Barriers to returning to work after depression & psychosis

[forsummer]

Are there any occupational health workers on here who could advise? Or anyone been through similar?
Husband has been off work for approaching 6 months now. Diagnosed with psychotic depression. He is stable and recovered. He's ready to return to work.
He has a senior management role. After speaking to HR, his direct manager & now an external occupational health doctor it seems that they don't want him to go into work in person until they have reassurance from someone involved in his care and they also want him to be part way through CBT therapy. There are huge waiting lists for this and he hasn't even started it yet.
Occupational health have said this is because they need to consider the safety of the other staff, and also make sure that he is actually OK to do his job. They want him to work from home on light duties & have no contact with any other staff. Usually he's speaking on the phone to staff all day.
Now I completely understand why they feel this way but can they legally stop him from going in? Or from speaking to people?
On top of this is the financial worry. He's had 3 months full pay, 3 months half pay and now just SSP. We cannot manage any longer without his full wage.

Work have asked for medical advice and got it via a fit note. It sounds like they just didn’t get the answer they wanted. Mental health stigma is big - psychosis doesn’t mean necessarily others are at risk. He may need to phase in as stress may be in an issue but that’s possible to do

@Wellwell82 yes that is how he presented through the worst of his illness..
He has been deemed fit to work by more than one medical professional who see him separately and have maintained close contact.

He is doing a phased return hopefully and completey respectful of any wishes that his employer has.

My question was merely is the workplaces request the norm and do the medical team have to liase with the workplace as they've never mentioned that, just said he's fine to return

And no other staff know apart from his line manager and hr. It's confidential information

My husband was the same. Over three years ago he was diagnosed with psychosis, GAD and severe depression. He has had his 3 years with the early intervention team, including CBT and is now with the community mental health team. He was a teacher and had his contract terminated by the school. He'd only been in the job a few months, so all we had to live on was statutory sick pay then had to go on benefits. We ended up selling our house just to keep our heads above water. He is still ill and on anti psychotic meds, he just lies on the settee all day and he is definitely not fit to return to work. Our lives have changed massively but its just something I've had to accept. Please make sure your husband is genuinely fit to return to work. I understand that you are desperate for the money but have you looked into your benefits entitlement?

A phased return sounds sensible and customary when someone has been off sick for a long time. Stress can trigger psychotic depression, so they probably want to see how he copes with reduced hours, gradually increasing his hours to now overwhelm him. The last thing you want is for him to have a relapse.

No idea about the CBT, or why they think he needs that - have you asked?

Thanks for all the replies. He is completely happy to cooperate and work at home doing a phased return etc to see how he gets on. During this time he will still be supported by the early intervention team to ensure all is OK for everyone involved. I don't know if it will be full pay or not.
His main concern is that it is very difficult to actually do his job without speaking to anyone. That is what his job consists of. Hopefully that will work out over time

@Eightiesgirl wow your situation sounds almost identical. We have been extremely lucky that the psychosis he suffered was quite mild and was caught and treated very quickly. The team have said his recovery has been nothing short of miraculous, but I am under no illusion that this will be the end of it. There is always the risk of it returning. I send you best wishes to you both xx

Ask his MH nurse for a referral to the IPS employment specialist within their clinical team. Also please look up the role for more information.

Ive worked with people in this role who have psychosis etc and yes they have been able to return to work.

@Wellwell82 where have I said he's retuning full time from day 1? We have always known it would be a phased return, and to expect it may not be full pay. But at least working towards a full return. It could take up to six months.

He is most definitely well enough to work from home, especially on lighter duties. His concern is that it will be nearly impossible to actually do his job without speaking to colleagues

If he's exhausted his paid sick leave already, a phased return will usually mean he gets paid only for the time worked so he won't be on full pay until he's back full time. Does he have holiday he can use to supplement his phased return or did you use up his holiday allowance when he was on half pay?

Hi OP I have a diagnosis of recurrent psychotic depression, mine started with severe stress from a health condition.

I also was offered CBT as part of the recovery programme, didn't find it that useful but maybe for depression.

I just wanted to mention that PIP was useful for me, maybe your DH could get that and perhaps would some part time work / change in work be helpful?

Also don't underestimate the effects of long term medication. I'm on SSRIs and a low dose antipsychotic long term now and have regular health check ups due to this.

I'm not able to work now after some years, but I do also have other health problems as well.

The main thing I find helps is keeping things low stress, and taking all help offered. Hope this helps a little.

Is there not something which says an employer needs to accomodate a disability by finding a role which suits the person's needs?

Could the person not ask for something with less contact with people or perhaps not?

Just an idea. I'm a trained teacher but would not do that now as would be too stressful etc

Yes there is an employment specialist in the team. I'd forgotten about that. They explained initially that was more to help if you needed to apply for jobs etc but I'm sure they could advise, definitely, so will try to contact them.

@forsummer

Its not just about applying for jobs they retain people working in their current roles too. Often the clinical staff have less belief in the individual than the IPS employment specialist so please do get on this as that person will have a wealth of knowledge in MH legislation at work. They’re able to go into your husbands place of work too.

I spent a year in this role, this is honestly what you need to do. They offer a retention service they’re not just there to find people jobs.

Brilliant thank you

@forsummer thank you and I send my best wishes to you too. Its terrible isn't it? Such a shock and quite frightening at times. Often, all the attention and sympathy goes to the person with psychosis. Sometimes people forget about what the partner and family of the patient is going through. Then there is all the stigma unfairly attached to psychosis, I've actually had people confuse it with being a psychopath when I've tried to explain to them what's wrong with him. Our early intervention team were fantastic. Don't forget to ask them for help if you need it for yourself too. They put me in touch with a support group for families of people with psychosis and I found that a great help. Please make sure you look after yourself too xx

@forsummer

Yes the role was literally created for issues such as this OP. That’s your next step. Good luck and they cannot deny you access to the employment specialist either.

@Eightiesgirl do you mind if I send you a private message please?

This is rather odd.

What treatment your partner requires is up to his mental health team who have specialist knowledge and have been treating him, not some random occupational health person.

If he has been declared fit for work by his GP and his mental health team can also confirm this, including the fact that he is no danger to himself or others. then his workplace is on dodgy ground because he could argue he is being discriminated against because of his mental health issues.

They should be looking at reasonable adjustments, so home working and part time hours to start would make sense but saying that he should not communicate with others on the phone is frankly ridiculous and will make it harder for him to do his job.

I would seek legal advice/speak to ACAS or speak to a mental health charity for more advice on employment issues.