Hello, my name is Aimee and I am an Occupational Therapist. I work in Primary Care.
Aimee
What does your role involve?
My role involves supporting patients to manage their symptoms to be able to do the activities they need or want to do. This can include mental and physical health. With approximately 80% of my patients needing support with their mental health. The role is a first practitioner role which means I may be the first clinician in the surgery to see the patient so may need to make a diagnosis.
I work very closely with the other clinicians in the team, and we have regular multi-disciplinary meetings to discuss the best treatments for our patients.
Since the pandemic we now offer several different types of appointment – video, telephone, face to face and home visits.
Where do you work?
I currently work in a Health Board managed primary care GP (General Practice) surgery in North Wales. Some people think that Occupational Therapists work in hospitals
The practice has a team of occupational therapists (5 people covering 4 full time equivalent posts.
What is your typical day?
My day starts between 8.00am-8.30am and ends at various times depending on the day.
Most of my patients are over 18 years old but I will occasionally see someone if they are close to their 18th birthday.
My role involves supporting patients to manage their symptoms to be able to do the activities they need or want to do. This can include mental and physical health. With approximately 80% of my patients needing support with their mental health. The role is a first practitioner role which means I may be the first clinician in the surgery to see the patient so may need to make a diagnosis.
I work very closely with the other clinicians in the team, and we have regular multi-disciplinary meetings to discuss the best treatments for our patients.
Since the pandemic we now offer several different types of appointment – video, telephone, face to face and home visits.
The work is varied, and no two days are the same. I can do a home visit to an older person with dementia in the morning and be working with a young adult with self-esteem issues in the afternoon.
The role requires a good knowledge of medical conditions, self-management strategies and local knowledge of services.
I thoroughly recommend my role.