Dear Colleagues

Once again, this month’s bulletin is packed full of great information!  Of note I want to draw your attention to the June 20^th. launch date for the ‘Growing OH Strategy’ – please sign up for the event, and disseminate the flyer to leaders in your organisation and region. It’s crucial that as a community we get our HR leaders, Chief Executives and regional boards knowing about and understanding this strategy.  In addition, I also want to encourage those of you who would like to consider the forthcoming vacant role of Deputy Chair of the Network to get in touch for an informal chat.  This is a fantastic development opportunity for someone who wants to get involved strategically and on a national level. 

We have the benefit of a two-day Bank Holiday and long weekend to look forward to.  I hope you are able to take the time to share in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in your local area and enjoy some welcome down time.  Let’s hope the sun keeps shining! 

Best wishes

Hilary Winch

Chair, NHS Health at Work Network

In this edition:

1. Growing OHWB Strategy Launch Event

2. New: Diploma in Occupational Health Practice

3. Job Vacancy – NHS Network Deputy Chair

4. Save the Date: Network Annual Conference 7 & 8 September

5. HSE Update

6. MoHaWK Update

7. NICE Draft Guideline – Tobacco

8. Network Board Update

9. Follow Us: NHS Network Social Media

10. Useful Resources, Information and Articles

1.    Growing OHWB 5 Year Strategy: Launch Event

NHS England are delighted to invite you to the launch of the Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing (OHWB) Together strategy.  This new national strategy is designed to grow our NHS OHWB services, professionals and practice over the next five years.

The launch event is free to attend and is being held on Monday 20 June, 15.00 – 16.00 via MS Teams. Find out more and how to book here.

2.    New: Diploma in Occupational Health Practice (DipOHPrac)

The Faculty of Occupational Medicine has launched a new Diploma in Occupational Health Practice that aims to develop the skills of registered healthcare professionals.  Initially available for Registered Nurses only, it is designed to help those already working in occupational health to progress their career and encourage others to move into the sector.

Investing in occupational health (OH) is fundamental if we want to improve the health and wellbeing of the UK population. The majority of adults spend a significant amount of time in work and OH is vital to improving people’s health for the better.

3.    Job Vacancy: NHS Network Deputy Chair

The NHS Health at Work Network is seeking expressions of interest to replace Giles Wright as Deputy Chair of the Network.  The Network is incredibly grateful to Giles for his excellent leadership and commitment to the role over the last three years.  More information on the role is available here.  The closing date for applications is Wednesday 15 June.

4.    Save the Date: Network Annual Conference 7 & 8 September

Our Network Annual Conference will be held on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 September 2022 at the Woodland Grange Hotel and Conference Centre in Warwickshire.  We have a great line up of speakers including Dr. Richard Heron, Professor Diana Kloss MBE and John Drew from NHS England and Improvement.  

We will be writing to Network Members by the end of June to confirm your places. Whilst we have now sold out of the 24-hour delegate places, a limited number of day delegate places are still available.  Contact admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk for more information.

5.    HSE Update

The HSE have published a safety notice that respirators/masks which rely on ear loops (including those provided with clips, ‘snuggers’ or other means of tightening the fit of the mask) to hold the respirator/mask in place, do not protect people adequately when used as tight fitting respiratory protective equipment (RPE).

Poorly designed shift-working and long working hours that don’t balance work demands with time for rest and recovery can result in fatigue, accidents, injuries and ill health.

Worker fatigue is one of a number of human factor topics that can affect health and safety.

Visit the HSE website to view their hints and tips for shift-workers.

The HSE also has a downloadable publication Managing shift work, which will improve the understanding of shift work and its potential health and safety impact.

The HSE’s website has a useful section on how to prevent work-related lung disease.  This is particularly relevant in protecting a wide range of workers in construction, including cutting, welding, cement and wood working, as well as those involved in quarry work, baking and milling.   

6.    MoHaWK

Round 20 will be closed on 30^th. June, with Round 21 opening on 1^st. July 2022 for data input.  As per previous rounds we have left the round open until the commencement of the following round as this appears to have worked well for many services who are still balancing work demands associated with the pandemic and backlog. 

Please find enclosed the briefing notes for Round 20 and for those of you who want to plan ahead, the Round 21 briefing note is also attached. 

Please note – data cannot be submitted for Round 20 after 30^th June, 2022. 

If you have any specific queries then contact hilary.winch@nnuh.nhs.uk 

7.    NICE Draft Guideline: Tobacco

NICE’s latest draft guideline on Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence (additional update), and its supporting evidence are now out for consultation.  Individuals are able to submit comment by visiting the consultation page which has all the information and documents you need.

8.    Network Board Update

The Network Board met on Wednesday 18 May.  The key messages from the meeting are available on our website.  Members are encouraged to feed back their views and any local/regional issues to their Network Board reps.

9.    Follow Us: NHS Network Social Media

We are delighted to have our new social media pages up and running. You can now keep up-to-date on all of our latest news and updates around occupational health on both Twitter and Facebook. Don’t forget to follow us at the links below!

10. Useful Resources, Information and Articles

The ‘village’ that got me off drink and drugs – BBC

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‘Employment up, but workers see inflation eating away at their living standards’. – Work Foundation

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The BMA have published their Covid Review 2 – ‘The impact of the pandemic on the medical profession’.  Some of the key recommendations include:

• UK health services need good occupational health systems that can act quickly to protect staff both during and outside of health emergencies.
• Health education bodies across the UK must fund a model that supports adequate occupational medicine training posts to meet the level of demand in the UK’s health services now and in the future.
• As far as possible, changes to the health services made since March 2020 that made a positive impact on doctors, such as hybrid working, should be retained or brought back to improve staff health, morale and retention rates
• General wellbeing support must be made available for staff at all levels across all UK health services, along with specific support to recover from the pressure of delivering care during a pandemic.

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The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has published Baroness Hallett’s recommended changes to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference and a summary of the consultation responses. You can read these documents at www.covid19.public-inquiry.uk

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The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) and the Commercial Occupational Health Providers Association are partnering to deliver OHAW2022, from 19-24 June 2022.

The objective is to improve the visibility of OH in mainstream media and to improve people’s general understanding of OH. The goal is to drive recruitment to OH, with an additional focus on business development.  Keep an eye on their websites for more information.

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The NHS Health at Work Network brings together all OH teams providing health and wellbeing services to NHS OH staff.  It is dedicated to providing consistent, high quality health at work services to all NHS staff through collaborative working.

Members of OH teams in NHS Health at Work Network member organisations can receive the bulletin and access the restricted areas of the website as a membership benefit – if you are not sure of your login details email admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk   

Please share this bulletin with colleagues and encourage them to register to receive it regularly.  Non-Network members can also register to receive the monthly bulletin here.

You can contact the Network through your regional representative or as shown below.  Please get in touch if you have any queries or comments, if there is anything you would like to see in future issues of the bulletin, or if you have news to share.

Hilary Winch, Chair                                                 hilary.winch@nnuh.nhs.uk

Andrew Gilbey, General Manager                       admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk  

Postal address: NHS Health at Work, PO Box 857, York YO31 6FR