for a better educator’. - Swan Award – Sheeba Devendran
The swan award was given in recognition of an individual who consistenly achieves excellent outcomes, supports others and emobdies the Cygnet values. Sheeba was the chosen winner based on her constant strive to be better and exceed expectations. She demonstrated excellent clinical outcomes again and aina, and is always keen to help otherss.
Well done to all of the finalists and award winners this year.