OH ASSIST questions...

[norris9]

OH ASSIST aka Occupational Health

I have a back issue that I have had for a while. In the past I have had a couple of days off work for this injury, but no days off for almost a year now.

I recently went to a specialist to help fix the problem and I'm currently receiving treatment. I am happy with the treatment so far. I have been given the 'ok' to work, but excused from the more physical rounds, hills, steps. Luckily the round I am signed to is flat. The injury is mildly painful, the main thing is it's not going away on its own.

Management are pushing for me to go through OH ASSIST. I have read that I am not obliged to do so...

What I want to ask is....

1. Is there any benefit to me going through OH ASSIST when I am already seeing a specialist for regular treatment as well as coming into work and getting on with my round as quick as I would be doing my round without the injury.

2. Is OH ASSIST actually any good, will they get me appointments/treatment at a specialist for free? if they are as bad as the NHS with delays then I am not interested. I am not really interested anyway - as I am fine with my current situation.


EDIT: I have just read that they do a telephone interview - do they not actually send you to a specialist for assessment?, if they don't - that's ridiculous. There's only 1 way to find out what my exact issue is and that's with a specialist assessment which would cost around £70. They aren't going to work out what's wrong with me by asking questions.

[greengiant]

OH Assist is more to check whether you are fit for work, or whether Ill Health Retiring you would be better for "Business Needs"

[clashcityrocker]

Free physiotherapy can be arranged. (At least it used to be. I don't know if that has changed)
How would it look if your condition got worse and you had refused any help from the business?

[norris9]

Free physiotherapy can be arranged. (At least it used to be. I don't know if that has changed)
How would it look if your condition got worse and you had refused any help from the business?

Seeing as I am receiving treatment from a licensed specialist then I don't think Royal Mail can use the 'We tried to get you help' card - what's the difference between what they have on offer and an actual specialist? I am getting the best treatment I could possibly get and don't need someone else interfering with the process.

I'd only use OH Assist if they are actually going to send me to a specialist, for free, if my current treatment fails to fix the problem. Does Royal Mail/OH Assist actually refer you to £50 a session specialists at no cost to you? - I'd be shocked if they do based on how they hate spending money on their workforce, but as I say - of course I'd take the offer up if current treatment fails as long as the service they provide is decent and not like the NHS where you have to wait 2 months to see anyone.

Meanwhile, for weeks/months I have been saying to my manager not to move me to strenuous rounds, yet he's been pushing me to do them and moved me. There is no concern for my health from the manager. I have since given him a doctor's note so hopefully he now stops moving me.

[Constance]

OH Assist will not pay and refer you for treatment save for perhaps therapies like physiotherapy.

Medical help is not the help they offer. You can only have one consultant doctor and one treatment plan at any one time. They won't mess with this.

The help they offer is limited to being consulted on occupational health issues.They are consulted to see how your medical condition affects your ability to work, how it limits your capacity and if there are any recommendations for adjustments or reassignment or even a declaration under the Equality Act ( ie that you're covered by the Act).

You are entitled to request and have sight of the referral questions prior to the appointment. This will let you know what is going on in the managers head and what this is all about.

In my experience they won't give advice on things they haven't been asked ; I've found they say helpful things on the telephone consultation , which don't appear in the written report , because it goes beyond the scope of their instructions. They provide a limited widow on how you’re getting on.

Hope this helps.

[norris9]

OH Assist will not pay and refer you for treatment save for perhaps therapies like physiotherapy.

Medical help is not the help they offer. You can only have one consultant doctor and one treatment plan at any one time. They won't mess with this.

The help they offer is limited to being consulted on occupational health issues.They are consulted to see how your medical condition affects your ability to work, how it limits your capacity and if there are any recommendations for adjustments or reassignment or even a declaration under the Equality Act ( ie that you're covered by the Act).

You are entitled to request and have sight of the referral questions prior to the appointment. This will let you know what is going on in the managers head and what this is all about.

In my experience they won't give advice on things they haven't been asked ; I've found they say helpful things on the telephone consultation , which don't appear in the written report , because it goes beyond the scope of their instructions. They provide a limited widow on how you’re getting on.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for this. It doesn't seem necessary in my opinion for my situation. I know what I can and can't/shouldn't do as I have the injury as well as a specialist who I trust who tells me what I should and should not do. Not sure physiotherapy alone would help me. I need my spine realigned.

I am so angry with the way management have treated me in relation to my injury, especially when I am still completing my round to 100% of my capability with or without the injury, bar taking any heavy parcels. I simply don't want to be on rounds with massive inclines, neither does my specialist. My manager is still getting a full day's work out of me yet wants to refer me to OH ASSIST even though I am on a 10 week treatment plan at a licensed specialist. I don't know what he wants out of OH Assist. I am so untrusting of anything he or Royal Mail does.

I said to my manager not to move me to strenuous rounds, hills, steps.... a few weeks later he asks me to move to an extremely hilly round. I refuse. He has plenty of other posties he could move to that round. He pressures me and pressures me to move - I refuse. He goes to my union rep (who I have already told about my back injury) and pressures the union rep to move me - of course the union rep sides with me - why he thought the union rep would side with him is beyond me. He then requested a doctor's note. I since provided him with this.....

I have a chiropractic adjustment. I wake up the next day feeling mildly sick, with pressure in my head. I go to work with the idea that I'd stay in the office to do prep (light duties), I am at work feeling a little bit better and feel like I can take some parcels out, so I let the manager know that I don't feel good, I feel groggy, like I have whiplash, and that I would like to take some parcels out, but not my round. In the end I was asked to take my round out but take it easy - I ok'd that. I went out on my round and felt a lot of pressure in my head, I threw up.

The management has been an absolute disgrace in my opinion. It's all about getting the work out, no concern for my health but concern for the work being done.

[iHateD2Ds]

You are right management do not really care about you.
OH will offer advice and physio sessions but not specialist chiropractic,the physio therapist will then send a report to OH. (Basically, the report is what it's all about)

[redlen]

Occupational Health will not normally get involved if you are under a specialist.

My advice will be to get a letter from your specialist detailing your work capability now and future capability. You can then request a referral to occupational health under a duty of care. They will send a report to your manager on the strength of that letter as they cannot go against it being from a specialist. Even give a copy too your manager from the specialist. Might cost you £50 though.