Understanding the current available workforce planning data for Occupational Therapists: A scoping review to support collaboration workforce planning in the Leeds Health and Care System

Abstract

Introduction:

Strategic workforce planning is a priority for health and social care, and the city of Leeds is focused on localised planning to balance supply and demand and develop this based on changing needs of the system. There are gaps in data required for Occupational Therapy (OT) workforce modelling; therefore, we need to find out whether proxy data exist that can support this activity in Leeds.

Method:

This scoping review appraised existing OT workforce literature from five academic databases using a three-staged approach, capturing any degree of data relating to OT workforce from the last 10 years; evidence-based workforce data to be applied to workforce planning where actual workforce data is unavailable.

Results:

We included nine papers in this scoping review, organising available data under three headings: current capacity of OT workforce, OT workforce entering the health and care system and returning to practice OTs and outflows reflecting turnover data.

Conclusion:

Findings demonstrated significant gaps in available workforce data for Occupational Therapists to support collaborative workforce planning in the Leeds Health and Care System. The available data vary hugely limiting opportunities for proxy data utilisation. Improved consistency and quality of OT data are crucial to support future workforce planning.

Keywords

Workforce planning turnover recruitment workforce capacity health occupations Occupational Therapy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arksey

O’Malley

(2005) Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 8: 19–32.

American Occupational Therapy Association (2022) Academic Programs Annual Data Report: Academic Year 2022–2023. American Occupational Therapy Association. Available at: https://www.aota.org/-/media/corporate/files/educationcareers/educators/2022-2023-annual-data-report.pdf (accessed 20 March 2025).

Australian Government Department of Health (2022) National Allied Health Workforce Strategy. Australian Department of Health. Available at: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-allied-health-workforce-strategy (accessed 10 March 2025).

Canadian Occupational Therapy Association (2022) National Workforce Strategy: Addressing the Needs of Occupational Therapy Professionals in Canada. Canadian Occupational Therapy Association. Available at: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/HESA/Brief/BR11709767/br-external/CanadianAssociationOfOccupationalTherapists-e.pdf (accessed 20 September 2024).

Colquhoun

Levac

O’Brien

, et al. (2014) Scoping reviews: time for clarity in definition, methods, and reporting. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 67: 1291–1294.

Corporation for Digital Scholarship (2024) Zotero | Your personal research assistant. Available at: https://www.zotero.org/ (accessed 5 August 2024).

Ghela

Govender

Ogunlana

(2022) A review of occupational therapy services within an acute public tertiary hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy 52: 16–23.

Hemmings

Buckingham

Oung

, et al. (2021) Attracting, Supporting and Retaining a Diverse NHS Workforce. Nuffield Trust. Available at: https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/research/attracting-supporting-and-retaining-a-diverse-nhs-workforce (accessed 20 September 2024).

Hornby

(2023) Citywide Workforce Planning for Allied Health Professionals: Project Summary. In: Leeds Health and Care Academy. Available at: https://leedshealthandcareacademy.org/news/citywide-workforce-planning-for-allied-health-professionals-project-summary/ (accessed 2 August 2024).

10.

Leeds City Council (2023) Leeds Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023 to 2030. Available at: https://www.leeds.gov.uk/plans-and-strategies/health-and-wellbeing-strategy (accessed 20 February 2024).

11.

Leeds Health & Care Partnership (2023) The Healthy Leeds Plan 2023-2028. Available at: https://www.healthandcareleeds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Healthy-Leeds-Plan-Document-070923.pdf (accessed 20 September 2024).

12.

LHCA (2021) Leeds Health and Care One Workforce Strategy: 2024. Available at: https://leedshealthandcareacademy.org/news/leeds-health-and-care-one-workforce-strategy-2024/ (accessed 2 August 2024).

13.

LHCA (2024) Leeds Health and Care Academy - About us. Available at: https://leedshealthandcareacademy.org/about-us/ (accessed 2 August 2024).

14.

McGowan

Straus

Moher

, et al. (2020) Reporting scoping reviews—PRISMA ScR extension. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 123: 177–179.

15.

NHS England (2018) Allied health professions: At the forefront of improving care – a year in review 2017/2018. NHS England. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allied-health-professions-a-year-in-review-2017-18/ (accessed 20 September 2024).

16.

NHS England (2023) NHS Long Term Workforce Plan Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/nhs-long-term-workforce-plan-v1.2.pdf (accessed 20 September 2024).

17.

Nuffield Trust (2024) The NHS workforce in numbers. Available at: https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/the-nhs-workforce-in-numbers (accessed 2 August 2024).

18.

Palmer

Rolewicz

Dodsworth

(2023) Waste not, want not: Strategies to improve the supply of clinical staff to the NHS. Nuffield Trust. Available at: https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/research/waste-not-want-not-strategies-to-improve-the-supply-of-clinical-staff-to-the-nhs (accessed 11 December 2024).

19.

Peters

MDJ

Godfrey

Khalil

, et al. (2015) Guidance for conducting systematic scoping reviews. International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare 13: 141–146.

20.

Royal College of Occupational Therapists (2025) Occupational therapy degree apprenticeships in England. Available at: https://www.rcot.co.uk/degree-level-apprenticeship-occupational-therapy (accessed 25 February 2025).

21.

Skills for Care (2022) Headline occupational therapist information. Available at: https://www.zotero.org/groups/5343664/ot_workforce_data/collections/WWHGY43T/items/3JZ6MK3C/attachment/SSHFTD39/reader (accessed 2 August 2024).

22.

Skills for Care (2023a) Apprenticeships in Adult Social Care 2021/22. Available at: https://www.zotero.org/groups/5343664/ot_workforce_data/collections/WWHGY43T/items/CDCJIYW7/attachment/832SYNP7/reader (accessed 2 August 2024).

23.

Skills for Care (2023b) The State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England. Skills for Care. Available at: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Adult-Social-Care-Workforce-Data/Workforce-intelligence/publications/national-information/The-state-of-the-adult-social-care-sector-and-workforce-in-England.aspx (accessed 11 December 2024).

24.

Sutton

Prowse

McVey

, et al. (2023) Strategic workforce planning in health and social care – an international perspective: A scoping review. Health Policy 132: 104827.

25.

Tissiman

Matysiak

Lysaght

(2024) System workforce planning model. Internal report, Leeds Health and Care Academy. Leeds, UK.