The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer. The funding will support local areas to recruit more educational psychologists, speech and language therapists (SaLTs), occupational therapists and specialist teachers, so they can bring this vital support directly into mainstream settings and improve access to early intervention.

To support delivery of Experts at Hand, we are investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce. This includes £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, followed by further investment to train more from 2028, subject to future spending reviews. Upon graduating, trainees will be required remain in local authority employment for a minimum of three years.

The remaining £15 million will be invested to establish new speech and language therapist advanced practitioners in every Integrated Care Board geographical area, to get more SaLTs working in educational settings.

We support the expansion of non-medical professional groups being able to use legal mechanisms to prescribe, supply, and administer medicines to patients where it is safe to do so. There is a robust process in place for making such changes to ensure they are safe and beneficial for patients.

We are considering requests for the extension of existing medicines responsibilities and recently concluded a consultation on proposals to extend the medicines responsibilities of four professions. Further information can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/extend-medicines-responsibilities-for-allied-health-professions

No specific assessment has been made of the impact of extending prescribing rights for occupational therapists on patient access to treatment, waiting times, or access to care in West Dorset.

We support the expansion of non-medical professional groups being able to use legal mechanisms to prescribe, supply, and administer medicines to patients where it is safe to do so. There is a robust process in place for making such changes to ensure they are safe and beneficial for patients.

We are considering requests for the extension of existing medicines responsibilities and recently concluded a consultation on proposals to extend the medicines responsibilities of four professions. Further information can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/extend-medicines-responsibilities-for-allied-health-professions

No specific assessment has been made of the impact of extending prescribing rights for occupational therapists on patient access to treatment, waiting times, or access to care in West Dorset.

We support the expansion of non-medical professional groups being able to use legal mechanisms to prescribe, supply, and administer medicines to patients where it is safe to do so. There is a robust process in place for making such changes to ensure they are safe and beneficial for patients.

We are considering requests for the extension of existing medicines responsibilities and recently concluded a consultation on proposals to extend the medicines responsibilities of four professions. Further information can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/extend-medicines-responsibilities-for-allied-health-professions

No specific assessment has been made of the impact of extending prescribing rights for occupational therapists on patient access to treatment, waiting times, or access to care in West Dorset.

Operating department practitioners are registered allied health professionals who support patients before, during, and after surgery, including in operating theatres and recovery areas.

The Government has no current plans to allow operating department practitioners to prescribe medicines independently. However, the Department has recently consulted on whether they should be able to use Patient Group Directions. These would allow them to supply and administer specified medicines to defined groups of patients without a prescription, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. The consultation received responses from healthcare professionals, organisations, and members of the public. The Government will publish a response, setting out next steps, in due course.

After a 12-week consultation period including over 200 engagement events, meetings and roundtables, the department’s consultation ‘SEND reform: putting children and young people first‘ has now closed. We are carefully reviewing and taking into account all responses submitted to the consultation and continuing to engage widely on our proposals.

We proposed that the information about a child or young person’s special educational needs (SEN) or special educational provision (SEP) can be considered as part of appeals to the SEND Tribunal about Specialist Provision Packages or placements as appropriate, rather than being separate.

We want the Tribunal to focus on the key questions of the child or young person’s package or placement, recognising that SEN and SEP can frequently be a central part of the evidence for these appeals. At present, the great majority of appeals relating to SEN or SEP are combined with an appeal about the child or young person’s placement. Moreover, detailed information about the child or young person’s specific special educational provision will in future be included in new setting-led Individual Support Plans that are developed following a child being placed on a package and worked-up with the teachers and staff working with the child day-to-day, so are not part of the education, health and care (EHC) plan. For these reasons, the consultation proposed that special educational provision should be included in other appeals to the Tribunal rather than kept separate.

Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.

In Surrey and across the country, occupational therapists play a key role in reducing hospital admissions and supporting timely discharge by assessing the physical, cognitive and social factors that influence a person’s ability to remain safe and independent at home. They work across settings including emergency departments, urgent community response services, reablement and rehabilitation and discharge planning. Through functional assessment, risk identification, and the provision of equipment or adaptations, they support individuals to regain or maintain essential daily living skills. These interventions help reduce emergency attendances, hospital admissions and readmissions, as well as prevent avoidable escalation in care needs.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the effectiveness of Occupational Therapy services in Surrey.

However, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has a legal duty to assess how well local authorities are delivering their duties under the 2014 Care Act. The Department has made a range of support available to help local authorities improve in response to the CQC's findings. Ultimately, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has legal powers to intervene where failure is identified.

Surrey County Council was rated "Good" by the CQC in November 2024, and the full report can be found at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/surrey-1124

The report describes a number of ways in which Occupational Therapists are supporting people in Surrey.

The Department does not hold vacancy rates that are granular enough to identify rates for neuro-phsyiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists in National Health Service stroke units.

NHS England publishes quarterly vacancy statistics for total staffing, registered nurses, and medical staff across the NHS. Data is not available at a more detailed staff group level or by the setting in which staff work. The latest published data can be found at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-vacancies-survey

We are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to support the delivery of the Experts at Hand offer, strengthening joint planning and commissioning at a local level between education and health partners.

Over the next three years, £1.8 billion will be made available to local area partnerships to develop and roll out the Experts at Hand offer.

Local area partnerships will design and implement their own Experts at Hand models, tailored to local population needs, existing workforce capacity, and the specific challenges each area faces. As a result, workforce requirements, including for occupational therapists, will vary across the country.

The department recognises that continuing to build the occupational therapy workforce pipeline is essential and is working with DHSC and NHS England to support workforce planning and improve access to community health services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including occupational therapy input, as part of longer‑term system planning, including through the development of the NHS England 10‑year workforce plan.

NHS England recognises the vital role occupational therapists play across the health and care system and is committed to supporting a skilled, sustainable workforce.

Post registration training and development for occupational therapists is the responsibility of employers and is aligned to identified service requirements and individual learning needs. This support spans the full career pathway, including preceptorship or foundation practice for newly registered staff, enhanced and advanced practice roles, and consultant level practice.

Employers are supported through a range of funded and accredited education and training routes. National Health Service trusts receive a dedicated Continued Professional Development funding allocation to enable registered allied health professionals, including occupational therapists, to access ongoing learning and skills development. In addition, a range of education and training grants are available, with funding routes and levels aligned to staff grade and stage of development. Training opportunities are designed to support priority service areas such as community and neighbourhood services, mental health, elective recovery, and population health, while also enabling occupational therapists to develop leadership, advanced clinical, education, and research capabilities.

These arrangements ensure occupational therapists are supported to maintain and enhance their skills throughout their careers, respond to service needs, and deliver safe, effective, and high-quality care.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. While the scope of the 10 Year Workforce Plan is the NHS workforce, we understand the importance of effective integration across social care and community care.

We are working through how the 10 Year Workforce Plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups. The specific measures which comprise the plan will be set out when it is published in spring this year.

The government is providing substantial, targeted investment to help local areas grow and strengthen their specialist workforce. Over the next three years, £1.8 billion will be made available to local area partnerships to develop and rollout of the Experts at Hand offer.

Local area partnerships will design and implement their own Experts at Hand models, tailored to local needs and workforce capacity. This will be supported by strong national oversight. The department will set the overall framework, provide guidance and tools, and work closely with local areas to ensure consistent quality.

​To support this, we have also announced £15 million for new speech and language therapy advanced practitioner roles, as well as continuing our investment in the educational psychology workforce with £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, building on previous investment.

The department knows that continuing to build the pipeline of speech and language therapists is essential. That is why we are working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with SEND.

Decisions on recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

Decisions on recruitment and employment are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve the transition into the workforce.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the Plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

The Department supports expanding medicines responsibilities for non‑medical professionals where it is safe to do so. Appropriately trained occupational therapists can already supply and administer medicines under patient specific directions or patient group directions.

Any changes to medicines responsibilities follow a robust process to ensure patient safety. NHS England develops clinical cases for change with professional bodies, the Commission on Human Medicines provides advice, and, where proposals are progressed, the Department amends the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

The Department has recently concluded a consultation on extending medicines responsibilities for a group of allied health professionals. We are analysing the responses and will consider proposals relating to other professional groups once this work is complete.