The East District of the Institution’s Midlands Branch ran a
seminar in June that focused on the management of OH services in the workplace.
Held at Coton House, near Rugby, the event aimed to provide an understanding of
exactly what an OH service is.
The programme was designed to promote the awareness that an
OH service is like any other part of a business and, therefore, needs to have
targets, structure and quality as part of its function. A host of authoritative
speakers had been assembled to get this message across.
Following the welcome address from Barbara Port, the
chairman of the East District, Denis Cutter – regional claims director with
Marsh UK Ltd – looked at different methods of handling disease and illness
claims. Cutter explained pre-action protocol, litigation, investigation and how
insurers deal with incidents. He was followed by Roger Calvert, OH physician
with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, who discussed the role of OH, both
in the present and the future.
Gail Cotton, immediate past-president of the Association of
OH Nurse Practitioners, gave a presentation entitled Quality pathway for OH.
She recommended discussing any OH project with management and identifying internal and external standards that relate
to the activity.
Other speakers on the day included Stella Robinson, regional
OH manager with BUPA, who gave a positive case for OH; Liz Baird, HM inspector
of OH with HSE, whose presentation Revitalising OH described ways in which HSE
inspectors address OH issues; Elaine Higson, director of Healthscope (UK) Ltd,
who subtitled her talk on sickness absence "actively managed or politely
ignored!"; and Nigel Heaton, director at Human Applications, who examined
all aspects of back care management.
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