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Original poster

NHS occupational health pre-employment consultation

8 replies

FloralShirt · 17/04/2023 10:14

I am in the pre-employment checks stage for a job in NHS (Scotland). As part of that, I completed an occupational health questionnaire and I've now been sent an appointment for a telephone consultation. Is this normal? I had assumed the questionnaire would be enough on its own, particularly as I don't have any medical issues. It's a desk job and is not patient facing.

What should I expect at this phone appointment?

OP posts:
HyuNis · 17/04/2023 12:40

Normally people are only followed up by OH if there's something in the form they want to look into further.
Usually it's a health condition that could require time of work or reasonable adjustments in the workplace to help manage it.
Or it could be because of sickness levels in the last year. The OH form and NHS references usually ask about number of days/episodes in last year.

Would either of these scenarios apply to you?

creaamontop · 17/04/2023 12:42

I think I got a call to arrange a hep b vaccine and go over the details to make sure they were correct. Nothing to worry about I'm sure

Original poster
FloralShirt · 17/04/2023 13:41

HyuNis · 17/04/2023 12:40

Normally people are only followed up by OH if there's something in the form they want to look into further.
Usually it's a health condition that could require time of work or reasonable adjustments in the workplace to help manage it.
Or it could be because of sickness levels in the last year. The OH form and NHS references usually ask about number of days/episodes in last year.

Would either of these scenarios apply to you?

I have no current health conditions. I did mention on the form a historical back injury caused by an accident (happened 30 years ago and no issues since) so perhaps they want more information on that.

And I've been freelancing for the last 10 years so no sickness absences of note, and nothing relevant to that in my references either.

OP posts:
Original poster
FloralShirt · 17/04/2023 13:43

creaamontop · 17/04/2023 12:42

I think I got a call to arrange a hep b vaccine and go over the details to make sure they were correct. Nothing to worry about I'm sure

Thanks! I don't think I need a hep v vaccine (non-patient facing admin role) so it shouldn't be that.

OP posts:
MapleSpice · 17/04/2023 14:17

@FloralShirt it will be your back injury as the job is desk based. Nothing to worry about, they're usually pretty efficient and just need to assess if you need anything to support like a certain chair or back rest.

MapleSpice · 17/04/2023 14:18

I work in the NHS and two of my team had an OH call for similar reasons, back issues. This was when they first started.

skilpadde · 17/04/2023 14:28

It will definitely be your back injury that's caused the need for an appointment.

There will be particular fields in the questionnaire in which, should you enter anything at all, will cause you to get flagged for a follow-up, rather than getting an automated "fit to work" outcome. That will include the field in which you indicated your back injury.

Original poster
FloralShirt · 17/04/2023 14:40

Ah, thank you everyone! That's very good to know. I definitely don't need any support or adjustments, so hopefully it'll be straightforward.

OP posts:
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