Flexible Working in the Private Sector - Bethany's Story
Balancing work and home life can be challenging; however, private practice allows for a flexibility that can help ease the struggle. For example, our associate occupational therapist Bethany is a mum with a young son now entering the academic year, and she thinks private practice was a great experience this summer. Here is what she had to say about the independent sector.
How do you balance both work and family life?
Initially, it was a steep learning curve going from a standard working week to one where I have more control over my diary. It felt quite daunting and I found I was over filling my days with tasks however, now I am more settled I find that it allows me the freedom to work my job around my family, which is incredibly liberating. My son is young and there was a huge pull when I went back to work that I was sacrificing time with him for my career. However, now I feel that I have the freedom to balance my role as an OT and my role as Mum much more. It means that I can spend time with him in the day time and then fit my report writing in here and there when he has gone to bed or when he is napping. Private work fits beautifully for us as a family because I now have time that I can dedicate to being a mum, while also having a really fulfilling job.
What do you enjoy most about private work?
I am very proud to be a Team Lead in my NHS job, however, I was beginning to miss being purely clinical. I love complex cases with interesting and challenging patients. When I interviewed with The OT Practice, I mentioned that I was searching for a way to find that joy again – which, I certainly have! It is a different world to what I was used to and, having been restricted by boundaries and strict criteria, the freedom to use my skills to source treatment plans and equipment that is truly client-centred has been amazingly rewarding. It has opened my eyes to the innovative products available and I am genuinely filled with excitement every time I take a new case. My passion is people and private work has given me the opportunity to use all of my clinical skills to give my client's a really holistic assessment.
What type of cases do you get to work on?
The variety of work has been really pleasantly surprising. I wasn't anticipating such a breadth of cases and clinical areas, and I am really enjoying being part of projects across a number of the teams within The OT Practice. I have been involved in a Key Accounts project supporting a local authority with backlogged community assessments, and enjoyed it so much I have just signed onto the next project. I also take cases through the charities team which is rewarding because it allows clients to access the support that a lot of charities want to provide. For example, in terms of recommending appropriate equipment, be that a new wheelchair, a profiling bed, or better seating. Alongside that, I have been working on a number of adult cases who are either supported by case workers following accidents or injuries, or through a client's work place to facilitate them being able to carry on working. Trying to pick my favourite area is too hard and the great thing about private practice is that I don't have to!
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into private practice?
Just do it! It feels scary, and I know for me a big element was the fear of the unknown but talk to people who have done some private work or reach out to somewhere like The OT Practice and ask for some examples of the kind of cases that you can get involved in, or see if you can speak to a new member of the team to pick their brains on how their experience was. I would recommend making a list of everything that you are looking to get out of private practice, (for me it was more freedom with my diary, interesting and challenging cases, and being able to expand and grow my knowledge and skill set) and in 6 months’ time you will look at this list and be amazed with how much you can tick off.
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