UPDATE 6
WELCOME AND
INTRODUCTION
MR JEREMY WEBSTER,
CHAIR OF NSOH BOARD
2016-17 promises to be an exciting
year for the National School of
Occupational Health, as we move towards achieving our
goal of being the first truly national multi-disciplinary
School.
So far, most of the School’s work has focused on
postgraduate medical training for Occupational Medicine.
But we will be expanding our activities to engage much
more closely with other OH professionals, including nurses
and physiotherapists. We will also be seeing closer links
with doctors in training in the Defence Deanery, and we
will be planning how to achieve closer links with other OM
trainee doctors across the UK.
To plan and manage our growth, we have appointed two
key staff – Mandy Murphy, the Deputy Head of School,
and Dr Harjinder Kaul, the National Training Programme
Director. You will be hearing a lot from these new
members of the NSOH’s leadership team in the coming
months and you can read all about Mandy’s background
on the next page of this newsletter.
We need to make sure that the NSOH’s Board includes
representatives from all our OH communities across
INTRODUCTION FROM
OUR NEW DEPUTY HEAD
OF SCHOOL
MS MANDY MURPHY
The role of Deputy Head of National
School of Occupational Health is an
exciting development for the profession
of Occupational Health and Medicine. Bringing together
multidisciplinary professionals in a learning environment
that will support the changing needs of the workplace is
one that makes common sense on many levels.
My 19 years’ experience in Occupational Health and more
specifically my role at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ has given
me the exposure in Occupational Health and Medicine to
observe the changing needs of workplaces and the OH
profession.
My career started as a registered general nurse in the
speciality of neurosurgery and I moved into speciality
of Occupational Health in 1997. Almost all of my OH
experience has been in the NHS setting with 2 years spent
in the aviation industry. My latest role is the General
Manager of the Occupational Health and Safety Services
at Guys and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and I have
been at this Trust for 12 years.
The next issue of the e-bulletin will include a
welcome from our newly appointed National
Training Programme Director, Dr Harjinder Kaul.
I also have a depth of experience working at national level,
and often called upon to participate in national initiatives
and contribute to the development of national policy. I
am currently a committee member of MoHaWK, (national
audit and benchmarking tools for OH services), I have been
a member of the expert panel which advised the Boorman
Review and represented NHS on the panel for developing
SEQOHS standards. A key regional role I held was as
chairperson of London Consortium of Occupational Health
Practitioners (LCOHP) for 8 years, bringing together multiprofessionals in Occupational Health to attend educational
days and discuss key issues on the OH agenda.
There are a vast range of professionals either working
in the OH profession or have an interest in it and it is
growing! When it comes to focus on the recipient of
OH Services it has been evident that there is one thing
in common across all of the professional groups, the
end goal is for improved outcomes for employee and
workplace health. To support this it is vital that quality
training programmes not only enable multi-professionals
in the OH speciality to respond to the business/employee
needs of today and tomorrow but also foster a culture of
working together to achieve these outcomes, recognising
the specialist skills each profession can contribute.
The starting point for this new role at the National School
of Occupational Health (NSOH) will be to review the vast
and complex training programmes already in place and
meet with all the relevant stakeholders, agencies and
training institutions. A number of professional groups,
such as Occupational Health Nursing, are reviewing their
speciality training programmes and good work is resulting
from these reviews. It will be important to identify the
core competencies vital across all of the professions and
the contribution to workplace health. What is equally
important is to identify what competencies/skills sets each
professional group apart, the specific contribution they
make and how each group can still preserve their identity
in a multi-professional service offering. It is a privilege to
have this opportunity working with NSOH and one I hope
to bring experience, influence and innovation to develop
quality training standards for multi-professional OH
services.
Ms Mandy Murphy, Deputy Head of School
NATIONAL TRAINING DAY:
OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASES
DR ABEYNA JONES
The 8th March 2016 heralded our inaugural National
Trainee Teaching Day on Occupational Lung Disease;
provided by The Royal Brompton Lungs at Work team:
Professor Paul Cullinan, Drs. Jo Szram, Jo Feary, Sara De
Matteis and Magda Wheatley. 28 Occupational Medicine
Trainees from across the country attended this free lecture
hosted by the National School of Occupational Health at
Senate House in Central London.
MARCH 2016
Welcome to the March 2016 issue of the
School’s e-bulletin.
This issue features introductions from the Chair of
the National School Board, along with our newly
appointed Deputy Head of School, an article from
Dr Lucy Goundry on the developments of the Fit
for Work service and news from the first national
training day hosted by the NSOH.
the UK, so we are welcoming an additional trainee
representative, Dr Sahira Spurlock, as well as our new
Deputy Head of School and National TPD. We will also be
including representatives from other OH professions as
they join the NSOH.
Last month, we held an open forum in Birmingham to
allow trainees and OH professionals to quiz the Board
about the NSOH’s plans. I was very impressed by the
positive and energetic discussion that took place, and we
will be holding more of these events later this year. I look
forward to being able to share our success stories with you
in future newsletters.
Jeremy Webster, Independent Chair
National School of Occupational Health
FIT FOR WORK
DR LUCY GOUNDRY
It’s now been six months since employers across
England and Wales began referring their employees
who have been off sick for four weeks or more to
Fit for Work. The early take-up among employers
has been extremely encouraging, with referrals
coming from all types of businesses, both large and
small. GPs can also refer their patients to Fit for
Work, with employers using the Return to Work
Plans to help their employee return to work and
replacing the need for a fit note.
Our ultimate goal is for Fit for Work to become
the default service for people who hit four weeks’
sickness absence. We know that having a valued
member of staff away from work on long-term
sickness absence has a real impact on the bottom
line of a business, as well as affecting productivity
and morale of other team members. We want every
employer to think of us and know they can refer an
employee who has been absent from work for four
weeks or more to a dedicated health professional
when they need to, who will help the employee get
back to work.
Once an employee has given their explicit and
informed consent to be referred to Fit for Work,
they will be contacted within two working days.
They will receive an assessment by a Fit for Work
case manager, who all have occupational health
backgrounds; this will usually take place over the
telephone and will seek to identify all potential
obstacles preventing the employee from returning
to work including health, work and personal
factors. They will then work with the employee to
agree a Return to Work Plan, which can be shared
with the employee’s managers.
Some people may wonder how Fit for Work works
with existing occupational health services, which
many businesses may already have access to. Fit
for Work is there to enhance the work of existing
OH services, not replace it, and our case managers
will always check whether or not an employee has
access to existing OH provision at work as part of
the Fit for Work referral process. Some companies
are using Fit for Work as a first line for all absence
routinely at four weeks, with escalation to in-house
services for more complex cases or where a return
to work is not made within three months. This can
free up their OH services to focus on other statutory
requirements or on more proactive services.
Several academic studies over recent years have
shown that prolonged absence from work damages
people’s social and financial well-being, as well
as their health. The research also shows that the
longer someone is off sick, the harder it is for
them to get back to work. Long-term sickness
absence can have a knock-on effect to many other
aspects of someone’s life – whether it affects
their relationships, causes financial difficulties or
is detrimental to their mental health. Fit for Work
aims to tackle problems like these, by helping
people back to work in a way that suits them.
Dr Lucy Goundry, Medical Director at Health
Management Limited
Visit www.fitforwork.org to find out more
information.
FOR YOUR CALENDAR
• National School of Occupational
Health Spring Conference – 31st
March 2016. The theme of the
Conference this year is ‘Fit for
Work’
• National Occupational Medicine Recruitment Thursday 14th April 2016
• Summer ARCP dates
• 1st July | 8th July | 22nd July
Feedback received was largely positive - this was a unique
opportunity to gain in-depth case management based
knowledge of the management of common occupational
respiratory diseases including health surveillance, to the
level required for the MFOM exam.
We endeavour to organise further free teaching days,
supported by the National School of Occupational Health,
covering topics relevant to the educational curriculum.
If any specialists or OHPs are interested in participating,
please get in touch [email protected].
I’d also like to warmly introduce Dr Sahira Spurlock from Healthwork Ltd. as the newly appointed National School of
Occupational Health Industry Trainee Representative. We look forward to her contributions to the board and working
with her on the above.
Dr Abeyna Jones, National School of Occupational Health
NHS Trainee Representative
We welcome your feedback and any questions you may have, including those regarding any of the topics in this edition.
Please contact us via [email protected]. For more detailed information about the School
and its work, please visit our website at www.lpmde.ac.uk/training-programme/specialty-schools/occupationalmedicine