Meet our staff - Claire's story

I have been an occupational therapist since 1996. I met an OT when I was volunteering as a teenager - I’d wanted to be a nurse or a teacher and when she explained her role, I could see elements of both roles so decided it would be a good career. 

My training involved a 3-year full-time course; we had a mixture of academic classroom-based lessons and clinical placement training. To qualify I needed to achieve 1000 hours of clinical practice. When I started my course, I thought I wanted to work with children, but the placement experience made me consider alternative areas to work once I qualified. I had placements in Older Adults Physical Health, Adult Mental Health Neurology Rehab and HIV Hospice. While I was training, I worked as a bank nursing assistant at a local mental health hospital during term time and back at the holiday provision in the holidays. All the experience I had prior and during my training has been and continues to be so valuable to me, throughout my career.   

I’m so passionate about the work the AHP professions do and having the opportunity to influence patient care through the fantastic work carried out by the AHPs in the Trust, the patient experience team, the co-production team and the research team.

I’ve worked in acute hospitals, a community rehabilitation setting including older adults care, neurology and falls prevention, mental health services which included end-of-life care, a regulatory body back to mental health and community settings. Some highlights of my career so far include supporting patients in end-of-life care, working with whole families following a person’s brain injury, providing person-centred care for people with dementia and helping a lady following a stroke to be able to return home and support her daughter.

I enjoy the versatility - I’ve had the opportunity to move to different settings and roles. I’ve worked in both traditional OT roles and non-traditional roles such as a ward manager, service manager and a CQC inspector. 

My advice for anyone considering a career as an occupational therapist is to go and speak to a few OTs to hear from them what the job is like. Seek work experience/volunteering opportunities and apply to work as or alongside an OT in a support worker role. There are fantastic apprenticeship opportunities out there. Do it! After 29 years, I still love being an OT!