Ms Ginny Hanrahan:

Trainee physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and social workers all need to do a training placement. I trained as an occupational therapist 40 years ago, which included having to do a placement of 1,000 hours. That is absolutely crucial. People coming out of courses must be able to work independently. As we move to deliver Sláintecare, we must have professionals coming through who can get to work straight away. Placements are absolutely critical. I acknowledge it is very tricky for the providers at this time, when they are under such pressure. Working in the profession of occupational therapist, I have taken students in because we know it is the only way they will learn. Another factor is that there is a very small cohort of academically brilliant students who think they want to work in one of these professions. However, when they go out to placements, they realise it is not for them. It is crucial for all these professionals to have placement training.