Provision of Occupational Health Services to Students

The Faculty is a provider of multiple health and social care education programmes, all of which involve our students spending a significant element of their time in practice settings such as in-patient, (including wards and theatres), out-patient and within patient’s/service users own homes’, learning their skills alongside professionally qualified staff and being involved in the assessment and treatment of patients. As such, we are required to ensure that our students are ‘safe’ to be in these environments, presenting no health risks of any description to the public. Equally, we must ensure that as well as being professionally qualified they are ‘fit to practise’ as staff in the NHS and other independent health care providers. All students who accept places on our programmes – about 1400 new entrants per year – are required to complete an occupational health screening form as part of the admissions processes. The chosen provider will participate in main induction events and interview students (as required) based on the content of their health screening forms to ascertain requirements then schedule the necessary treatments at the relevant sites. The provider will also be responsible for scheduling follow-up treatments and keeping the Faculty informed of missed appointments as well as any particular issues which affect the students’ ability to undertake their practical training. Students returning after a short break from the programme require repeat screening and may require treatments; referrals can occur at any stage in a student’s training. Of particular importance is the requirement to provide clear and unambiguous recommendations regarding the suitability of students to enter practice and any limitations/adjustments which may be required to ensure the safety of the student and the patients while meeting the professional requirements of the students’ training.