An exciting week!
This week, I was honoured to have been invited and to have attended the House of Lords as an invited guest of Baroness Berridge.
I am part of the RCOT Specialist section for Work and collectively, we were invited to attend the House of Lords on Tuesday. We had the opportunity to sit in on a questions session, which typically included a couple of questions concerning NHS service provision. It was interesting to see the layout and how the questions work – only 10 minutes per topic!
We were then shown around Westminster with a knowledgeable guide and saw the Palace of Westminster, the chapel, the broom cupboard where the suffragette Emily Davison hid, the beautiful chapel, the terrace and the very impressive central hall. Our team spotted a few MP’s including 2 former PM’s – Boris Johnson and Theresa May. Our visit also coincided with a state visit from the President of South Africa which meant a bustling atmosphere with high security.
Our visit culminated in afternoon tea with Baroness Berridge who told us a little about her time as a Baroness over the last 12 years and discussed the issues that matter greatly to her. It was fantastic to have an opportunity to discuss with her the issues that matter to us as occupational therapists in the field of “work” and how crucial occupational therapists are in promoting work as a health outcome. It was a day not to forget!
