Preparing for an occupational health referral

Access arrangements depend on your employer and occupational health provider. Acas employment guidance covers Great Britain. For Northern Ireland employment advice, use the services listed on our Northern Ireland page.

Find out what the referral asks

Acas describes occupational health (opens another website) as a service employers use for decisions about health and work. Your employer may have an in-house team or use an external provider. Ask for the local policy and a copy of the referral questions, so you know whether the focus is attendance, duties, adjustments or a return after absence.

Check the job description matches your current work. A referral describing only dispensing misses vaccination clinics, home visits or responsibility for supervising other staff. Make a short list of corrections. Ask the referrer to clarify any question which describes duties you no longer carry out.

A task record for the consultation

Record work demands rather than trying to predict the clinician's recommendation. Use recent examples without patient names or confidential clinical records. The following prompts help you explain the job accurately.

Task and setting

Name the duty, location and usual shift pattern. Include travel between sites or lone working where relevant.

Difficulty during the task

Describe what happens, when the difficulty begins and which parts of the task become harder.

Measures already tried

Record any altered hours, equipment or support, including why a change helped or failed.

Current support

List the workplace contacts involved and relevant advice you already hold.

Questions to resolve

Ask which duties need further assessment, which changes are worth discussing and when a review would help.

For example, a pharmacy technician might describe difficulty maintaining concentration during repeated interruptions at the checking bench. Record when interruptions occur and which existing cover arrangements allow uninterrupted work. This gives the clinician a work problem to assess, without presenting a particular adjustment as already agreed.

Bring relevant reports or information about treatment if available. North London Shared Services lists such information among useful preparation for its own appointments. Ask your provider how to send sensitive documents securely and whether accessible appointment arrangements are available.

Separate the assessment from report sharing

Acas assessment guidance (opens another website) says the adviser must ask permission before sharing the assessment with the employer. Ask which recipients are proposed, what the report will cover and how to see the report before release. If a further report from your treating doctor is requested, ask why the extra information is needed and which consent process applies.

Use specific questions. Will the manager receive advice about duties, medical details, or both? How do you raise a factual error? What happens if you disagree with a recommendation? Ask the service to explain how to withdraw permission and discuss any employment concerns with your union or adviser before deciding.

Ask who holds the health information

The ICO occupational health guidance (opens another website) distinguishes clinical information held by the provider from information the employer needs for management responsibilities. Ask for the privacy information explaining who holds each record, who receives information and how to request access or correction.

A rota coordinator may need to know an agreed shift restriction without receiving a full clinical history. Ask the manager to explain what colleagues need to know to put the plan into practice. Avoid forwarding the full report to a team mailing list. Keep your own copy through an appropriate secure method.

Turn recommendations into a work plan

Arrange a meeting after the report arrives. For every recommendation, record the proposed action, the person making the decision and the next review. Ask for an explanation if the manager proposes a different approach. Occupational health advises on work and health, while the employer makes management decisions subject to legal duties.

North London Shared Services offers self-referral to eligible users of its service and describes different report arrangements for self-referrals and management referrals. These are local arrangements. Ask your own employer who has access, whether self-referral is offered and what happens after an appointment.

If your main concern is restarting work after absence, use our return-to-work guide alongside the referral. For ongoing task changes, see requesting and reviewing reasonable adjustments. If pressure is affecting several colleagues, a team stress risk assessment addresses the shared work conditions.