NHS and Occupational Health

[signedoffwork]

OK, a little while ago I asked my doctor for a referal as I was finding CBT not very helfpul so he suggested I should see another therapist. So he refered me.

I had the appointment yesterday expecting to see the therapist only to have a meeting with a social worker who told me it was her job to "screen" people as the psychotherapist takes very very very few referals. The social worker went as far as saying, "unless I hear what I want to hear you won't be refered..."

Hmmmmmmm... anyone else confused? :wacko:

I went to my GP today and told him what had happend and he was shocked. He said they usually take walk ins and never used to make people see a social worker first to see if you're "ill enough" to get treatment.

I now have to wait another two to three weeks to see if the see if they're going to accept me as a patient.

So, I'm a little confused. I'm either "ill" or I'm not! Is the NHS now turning away patients based on a social workers opinion if someone is ill enough to receive treatment? :blush:

Now for OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH. I just found out my appointment is on Monday. I'm a little concerned about this.

On the one hand I think it will be beneficial, yet on the other hand I think whatever I'm going to say to them it's going to be used against me at work, because let me tell you because of my illness I'm being treated differently at work and by that I mean this. I've had to provide loads of documentation from my doctor proving my illness, whicch I have no issues with, but someone else in my office (who attends regular appointments for her back) hasn't had to provide one scrap of evidence. I querried this with HR and they said it's done on a case by case situation.

Surely they either ask EVERYONE for this documentation or NO ONE? Otherwise it's discrimination against the person/illness.

I would like to stress I had no issues providing this info, I just think everyone should be treated equally which is why I'm really concerned about occupational health... are they going to use whatever I say against me?

The department is going through huge changes (restructuring) and I wouldn't put it past them to use this to show me the door... :weep:

[Alabasterlyn]

I think the present system of being referred for psychotherapy varies from area to area and even within the same HA you can get offered totally different treatments.

I have been agoraphobic for the best part of 40yrs. I am just being assessed for 6wks of CBT. The 'therapist' is actually an Occupational Health person, I am assuming they are training up all and sundry to keep to NHS guidelines.

I have a friend who was referred for psychotherapy for IBS. She wasn't assessed by a Social Worker, but just given a whole 2yrs of weekly therapy. Now I don't doubt for one minute that IBS is not nice but I can't see why one person gets 2yrs of therapy for something like that whilst for most of us with anxiety we are only offered 6 sessions of CBT :mad:

[ElizabethJane]

I'm not sure whether the Social Workers role was to see whether you were ill enough for psychotherapy? I have had psychotherapy in the past and on all occasions I have been interviewed to see if I was a suitable candidate. This was for individual and group therapy. The therapist will be looking for somebody who is articulate and able to voice their inner feelings well. They will also be looking for someone who is able to be self analytical. If you are too depressed you might not be able to do this at the moment so being too ill might be a disadvantage. Of course these might not be the reasons for being chosen and it might simply be down to cost and whether they feel you would benefit from therapy or not. So it would be their decision which it would be worth fighting for if you are turned down. Interviews before being selected for therapy are not uncommon. If you get turned down write a letter stating all the points as to why you feel you ought to be chosen. Best wishes.

[freakedout]

Hi,

I understand that our local community mental health team is comprised of both social workers and community psychiatric nurses. I see a CPN but I know someone else who sees a social worker. I am not sure whether there is any specific criteria for whether you are assigned a CPN or social worker. I was referred to a psychologist by my CPN but was warned that depending on what the psychologist thought after reading my referral would determine whether or not I would go on the list for an assessment. I waited 9 months for an assessment and then had an assessment over 4 appointments to then determine whether I was suitable for psychological intervention.

I was absent from work over 12 months before the referral was made and ended up retiring on ill health grounds before I was seen by the psychologist.

My experience of occupational health was not to get me out of the door as quickly as possible but they supported me by informing my employers that 'at present' I was not well enough to be at work. I was reviewed regularly by Occupational Health and I felt that they were a good mediator really and had good understanding of my health problems. They never actually divulged what my problems were as they maintained my confidentiality but simply stated that I was not well enough to work. It was Occupational health dept that requested any medical information from my specialist and my GP with my consent, NEVER my employer. This is confidential information to which your employer has no right if that is your wish. I hope this helps.

Freaky

[GemmaAnn]

Hi,

I work in an Occupational Health department so I thought I might be of some use!

We see lots of cases of management referrals and the like, these come through mostly from employers who are concerned about their staff and want to know if there is something they can do within the department to make their time at work a little easier. Then again we do get the occasional managers who want to know exactly why you are taking time off work and to the day when you will be back!!

Occupational Healths role is not to do whatever the manager asks, nor is it to share your personal information.
The appointment will be spent talking about your illness, how you feel about work, whether you think there is any reasonable change they can make to help you etc. occasionally we do need notes from your dr, so we can gain a clearer idea of how long you might be away etc. but we NEVER EVER share your personal information with your department or your manager without your consent. And your manager should never ask you for it - you have the right to refuse.

You have absolutly nothing to worry about with your appointment, we are here to support you in going back to work when you are ready =)

Gem

p.s if you want to chat or something PM me

[signedoffwork]

Hi,

I work in an Occupational Health department so I thought I might be of some use!

We see lots of cases of management referrals and the like, these come through mostly from employers who are concerned about their staff and want to know if there is something they can do within the department to make their time at work a little easier. Then again we do get the occasional managers who want to know exactly why you are taking time off work and to the day when you will be back!!

Occupational Healths role is not to do whatever the manager asks, nor is it to share your personal information.
The appointment will be spent talking about your illness, how you feel about work, whether you think there is any reasonable change they can make to help you etc. occasionally we do need notes from your dr, so we can gain a clearer idea of how long you might be away etc. but we NEVER EVER share your personal information with your department or your manager without your consent. And your manager should never ask you for it - you have the right to refuse.

You have absolutly nothing to worry about with your appointment, we are here to support you in going back to work when you are ready =)

Gem

p.s if you want to chat or something PM me

Cheers, thanks for that!

I'm not actually off work, I'm still at work. I don't take much time off except to attend doctor appointments.

[signedoffwork]

I had my occ health appointment this morning. It went really well. She was so understanding and reassured me that whatever we spoke about was confidential.

She said she'd be writing to my work saying that I need to attend the appointments I'm attending because of my health, basically just reiterating what my doctor has already written for them.