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{
    "id": 748503,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/748503/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 76,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Nyikal",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": "themselves and do normal work. What occupational therapists do is try to train these people to use whatever capacities are residual after the injury or illness to look after themselves, use that to do their daily work. Sometimes it is important that people learn completely new skills that they can perform. That is the area of occupational therapy. It is extremely important. I must point out because the Mover of the Bill is here, that occupational therapy and physiotherapy are very close. If we are going to have this regulation, we must start thinking how the two can be linked right from the outset. We know that when you have an illness or injury, the first element is physiotherapy and then closely after that occupational therapy comes in to help rehabilitate you completely. That is something we will look at. We know that this is an element of care that starts during illness and goes on long after the illness has ended or the injury has healed. These people find themselves working with people in hospitals and sometimes in people’s homes for a long time. It is, therefore, very important that when you have people that work in people’s homes, there are very clear guidelines, standards, regulations and ethics so that people are protected. Therefore, the need for regulation is long overdue. This Bill will go a long way in looking at the training. Again, because it is something that people need and people do in their own homes sometimes, it is possible for quacks to operate out there without knowing whether they have training. We must establish standards. The curricula need to be in place. Even when they complete, we have to look at areas like internships. In my view, internship where people who have finished their training have to work in some institutions without pay for one year is hurting many young people. My proposal is that internship should be included in the period of training so that when people leave the institution they have the certificate and can get employed or get into private practice. This is unlike the current situation where you get your diploma and then you cannot get work because you have not done internship. There is no proper provision on how you do internship, how you live during internship and how you are paid during the internship. Occupational therapists should take the lead in making sure that that period is within the training so that we do not have people suffering as they are now. I support the Bill because it provides for registration so that we know who has been trained adequately. If they are registered, what is the condition of registration? What is it that they will do and what is it that they cannot do? If they do what they should not do, then we have a disciplinary process that has been clearly outlined in the Bill. The Bill provides technical and ethical standards to uphold so that we protect people. The Bill also provides for sanctions if you do not abide by the standards of the provisions because this is, indeed, a profession. The area of practice is important and it has been looked into. However, I would also like the Mover to look at it very carefully. In institutions, whether public or private, there are normally many safeguards because of the institutional structures and regulations of the practice. However, we need to very carefully look into situations where people go into private practice and deal with patients on their own. What are the conditions of practice? How do we then make sure that people who are in private practice do what they should do, and do not go beyond their responsibilities and hurt patients? I know that the licensing for private practice is a prime mover for many of the cadres to have their own bodies. We all want to improve ourselves financially. However, what do we offer our people, and how do we protect them? I think that is extremely important. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Bill establishes a council, and that is the way it should go. We have looked at the functions of the council and its membership. We may look at The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}