Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS occupational therapists involved in Disabled Facilities Grants for (a) children and (b) other people.

Occupational therapists play an important role in delivering the Disabled Facilities Grant at a local level by assessing older and disabled people’s needs, recommending home adaptations, and ensuring the suitability of proposed solutions.

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care. These staff include Allied Health Professionals such as occupational therapists.

The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure that we retain more of our skilled and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.