|
Hi Jacqui
I too am in Yorkshire with a high percentage of foreign nationals in the
workforce (food processing).
As regards interpreters I have to use a work colleague of the employees
choice due to company policy (sometimes a relative). It would be great
to use a professional interpreter service but that is not an option
here. There are telephone translation services where an interpreter can
be present on speakerphone and do the translation that way.
I usually wait till the individual is back in the UK before calling them
in to see me. There is no point calling someone in to see you when
everyone knows they are out of the country. The company restricts them
from returning to work till they have received clearance from me.
As regards foreign sick notes, especially from Pakistan. We have a high
percentage of employees who fall ill when they return to Pakistan for
holidays. I have one currently who is on strict bed rest for allergic
conjunctivitis and has been for a few weeks now - fax last week was for
another 3 weeks! This is from a specialist trained in the UK. My
previous long term one was bed rest for unstable diabetes (nearly 3
months). Something to bear in mind is to try and check the authenticity
of any foreign medical certificates you receive. I understand that
medication can be bought over the counter without prescription (though I
could be wrong), sometimes I think the medical certificates are the same
way.
How it is handled is going to be dependant on the company's policy for
foreign medical notifications. My company will always insist on seeing
the insurance claim/change of travel details for amended dates of travel
etc.
Cheers
John
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Jacqui Livock
Sent: 14 January 2007 21:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [OCC-HEALTH] overseas workers
hi all
thanks for the previous replies on first aid
i have had several new challenges since christmas with overseas workers.
we have a number of overseas workers.(thanks for the SSP stuff it was a
conversation i had last week and will be useful) staff are referred at 4
weeks of absence.
1.a person is off for 4 weeks returns to their country of origin for
treatment if they are still in their home country(poland/pakistan/iraq
etc)....how do i advise on return to work restrictions? do i invite them
to see me knowing they are out of the country? then how do i advise on
likely lenght of absence etc.how do i obtain medical information to
enable fair recommendations to be made.
2.if they are back in yorkshire and the individuals grasp of medical
terminology is about as good as my dads! we do not want to use
colleagues to interpret and the interpreters we have tried have
little/no experience of medical terms also the wait for an interpreter
can be weeks.
In the UK I can write to GP's...in our experience we have found that
many go back to their country of origin (especially our polish workers)
for the weekend for treatment/investigation rather than use the
NHS....how do i get reliable medical info? drugs are not in the BNF and
google searches have proved fruitless.
(a case in point is female for investigation/treatment for abdo
pain...need to manual handle as part of role, area of genaralised pain
was between stomach and symphis pubis- had u/s of abdomen but didnt know
result.didnt know what area dr was looking at ie GI, renal, liver,bowel
had pain now its gone had tablets doesnt know what)
3. pre employment stage... i had a PEHQ this week with "scezofena" on
the mental health question. i can only assume to be "bi polar
disorder".The medication was not one familiar to BNF/google either.
arrived in england 3 months ago....no uk GP.
as with any condition i was unsure of, i would like to know if this
person has good symptom management/regular OPA's/prescription etc etc
prior to signing fit.......how do i get this info?
we have used the WHO classification of diseases in the past but it this
is not common. did you know J02 is a sore throat!
the final problem is that of a person who went to Asia on annual leave
for
4 weeks for religious celebrations and since his annual leave finished
we have had 2 faxes from a doctor which says "back pain - strict bed
rest for
28 days = unfit to travel". given that this is not the recommended
treatment in the UK and i am not familiar with asian health care, it is
likely that this individual has had 2 months bed rest, his role is
physically demanding so will probably need at least 2 months of physio
to undo the "harm" that inactivity has done and a rehabilitation
programme on return to work.
this is not the first letter we have had from asia saying "back pain=
strict bed rest for 28 days"
the HR manager has asked my opinion on what to do in cases like these.
i have suggested they talk to the legal team for starters. obviously the
application of the DDA cannot be assessed as he is still in asia but the
chap had an accident at work where he hurt his back before his holiday
to asia and had a few days off with back pain then started his annual
leave... funny he was fit to travel on a 5-6 hour flight before his
holiday when his back pain was likely to be acute....call me cynical.
In answer to the previous posting we "give back" annual leave if a MED 3
is put in.
i know i am not the only OHN who deals with workers from overseas. I am
eager not to treat people who chose health care in their country of
origin any differently to a person who breaks his leg on a skiing
holiday, but as you will appreciate there is a different perspective. i
know i woudl want to be with my family and in familiar surroundings if i
was unwell.
sorry it is a lengthy email but any advice or direction would be
appreciated.
jacqui
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remove this footer before replying.
For list archives and documents, go to
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html
FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES AND EVENTS:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH
For Occupational Health jobs, go to http://OHJobs.drmaze.net
Find out about Occupational Health Nursing Education in UK at
http://home.wlv.ac.uk/~in6232/aohne/
This email and its attachments are confidential, subject to copyright
and may be legally privileged. If they have come to you in error you
should take no action based upon the contents nor should you copy or
show them to anyone. Please delete the email and its attachments and
inform [log in to unmask] Any views or opinions expressed
are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Speedibake, a division of ABF Grain Products Limited.
Security: Internet email is not a completely secure medium, please
note this when considering the content of your message.
Viruses: We take precautions to ensure email is free of viruses but
cannot guarantee this. Accordingly we advise scanning all email and
attachments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please remove this footer before replying.
For list archives and documents, go to
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html
FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES AND EVENTS:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH
For Occupational Health jobs, go to http://OHJobs.drmaze.net
Find out about Occupational Health Nursing Education in UK at
http://home.wlv.ac.uk/~in6232/aohne/
|
