How to get the most out of Occupational Health Referrals

Referring an employee to occupational health (OH) can help you understand how best to manage employee health concerns at work.

OH referrals take place for a whole host of reasons, such as:

• Aiding a safe return to work after illness or injury

• Understanding new diagnoses and their impact on work and vice versa

• Supporting long-term conditions at work

• Assessing ill health retirement cases

• Reviewing health after an accident at work

• Advising about medical capability

With so many reasons for referral, employers want to be sure that they are getting the best advice following the appointment to help them manage their employees’ health at work.

OH referral checklist:

• Qualified Provider: Look for a provider whose clinicians have a specialist qualification in OH.

• Provide context: A job description and any background information about the issue, as well as potential adjustments you could feasibly accommodate will help the clinician give appropriate advice.

• Ask specific questions: Be clear on what you want to know – asking specific questions will get you specific answers.

• Be open with the employee: Share the referral with them to engage them in the process and encourage cooperation.

• Understand the process: Ask how long reports take to be issued and how delays are handled to ensure this meets your expectations.

• Understand your obligations: You don’t have to follow the advice in an OH report. You do have to consider it and do all that is ‘reasonably practicable’ to support an employee. This doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be at the expense of other employees, the company’s financial stability or operations.

At All Health Matters we offer face-to-face and remote OH referrals and aim to release reports within 2 days of the consultation. Contact our team to talk through the referral process and get support for your employee health issues. www.allhealthmatters.co.uk