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Hi Diane

For my two penneth in addition to what you have already written:

1) It should read well in good English – I have seen so many would tick all your boxes but are simply unreadable. As OH has changed in the last 20 years from a service where absence advice is the prerogative of the Physician to where it is now the prerogative of the OHA, most OHAs I know would think this right and that they could do and report on 95% plus of what the physicians use to do. The big problem is we don’t write like they do. Even if their reports were not or are not very good sometimes, at least they can string a sentence of English together and so often OHAs can’t.

2) It shouldn’t dwell unnecessarily on history that managers and HR are already well aware of. The “he states/she states” thing is red rag to a bull to HR managers who know all that already. The phrase at the beginning of a paragraph “so and so provided the following history” also negates the need to use “he states/she states” at the front of every sentence that you then write which is terrible English and tedious to read.

3) Be careful of templated phrases. We all use them and many of the big providers heavily base their reports on them for reasons of speed. They are very useful but unless the language of the report is personalised to the employee and the recipient, they make for terribly clunky reading – particularly for an HR adviser who may have read the same phrase 3 times that week already. The one that really winds me up is where a stress risk assessment is advised. This may be absolutely the correct advice technically but unless you understand the organisation’s own policies and procedures and where they are in managing this issue it is meaningless and flies over the heads of most managers and HR folk.

4) Know the business you writing to. Telephone assessments are great but should come on the back of knowing what the inside of the factory/office/warehouse/whatever workplace looks like and what the jobs really involve. Don’t fall under the criticism “do they know what we really do?”

5) Personally, I include an opinion on whether the EA is likely to apply. I find that clients like it and if often helps to justify recommendations. I know this has been debated on this forum before and some others have a very different view

I sense one of your articles coming on and will look forward to reading it.

Thanks

Lindsey

Lindsey Hall

Director and Independent Occupational Health Adviser

Split Dimension Ltd

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From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Diane Romano-Woodward
Sent: 25 April 2013 22:04
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [OCC-HEALTH] What makes a good report to management?

Can I consult the collective wisdom? What makes a good report to management?

I can think of the following points:

It should be in language that the manager and employee can understand

It should be understandable as it is so it "stands alone" and one should not need to refer back to the referral to find out what the health issue is, or what questions were asked.

It should answer the questions that are asked by the manager /HR.(providing it is appropriate to do so. e.g "what is the diagnosis" would not be answered directly)

If it is not possible to answer the question e.g prognosis or date of return to work early in an illness episode, this should be stated and further information provided at review.

Advice should be based on evidence based guidance, and links to useful information placed in the report

It should focus on the person's ability to function in the workplace.

It should not reveal confidential medical information unless the person has given written consent for this and there is good reason to do so.

Things that the person has told you should be phrased " he/she states" or he/she has told me" rather than implying that what has been mentioned is actually how things are.(Sharon N I believe you have a good phrase to use here)

If accommodations are suggested it should be indicated if they are temporary or permanent.

It is best to avoid giving an opinion on either or not the Equality Act 2010 applies. instead indicate if the the health condition has lasted or is likely to last more than a year and if there is a significant impact on any activity of daily living and let the manager draw their own conclusion.

(I'm being provocative here.. that was the advice given at a study day on report writing I went to .. others may have a different view, speak out!

And give me the phrase that you use)

Advise management that whether the condition is or is not a disability it would be prudent to consider accommodations/adjustments.

Anything else?

Diane Romano-Woodward

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