Occupational health practitioners could play an important role in the government’s WorkWell pilots designed to help those off work long term back into the workforce, SOM (the Society of Occupational Medicine) has said.
Following the various announcements from the Budget earlier this month, including a key focus on occupational health, SOM has urged the government to integrate OH into the pilots.
The WorkWell pilots in England aim to link Jobcentres, health services and other local organisations supporting individuals with health conditions, helping them into employment and remain in work.
They are intended to provide “wraparound” health support for “those at risk of falling out of work because of their health condition”.
“We fully support this initiative and would like to offer OH engagement in design, delivery, and evaluation of the pilot,” SOM has said.
Long-term ill health
The industry body has, however, argued that it is important that lessons learned from previous pilots, including NHS Plus and the Fit for Work Service, are taken forward in the new initiative.
For example, one of the reasons the Fit for Work Service didn’t work was a lack of engagement from primary care, SOM has pointed out, with GPs often being reluctant to use the service.
“We are of the view that clinical collaboration between OH (as expert in rehabilitation and implementing biopsychosocial approach in practice), GPs (as the main source of referring service users) and MSK and mental health experts (two major reasons of health related loss of productivity) is the key to design and deliver a successful programme,” SOM has said.
“We believe that including OH experts within the pilot hubs will strengthen the [multidisciplinary team] approach. They not only can bring expertise in fitness assessment and rehabilitative measures but can also support other professionals including case managers,” it added.
While OH’s historic workforce and capacity issues could be a constraining factor in practice, SOM believes this could be overcome.
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“Whilst we are well aware of OH workforce issues, we believe that there is sufficient capacity and capability within the system to support inclusion of specialist OH practitioners [such as OH physician/nurse] in each hub,” it said.
However, it added that there needed to be a conversation around what remote, digital or technological solutions could work in this context alongside face-to-face support.
