Why have an occupational health assessment?

Why arrange an occupational health assessment?

If you need to understand how to manage a health condition at work, an occupational health assessment can help. Occupational health assessments are designed to provide professional medical advice about whether an employee has a medical condition or not. 

Occupational health can be much more than managing sickness absence for an employee with a health issue. It gives you professional advice to avoid making mistakes when managing health at work.

Our service is designed to support employees who may be unfortunate enough to be ill. It assesses their “fitness to work”. That is, how effectively they can perform all the duties that their job involves. We deliver guidance about how to support a condition, or advice about how a health condition may develop in the future.

Medical reporting

We will advise on whether adjustments to a role (or working environment) will help employees to cope with their job.

Our experts conduct assessments which are an in-depth investigation of the employee’s health. The results are provided to you as a full medical report.

The content of the report provided following an assessment is linked with the questions asked at the start of the assessment. We also provide guidance and support on the best questions to ask for referring managers.

All our reports ensure you receive professional medical advice about whether the employee has a medical condition. We provide suggestions about how to support the employee and advice about how things may progress.

The limits to our service

It’s important to say that we can’t take management decisions for you. Our advice is limited to providing professional medical opinions. We cannot ever hide anything from an employee and the questions or information you share with us will always have to be made available to them, if they ask.

Sometimes it can be difficult to predict exactly what may happen next. This is because some health conditions can progress in very different ways, depending on treatment options.

Predicting how a health condition may develop, or how much absence from work can be expected, is not an exact science. If surgery is anticipated, it is usually possible to give an estimate of typical or likely absence duration.

Rarely, we may need to contact a treating specialist in order to confirm our advice to you. We always let you know in advance if this is likely to happen. It can take time to complete these steps, because the Access to Medical Reports Act means employees must be given time to review any report from their GP or specialist.

There may also be additional reporting fees involved from the specialists who answer our questions. We never take these steps without your knowledge and consent.

How to arrange an assessment

Our team are able to provide detailed medical assessments within three working days of a request. We can usually match experience in specific areas to each case, to make sure we give you the best advice.

The first step is to arrange a conversation with the assessing doctor. This is so you can explain the background to the case and work out the best questions to ask in your referral.

We conduct our assessments via secure video link, at a time to suit. We take care of all the administration, consent and co-ordination on your behalf.

When will I receive the report?

Our reports are completed within 24 hours of the assessment. We release them to you between 24 hours and 72 hours after the appointment, subject to consent. This is because the employee may ask to see the report before it is sent to you.

Can an employee ask to change the report?

Employees can ask for factual inaccuracies to be corrected. They cannot ask the doctor to change their opinion or advice.

The reports will help manage the health and wellbeing of your staff. They also help you manage your health & safety and employment obligations too.

How much does an occupational health assessment cost?

We have different fees depending upon whether the assessment is conducted by a Nurse or a Doctor. Each referral includes a pre-assessment telephone or video consultation with the referring manager and up to a 1 hour assessment. It also includes the compilation of the report and all associated administration, scheduling and service.

We’re pleased to be able provide preferential terms for charitable and educational bodies. Please contact us for our current professional fee schedule.

There’s lots more detailed information in our “What to Expect from Occupational Health” guide.