Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Latest NewsOccupational HealthWellbeing

OH sector must be fit notes

by Personnel Today 1 Dec 2010
by Personnel Today 1 Dec 2010

OH professionals are being over-looked by ministers as a potentially crucial go-between to help convince sceptical GPs and employers that the new fit note can work.

A report by health insurer Aviva, The health of the workplace, highlighted an ongoing lack of belief in, and limited awareness of, the fit note among GPs and employers.

Yet the fact that OH professionals have a foot in both camps could mean they are well placed to break down barriers, Dr Doug Wright, principal clinical consultant at Aviva UK Health, argued.

“Occupational health practitioners are the missing piece of the jigsaw but can perform a potentially crucial support role in bridging the knowledge gap between employers, HR, managers, GPs and workers.

“Without this engagement, the introduction of fit notes may cause more problems than it solves,” Wright said.

Nearly two-thirds of GPs – 65% – polled said they felt ill-equipped to provide fit notes to workers, a figure that has gone up by 1% since Aviva’s similar 2009 study.

A total of 68% were sceptical that fit notes had any effect on absence levels, up from 54% in 2009.

A poll of 500 employers by the insurer at the start of this year, before the fit note was launched in April, found just 5% believed it would reduce absence rates, one in 10 worried it would be hard and more than two-thirds had little or no knowledge about it.

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
NCEL and eXact learning solutions reveal details of the Maknaz – Treasure Chest – Digital Marketplace Project
next post
Snow: A guide for employers on pay, leave, safety and employee rights during severe weather

You may also like

Employment and equalities ministers quit Boris Johnson’s cabinet

6 Jul 2022

Supporting Muslims during Eid: Five employer questions

6 Jul 2022

Maya Forstater wins belief discrimination case over gender-critical...

6 Jul 2022

Learning disability employment gap shows local spikes

6 Jul 2022

Inflation: A return to the 1970s or a...

6 Jul 2022

NI threshold increase ‘not likely to benefit workers’

6 Jul 2022

Unpicking the medicalisation of behaviour at work

6 Jul 2022

Kristie Higgs succeeds in bid to remove LGBT...

5 Jul 2022

‘Low flight risk’ designer wins £100k age discrimination...

5 Jul 2022

Rail signaller discriminated against by staff who watched...

5 Jul 2022

  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today