Dear Tuwepo
In my view this may be a service that an organisation has requested but it
is not occupational health. The nurse you refer to is not practicing
occupational health but is more a practice nurse based in the workplace
which is more akin to how OH was practiced in the 1930's. Perhaps the nurse
concerned has been reading historical texts and decided to re-invent the
wheel.
With ref to pap smears: I will share my experience: when my daughter was a
small baby I worked as an OH agency nurse for a few months whilst looking
for a suitable permanent post. I worked for one blue chip multi-national
based in the City. That service similarly offered a travel clinic, a limited
treatment service and pap smears. It wasn't something which I would have
supported however, as an agency nurse it wasn't up to me what services were
provided and I worked there for a few months as it was an excellent
opportunity to extend my knowledge of travel health.
One woman who availed herself of the opportunity of a cervical smear had a
seriously abnormal result. The doctor who had taken the smear was employed
as an "OH" physician. On receipt of the result she informed the woman's GP.
The GP was furious that the OHS had chosen to undertake this screening
particularly as it impacted on that practice reaching their screening
targets. I won't go into the issues of the woman's freedom of choice but I
was amused when the GP indicated that the company had found the abnormality
and were they therefore going to fund the required treatment!
Anne
On 27/02/2011 09:36, "Tuwepo Chiwi" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> A new OHD manager in a certain private company has opened a minor illness
> clinic, with the aim of reducing the need and incivenience of seeking
> unnecessary GP appointments for initial assessment and treatment of minor
> illnesses, or a flare up of an existing health problem e.g. asthma. She has no
> OH background, but has many years of experience working in general practice.
> Some of the problems she offers to treat are ingrown toe nails, back/neck
> pain, shingles/cold sores, mastitis, UTI, emergency contraception, and many
> more, and even proposed to do Pap smears.
>
> Is this kind of service appropriate for the OHD, which is supposed to be
> pro-active rather than reactive? I understand where she comes from as private
> companies are more about keeping employees at work and producing results, but
> is this what OHD's should be about?
>
> Tuwepo
>
>
>
>
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