Public Better Than Private- Cardiff County Council's Occupational Health Service

Sisters/Brothers

At the Works Council this afternoon there was a presentation from Occ health about the new premises in Nantgarw. It is now operating in partnership with the Fire Service and the NHS and has an expanded service. In a way the success of this service is an example of how in-house provision can out do the private sector in terms of capacity, effectiveness and efficiency.

When Capita were providing the service in 2004/05 there were 727 referrals and 731 appointments. By bringing it in house the Council were able to expand the use of Occ Health as one of the positive measures to help bring down sickness absence figures. In 2007/08 there were 1006 referrals which generated 1826 appointments and so far this year there have been 2402 cases processed and 1851 appointments. Of course, we could muse on whether the increase is partly due to increse in sickness absence as well as expanded referrals but nontheless, we can ony estimate that this has contributed positively to sickness absence levels.

Now the new facility should see expanded opportunity for staff to self refer. Also there will be facilities for physiotherapy rehabilition (a gym) and a joint initiative with the NHS to offer wider mental health support. In fact they will now have the capacity to address poor availability of services in some areas of the NHS for psychological treatment and support and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

I asked the question as to how this fits in with the Staff Counselling Service, which we regualrly advise members with stress and other related problems to make use of. The reply was that they will be working closely with the Staff Counselling Service to develop a clear protocol for our guidance. However, Lyndon suggested that if the member is suffereing from stress or any emotional/mental issue that is either related to work or affecting work (eg. they off sick), then it would certainly do no harm to advise self referral to Occ Health. their only course of action might well be to advise use of Staff Counselling, but better to err on the side of caution if we are not sure.

Obviously, as stewards and representatives it is not our role to diagnose or offer such support. But we can act as signposts to the services which are available and appropriate and these may be able to offer real tangible help and support for our members.

Good news for a change!

Mark