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Welcome to our May 2022 Bulletin
Dear Colleagues
Spring has sprung! As April draws to a close, I hope you managed to enjoy some welcome sunshine over the Easter weekend. After the last two years, I certainly enjoyed taking time out with family and friends instead of working over the long Bank Holiday weekend.
Once again, this month’s bulletin is packed full of useful information! There is some important information from NHS Employers which will support programmes of work relating to the People Promise – so there’s no need to re-invent the wheel. Over the last month, I have continued to engage with NHS England and Improvement on the Growing OH&WB strategy, as well as the transfer of Immunisations and Vaccinations project. In addition, we have been making progress in planning our annual conference which is scheduled for 7 & 8 September – so make sure your Service has signed up to the Network to guarantee a place at this exciting event.
In May we have our quarterly board meeting so if you have any issues you wish to raise, please do feed these through to your regional representative so these can be shared with the Board.
Best wishes
Hilary Winch
Chair, NHS Health at Work Network
In this edition:
1. NHS Employers OH & Wellbeing Resources
2. NHS Network Board Vacancy – London Region
3. HSE Update
4. MoHaWK Update
5. BBFE Survey Group – Sign Up
6. Vocational Rehabilitation Guidance
7. Ask-A-Question
8. Follow Us: NHS Network Social Media
9. UK Health Trends
10. Useful Resources
1. NHS Employers OH & Wellbeing Resources
NHS Employers website has been updated and contains a rich resource of occupational health and wellbeing resources, produced by the NHS Staff Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Partnership Group. This includes:
Shift work in healthcare infographic - highlights the importance of supporting shift workers in your organisation and complements the health, safety and wellbeing of shift workers in health care environments guidance.
Tackling bullying in the NHS infographic - includes statistics about the impact of bullying on workforce wellbeing.
Mental wellbeing in the workplace infographic - provides a range of up-to-date key statistics and facts about workforce mental wellbeing in the workplace.
Back to basics for a healthy working environment infographic - includes statistics and key facts about the impact of hydration, nutrition, sleep, and regular breaks on workforce wellbeing.
NHS staff wellbeing needs poster - highlights the importance of basic needs to help ensure our NHS people feel healthy at work.
Men's health guidance - to support organisations to implement measures to support men’s health.
2. NHS Health at Work Network Board Vacancy - London
We are inviting applications for a Network Board representative for the London region to replace Dr. Finola Ryan who is moving on to pastures new. Applicants will need to be employed at an OH Service which is a Full Network Member. You would be expected to provide a communication link with members in your region and to represent their views at the Board meetings. The Board meets 3 times a year (twice via Zoom and once at the time of our annual conference). Board Members get a free conference place.
More information and the application form are available here. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 31st. May. To find out more, or for an informal discussion, please contact admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk
3. HSE Update
Lone workers - can be at greater risk of harm as they may not have anyone to help or support them if things go wrong. Employers should provide training, supervision, monitoring and support for those working alone. The HSE free to download leaflet 'Protecting lone workers: How to manage the risks of working alone' is for anyone who employs lone workers, or engages them as contractors, including self-employed people or those who work alone. The leaflet is supported by their lone working webpages which include advice aimed at lone workers themselves.
Ventilation - Employers must make sure there is adequate ventilation in enclosed areas of their workplace. The new HSE web pages give advice on improving ventilation at work. The pages include a look at:
- why ventilation is so important
- how to keep temperatures comfortable in ventilated workplaces
- how to improve ventilation
The website also has examples of improving ventilation.
Manual Handling - As an employer, you must protect your workers from the risks of manual handling injuries in the workplace. You can find help with preventing these sort of risks in your workplace with the HSE step-by-step guide. The web pages have a range of useful information and advice for employers, including sections on assessing manual handling and training for employees. There are also links to a variety of useful resources. These include the HSE downloadable publications:
4. MoHaWK Update
Round 20 will close on 30th June, with Round 21 opening from 1st July 2022 for data input. 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 & backlog. This process allows greater flexibility for submitting data.
Please find the briefing notes for Round 20 attached to this message. If you have any specific queries please make contact via hilary.winch@nnuh.nhs.uk
5. UK BBFE Survey Group Still Needs Your Help!
The UK national blood and body fluid exposure survey will launch in May and the Group needs OH Manager contact details for just 30 more trusts. See details here.
6. British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine: Vocational Rehabilitation Guidance
The British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine has produced new guidance on return to work - a major issue for many people recovering from COVID infection.
A limited number of hard copies are available free on request on a first come first served basis. Please contact Marlene Worrell, Executive Assistant to the BSRM at admin@bsrm.org.uk.
7. Ask-A-Question
One of the many benefits of your OH Service becoming a Network member is access to our popular Ask-A-Question facility. We’ve had a great range of questions submitted in the last few months, covering topics such as mental health nurses working in OH, clinical supervision and a range of job descriptions for new roles. You can see the questions and read all the responses on our website.
8. 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!
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9. UK Health Trends
The Office for National Statistics recent report into how health has changed in your local area is now available.
Health in England remained relatively stable in the years before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with improvements in areas such as risk factors for young people being offset by declines in others, such as mental health.
"Children and young people" and "Mental health" are both subdomains of the Health Index, which was developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to track how various health indicators are changing across the country.
The Health Index also reveals different trends emerging between regions, as health worsened in the North East between 2015 and 2019 but improved in the North West during the same period.
10. Useful Resources
Does the Pandemic Mean We Should Rethink Sick Pay – the Work Foundation
Blog: The Over-50s and the World of Work: What’s Happening and Why?
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had huge impacts on all aspects of life in the UK, including the world of work. Initially younger workers were the hardest hit, but as restrictions eased, a new picture has emerged – the apparent disengagement of many older workers. Read the blog here
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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