Specialist Services

Employee Assistance Programmes

Early intervention is the key to absence management, particularly in the management of musculoskeletal and mental health conditions. It is important that these two conditions are seen early so that treatment can be accessed as soon as possible.

We like to see employees rapidly, providing management within 48 hours, often on the same day as the appointment reports. We can stay in direct contact with managers by telephone and arrange case conferences for complex and sensitive cases.

We continue to provide advice until cases are resolved, giving managers the specific information they need to manage absence and performance.

Our team always includes specialists in mental health and musculoskeletal conditions. As well as providing best care for employees, this ensures we deliver authoritative advice to management.

Where employees are not fit for all of their duties full time, we always advise on workplace adjustments.

It’s a fact that 98% of absentees return to work within 5 days. Our aim is therefore to ensure these 2% of cases do not become long-term health problems.

Executive medicals

This is especially important for key people in your organisation. By performing executive medicals, it demonstrates to your staff that you are committed to their future health and well-being. This proactive approach to health makes good business sense, as a healthy employee will help create a healthy business.

We can offer comprehensive executive medical assessments for your key managers and executives.

These can include:

• Lifestyle assessment and advice
• Spirometry (Lung Function Test)
• ECG
• Blood pressure & pulse
• Urinalysis
• Vision screening
• Body mass index (measurement of height, weight and calculation of Body Mass Index)
• Near Distance and Colour Vision
• Blood analysis (various)
• Cholesterol (checking for risk of Coronary Heart Disease)
• Blood Sugar (check for Diabetes)
• Grip Strength (checking muscular strength)

Mediation

Resolving complex workplace disputes

Our service aims to resolve interpersonal conflict between employees arising from allegations of bullying, unacceptable behaviour and serious disagreements. Our mediation services are led by an ACAS-trained mediator (who is also a Specialist Practitioner in Occupational Health).

It has been estimated that £33 billion per year is lost by UK organisations as a result of workplace conflict and poor resolution outcomes.

The mediator usually holds individual and joint meetings so that the two parties can explore their conflict in a constructive way and work towards an agreement that satisfies both parties.

By helping parties to explore their differences and needs, our mediation can lead to an agreed action plan for remedying most situations. The mediator is not there to act as a judge and come to a verdict as to who is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Instead they will give the parties opportunities to resolve their differences and build a better working relationship.

In most cases, our mediation will be completed in a single day. Often away from the usually busy working environment.

Overseas travel

Travel advice and immunisations

The OHWorks Travel Clinic can provide travel advice, immunisations, and antimalarial prophylaxis to your employees or students, who may be embarking on research overseas, attending a conference or going on field trips. We can provide a variety of vaccines and antimalarial medication and later this year will hope to be opening as an authorised Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre. We can provide a full price list on request.

Vaccinations available include:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Typhoid
• Diptheria, tetanus and polio (combined)
• MMR
• Meniningitis
• Japanese Encephalitis
• Tickborne Encephalitis
• Rabies
• Cholera
• Malaria prophylaxis

Pension assessments

Our team of occupational health physicians are able to determine whether an employee is likely to meet the criteria for ill health retirement. This will usually involve a capability assessment and an examination of medical evidence about the illness or injury. This evidence will often be obtained by contacting the employee’s General Practitioner or specialist. Our physicians have expereince of dealing with appeals, injury award assessments and reviews under many pension schemes.

Pension schemes that our physicians have advised on include the Fire-Fighter Pension scheme (acting as an Independent Qualified Medical Practitioner); the Police Pension scheme (acting as Selected Medical Practitioners); the Local Government Pension scheme (acting as Independent Registered Medical Practitioners); and the National Health Service (NHS) pension scheme.