Management Referrals
Management referrals are primarily designed to support the referring manager in their decision-making when dealing with an employee’s health-related issue and to determine the employee’s ongoing fitness to work.
Short-term sickness absence and long-term sick leave are costly, disruptive and stressful for both the employer and the employee. It is good to bring in an independent third-party to review and comment on the situation in an impartial manner.
Our occupational health (OH) service aims to help by providing clear, practical advice and solutions, delivered in concise, timely reports. Our advice and recommendations cover prognosis, return-to-work schedules, reasonable recommendations and risk assessments. Follow-up appointments may sometimes be required, in which case we will give clear timeframes, aims and reasons for why they are advised.
Early intervention and well-directed care benefits both the organisation and the individual employee.
Depending on the complexity of the referral, you may require an occupational health nurse, an occupational health doctor or for the most complex circumstances, a specialist OH physician. We will triage your referral and decide which would be the most appropriate option for your case.
All management referrals can be done either at our consulting room in Central London, at your business address, or virtually.
Helpful, independent and confidential advice.
What is involved in a management referral?
A management referral typically involves a 1-hour appointment followed by a full report for the company.
In a management referral, we will independently assess your employee’s fitness to work, and recommend any adjustments needed to enable the person to return to work if deemed fit. Alternatively, we will provide guidance or other recommendations if an employee is currently not fit to return to work. Examples include where the employee is ill or incapacitated, where there is a history of absenteeism, stress, pregnancy issues or mental health concerns.
Any recommendations are for guidance only, and are not legally binding. However, it is usually in the employer’s best interests to try to accommodate any recommendations if deemed reasonably possible. We are unable to comment on any HR-related, performance or management issues.
What concerns would be suitable for a management referral?
A manager may refer an employee to Occupational Health for a variety of reasons:
- Sickness absence – whether short-term or long-term
- Concerns over work performance or behaviour
- Concerns over an employee’s capacity to continue to work
- Whether an employee is fit to attend a disciplinary or other meetings
- Serious accident or illness at work
How do I arrange a management referral?
Arranging an assessment is easy.
All that’s needed is for the referring manager to complete a referral form outlining how we can support them and what concerns they have.
In order to arrange the assessment we will need a referral from the company and the consent of the employee.
We will triage the referral form to determine whether an Occupational Health Nurse, GP or specialist OH physician is appropriate for your case. Once triaged, the appointment will be scheduled and carried out. We will provide you with a full report, which we aim to provide with a fast turnaround, often provided on the same day. This gives rapid response to both employee and employer, with follow up available if needed. Referrals can be completed at your site, in a consulting room in our Fleet Street Clinic, or virtually.
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Are you SEQOHS accredited?
Yes, we have held a SEQOHS accreditation since 2015.
SEQOHS stands for Safe, Effective, Quality Occupational Health Service and is a set of standards and a voluntary accreditation scheme for occupational health services in the UK. SEQOHS accreditation is the formal recognition that an occupational health service provider has demonstrated competence to deliver against the SEQOHS quality assurance standards.
Can you do virtual appointments?
Yes, virtual appointments are easy to arrange if needed.
We are happy to arrange virtual appointments, but we will let you know if we think an in-person is more appropriate in particular circumstances.
Do you need employee consent?
Yes, we require employee consent at two points in the process.
We require their consent in the first instance in order to proceed with a booking. Your employee will need to be willing to talk openly and honestly with a member of our OH team.
After the assessment has been carried out, we will prepare a written report for the referring manager’s consideration. Prior to sending the report we require the employee’s consent to release the report.
In very rare circumstances an employee may withdraw consent; if this happens, we will update the referring manager at the earliest stage.
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FAQs
Typically the appointment with one of our occupational health clinicians takes one hour. A full report is provided after the appointment.
For face-to-face appointments, it would be good for us to be aware of any disability or mobility difficulties your employee may have, so that we can make suitable arrangements in advance of their appointment.
