Sheffield Occupational Health Advisory Service (SOHAS) is a leading provider of health and work services in the city. We provide job retention services. Our main aim is to advise, enable, help and support employees who believe that their health is being affected by their work. Our main outcome is to keep people in work.
We work in GP surgeries (primary care) to deliver the Workplace Health Programme, giving advice in GP surgeries and the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Employment Adviser primary care service in which helps and enables employees to manage their workplace mental health issues and has the same outcome as our GP surgeries work.
We also have a 2 year project funded by Macmillan Cancer Support for employees who have survived or are receiving cancer treatment at hospital who wish to stay in or return to work.
We continually survey employees who use our services and the impact we make is outlined below:
76% of patients said that the advice they received improved their health
48% of patients said that the advice they received improved conditions at work
54% of patients said that the advice they received enabled them to return to work more easily
75% of patients said that the advice they received raised their awareness
68% of patients passed information on to work colleagues
48% of patients said that the advice they received reduce the number of visits to their GP
72% of patients said that the advice they received reduced their stress levels
58% of patients saw an improvement in their communication with their manager
54% of patients said the advice they were given enabled them to stay in their job
99% of patients said they would recommend the service
o To provide a free, independent and confidential advice service to individuals within a primary health care setting.
o To continually develop the SOHAS Workplace Health Programme to ensure it meets the changing needs of our clients and potential clients.
o To inform and train local primary health care workers in workplace health issues.
o To collect and present evidence drawn from SOHAS practice to inform and influence local and national policy makers.
o To publicise and promote workplace health issues and the role of SOHAS through a variety of media, including the Internet.
o To provide and maintain a specialised reference resource centre that is publicly accessible to all sections of the community.
We have primary and secondary objectives that help us meet our objectives, these are:
Primary Objective
•To give advice to 1200 patients per year, either face-to-face, by telephone or via email.
•Provide advice and support to patients whose work is affecting their health who are still at work.
•Provide advice and support to patients who have been signed off sick by their GP to return to work.
•Provide all patients with an appointment to see an occupational health adviser within 2 weeks of first contact.
•Give advice on prevention e.g. minimising risk within the workplace.
•Give advice on health and safety issues including occupational accidents, disease and accidents.
•Record patient details including their work history and exposure to workplace hazards in the SOHAS database.
•Liaise with GPs and other primary care staff in relation to the continuing care of the patient.
•To carry out a survey of patients on a 6 monthly basis focussing on the outcomes of the service.
•To carry out a survey of GPs where there is an adviser present on a yearly basis.
Secondary Objective
•To carry out health screening by carrying out hearing tests as directed by GPs.
•Give advice on work related employment law e.g. flexible working requests.
•Provide support on work related appeals e.g. Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits.
•Provide support on work related benefits. e.g. Employment and Support Allowance.
