Occupational health FAQs

Your manager may have referred you to occupational health due to long term or frequent short term sickness absence, because of a health problem that is impacting your ability to do your work or if your work is affecting your health.

Your manager will always discuss the specific reasons why they have referred you before the referral is sent. You will also have the opportunity to read the referral and give your consent before it is submitted to occupational health.

If you have been referred, you will either see a specialist occupational health doctor or nurse. When we receive the referral, a member of the team will decide the most appropriate member of the team for you to see.
Sometimes, after your consultation, you may be referred onto another member of the team with particular expertise e.g. the occupational therapist, the psychology team or the physiotherapy team.

If you have self-referred to the psychology or physiotherapy team, you will be offered an initial appointment with that team.

For all other appointments (self-referrals, immunisation updates, blood tests, new starter appointments) you will be seen by the occupational health nurses or our technician.

If you have been referred to occupational health by your manager, the clinician will write a report following the consultation outlining any adjustments or recommendations that are needed to support you. This may include changes to your work patterns, working times or work content. The adjustments may be temporary or permanent. Any recommendations made by occupational health will be considered by your manager and implemented if feasible and acceptable to the service.

No report is sent following self-referrals or other routine appointments.

Yes. The clinician will discuss the contents of the report with you during the consultation. You will have the opportunity to view the report before it is sent to your manager if you wish. No confidential medical details will be included in the report without your consent.

Yes. There is a self-referral form that you complete and submit to the occupational health service. Once received, one of the occupational health team will contact you to discuss your concerns. In some instances, the occupational health professional will signpost you to other services (employee assistance programme, GP) or provide additional information. In some circumstances, you will be offered an appointment with a member of the team.

When you self-refer to occupational health, everything will remain confidential within the service. This includes your attendance and the content of what you share with your clinician. The only exceptions to this are rare instances of safeguarding or legal concerns.

It may, however, be helpful to discuss with your manager that you are attending sessions to facilitate planning time away from work to attend. However, this is your decision. No information is shared without your prior consent. Your records remain confidential to the team whether you change roles internally or externally.

Where your manager refers you to the service (known as a management referral), you will be asked to consent to providing a report to them so that they can better support you at work.

In the first instance, you should speak to your manager. There are minor adjustments that you and your manager can agree that will support you in the workplace without the need for occupational health advice. If you and your manager feel that further specialist occupational health advice is needed, they will complete a ‘management referral’ and an appointment will be arranged for you.

If you need medical advice or treatment, you must contact your GP. Occupational health is an advisory service concerning workplace health.

Please contact occupational health either by telephone, email on rf-tr.nlpss-ohsharedservice@nhs.net or by completing a self referral form.

You should not undertake clinical work with broken skin on your hands. Please discuss with and show your hands to your line manager and then contact occupational health immediately. You may need to be given alternative work for a short time, advised to use different gloves/soap and/or placed on a skin surveillance programme.

The occupational health team will advise if you should attend a new starter appointment within two weeks of commencing your role. You will be sent an appointment to attend. Please bring any previous tests or immunisations you have received elsewhere.

For investigation, treatment, advice or specialist referrals for health problems, staff are advised to see their GP.

For urgent medical advice, telephone 111 who will direct you to the best place to get help for your symptoms the NHS website also contains useful information.

The occupational health team are experts in advising you about how your health may impact your work and if any adjustments are needed in the workplace to support you. Our therapy team may provide treatment following your initial assessment.

Beyond treatment provided by the psychologist and physiotherapist, we are an advisory service and cannot provide treatment, undertake investigations or refer you to specialist services.

If you are unsure, please do not hesitate to contact the occupational health team by email or telephone.

If you are coming for a blood test or immunisation update, please bring some form of photo ID. This will usually be your work ID but a driver’s licence or passport/ID card are also accepted. Please also bring any immunisation and blood test information you have from previous employers/GP.

If you have been referred, it may be helpful to bring relevant reports from your health specialist and information about investigations, treatment and medication if you have them.

Please either email rf-tr.nlpss-ohsharedservice@nhs.net or telephone the department (contact details will be in the appointment letter) and explain that you need adjustments to attend your appointment. This may include seeing you at a different venue/site, providing more time, holding telephone or video consultations.

If you need to bring someone with you to your appointment, please let the occupational health team know in advance. We would want to discuss confidentiality with you and ensure that your privacy and dignity are always maintained.

Management referrals: If you do not attend your consultation, you will be offered one further appointment. If you do not attend this appointment, the occupational health team will contact your manager and request a new referral if the appointment is still required. Your manager may need to make decisions about your work without the benefit of occupational health advice.

Self-referrals: For occupational health appointments following a self-referral, the team will not usually contact you if you do not attend. You would need to complete another referral form or contact the department if you still wished to be seen.

For psychology and physiotherapy appointments, your file will remain open for two weeks, during which time you can rebook your appointment. After this time, we will close your file and you will need to submit a new self-referral form.

For information on how we safeguard your privacy please see our occupational health privacy notice.

Please see the ‘Your rights’ section of our privacy notice. In ‘The right to access’ paragraph, you will see the contact details needed.

Please email the occupational health service on rf-tr.nlpss-ohsharedservice@nhs.net with your full name and date of birth and request a copy of your immunisation and blood test information.

The occupational health team provides physiotherapy and psychology services to the following trusts:

Physiotherapy: Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, North London Mental Health Partnership (Camden and Islington and Barnet Enfield and Haringey)

Psychology: Royal Free London, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital

To make an appointment, please complete a self-referral, select the relevant service and provide details of your concerns so we can arrange the correct appointment for you. Our clinicians can support you with a wide range of emotional and physical health difficulties, including work stress, traumatic events at work, neurodiversity and muscular-skeletal problems and long term condition management.

If you do not work at one of the above trusts, please see your local intranet site as to how you may access physiotherapy and psychological support.

This appointment is about assessing your situation and difficulties, as well as determining some goals for you. At the end, you and your physiotherapist or psychologist will determine a plan to address the concerns raised.

If you need to cancel or change an appointment, please give 24 hours’ notice. The following contact numbers are monitored from 8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

Email: rf-tr.nlpss-ohsharedservice@nhs.net
St Ann’s Hospital: 0208 702 6640
North Middlesex University Hospital: 0208 887 2328
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital: 0208 909 5104
Royal Free Hospital: 0207 830 2509
Whittington Hospital: 0207 288 3351

The occupational health teams regularly monitor service performance, including feedback from managers or staff. If you have any feedback, please email the occupational health team at rf-tr.nlpss-ohsharedservice@nhs.net