… has been advertised. A job that if I could have written an ideal job description for myself, or if those that know me were to try and describe a role I’d be well suited to, this would be it. And yet for some reason, instead of finishing off the inviting form on the NHS jobs website, I’m writing this.

Jobs in NHS forensic care that are not only open to current employees in the same Trust are very very rare. Jobs that OTs can apply for even more so. But perhaps I’ve just touched upon why I am so reluctant to finish off the form…

I am an OT. Yes, an OT. The weight of other professionals’ attitudes towards OT tends to weigh on me heavily.

I have never seen myself as elitist or aloof as an OT, just a regular part of the MDT. I am happy to help patients and other staff on whichever unit I work in carrying out general tasks that need doing, whether it’s counting the restricted cutlery items at lunch or assisting in tMVA incidents if I’m in the vicinity and it is appropriate for me to do so.

I believe that it is only by seeing patients in their daily environment I can truly get an idea of where they are coming from. Seeing people in sterile therapy sessions is all well and good but it’s by being there first thing in the morning to see if they can actually get up and dressed, seeing if they can sort out their own laundry or whether they need prompting, seeing them attempt to make a cup of tea or interact with others, that I can get a good idea of their strengths and abilities. Yes I can and do run therapy sessions, but what I am saying is that’s not all I do. Or all I CAN do.

Yet time and again I get people who haven’t worked with me saying to me variations on “you lot swan in and out, get to do nice stuff with the patients, and then leave”. I want to bang my head on the wall. Not only is that underestimating my skills but more inportantly it is quite demeaning to the patients who might be doing what on the surface may look nice but is actually taking a massive amount of concentration and effort.

There are so many things I would like to say about OT and it’s perception by some (but by no means all) other professionals. But I’m tired of feeling like I’m banging my head against a brick wall.

So, I will complete the application because the job is brilliant and I want it and I have such a lot to give it. It’s just I hope the people who receive the application can see that too.

N.B. This blog was never supposed to be a professional thing. It wasn’t supposed to be completely psych focused. It was supposed to be personal. However, if your job is something important to you, it IS personal. And to me it is.