Employer & Employee Guides

Employer Guide

Reports arising from Platinum Occupational Health Ltd may cover some or all of the following issues:

• Fitness For Work and any ongoing capability for work i.e. whether or not the employee is ever likely to be fit enough to return to their full duties within a reasonable time frame
• If there are any privately funded treatments that could be considered to assist with the employee’s recovery and/or to secure a quicker return to work
• Likelihood of recurrence
• Nature and likely duration of any impairment/disability
• Progress of condition

Advice if appropriate on:

• Ability to meet the organisation’s attendance target in the future
• Advice on restricted duties, ill health retirement (if indicated) and potential adjustments to be considered
• Expected date for a return to work and advice on recuperative duties
• External report recommendations
• If indicated as being available, recommendations regarding the sort of role/duties that the employee could undertake subject to availability
• Need for re-deployment
• On occasion, managers may seek further clarification of work-related issues. Platinum Occupational Health Ltd staff will not release further personal information beyond that already given in the report, without the consent of the employee. The employee has the right to see the report prior to the employer, to ask for factual inaccuracies but not opinions to be corrected and ask up to 3 additional questions. *Please note that this may attract extra time for the appointment, and therefore an extra charge
• Possible applicability of the disability provisions of The Equality Act 2010
• Prevention
• Rehabilitation/recuperation
• Statutory requirements such as reporting of work-related conditions under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)
• Work relatedness of any ongoing absence
• Workplace adjustments

Our preferred method of sending you the report is by encrypted email, this is considered to be secure. The employee is free to refuse or withdraw consent for a report to be issued at any time in line with GDPR 2018 and GMC consent guidelines. Platinum Occupational Health Ltd would aim to return the report within 10 working days, unless the employee chooses to see the report first, under consent guidelines.

Employee Guide

Prior to attending an appointment with Platinum Occupational Health Ltd, we will expect your manager to have explained and discussed the referral with you.

Why am I being asked to attend Platinum Occupational Health Ltd?
Managers will most often refer a member of their staff to Platinum Occupational Health Ltd who has reached an absence trigger or where they have concerns about the impact of a health condition at work. Your manager will be seeking advice regarding your fitness to be at work, and/or a phased return to work programme, and/or modified, restricted or altered duties.

How will I be informed of the appointment?
You will be contacted by email, letter or phone offering you an appointment time and location.

Can I change my appointment?
If you are unable to keep your appointment, we ask that you contact us as soon as possible to arrange another appointment. Your employer will be charged for the appointment, if you cancel with less than 7 days’ notice.

What will be discussed at the appointment?
During the appointment we will discuss your health and work with you. The appointment should allow you plenty of time to explore all your concerns. Following this, we will explore what steps can be taken to assist with the problems leading to the referral, and what advice we can offer to your manager.

Will OH speak to my GP or Treating Specialist?
The clinician may feel it useful to seek a report from your GP or Treating Specialist and turn any medical advice into practical information for your manager. This will only be done with your informed consent and you will have the option of seeing the report, before it is sent to us. If you wish, we can copy our report to your GP, but this is not routinely done.

Is my consultation confidential?
We take the confidentiality of your information very seriously. Platinum Occupational Health Ltd is bound by the General Data Protection Regulations 2018, and consultations with us, enjoy the same rights of confidentiality.

If asked, we may discuss the report or the management of your case with your manager, but this will always be within the limits of the consent you have given, if any.

Under exceptional circumstances where there may be serious threat to life or safety, we may have a duty to release information to protect you or others; such circumstances are extremely rare. You would expect to have been warned of this by the practitioner in such an eventuality.

Is a report always sent to my manager?
No, but if you have been referred by your manager and you choose not to consent to a report being sent, we will send an email telling the referring manager this. In this situation, your manager will have to make decisions regarding you without our advice or recommendations, which may have an impact on you and your position at work.

Does anyone else see the report?
Provided you consent, we will usually copy the report to Human Resources, so that they can assist your manager and to ensure that our advice is documented in your records.

What will be said in the report to my manager?
We will advise on matters such as:

• Any other relevant advice as raised in your referral by your manager
• The potential impact of your health on your ability to fulfil your role
• The support your managers may be able to offer you
• The timescale for your return to work or to the full duties of your role
• Whether any measures are needed to protect your health at work, or help you remain in work, such as restrictions to normal duties or hours
• Whether redeployment or ill health retirement should be considered
• Whether you are likely to be covered by The Equality Act 2010

Can I check the report before it is sent to my manager?
We aim to agree the consent of any report during the consultation, but it will only be issued to your manager with your informed consent and, if you wish to do so, you can ask to check the report before it is dispatched.
If you are unhappy with any factual inaccuracy, you may ask for it to be amended. However, professional opinions cannot be changed, unless it is based on a factual inaccuracy. If, following discussion, the OH professional is not happy to make any changes, you may withdraw your consent for a report to be issued, or you may wish to let the original report be dispatched, with your comments.

Can I have a copy of the report that will be sent to my manager?
Yes, we will normally send you a copy of our report, at the same time as we send it to your manager.

Does my manager have to follow your recommendations?
No, OH reports are advisory only, although on occasions they may highlight statutory obligations. Responsibility for how to implement the advice rests with your manager, and there is no guarantee that adjustments or changes to your work will be possible. Your manager may also need advice from the organisation’s Human Resources team.

How does The Equality Act 2010 affect me?
Guidance on The Equality Act can be found in the Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Policy, but in summary, the Act places two obligations on an employer:

• Not to discriminate against those with a disability
• To make reasonable adjustments to enable those with a disability to take up or continue in employment

Adjustments can include changes to duties and hours of work. There can also be modifications to the application of policies and procedures, as well as the provision of aids/assistance.