View Full Version : Very upsetting OHS appt.
I've just finished a telephone call from our occupation health people (they don't do face-to-face appointments).
It left me upset and 10 times worse anxiety wise.
Quick background: I have a long history of GAD, exacerbated by triggers. Long-term work stress has triggered my latest episode. I'm even trying new (to me) medication to try to get better. I hate feeling like this.
The OHS guy says I must go in for a face-to-face review with work. I told him it was work that triggered the anxiety in the first place. I said that I was concerned that such a meeting might be emotional and stressful and just make me worse. He said "research shows" it will be beneficial. I said "well, we'll see won't we". And he said...
"is that a threat?" :scared15:
So I laughed at him and said "don't be daft. Do you really think I enjoy being ill? If I felt well enough I'd go back tomorrow. I am concerned it might make me worse. You think differently. Time will tell. You might be right. We'll see."
So he said we'll go to your GP for an assessment. So I said "are you saying he's lying when he says I'm not fit? Do you know better than him, by talking to me on the phone and reading your bits of paper? He has my full medical history. You don't."
Anyway, rant over thanks for reading, it's been very therapeutic to vent.
My Doctor wrote a letter to send to work saying that I am not well enough to attend any meetings and even he has to make home visits. I also contacted the Union who have been to visit me and went to my last sickness review on my behalf.
Unfortunately my Union are rubbish, in that there are no local reps. So TBH I don't see any point in being with them any longer.
I've just finished writing a long email of complaint to our OHS provider. That helped a bit too :)
Basically I've still got to go in for a face-to-face meeting though. Fair enough.
I have to go for another OH assessment in January. I have to go to that but not to employers sickness reviews.
Good news is I've now got a union rep, who I'm conversing with by email. He's in London, whereas I'm in Gods Own county :)
Nice to have some moral support though.
My husband is from Gods Own county...that's a long way from London though.
Hi mark absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!!! Shocking, just shocking!
Why is it that......sometimes you find that people who work in certain jobs , you are left wondering WHY does that person do the job they do??? who on earth would give someone a job or, bother training an individual like the one you spoke to from OH! Obviously good at interviews , ungenuine & fake.
They are dealing with fragile situations and in some cases , fragile people with serious mental and emotional health problems! To be honest, I can't get my breath, are there any nice people left in this world???You should complain & head back to doctors and explain HOW, that person ( who is in a position to help you & is paid and trusted to help people with anxiety and GAD ) made you feel considerably worse! Hope that person gets the sack, wrong job, think they need help! Never mind anyone else!
Takecare :winks:
My husband is from Gods Own county...that's a long way from London though.
The distance from London is usually considered a good thing up here :)
Those posh Londoners with their microwaves, flat-screen TVs, mobile phones and the like, whatever next...
Nowt needed here except a good whippet, some pigeons and a flat cap sithee :)
We are even further North than Gods county
---------- Post added at 21:35 ---------- Previous post was at 21:32 ----------
What annoys me with OH is they think they can say when you are expected to return to work after seeing you once! Why can't employers just trust our doctors opinions who know us much better.
Exactly Annie, that's what annoyed me, especially as our OHS sessions are over the phone.
30 minutes chatting to me and he knows exactly when I'll be fit for work, and if my GP disagrees they will send me to one of their own GPs (because my Doc's a liar obviously).
Bah! :wacko:
I saw an agency nurse the first time but they are sending me to a doctor on 16th January
I know they've got their own procedures, and TBH our OH provider used to send us to their own Doc's straight away, rather than use phone advisers (who I believe are nurses, in the main) so maybe i shouldn't be too concerned.
It still feels like they don't trust you or your Doctor though, and they're supposed to be impartial.
I'll be glad when I'm better and can put all this OH shenanigans behind me. The way they treated me today is a good way of ensuring I never go off sick and need their services again, so it works, in a way :)
All these appointments and meetings just make me worse. every time I get a letter that is work related my anxiety goes sky high before I even open it!
I communicate by email with my boss, the effect is much the same though :)
---------- Post added at 00:47 ---------- Previous post was at 00:36 ----------
Hi mark absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!!! Shocking, just shocking!
Why is it that......sometimes you find that people who work in certain jobs , you are left wondering WHY does that person do the job they do??? who on earth would give someone a job or, bother training an individual like the one you spoke to from OH! Obviously good at interviews , ungenuine & fake.
They are dealing with fragile situations and in some cases , fragile people with serious mental and emotional health problems! To be honest, I can't get my breath, are there any nice people left in this world???You should complain & head back to doctors and explain HOW, that person ( who is in a position to help you & is paid and trusted to help people with anxiety and GAD ) made you feel considerably worse! Hope that person gets the sack, wrong job, think they need help! Never mind anyone else!
Takecare :winks:
Thanks Col, I needed that :)
Yeah, it wasn't the things he said so much as the way he said them, as if trying to get a rise out of me.
I've now been forwarded the OH report which was sent to my boss. I just love email, it saves a lot of hassle.
In it the OH guy says:
"During my assessment he expressed himself clearly and concisely and was able to challenge my assessment in an appropriate manner."
Too right I challenged his assessment...
He says in the report about my "anxieties" and when they "stabilise", "which should be mid-January"
In his opinion I should be well in 3 weeks. How does he know? My GP and I don't. He must be very clever. Well this for him: :finger:
Cheers Col, for the moral support. You're right it's the manner of the guy I took umbrage at, not the statements, he could have been a whole lot more compassionate. Apart from the "is that a threat" nonsense which was completely out of order.
Hope they recorded it so they can respond to my email of complaint :mad:
I really wish we could be sure anxiety will just disappear in 3 weeks!! How can he know how bad it is..he hasn't even seen you!! I think you should show your doctor the email. My OH has actually written to my doctor for a report.
Oh, i hope your anxiety disappears in three weeks! mine has lasted ten years and counting!
I'm not familiar with telephone OH providers, but am very sceptical of so-called healthcare services because no-one - and that includes my GP - can possibly know what it's like to suffer from anxiety. I once paid £20 for a 'counsellor' to tell me my mother was right to kick me out of home! needless to say i never went back!
If you're going to get treatment, you need someone you have a decent understanding with. I hope you find that someone..
Gregor
Thanks Annie, Gregor
The OH reps mantra was "we're independent" and "working on behalf of your employer" or words to that effect.
He seemed to enjoy reminding me that f I was off indefinitely I could be sacked. "Tough love" - hardly :)
Ooh wish I'd recorded the call myself.
Anyway, as I said, the report he wrote only had a couple of statements I disagreed with.
In my email to his employer I did say I would never speak to him again (I've had no problem with their other staff).
---------- Post added at 13:53 ---------- Previous post was at 13:51 ----------
By the way Gregor, my GAD has lasted 34 years, but it's generally been manageable.
However, I've had to go part-time for the last 5 years and have several "Workplace adjustments" to keep it so, so it's obviously got worse as I worked full time with the same employer for over 20 years.
They can't just sack you anyway. My Union rep went through the different routes that can be taken, but they cannot sack you.
I know Annie, that's one of the reasons I though his "bedside manner" left a lot to be desired. He told me that they could dismiss me in response to my questioning his conviction that I will be back at work in mid-January.
Not supportive in the slightest :ohmy:
Oh right the bit about " clearly & concisely" ? Oh right people with HA cant talk coherently is that what he's trying to say ??? Should we ramble and talk like we are druggies or sound drunk? HA doesn't mean we loose the ability to talk and doesn't mean we loose our intellect!!!! What fool! And where oh where did he get - mid January from? Why not next week or February??? Whats his reasoning behind, mid January ? Like you said knows more than your GP, and the bit about you challenging the assessment, of course when suffering like you are , you are going to try and challange anything that could potentially make you more anxious? I still can not believe this and the outcome that work could dismiss you because u questioned! God it's like these people are there to make us feel worse not better. You should try any way that you can & complain about all this & whats happend:buttkick:
Takecare
Thanks again Col
Yeah, I think he must have thought that anxiety sufferers are down and depressed. Quite the opposite, I'm quite wired and hyper a lot of the time, when I get talking I ramble for ages....
What got me was if he thought I was going to extend my sick just to spite him (a bizzare thought in itself) surely he should just say "and can you explain that" or "what does that mean", "what do you mean by that", not "is that a threat" - that just so belligerent and confrontational.
Ah well :)
Hey mark. Just looking at your profile pic & are you from Sheffield I see the owl and the stripe blue shirt, Sheffield Wednesday? Just bought my mums partner a golden owl for Xmas, it's ace!
I'm from Sheffield Im now really worried the jerks that have dealt with you from OH are in my home patch.:scared15:
Hey mark. Just looking at your profile pic & are you from Sheffield I see the owl and the stripe blue shirt, Sheffield Wednesday? Just bought my mums partner a golden owl for Xmas, it's ace!
I'm from Sheffield Im now really worried the jerks that have dealt with you from OH are in my home patch.:scared15:
I'm not from Sheffield, I'm from West Yorkshire, but I had life-saving brain ops for hydrocephalus at Sheffield Children's hospital when I was a kid, hence the Sheff Wed allegiance :)
I think the OH folks are centrally based as they belong to a large OH provider (who I'm at pains not to mention :))
Ahh gosh. Still close I suppose. Glad they are centrally based, because if they were in Sheffield Id feel complelled to go down and bash them round the head:roflmao:
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