Michaela Longmore RGN is an experienced healthcare professional with an extensive career spanning several decades working in the NHS and the corporate sector.  Her career includes working in hospitals, offices and within the community.

She is the coordinator of Citi Health’s Occupational Health (OH) service, which offers quick, fuss-free employee assessments with an experienced consultant. In our latest blog, Michaela answers some frequently asked questions about Occupational Health and explains the process for booking an OH appointment.

Q: What are Occupational Health Assessments?

A: OH assessments assist employers to support their employees in the workplace.  An OH assessment will assess the impact of work on health and health on work; it incorporates a holistic approach taking account of biopsychosocial issues and allows the OH professional to advise both management and employees on health matters impacting on or by work.   A comprehensive and timely report is formulated following an OH assessment supported by evidence-based practice and relevant legislation.  This report advises employers and employees on work/health matters, including but not restricted to return to work/rehabilitation programmes, redeployment, risk assessments, DSE, pregnancy and the Equality Act 2010

Q: When might an Occupational Health Assessment be required?

A: If an employee is returning from sick leave, or planning a course of treatment while working, their employer might want to check they have the support needed in place at work; alternately an employee might start working from home, and an assessment could help to customise their working space.

There are also particular legal requirements for specific workplaces: some jobs require full or partial medicals, vision tests, or vaccination programmes to be carried out as stand-alone or regular health surveillance.  Where required OH provides stand-alone or regular health surveillance to support employers with specific legal workplace requirements.

In some cases, an employer may want to determine whether an employee is suffering from stress and explore if that stress is work-related or not.  OH can make recommendations to employers on how to support an employee who reports work-related stressors.

Q: How does the process of booking an Occupational Health Assessment work?

A: Our aim is to arrange an assessment within five days of receiving a completed referral form by the employer’s HR department or line manager. Assessments can be conducted with the employee at home in a relaxed environment, either on the phone, on a video call or face to face with one of our OH clinicians. The final encrypted report is released to the employee and with employee consent, after which the report is released to the employer. 

The aim is to provide the final encrypted report to the employer within seven days of the assessment.

Q: Is an Occupational Health Assessment a legal requirement for employers?

A: No, however employers have a legal duty as outlined in legislation to protect the health and wellbeing of their employees as far as reasonably practicable.  The legislation which employers must be aware of sets out steps which employers must take to act accordingly to ensure all workplace risks are identified, and steps taken to remove or reduce those risks to ensure the health and wellbeing of their staff whilst at work. 

Q: Who can carry out an Occupational Health assessment?

A: Any healthcare professional who has the appropriate qualifications can become an OH assessor.

Q: What is the feedback from employers on your Occupational Health reports?

A: Citi Health works with an experienced OH consultant with a well-established track record. This gives employers tremendous confidence in our work, and we also hear that our service is better tailored to the client than some larger-scale providers can manage.  

Our clients say they appreciate the consistency of a single point of contact, who provides support and guidance regarding any OH concerns; if we can’t help directly we will always try to find someone who can.

Feedback has also highlighted that Citi Health reports are clear and extremely detailed, and focused on helping employers to arrive at the best decisions for all parties going forward, rather than just confirming what employers may have already known themselves.

If you’d like to find out more about Citi Health’s express Occupational Health Assessments, just get in touch on 0203 633 6301 or email contact@citihealth.co.uk