One of the significant causes of absenteeism is the small number of staff who go on long-term sick leave. We are experienced at dealing with these cases, and we are able to produce valuable information in relation to prognosis and return-to- work schedules.

 Health screening can:

• detect serious diseases early
• provide health education leading to improvements in lifestyle and work practice
• provide baseline results for future reference.

Providing health screening keeps your workforce healthy, shows duty of care and makes your staff feel valued. It can be a valuable tool in staff recruitment and retention.

We can offer the Night Worker Health assessments that are now a legal obligation to offer to night workers annually.

In safety-sensitive industries it may be necessary to prove your workforce is free of drugs and alcohol. We give expert advice in relation to this, and provide random or general screening using accepted protocols.

The Stokes Medical centre can carry out the full range of specialist and industry specific tests and inoculations, from trace element testing, lung function testing and audiometry to vaccination for hepatitis or checking immunity levels.

Flu vaccination can reduce sick leave; a study in the New England Journal showed “Vaccination reduced upper respiratory illness episodes by 24%, sick leave by 43% and physicians’ office visits by 44%” (Nichol, Lind, Margolis, et al, New England Journal of Medicine 1995 333:889- 993).

Some medical provision is mandatory, e.g. under The Working Time Directive, night-workers must be offered an annual medical, as must workers in various safety-sensitive industries, such as airlines. We can advise you on this.

For more information on our occupational health service please email concordmedicalcentre@nhs.net or call us on 01454 205225.