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The Society of Occupational Medicine is the UK organisation for all healthcare professionals working in or with an interest in occupational health.
24 JUN 2024 · In this episode of the SOM Podcast, we discuss occupational health placements and their role in growing the interest and understanding of occupational health (OH). Our panel of experts, Janet O’Neill, Deputy Head of the National School of Occupational Health, Karen Lever, Head of the Occupational Health Department at Keele University, and David Nti-Jackson, Clinical Practice Lecturer at Keele University are joined by students Shannon and Skye, who share their experiences of taking part in the OH placements programme at Keele.
The conversation delves into strategies for workforce development, the challenges and benefits of student placements, and the vital collaboration between universities and employers. Discover how these initiatives are shaping the future of occupational health and why it's an exciting career path for aspiring healthcare professionals. Hosted by Steve Randall.
Links:
- Â Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM): https://www.som.org.uk/
- SOM Careers in Occupational Health:Â https://www.som.org.uk/careersÂ
- National School of Occupational Health:Â https://eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/occupational-health/national-school-occupational-health
- Faculty of Occupational Health Nursing https://www.fohn.org.uk/Â
- Faculty of Occupational Medicine:Â https://www.fom.ac.uk/Â
- Keele University https://www.keele.ac.uk/  Â
20 MAY 2024 · Are you interested in a career in occupational medicine? In this episode of the SOM Podcast, occupational health physicians Dr Richard Peters and Dr Jayne Moore discuss the specialty of occupational medicine (OM) and what a career in OM entails.
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Discover how this specialty balances the impact of work on health and vice versa, the importance of workplace risk assessments, and the journey to becoming an occupational health physician.
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Whether you're a medical student curious about this career path, a doctor looking to move fields, or you’re just interested in the intersection of health and work, this episode offers valuable insights into a specialty that safeguards our health and wellbeing in the workplace. Hosted by Steve Randall.
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Links:
Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) website: https://www.som.org.uk/
SOM Careers in Occupational Health: https://www.som.org.uk/careers
Faculty of Occupational Medicine: https://www.fom.ac.uk/
National School of Occupational Health: https://eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/occupational-health/national-school-occupational-health
29 APR 2024 · In this episode of the SOM Podcast, Angela Matthews, Head of Policy and Research at Business Disability Forum and Mandy Whalley, founder of The Empowerment Passport™ and registered occupational therapist, discuss the need for and many benefits of disability passports.
Angela and Mandy explain how these passports are helping employees with disabilities and long-term conditions manage their workplace adjustments. They provide an overview of the history and current use of disability passports and insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by different passport models. Hosted by Steve Randall.
About the speakers:
Angela Matthews is Head of Policy and Research at Business Disability Forum (BDF). She is an adviser to and research partner on several academic research projects related to work, health, and disability. She delivers BDF’s responses to public policy consultations and leads research engagement with disabled employees in BDF’s member organisations. Angela’s current research projects at BDF include language and culture change in disability workforce reporting methodologies, workplace adjustments, and interventions for better transitions between higher education and employment.
Mandy Whalley is an occupational therapist whose diverse career has been a journey through many settings. Mandy’s passion for neurodiversity comes from her professional and personal life supporting her son with autism, ADHD and dyslexia. Her journey has been driven by wanting to understand people’s needs and find person centred solutions to their goals. This led to the creation of her empowerment passport.
Links:
- The Empowerment Passportâ„¢:https://empowermentpassport.co.uk/
- Business Disability Forum (BDF): https://businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/
- Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM): https://www.som.org.uk/
16 JAN 2024 · Working together in multidisciplinary teams
19 OCT 2023 · A career in functional assessment medicine requires the ability to transfer and apply clinical and occupational health skills to establish a person’s functional capability.
It is not about diagnosis, but focused on function and limitations secondary to the medical conditions. A career in functional assessment medicine can offer a good work-life balance, and is open to professionals of various backgrounds.
In this episode of the SOM Podcast, host Steve Randall talks to Dr Karen Wallace, Disability Analyst and National Lead Appraiser and new entrant trainer at Maximus, Dr Mark Randall, Disability Assessor and Quality Assurance Lead at Maximus, Thobela Nhlanhla, Medical Advisor, Insurance, at Unum UK, Rebecca Sparks, Disability Analyst and Clinical Lead for Stakeholder Engagement at Capita, Dr Matthew Gouldstone, Disability Analyst at Maximus, and Helen Valls-Russell, Occupational Therapist and Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist about a career in functional assessment medicine.
Resources:
Functional Assessors information and testimonies https://som.org.uk/images/Functional_Assessors_role.pdfThe role of a functional assessor short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qto2-Cea9e0
28 SEP 2023 · How do we help the world of work become a place where we all thrive and not just survive?
Occupational psychologists explore questions such as:
- How do we motivate people so that they can perform to the best of their abilities?
- How do we support individuals who have caring responsibilities elsewhere?
- How can we improve creativity across people in different industries?
- How do we help organisations retain their best employees?
In this episode of the SOM Podcast, host Steve Randall talks to Dr Hayley Lewis, Registered Occupational Psychologist, Dr Almuth McDowall, Professor of Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck University of London, and Dr Kevin Teoh, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director of the MSc Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck about a career in occupational psychology.
5 APR 2023 · Are you are a registered nurse looking for different career options?
This podcast from The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) discusses the fabulous specialty of occupational health nursing. It will give you ideas of how to explore this specialty, decide if it is for you and training options.
Anna Harrington speaks with Janet O'Neill about her years of experience as an OH nurse and why it has never been a more important role.
Links
Examples of careers in occupational health (OH) nursing https://www.som.org.uk/occupational-health-nurses
Mentoring scheme to support nurses and AHPs wishing to enter OH https://www.som.org.uk/sites/som.org.uk/files/Nurse_and_AHP_mentoring_Mar_23.pdf
The National School of Occupational Health (NSOH) has blogs from OH nurses, links to useful information and links to training providers https://www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/occupational-health/national-school-occupational-health
The Faculty of Occupational Health Nursing (FOHN) has information on an OH nurse career framework, quality and practice https://www.fohn.org.uk/
16 DEC 2021 · Episode 3: The relationship between work and health with Dr Rob Hampton
In the third episode of our GP Essentials podcast series, Dr Lara Shemtob talks to Dr Rob Hampton about the relationship between work and health, the role of GPs in helping patients stay in or return to work, and what an occupational health consultation can offer that is difficult to achieve in a GP consultation.
They explore the ways in which work can have a negative effect on physical health, such as occupational cancers, asthma and other respiratory conditions, and skin conditions, plus the impact of the pandemic, for example isolation arising from home working, and how Long COVID is becoming a major health and work issue.
They discuss making use of the re-assessment section of the fit note, sharing practical resources to encourage employees to start having discussions with their employers, and sharing evidence with patients when it is available. In discussions with patients, Dr Hampton encourages GPs to think not just about paid employment, but about meaningful activity, and to use the techniques of motivational interviewing to help the individual decide on next steps and find their purpose.
Dr Rob Hampton was a GP Partner for 15 years before becoming freelance in 2012. His portfolio includes roles in drugs and alcohol treatment and occupational medicine. He has led various projects and educational initiatives to support GPs in helping patients with long term conditions to stay at work. A co-opted member of the BMA Occupational Medicine Committee and founder of a SOM GP Interest Group, Rob’s aim is to see employment support move closer to mainstream primary care so that employment is a health outcome of the care we provide to the working age population.
Further reading: https://www.health.org.uk/publications/long-reads/the-quality-of-work-and-what-it-means-for-health
Fit note: guidance for occupational health professionals, updated on 17th December 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-note-guidance-for-occupational-health-professionals
About the host:
Dr Lara Shemtob in an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice and GPST3 at Imperial College London with an interest in occupational health. Lara works at Parkview Practice in White City and has recently undertaken the Diploma in Occupational Medicine.
16 DEC 2021 · The SOM Podcast: GP Essentials series
Episode 2: Work and mental health with Professor Neil Greenberg
Mental ill health accounts for around a third of all fit notes issued and is the most common reason for issuing a fit note in General Practice. In this second episode of our GP Essentials series, Dr Lara Shemtob speaks to Professor Neil Greenberg about why so many people are signed off with mental ill health, the effect of the pandemic on workplace mental health, and the importance of creating and maintaining psychologically healthy workplaces.
They discuss the connection between mental ill health and presenteeism among NHS staff and structural and procedural issues within the NHS, such as understaffing, low pay and long hours. Professor Greenberg explains that while wellbeing Apps, mindfulness and yoga classes can be helpful to the people who use them, crucial above all else is fixing these structural issues – ensuring that the bottom level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is in place.
In terms of mental ill health among the general working population, Professor Greenberg encourages GPs is to think about who owns the problem. There are opportunities for the individual to change their workplace and get middle managers and seniors to endorse change.
Professor Neil Greenberg is a consultant academic, occupational and forensic psychiatrist based at King’s College London. Neil served in the United Kingdom Armed Forces and has deployed, as a psychiatrist and researcher, to a number of hostile environments. At King’s, Neil leads on a number of military mental health projects and is a principal investigator within a nationally funded Health Protection Research unit. He chairs the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) Special Interest Group in Occupational Psychiatry and is leading the World Psychiatric Association position statement on mental health in the workplace. Neil has been the Secretary of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the President of the UK Psychological Trauma Society and Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Neil has worked closely with NHSEI, PHE and has published widely on psychological support for healthcare, and other key workers.
Further reading: https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/mental-health-workplace
Fit note: guidance for occupational health professionals, updated on 17th December 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-note-guidance-for-occupational-health-professionals
About the host:
Dr Lara Shemtob in an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice and GPST3 at Imperial College London with an interest in occupational health. Lara works at Parkview Practice in White City and has recently undertaken the Diploma in Occupational Medicine.
16 DEC 2021 · The SOM Podcast: GP Essentials series
Over 6 million fit notes were issued by GPs last year – almost 95% of which were signed off as not fit for work without using the options for workplace adjustments and advice. Deciding whether someone is fit to work is a difficult decision that can have a huge impact on the individual and at the societal level, however this is not a topic emphasised in GP training and there are barriers to accessing CPD in this area.
In this series of three podcasts with experts in the field, guest host Dr Lara Shemtob finds out how to harness the potential of the fit note, why work-related mental ill health has been increasing in recent years, and why occupational health matters in primary care.
Fit note: guidance for occupational health professionals, updated on 17th December 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-note-guidance-for-occupational-health-professionals
Episode 1: How to get the most out of the fit note with Dr Jonathan Leach OBE
The transformation from sick note to fit note in 2010 meant that GPs were able to move from a binary decision of declaring a patient fit for work or not fit for work, to offering advice on amendments to duties that could enable an employee to continue working, or to facilitate a phased return to work.
In this episode, Dr Lara Shemtob speaks to Dr Jonathan Leach OBE about the barriers that may prevent GPs from using the advice section of the fit note and how to troubleshoot those barriers. They discuss the importance of using a person-centred approach, taking a basic occupational history, finding out what patients do in their job on a day-to-day basis to understand their functional limitations, tailoring advice accordingly, and understanding risk.
Also explored are the psychosocial factors that might be impeding a patient’s return to work and how referral to occupational health or mental health services at work can help, plus what to do when work is a contributing factor to a patient’s ill health.
NB: At the time of recording, Dr Jonathan Leach was Joint Honorary Secretary at the RCGP. His tenure ended 20th November 2021.
Dr Jonathan Leach OBE is a GP in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Jonathan originally pursued a military career, working around the world and achieving the rank of Colonel. Posts comprised clinical, managerial and academic roles, including Professor of General Practice and Director of GP Education. Returning to the NHS in 2008, he has held senior executive positions, including Medical Director and Director of Primary Care for Worcestershire and Associate Medical Director for NHS England. Jonathan is the NHS England Associate Medical Director for Armed Forces and Veterans Health, advising NHS in England on the NHS care of service personnel, their families and veterans. In this role he has been instrumental in the design and delivery of the new models of care for veterans and especially in the field of mental health. Jonathan is Medical Director for COVID-19 Vaccination for NHS England and was awarded the OBE for services to General Practice in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List.
Further reading: https://bjgp.org/content/71/712/525
About the host:
Dr Lara Shemtob in an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice and GPST3 at Imperial College London with an interest in occupational health. Lara works at Parkview Practice in White City and has recently undertaken the Diploma in Occupational Medicine.
The Society of Occupational Medicine is the UK organisation for all healthcare professionals working in or with an interest in occupational health.
Information
| Author | Soc. of Occupational Medicine |
| Organization | Soc. of Occupational Medicine |
| Categories | Health & Fitness |
| Website | - |
| client.som@cgpods.com |
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