What happens after my manager refers me to Occupational Health?
Your line manager or HR make a referral to Occupational Health. They will give all the information they have regarding the issue and ask questions to be answered regarding your fitness for work, or information regarding any health surveillance required.
The referral will be triaged by the dedicated OH Nurse to make sure the most appropriate practitioner and appointment is arranged unless your organisation has opted to arrange an appointment with OH nurses initially.
This could be a telephone or face to face appointment, usually with the Occupational Health Nurse or Nurse Advisor, but could also be an Occupational Health Physician, or specialist such as a physiotherapist, osteopath, psychologist or counsellor.
If the referral has been triaged, the dedicated administrator will set up an appointment, or arrange an appointment on referral. You will receive an email with the time and date of the appointment, the address and a map to the location. You will also receive a text to alert you to the email.
If you wish to move/cancel the appointment, please contact your administrator more than 3 working days in advance of the appointment or your employer will still be charged.
You will have a one-on-one consultation with your Occupational Health Practitioner. You’ll have the opportunity to discuss any medical problems, concerns or issues you may have.
The OH Practitioner will talk to you, listen to the information you provide and ask relevant questions to find out more about you and your medical history. They may also undertake assessments (e.g. lung function, audio test etc.) depending on the type of appointment. The OH practitioner will make notes of the information you provide and will use the information to provide advice on how best to facilitate your return to work, how to maintain you in work or provide the results of your health surveillance.
If you choose not to attend the appointment, or cancel, a report will normally still be sent to your employer. The OH Practitioner will make recommendations based on the information they have been given.
The practitioner will complete a report to send to your employer based on the information they have received and/or assessments undertaken, which will include advice on your case. This requires your consent to release (please see Consent below), unless it is a Fit For Work report containing the results of Health Surveillance. This may include any suggested ‘reasonable’ adjustments that may be considered to help you to remain at or return to work.
The report will not normally contain Medical details however it may be necessary for the Occupational Health practitioner to give information relating to your health and how it affects work or vice versa. This will normally be in in general terms.
Your consent is required before we can send a report to your employer that contains any medical details. You will normally receive an email consent form to print, sign and bring to your appointment, or you can give consent verbally during the appointment which will be recorded in the medical notes and the report to your employer.
If you wish to view the report before it is released or want a copy we will email you a secure link to view the report. You will also receive a text message to alert you to the email. You are then able to provide any factual changes you want making within 3 working days (or 5, if sent by post) before the report is released to the employer.
You may request factual changes online if you feel the report is inaccurate. You may not ask the OH practitioner to change the tone of the report or seek to amend their medical opinion. The OH practitioner will take your comments into account but has the right to refuse to amend the report. You may request a factual change once only, we will not engage in onging discussion about the report. If you are unhappy you may refuse consent for us to release the report to your employer, however this is unlikely to be in your best interest.
