Fit For Work Scheme
Alan Kitto
The UK Government has announced that its Fit for Work will no longer be operating its free referral and assessment service from 15th December 2017.
The decision has been made because GP’s have been reticent to refer patient to the scheme and companies have typically chosen to continue use their own established occupational health providers.
Fit for Work will continue to exist to offer free telephone advice on occupational health matters; the website will also remain active with resources and guidance for companies to access at www.fitforwork.org
Where a need arises for medical support in the workplace, it is inadvisable to rely on a General Practitioner or even an Occupational Health Nurse.
Occupational Health Physicians are experts on medical matters in the workplace and as such offer the best source of advice on how to deal with employees with sickness issues that affect their ability to carry out their role, employees on long-term sickness absence, employees looking to return to work after a long-term absence and especially employees with disabilities (as defined by the Equality Act 2010)
If you have an employee that you feel would benefit form a referral to an Occupational Health Physician, please let us know and we'll effect an introduction.