A Quality Improvement Project to improve the referrals to the Occupational Therapy team in a District General Hospital.

Introduction. The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (OT) define OT as “supporting individuals to develop, recover, or maintain skills for daily life and personal fulfilment”. At its core there is a focus on meaningful activities and occupation-based practice. However, workforce shortages and referral changes have altered OT roles, leading to a misunderstanding and under-recognition within the Multidisciplinary-Team (MDT). In our trust this led to the need for a referral form to trigger OT involvement in patient care to be introduced in 2024.

 Method. An initial pilot questionnaire (n-30) of MDT members revealed a lack of understanding of the OT role. An anonymous quantitative cross-sectional survey gathered responses from a larger range of MDT professionals in acute hospital medical wards (n=100). 80% (n=80) of the MDT demonstrated incorrect awareness of the OT role with the majority thinking it was for discharge planning. A series of PDSA cycles were run to aim to improve the understanding of OT role. 1 month of referral data/trends were thematically analysed before and after interventions. Interventions included: OT referral guidance posters, access to a podcast episode on the OT role and a presentation delivered to teams. 

Results. Pre-intervention: (February 2025) - 598 referrals. 139 (23%) referrals were declined -predominantly due to incomplete or inadequate rationale for OT involvement Post intervention: (June 2025) 483 referrals with 54 (11%) being rejected. 

Conclusion. OT was primarily viewed as a discharge-planning role, reflecting limited understanding of its broader contribution in acute care. As a result, referrals were inappropriate - delaying patient care. Following educational interventions this improved month by month. This indicates there is a need for greater awareness and understanding of the role and skills of OTs across our trust. This can be supported by integrating broader perspectives on OT into both under/ postgraduate nursing and medical education.