October/November 2008 (vol. 05/3)

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Pre-placement assessments

An audit of 2,973 pre-placement health assessments carried out over 12 months at an NHS trust revealed that that no-one had been declared entirely unfit for work in the NHS, though 45 people (1.5%) were ‘fit with comments’. Musculoskeletal (33%), psychiatric (22%), endocrine (11%) and dermatological (9%) disorders were the most common health reasons given in the ‘fit with comments’ category. Work restrictions were advised in 15 (0.5%) cases (five of these because of latex allergy) and OH follow-up in 12 (0.4%). Anticipated future sickness absence was recorded in just seven cases (0.2%). The total cost of carrying out pre-placement assessments over the 12 months was £13,502.

Occupational Medicine 2007; online first: doi:10.1093/occmed/kqn098.  http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/58/7/512.abstract

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Occupational Health at Work October/November 2008 (vol. 05/3) pp40