Dear Colleagues

Spring has sprung! As April draws to a close, I hope you managed to enjoy some welcome rest over the Easter weekend and no doubt looking forward to May with lots of Bank Holidays! Once again, this month’s bulletin is packed full of great information, so do take the time to review the various elements for your own learning and sharing. There is some valuable information from SEQOHS, an update on our project on developing and sharing good practice, and a case study from one of the largest ICS regions on collaboration – this information is available to all members so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel!  

Over the last month, we have been making good progress in planning our annual conference which is scheduled for 13 and 14 September – so make sure your Service has signed up to the Network to guarantee a place at this exciting event. As soon as the programme is confirmed we will share it with you all – but please put the dates in your diary in the meantime. 

In May we have our quarterly board meeting so if you have any queries, please feed those through your regional representative so these can be discussed with the Board. 

Best wishes

Hilary

Chair, NHS Health at Work Network

In this edition:

1.    SEQOHS Standards Review

The Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Board has approved the 2023 SEQOHS Standards. The SEQOHS Standards review involved an extensive consultation exercise throughout 2022, culminating in a formal consultation that closed in November 2022. The headline result was that 84% of respondents agreed that the draft set of standards were an improvement.

The new 2023 SEQOHS Standards include new standards for outputs and outcomes but, overall, the total number of standards required for accreditation has reduced from 43 to 34. The new standards will be formally launched in June at the FOM/SOM Conference, and an update provided, along with examples from the new evidence guide. The new standards will not go live until the second half of 2023 and the SEQOHS team will provide you with advance notice of this, along with free online update events for all SEQOHS accredited services and those working towards accreditation will be provided. You can read more here.

2.    First Aid at Work

The Health and Safety Executive’s website has a step-by-step guide on first aid at work that explains how you can have the right arrangements, including:

• a first aid kit
• training workers
• first aid for homeworkers
• appointing first aiders

Other 'basics for your business' topics include reporting accidents and illness and ensuring you have the right workplace facilities.

3.    Member Case Study: Hampshire and Isle of Wight

Network Members in Hampshire and Isle of Wight are developing a collaborative approach to delivering OHWB services. Working across one of the biggest ICSs in England, OHWB leaders in Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIOW) saw the opportunity to expand their programme of strategic and operational development that had been launched to respond to the NHS People Plan, to include Growing OHWB services. The groundwork was already in place, thanks to a strong history of local NHS organisations working together collaboratively and existing trusted strategic relationships. Read the full case study here.

4.    Developing and Sharing Good Practice

We have started work on developing some good occupational health practice for to share with our members. The new OH Guidance section on our website is available to Network members here.

Our first Good Practice template has been produced on the topic of ‘Exposure Prone Procedures clearance for Healthcare Workers’ and is available for members here. We hope that this document is useful for those who are reviewing their local procedures. It would be great to provide some feedback on if this type of document is useful for your practice as we aim to create a suite of core areas relating to OH in the NHS. The next Good Practice template document being worked on is ‘Blood and Body Fluid Exposure Incidents’, and we will let you know once that is available on our website.

This month we will also be pulling together some examples of OH Competency documents. If you have once, we would love to be able to share it more widely with the Network, so please e-mail it through to admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk and we will do the rest.

NHS England are keen to understand what support and interventions are being provided by Trusts for their staff with Long COVID. They are aiming to produce some good practice guidance and as such want to hear what interventions are being undertaken across the country already. Please don’t be shy…. if your Trust has been undertaking work in this area – then please do share a brief overview. 

Please email these to hilary.winch@nnuh.nhs.uk and she will collate the responses for them.

5.    Share Your OH Job Descriptions with the London Centre for Work and Health

The London Centre for Work and Health has been commissioned by the Growing OHWB programme team at NHS England to explore opportunities for growing the OH allied health professional (AHP) workforce in the NHS. To support this work, they are requesting copies of job descriptions/personal specs for AHP (or similar) roles which have been established by local NHS OH departments so they can collate this information. If you are willing to share your local documents (JDs) then please send a copy to Vaughan.parsons@gstt.nhs.uk

In addition, copies of the documents submitted will also be included in a resource centre currently being set up by the NHS Health at Work Network so we can share these resources to all NHS OH departments.

6.    Protecting Workers from Manual Handling Injuries

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’s step-by-step guide.

The manual handling website pages have a range of useful information and advice for employers, including sections on assessing manual handling and training for workers.

There are also links to a variety of useful resources. These include the free-to-download publications:

Manual handling at work: a brief guide

Manual handling: guidance on regulations

7.    Growing OH&WB: New Resources Launched!

NHS England have launched their new guide on Looking After Your Team’s Health and Wellbeing. Support a resilient and thriving team by enhancing your local health and wellbeing culture. Filled with inspiration and activities, this new guide has been designed to take you on a journey to grow your wellbeing culture. The guide is presented in sections so that teams and team leaders can select from a virtual bookshelf in an order that best suits their needs and interests. The promotional poster for use in staff areas is available here. You can feedback your thoughts and suggestions for improvement on this guide here.

NHS England have also released their draft Directory of Services for OH&WB. This document summarises the range of services expected of an NHS OH department which are supported by legislation and/or national guidance. These services should be considered ‘core’ to the delivery of a comprehensive Occupational Health Service to staff working in the NHS, and as such provides support to the unique challenges of NHS workplaces. You can feedback your thoughts and suggestions for improvement on this directory here.

The latest prospectus for NHS OH development opportunities in support of the Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing strategy is available here, including a free series of webinars hosted by the Society of Occupational Medicine.         

8.    Movers and Shakers: Dr Kabir Varghese

Congratulations to Dr. Kabir Varghese who has been appointed as the NHS Health at Work Network Board rep for the London region. Kabir is a fully qualified GP with a Diploma in Occupational Medicine. He has been working as an Occupational Health Physician in London Northwest University Healthcare NHS Trust for over one year, and previously worked in Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Kabir has also worked in the commercial occupation health sector. He is an IRR appointed doctor by the HSE and also works as a part-time locum GP in Hertfordshire. You can contact Kabir, or any of our Board reps, here.

9.    Faculty of OH Nursing: Accreditation Scheme Survey

The FOHN has been engaging with practitioners and specialists in the field of OH nursing, as well as other stakeholders, listening to concerns about recognising specialist nursing competence and commitment to improving health and wellbeing at work. 

The feedback has provided the springboard on which the FOHN have developed the draft framework, processes and documentation that go to make up the FOHN Accreditation Scheme. The scheme focusses on the knowledge, work experience, competence and other attributes of nurses working in a workplace setting – the very best in OH nursing. 

You can do share your views and opinions on the proposed accreditation scheme by responding to their 20-minute survey.

Survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/36TBNZ9 

Draft Accreditation documentation https://www.fohn.org.uk/accreditation-2/

Following consultation, the scheme will be launched alongside a suite of documents that will support nurses and assessors through the accreditation process.

Please feel free to contact our Chair, Christina Butterworth if you have any further comments chair@fohn.org.uk

10. Courses and Resources

The Health Education England website is a brilliant reference place for all OH practitioners, and includes a vast array of information on different OH careers, blogs, webinars, and much more. Check it out!

The Work Foundation has produced an Employer Briefing on Financial Wellbeing During the Cost of Living Crisis, available here.

Supporting NHS Staff Wellbeing Through Organisational Interventions is a project led by Birkbeck’s Dr Kevin Teoh and Dr Rashi Dhensa-Kahlon, together with researchers from the University of Sheffield, the University of Nottingham, and the Norwegian Science and Technology University. The findings are captured in a report entitled Organisational Wellbeing Interventions: Case Studies from the NHS which provides insights from 13 such interventions to serve as examples.

ACAS have produced new guidance to support employers and employees with reasonable adjustments for mental health: https://www.acas.org.uk/reasonable-adjustments-for-mental-health as well as case studies exploring how different organisations have helped staff with mental health workplace adjustments.

Business in the Community have launched their report ‘Prioritise People: Unlock The Value Of A Thriving Workforce’. This excellent report  consolidates the evidence from academic literature and industry studies, and supports the economic value proposition (EVP) for investing in employee health and wellbeing and creates a compelling case for investment.

The National School for Occupational Health’s annual virtual conference, is being held on Friday 12 May, 09.00 – 16.00, and is a free event. Book your place here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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