Managing long-term sickness absence, part 1

Part 1: the challenges

Summary:

In the first of a three-part series, occupational physician Paul Nicholson discusses some of the challenges and opportunities of managing long-term sickness absence.

Last year this journal described the biopsychosocial factors involved in triggering, prolonging and managing long-term sickness absence (LTSA) as reported from a survey of 295 occupational health (OH) professionals working for in-house services or for third-party providers^1,2. The survey was conducted because previous surveys in this journal had consistently identified LTSA as either the first or second biggest concern for OH nurses and physicians^3,4. This short series of articles will build on the findings of the survey and its recommendations, looking at some of the ….

 

Dr Paul Nicholson is an occupational physician, past president of the Society of Occupational Medicine and past chair of the BMA Occupational Medicine Committee. He was the Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s clinical lead responsible for developing the SEQOHS standards and accreditation scheme, and was part of the global team which owned Procter & Gamble’s Health Systems Key Elements and trained and calibrated auditors.

Author: Nicholson P

Tags absence cipd presenteeism Return to work sickness absence training

Occupational Health at Work August/September 2019 (vol. 16/2) pp14-18

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