If you have been referred to the occupational health (OH) service for a telephone assessment, your HR department or line manager will make you aware of the referral and the reason for it.

They will also advise you on the confidentiality of any information divulged during your call, and of your related rights.

Occupational health phone calls usually take around 30 minutes; sometimes a little longer if the issues are complex.

Your appointment details will be communicated to you via email and text message. This will include the date, time and name of the OH professional. Your referring HR person or manager will also be informed.

For the call

Please ensure you are in a room where you can talk privately and confidentially at the time of your consultation. The OH professional will contact you on the number provided with your referral.

Once your identity has been confirmed, you will be asked for your verbal consent to carry out the telephone consultation and to release an OH report to your organisation afterwards.

Without your consent, the consultation cannot proceed. If you are not happy to continue then you should advise your HR or manager immediately. We may record and/or monitor the consultation to:

• Improve the quality of the services we provide
• Train and provide our employees with feedback
• Resolve any complaints or concerns that may arise

Please tell us as soon as possible or at the start of the consultation if you have any concerns with your call being recorded.

Information to have available

In order for the consultation to be as effective as possible, we would recommend you have the following information to hand, if relevant:

• Details of any current prescription medication from your doctor or specialist.
• Any relevant health information, such as diabetic glucose monitoring diaries, peak flow diaries for asthmatics or mood diaries for psychological disorders.
• Names of any specialists whose care you are under, and details of any forthcoming outpatient appointments or operation dates.
• If you’ve had any recent reports or investigations – such as blood tests, X rays or scans – it would be helpful to know if these highlighted any abnormalities (you may wish to ask your GP about this).
• Details of how long your current Fit certificate runs if relevant.

What happens next?

Following the consultation, an OH report will normally be sent within one working day. The report will be made available to your referrer – and should answer the questions raised in the referral.

It will usually include a brief description of any health matters, recommendations and any adjustments to your role which are recommended.

Should you wish to receive a copy of the OH report before, or at the same time, as your employer, please let the OH professional know, and this will be made available on HealthHub.

Please note – if you miss your appointment, we will need to inform your employer and they will be charged for the missed appointment.

Compliance Statement

Health Management processes your personal data in line with relevant data protection and clinical governance requirements and good practice, including:

• GMC Confidentiality and Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) guidelines
• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Please be aware another clinician may audit your case for quality purposes, to ensure our clinicians work to best practice standard. When this is undertaken no personal data is shared. Health Management are the Controller under GDPR. The legal basis for processing your:

• personal data is for the legitimate interests pursued by the Controller or by a third party – GDPR, Article 6(1)(f). Consent is not relied on for GDPR compliance;
• special category (i.e. health) data is for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine – GDPR, Article 9(2)(h)

For more information about how your personal data is processed and your rights, please see our Privacy Policy or ask our team.