Occupational health

The Occupational health team consists of an Occupational Nurse supported by an Occupational Health Provider. Both provide valuable support for employees in various ways, such as:

The Occupational Nurse provides:

Health checks

The health check lasts approximately 20 minutes and will assess blood pressure, body mass index, weight, height, glucose, cholesterol levels and provides general lifestyle advice.  Notification of health checks are issued by email from the Employee Support Team.

Confidential advice - addiction concerns

Employees can arrange a confidential meeting with the Occupational Nurse if they suspect or know they have an addiction problem, for example, alcohol or drugs. The Occupational Nurse can provide helpful advice and can also arrange a counselling appointment, if appropriate. Please refer to the Council's Addiction Policy.  Further details on the addiction referral process can be found under Addiction referral process.

Health Surveillance

This involves annual screening for hand arm vibration syndrome, audiometric testing for those employees exposed to vibration and noise and lung function screening for employees based in a workshop setting.

The Occupational Health Provider (PAM Wellbeing) provides:

Medical Referrals

In line with the Council's Maximising Attendance Policy, an employee may be referred to the Occupational Health provider by their manager.  This early intervention is designed to assess whether advice can be given to you to assist the employee to return to work (for example, on practical issues or on interventions such as counselling). Equally, this information can be useful for the employee.  A report is therefore passed to you which provides a medical opinion on, for example, advice on adjustments that may be helpful to facilitate recovery and return.  If an employee wishes, they can view the memo before it is sent to you.  The employee should indicate this when completing the employee consent form.  Further details on the medical referral process can be found under Medical referral process.

GP Reports

In some cases the Occupational Health provider may have to obtain further background information from an employee's GP, with their consent. Usually this is for clarification of their current illness and can help towards appropriate advice to you. Any medical details disclosed are confidential to the Occupational Health provider.