Vocational rehabilitation The business case for retaining newly disabled staff and those with a long-term health condition

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Royal College of General Practitioners In April 2010, the new Healthy Working UK website was launched in collaboration with the Faculty and Society of Occupational Medicine to support GPs with their daily practice of health and work – available via www.healthyworkinguk.co.uk This support also includes two new and free web-based learning resources called Health e-Working for primary and secondary care which each offer six interactive e-learning sessions providing practical examples and guidance, available via www. healthyworkinguk.co.uk/learningresource Contact: Dr John Chisholm CBE FRCGP Tel: 020 8778 2550 Email: john.chisholm@concordiahealth.co.uk Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) The Society is the UK organisation for all doctors working in occupational health. It is concerned with the protection of the health of people in the workplace and the prevention of occupational injuries and disease. The Society also provides information and support for businesses that are looking to get occupational health support – including a list of occupational health doctors in their area who are willing to take on work. Email admin@som.org.uk www.som.org.uk UK Rehabilitation Council (UKRC) The UKRC is a community of rehabilitation associations, rehabilitation providers, clients and other stakeholder groups. Its goals are to ensure access to high quality medical and vocational rehabilitation services in the UK. The UKRC has developed its own Rehabilitation Standards together with a straightforward guide for best practice in sickness absence management, called “the 10 Hallmarks of a Good Employer”. Contact: Susan Berdo, Interim Chief Executive Email: susan.berdo@rehabcouncil.org.uk Website: www.rehabcouncil.org.uk Vocational Rehabilitation Association (VRA) The VRA represents all those working at the interface between employment and disability/health, helping them to develop their professional skills and maintaining their continued professional development CPD. You can obtain the VRA Standards of Practice via www.vra-uk.org Contact: Ceri Goodrum Email: admin@vra-uk.org 28
Appendix 2: Model conversation for line managers This is a model conversation between Susan, a manager of a small office cleaning company that employs seven people, and Adam, the leading salesman who has just been diagnosed with Crohns disease. Susan: “Adam, thanks for coming in to see me, I am concerned that you have had a lot of time off work recently. You are an important member of staff, you’ve brought us a lot of sales and you know our business. However we need all the staff we have to be involved in the work. So I need to ask you is there anything seriously wrong that I need to know about so that I can deal with it to everyone’s benefit?” Adam: “As you know I have been in hospital for a disease that affects my bowels. Although I am on medicine I cannot be cured.” Susan: “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to tell me how the disease affects you? I can assure you that I shall treat anything you want me to in confidence.” Adam: “Well there is no way I am going to be able to keep it secret. My disease leaves me with serious diarrhoea, especially in the mornings. Sometimes I’m so tired I just want to sleep.” Susan: “Has the medical staff advised you to stop work?” Adam: “At the hospital yes, but it seems that my doctor was one of the 3,200 GP’s who has been trained by his faculty to increase his knowledge, skills and confidence in dealing with clinical issues relating to work and health. My GP thinks I could work and I want to.” Susan: “Well I don’t want to treat you worse than anyone else because of your illness but how can we work round your condition so that you can still carry on contributing to our success?” Adam: “Is there any way I can work more flexibly?” Susan: “Well yes, but we are a small business and I could only agree to this if you can make the time up in the periods when you are feeling better.” Adam: “I could do that if you would allow me to work from home some mornings and sending emails in the evenings or weekends especially on Saturdays when many of our customers are still around.” 29
Page 1 and 2: Vocational rehabilitation The busin
Page 3 and 4: Contents Introduction 4 The case fo
Page 5 and 6: The case for employment retention T
Page 7 and 8: eckoner guide to assess when to int
Page 9 and 10: Case studies College of Occupationa
Page 11 and 12: How the benefits outweigh the costs
Page 13 and 14: How to identify the costs and savin
Page 15 and 16: Calculating the figures If any redu
Page 17 and 18: Case study 2 This case study is bas
Page 19 and 20: Why everyone benefits The value of
Page 21 and 22: Recommendations 1. Businesses shoul
Page 23 and 24: 15 NHS Health and Well-being Review
Page 25 and 26: Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Page 27: Microlink Disability and Reasonable
Page 31 and 32: Appendix 3: The role of technology
Page 33 and 34: Appendix 4: The Employment Retentio

Vocational rehabilitation The business case for retaining newly disabled staff and those with a long-term health condition

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