For the healthcare sector

OHWorks’ first clients were from the healthcare sector.

That means we are accustomed to providing appropriate vaccination and screening for doctors, surgeons, nurses, midwives, anaesthetists, theatre staff, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, podiatrists as well as those in non-clinical roles in the healthcare sector. In addition we have provided occupational health services to dental workers, GP surgeries, pharmacists and to universities training the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Our work with doctors, surgeons, dentists and midwives means that our team is experienced in providing appropriate screening for those performing Exposure Prone Procedures (EPP) and have even been asked by NHS trusts to compile EPP registers to audit the status of healthcare workers in such roles.

For local authorities

We understand the financial pressures on local authorities, and we are experienced in delivering cost-effective services that will reduce your rate of sickness absence. Employees off work through sickness are a financial drain on local authorities, which is why we make reducing sickness absence the top priority when delivering our services.

For our existing council clients we use a team comprising Specialist Practitioners, OH Physiotherapists, Consultant Physicians and mental health specialists to deal with the high numbers of staff referred to us with musculoskeletal disorders or mental health issues.

Our Consultant Physicians are experienced in handling applications for ill-health retirement from local authority employees and teachers.

For universities and colleges

We will provide pre-enrolment questionnaires devised for your specific courses by our Medical Adviser (a member of HEOPS - Higher Education Occupational Health Physicians Practitioners). We have devised questionnaires (all available online) for nursing, midwifery, speech and language therapy, radiography, occupational therapy, and other healthcare students, as well as trainee primary and secondary school teachers.

For universities enrolling healthcare students, we are highly experienced in organising large screening and vaccination clinics for new students (up to 900 new students each September for one of our clients). With most students requiring a blood test, a course of three hepatitis B vaccinations, followed by another blood test, this is not a task that we would recommend you give to the uninitiated.

We use a team of highly experienced OH nurses, practice nurses and phlebotomists to ensure that each and every student is screened and vaccinated safely.

Our role doesn’t end there, however. In addition to encountering medical problems, some students can suffer mental health problems, ranging from general work and study-related stress to more serious complaints. For our university and college clients, we have available consultant psychiatrists available to see these students, as wll as our team of OH Nurse Advisers and Occupational Health Physicians.

For private sector clients

Whatever the nature of your business, we can streamline your recruitment processes by devising tailor-made online health questionnaires for your new recruits, bringing an end to your dependence on paper questionnaires. We will ensure that each questionnaire is compliant with the Equality Act. Your Human Resources or recruitment team will have 24-hour-a day access to our website where they can see which candidate is cleared to start work, and which might need to attend a post-offer health assessment with one of our Specialist Practitioners or Consultant Physicians.

Our skilled team of Nurses and Technicians can meet all your health surveillance needs, providing testing in spirometry, audiometry, hand-arm vibration as well as many types of specialist health surveillance for those working in the scientific sector. In many cases our peripatetic nurses and technicians can visit your employees on-site, thus keeping disruption to the working day to a minimum.

We can advise you on which workplace vaccinations are needed by your employees and can deliver these on-site or at our offices.

There will be times when your employees have health problems that impact on their ability to work. We can offer you an efficient management referral system that means your staff will be offered appointments within days with the appropriate member of our clinical team, whether it be a Specialist Practitioner, Consultant Physician, OH Physiotherapist or Mental Health specialist. After the appointment, the manager will receive a report giving clear advice within 48 hours and in most cases within 24 hours. Where the employee being referred is currently off work, the report will include a Return To Work Plan.

We have an experienced team of Consultant Physicians who are qualified to make ill-health retirement assessments.

For not-for-profit organisations

We are experienced providers of OH services to not-for-profit organisations such as social housing associations and hospices. We can offer a value-for-money range of services, including immunisations, health surveillance, post-offer health assessments, online health questionnaires, management referrals and much more.

Peripatetic services

For some years we have been providing a peripatetic screening and vaccination service for some NHS clients. This involves our nurses travelling to dental practices across London and Kent to undertake blood tests and vaccinations. Our clients find this service is much more convenient than their staff having to travel to an offsite occupational health office, as it means their time away from work is greatly reduced.

If this kind of service interests you, please contact us to discuss in detail.

Absence management

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.

Mental health assessments

Whether you have a student applying to train as a nurse who has declared a significant mental health condition and you need to be assured they do not pose a risk to the patients, or whether you have an employee struggling with work-related stress, we can help.

Our team includes Specialist Practitioners in Occupational Health with mental health qualifications, as well as Consultant Psychiatrists with a wealth of experience. This ensures that the advice we deliver is authoritative and reliable.

Musculoskeletal conditions

Early, expert intervention often prevents long-term/recurring sickness absence. We ensure rapid access to our return-to-work physiotherapist.

We carry out workplace risk assessments and help managers to implement appropriate adjustments.

We also undertake manual handling training.

Physiotherapy

When it’s a priority for you to maximise a person’s recovery from injury, you can rely on us to assess, treat and rehabilitate those individuals back to work in the safest and quickest possible time.

We will provide you with access to our team of physiotherapists whose expertise will give you confidence and reassurance that the best possible outcome is being achieved.

Our staff start treatment on the day of diagnosis, accelerating recoveries and providing authoritative advice on fitness and workplace adjustments.

Stress management

Stress is the most significant reason for absence and reduced productivity, and that’s why we have mental health specialists in our occupational health team. Their training and experience gives immediate support and guidance to employees and authoritative advice to managers on employment implications.

We also carry out comprehensive stress audits and advise on organisational solutions. We train managers in how best to meet their responsibilities under the HSE’s Management of Work-Related Stress Standards and how to undertake risk assessments. We can also hold training sessions for employees in the prevention, recognition and self-help management of stress. We can perform individual employee stress assessments – a voluntary internet-based stress check – with automatic follow-up of those most at risk.

We can advise you on your legal requirements and provide advice on the most recent legal rulings that have impacted on how organisations need to approach stress in the workplace.

Audit and compliance

Understanding your organisation's structure and processes

An occupational health audit from OHWorks will allow us to quickly understand your organisation, its activities, structure and processes.

We will then identify the health risks and how your organisation does (or does not) address those risks. We can give you expert advice on what you need to manage the health risks and problems associated with health and ill health.

Our audit will provide your organisation with an assessment of your compliance with statutory and advisory health at work requirements and what you need to do to make improvements.

Training

For many of our existing clients, we have provided one-day training courses for managers and Human Resources staff in dealing with absence management, when and how to make a referral to occupational health, and many other topics. Please contact us for more details and to discuss your training needs.

Workstation assessments

Our staff are experienced in carrying out workplace assessments for a variety of risks and exposures, including office workstations.

The correct working environment is vital for cutting employee absenteeism, increasing productivity, and boosting staff morale.

Ergonomic interventions in the workplace can bring immediate results for managers and staff.

Display Screen Equipment assessments and training can be provided.

Our team of occupational health professionals will examine working tasks, postures, softwear useability, screen positioning, lighting and the general work environment.

We can also perform workstation assessments where staff members have specific health conditions that affect their ability to carry out their work duties.

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.

Drug and alcohol screening

The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development assess the cost to UK businesses of drug and alcohol misuse to be £800m per year.

Employees with drink and drug problems also pose significant health and safety hazards in the workplace and are challenging to manage. We work with organisations to develop policies and procedures to ensure that programmes are accepted by the workforce and legally compliant. Our testing is fully compliant with best practice procedures, including chain of custody. We arrange for specialist referral where appropriate and support employees through the recovery process.

Health surveillance

Health surveillance programmes enable organisations to detect occupational ill-health early and comply with Health & Safety legislation. We have a set of modular programmes for most workplace hazards which meet Health & Safety Executive requirements.

Wherever possible we co-ordinate screening around operational needs for the least disruption and greatest cost-effectiveness. Our safety practitioners then work with organisations to further minimise risks, as required under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations and allied legislation.

Our programmes include:

  • Stress
  • COSHH
  • Respiratory
  • Skin
  • Noise
  • Hand arm vibration syndrome
  • Asbestos
  • Ionising radiation

Specialist health surveillance:

  • Biological work
  • Chemical work
  • Activities with GMOs (class 2 and above)
  • Activities with dangerous pathogens
  • Exposure to lead
  • Exposure to handling of animals

Medical advice

To help your organisation deal with sickness absence, especially absence that is not short term and may be the result of a serious medical condition, you need advice from someone with a detailed knowledge of all types of occupations and working environments. Our occupational health physicians will provide you with independent medical reports and can liaise with other health professionals.

There will be times when your employees suffer from illness or disability that impacts on their ability to work, or they may decide that their health has been adversely affected by their work.

In those circumstances we can provide you with the specialist medical advice you require.

Our physician can examine your member of staff and write to their doctor or specialist so that he or she has all the information needed to produce a comprehensive medical report on their employability and to suggest any special workplace adjustments or arrangements that are needed.

A medical report is normally required to assess eligibility for ill health retirement benefits. Our physician can provide such a report following a consultation and examination, if necessary.

We can advise you on the application of the Equality Act 2010 (our Medical Advisor, in addition to being a consultant occupational physician, also has an LLM in Law and Employment Relations in 2007).

Pre-employment screening

We can process your pre-employment and pre-enrolment questionnaires either on paper or online, with most clients today favouring online processing. We can advise you on the content of your existing questionnaires, making sure they comply with all current legislation, such as the Equality Act, and provide you with new ones if required.

Clients using OHWorks’ online questionnaires can access the questionnaires via a secure link. Our questionnaires are tailormade for each client.