Making Occupational Health Work For You

 

If you are a civil servant and you have a health condition or disability that affects your well-being or capacity to work, you can get occupational health (OH) advice. With the manager's cooperation, you can use this expert medical advice to make sure you have the knowledge and assistance you need to recover, stay healthy, and reach your full potential.

However, not everyone is aware of this or feels comfortable talking about delicate medical matters. Public Health England’s Amanda Hinkley, Head of Occupational Health and Staff Wellbeing would like to address some frequent concerns and misconceptions about occupational health and define what constitutes effective communication.

How does the occupational health procedure operate, and how forthcoming must individuals be about their health?

The purpose of occupational health is to maintain employees' physical and mental well-being at work. The past few months have been extremely difficult, and employees have found the support and advice of occupational health to be especially helpful. When a worker's current health condition or disability may be affecting their ability to perform their job duties or when their job may be negatively impacting their own health, they are typically referred to occupational health for support and advice by management or by self-referral.

Your manager must fill out a referral form, talk to you about the referral, and get your approval before making a management referral to occupational health. Being as honest as you can about your situation will help to ensure that the advice given is of the greatest value. Your conversation with the occupational health nurse, doctor, or physiotherapist is private and confidential. Following your evaluation, your manager will receive an advisory report; this report does not have to include any privileged or delicate personal or medical information. Before giving your permission for the report to be sent, the occupational health clinician will make clear to you what will be contained in it and give you the chance to review it.

Any employee seeking private guidance or assistance about health issues that may be affecting or being impacted by work may make a self-referral. Most of the time, advice is given verbally, but in certain circumstances, when it is thought that speaking with the staff member's manager would be especially helpful and with the staff member's express consent, a brief advisory report may be sent.

What attributes do a strong occupational health report possess, and what should you do if it falls short of these requirements?

The following recommendations for your manager should be included in a good occupational health report:

●       an assessment of your readiness for work.

●       An estimation of the timeframe for returning to work, if currently unfit.

●       If a timeframe is impossible to provide, an explanation of why this is the case as well as suggestions for what to do next.

●       Advice on temporary changes to aid in your recovery or facilitate your return to work, as appropriate.

●       Advice on long-term or permanent adjustments to the role that may be relevant if you have a disability, if it is appropriate.

●       Respond to any specific inquiries on the referral form.

The report shouldn't include any extraneous medical information and should be grammatically correct, clear, and succinct.

Your occupational health service needs to be informed if you are worried that an OH report does not adhere to these standards. Please be sure to provide feedback in accordance with your region's protocols.

What happens to people's sensitive information and occupational health reports?

Your occupational health record is handled in accordance with professional codes of conduct and data protection laws because it contains sensitive health information. Only team members who work in occupational health have access to the data, which is held securely. You can submit a subject access request if you want to see a copy of your record.

It is also confidential, but with your permission, the occupational health advisory report created after your consultation is given to your manager so they can support you at work. It won't be disclosed to anyone else without your express permission.