Occupational therapy

What is occupational therapy and how can it help me?

Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants in our service help people who aren't able to undertake activities at home due to illness or disability, or aren't as independent as they could be. This may include looking at new ways of carrying out daily living activities, providing specialist equipment and/or adapting the home. 

What will an occupational therapist do?

The occupational therapist or assistant, will carry out an initial assessment, which may be in person at your home, or over the phone. The assessment will consider those activities that you, or the person you care for, wants to do, needs to do, or is expected to do, and identify strengths and challenges.

Following an assessment the occupational therapist, or assistant, may decide, with you, to do one or more of the following:

  • Recommend and provide specialist equipment for use at home to support you, or the person you care for, with participation in daily living activities
  • Advise on/make recommendations for adaptations at home to improve access to essential facilities for you, or the person you care for, and advise on grants that may be available
  • Provide support and advice regarding rehousing
  • Provide support and advice regarding safety within the home
  • Signpost to other professionals and voluntary agencies

What we don’t do

  • We don't provide either hospital or electric profiling beds
  • We don't provide physiotherapy or ‘hands-on therapy’ sessions
  • We don't provide sensory integration interventions or equipment
  • We don’t complete moving and handling assessments. Please contact First Point of Contact (FPOC) for further information on 0345 678 9044
  • We don't provide wheelchairs. For an assessment, contact Shropshire Wheelchair and Postural Services on 01743 444051
  • We don't assess for specialist car seats or harnesses - an assessment can be arranged through RDAC

How can I make a referral for a child (0-18)?

We operate an open referral system. All referrals are made by calling 0345 678 9021.

How can I make a referral for an adult (18+)?

You can refer yourself or someone else (with their permission) directly to the Occupational Therapy service, by calling our First Point of Contact team (FPOC) on 0345 678 9044 (phone lines are open Monday to Thursday, 8:45am to 5pm, and on Friday from 8:45am to 4pm). First Point of Contact is a friendly and dedicated team of advisors who will ensure that customers get the right help and support as quickly as possible. The advisor will gather information to determine your specific needs and pass this onto the Occupational Therapy Team.

What will happen once a referral has been made?

If we require further information about your referral, our team of advisors in FPOC might contact you and/or the person who referred you to get further information about your needs. This is to build a better picture of the scenario you or the person you care for is facing. If you're able to email photographs of the problematic home environment, this will help our therapists prioritise your request and consider solutions. Your referral will be passed to the team, where we operate a RAG (red, amber, green) rating system to prioritise all referrals. You'll be contacted by an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant to arrange an initial assessment. Please be aware that there's a waiting time for an occupational therapy assessment. If your needs can't be met through our service, we will, where possible, signpost you to other services that may be better able to meet your need, or the need of the person you care for.

Useful links

What do I do if my equipment breaks?

If you experience any issues please call First Point of Contact on 0345 678 9000 to report it (9am – 5pm).

In an emergency outside of working hours (evenings, weekends and bank holidays) please call the Emergency Duty Team on 08456 789040.                                              

Most equipment can be returned to us if you no longer need it. Please be aware that to ensure a cost-effective service to our customers we only collect pieces of equipment if the value is greater than £50 – we can advise you on this.

For equipment returns, please call First Point of Contact on 0345 678 9044.

Disabled facilities grants

If you have a disability and need to make changes to stay in your home following an occupational therapy assessment, you may be eligible for grant funding assistance, to fund alterations to your property to make daily living activities easier, and to remain as independent as possible. Currently Shropshire Council is reviewing its disabled facilities grant process – if you're interested in making an application for funding for adaptations, we recommend you contact private sector housing.

Children’s occupational therapy

Find out more about children's occupational therapy from our SEND local offer pages.

Care Act details

Take a look at our Care Act pages for more information on this legislation.