The recording of the seminar Evaluating interventions in work-related ill health is available to view here:
(4 November 2022)
The recording of the seminar Evaluating interventions in work-related ill health is available to view here:
(4 November 2022)
We held our first Question Time panel session on 2 November 2022. The panelists were:
Kathy Roberts, ACPOHE
Sarah Holt, RCOT
David Long, Department for Work and Pensions
The session was Chaired by CWH Board Director, Nic Suckley, with support from Mandy Murphy.
David Long introduced the subject by giving an overview of the changes introduced, the reasons for them and the governments vision for their future purpose. After their introductions the panel responded to the following questions
Below is the YouTube recording of the event:
Additional links that may be helpful are:
Fit note – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Fit Note – elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk)
Health and Work Resources/FREE
https://acpohelms.co.uk/login.php
Click on free guest access
The next Health and Wellbeing @ Work conference will take place on 14-15 March 2023, at the NEC in Birmingham.
For further information please see:
BOHS Response to All-Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health Call for Evidence to Update Report:
Silica: the Next Asbestos?
Risk reduction in the context of occupational exposure to?? respirable crystalline silica pdf
SOM have prepared a paper on Long Covid and Return to Work – what works.
https://www.som.org.uk/sites/som.org.uk/files/Long_COVID_and_Return_to_Work_What_Works.pdf
From 1st July 2022, fit notes can now be certified and issued by registered nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, in addition to doctors. In the Government guidance for employers[1], the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) makes clear that not all individuals within these professions will be suitably experienced and qualified to certify and issue fit notes, so will only do so where they have the relevant training and knowledge to make an assessment of a person’s fitness to work.
The organisations that form the Council for Work and Health include doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, and other professionals with training and knowledge who can advise on health and work, and who can also advise on training for those now providing fit notes.
Unless they themselves are working in the NHS, doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists working in occupational health will not usually have access to paper or digital versions of the ‘Med3’, which is the form these health professions working in NHS primary care will use, or the F Med 10, which these professionals working in NHS hospitals may now use. Other forms of medical evidence, including private medical certificates, occupational health reports and an Allied Healthcare Professionals Advisory Fitness for Work Report can be accepted as medical evidence in the same way as a fit note, subject to the employer’s agreement. DWP go on to advise that in this instance the employer does not need to ask their employee to obtain further fit notes from their GP.
Other aspects of the guidance have not changed, but the following are areas in this guidance where over recent years we have come across some misunderstanding:
[1] Guidance for employers on the fit note (updated 1 Jul 2022) at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-note-guidance-for-employers-and-line-managers
[2] Government guidance on the further support provided by occupational health services at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-note-guidance-for-employers-and-line-managers/getting-the-most-out-of-the-fit-note-guidance-for-employers-and-line-managers#further-support
The Government have announced today (13 June 2022) that with effect from 1st July 2022 legislation is being introduced across Great Britain that will allow more healthcare professionals to certify fit notes to patients. Information on the Fit Note can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-note-guidance-for-employers-and-line-managers/getting-the-most-out-of-the-fit-note-guidance-for-employers-and-line-managers
Currently only doctors can legally certify fit notes, but the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is now changing the legislation to allow a further four professions to do this. These professions are nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and pharmacists.
The Council for Work and Health welcomes this move.
We would also endorse the comment that has been made by DWP that not everybody working within these professions should issue fit notes. We agree that health professionals providing fit notes should be working in a suitable environment and have the necessary skills and training to have work and health conversations with patients. This task needs to be within their professional scope of practice, and we note that new guidance and training has been developed which will help professionals to identify if this task is suitable for them.
The Council will be pleased to offer guidance on appropriate training and other advice for these groups of professionals who may now be in a position to offer advice on fitness for work. The Fit Note represents the first line of advice; professionals represented within the Council’s membership are able to provide more specialised and a breadth of advice to employers on fitness for work.
The Council brings together the bodies which represent the wide range of professions that deliver health, safety and wellbeing services at work, as well as other bodies with a close interest in health and work, which include DWP. The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) are members of the Council, whose membership includes most doctors working in occupational medicine practice. The Council also has representation from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). The Council includes those bodies representing the health professionals who as well as doctors will now be able to sign Fit Notes, including the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the Faculty of Occupational Health Nursing (FOHN), the Association of Occupational Health and Wellbeing Professionals (iOH), the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists and the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Occupational Health and Ergonomics (ACPOHE).
We would highlight that there are many other health professionals that make a substantial contribution to health and work, also represented on the Council. These and the other bodies with a close interest in health and work are detailed on the members page of our website at: https://www.councilforworkandhealth.org.uk/about/our-members/
Good quality education programmes will ensure employers have access to the right professionals, with the right skills, with the right values, providing timely OH services to support good work and wellbeing.
Mandy Murphy Deputy Director, National School of Occupational Health