19 May 2021

Congratulations to Emma Nicklin, CNWL’s Head of Profession for Occupational Therapy, for her successful application to the England Board of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT). She will join seven other Board members representing the whole of England.

The RCOT is a professional body governing the standards and practice of occupational therapy staff (OT’s) across the UK.  

“I am incredibly proud to take up this role and it is a real honour,” Emma says. “The RCOT England Board has an important function in the world of occupational therapy, setting our standards of practice and supporting OT’s in all the varied settings they work in.”

Emma has been an OT for 21 years – spending the last two years with CNWL – and has always been a member of the RCOT, starting as an observer on the Board and last year completing a co-opted member placement. These roles inspired her to apply for a full Board position, knowing she could feed her knowledge into the college and help make the professional body more accessible to occupational therapists in CNWL.

“My role in CNWL covers all of our occupational therapy services – mental health, physical health, inpatients, community and specialist services – I feel this gives me a unique understanding about the realities of work for occupational therapists in the NHS. 

“It is a really good opportunity to contribute strongly to the strategic direction of the profession nationally. I want to be able to use not only my own knowledge but promote all of the voices of CNWL occupational therapy as well.”

With just under 300 OT’s across the Trust, Emma is excited to see the changes taking place at the RCOT and share this with the CNWL OT and AHP community.

“The RCOT England Board agenda aligns nicely with the strategic and national NHS agendas, but also with work we are doing in CNWL. The Board are wanting to promote occupational therapy as a career of choice. In CNWL we are doing quite a lot of work to promote OT within local schools and advance our CNWL OT apprenticeship schemes to try and get a new wave of occupational therapists into the profession.

“The RCOT also want to try and improve the BAME representation throughout the profession, which is a priority in CNWL; our BAME OT Network has been running for well over a year now. I really hope the learning we have done in CNWL and the type of work we are involved in will help inform the Board, and that I can learn from other areas of England and bring that information back to the Trust; to continually make CNWL an employer of choice for OT’s.”

Emma wants to inspire CNWL OT’s to become future Board members.

“You don’t have to be really experienced or wait for someone to ask you to be involved. It’s about putting yourself forward and feeling like you can make a difference. It is really important to share your passion for OT and make sure you are pushing forward your whole profession to be the best that it can be.”

Commenting on Emma’s appointment, Alison Wilcox, Chair of the RCOT Board says:

“Joining the RCOT Board is an ideal leadership opportunity to represent your profession and professional body. Emma joined at very challenging and busy time as we navigated through the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. From her experience, Emma will be able to actively support fellow OT colleagues at her Trust and inform the Board of contemporaneous OT policy and practice. This ensures the profile of OT is both recognised and embedded. We wish Emma continued success in her new term of office.”

Emma’s term of office will officially commence in June following the RCOT annual conference and run for three years.