Please be advised that the South Occupational Health Needle Stick Helpline for primary care performers is now 03333 449006.
The Heales landing page has been updated to this number but the 0845 number will still work if anyone dials.
Please see below information and the poster from the Heales landing page for registration, referral and information on needle stick injuries:
The NHS England (South) contract for Occupational Health services for GP and Dental clinics started on 1/4/2017. The Contract covers NHS England regions South East, South Central, Wessex & South East areas.
The new service provides: –
- A comprehensive Occupational Health service to all GPs and Dentists.
- Needlestick Injury (NSI) advice and support to NHS GPs, dentists and healthcare workers, including trainees
- The ability for GP and Dentists to purchase Occupational Health services for their clinical and non-clinical staff at preferential rates.
- Clearance services for GPs and Dentists wishing to join the National Performers List (self funded)
The service provides all clinics with an easy to use online portal for Occupational Health services including referring staff and managing cases referred.
You can register for the service via the button at the bottom of this page.
The service commissioned by NHS England in the South will provide:
- Occupational Health advice via the portal, telephone, e-mail, fax and post
- Management referral for short-term or long-term sickness absence or concerns over performance related to a health issue.
- Health Surveillance (for example nightworker assessments, vaccination boosters etc.)
- Ill-health retirement under the NHS, Local Government or private pension scheme
- Needlestick/Sharps telephone support line
- Pre-employment screening (including any required vaccination/immunisation)
The service costs for services not covered by NHS England are available on the On-line Portal following registration. Applicants to the National Performers List should contact us by telephone at the number listed at the bottom of the page.
Click here for to view a Brochure about the service
Registering for the Service
In order to make referrals to Heales Medical or to request services, your practice will need to register online. This is a simple exercise and should only take a few moments to complete.
In order to register you will need your NHS England Practice Finance Code, commonly known as a “V-code”. This will normally consist of a capital letter followed by 5 numbers (LNNNNN). If you don’t know what this is, please check with your finance department or look it up online via one of the following links:
Note: These links will allow you to download a ZIP file where you can find your practice and code.
- For GP Practices click on the following link: – GP Data
- For Dental Practices click on the following link: – Dentist Data
Next you will need to decide who will be the main contact for the Occupational Health Service. This should be either the medical lead or a person nominated by them. (potentially the Practice manager etc). Once registered, the main user will be able to add additional people who will be able to make referrals via our portal
Once you have your finance code and have decided who will be using the portal, please click the button below and commence with registration.
It is worth having a look around the portal once you’ve registered. There are plenty of tips and help pages to make referring to Heales simple.
If you are having problems with the portal, please do not hesitate to contact our support team on 08448421755 ex 4000
Making referrals
Once your practice has registered with the service you will be able to start making referrals.
For performance related referrals “Management Referrals” and “Pre-Employment/Commencement Assessments” (PEQs), you will be able to refer directly online via the portal.
If you wish to book vaccinations or other “Health Surveillance”, you will need to complete a Health Surveillance referral form and send it to us by post or email. (This will become available on-line shortly). Please telehone 08448421755 ex4000 or email [email protected] for a copy of the referral form.
Once your practice is registered, it will be important to list all staff who need to use Occupational Health onto the portal. Once set-up we will be able to accept referrals from any system user or directly from any GP or Dentist as long as they are listed on the Portal.
Notes on transfer of existing OH records from your current provider
Wherever possible we recommend that existing Occupational Health records are transferred from your previous provider to us. With changing rules around Data Protection, many providers will only transfer your records to us if you provide them with explicit consent to do so. We have already contacted most providers and asked them to transfer records, however if you are registering with us we recommend that you use the letter below for each of the staff you would like the records transfered and send them to us so that we can request the records from your previous OH Provider
Date
To: “Name of Provider”
NHS England has recently entered into a contract with HM Partnership LLP (Heales Medical) for the provision of Occupational Health Services to GPs and Dental practices. This contract commenced from the 1st April 2017.
In order for us to provide a seamless service, we need to ask the previous provider to transfer your medical records to Heales Medical. This will ensure that your Occupational Health record remains in one location.
The transfer of files is normal practice when a new provider takes over a contract of this kind. Heales Medical is bound by the provisions of the Data Protection Act together with codes of practice from both the GMC and NMC, to ensure that your details remain confidential and are not disclosed to a third party without your express consent.
Both Heales Medical and NHS England are committed to delivering a service that benefits the Practice and its staff over the coming months and years.
We will now write to the previous provide and ask them to forward your medical records to us. In order to expedite this we ask that you sign this form to indicate that you consent to your medical records being transferred to us.
Name:
Date of Birth:
NI Number:
Job Title:
Practice / Surgery:
Name of Previous Provider:
Forms will need to be signed and dated
(click here) for a preformatted version of this form.
Service Locations
Heales Medical has clinics in a number of locations across the UK. When it is necessary to attend one of our clinics we will discuss which clinic is best to meet the needs of the individual. In most cases, the travel time for you to get to a clinic will not exceed 1 hour.
Contact Us
Heales Medical
27 Bridge Street
Hitchin
Hertfordshire SG5 2DF
Telephone: 08448421755 Ext 4000, or option 2 on the automated switchboard
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.heales.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Q – How much will the services cost?
A – Full charging details of our charges are available on the Portal once you have registered including those services paid for centrally by NHS England.
Q – What support will be available for Needle Stick Injuries?
A – Heales Medical operates a comprehensive Needle Stick Injury (NSI) advice and support service which will be available to GPs, Dentists and Health Care Workers. You will find below details of our “Needlestick Injury Helpline”. Click on the links below for more information.
Q – Who and how will referrals and requests to OH be made?
A – Each practice will have access to our services via an on-line portal. Access to the portal will be via one or more authorised people at each Practice. You Practice Lead or Practice Manager will most likely be able to provide you details of the people authorised to do this.
Q – Can we access counselling services via Heales Medical?
A – The new occupational health service is in addition to the separate new NHS GP Health Service which has been announced by NHS England to improve access to mental health support for GPs and trainee GPs. Further information about how to access this support is available at www.gphealth.nhs.uk.
Q – What if one of our staff or I have an existing case with another provider?
A – All exisiting cases with your outgoing provider should be transfered over to Heales on the 1st April. If these include services that previously fell within the Contract but are no longer included, the Practice will need to contact NHS England to discuss whether continued funding is available; Otherwise the individual Practice will be responsible for any ongoing costs. We will contact Practices prior to taking any further action on any on-going cases. Please let us know if you have services already booked with the old provider so that we can ensure it transfers seemlessly to us
Q – How do I refer an employee for a vaccination or blood test?
A – Once you have listed the employee on the OH Portal, please email [email protected] and we will send you a referral form you can complete and return to us. (CLICK HERE) to download a copy of the form directly. Note – We will shortly add this directly to the portal so that you can refer from there.
Q – How long will I need to wait for an appointment?
A – Wherever possible we will offer you an appointment within 10 working days of your request. This may not be possible if we firstly need to get your OH Records from your previous provider or where you are not able to make the appointment offered.
Q – Are pre-employment checks for GPs and Dentists covered by NHS England?
A – Pre-employment checks for those already on the performers list is not currently within the NHSE national specification and therefore should be treated as out of scope for funding by NHSE. Pre-employment checks are an employers cost. The pre-employment check is for the practices own assurance as the employer and the Practice should have a system set up internally as part of the NHS recruitment guidelines and as expected by CQC. The screening required would not be any different than the Practice put in place for all new starters employed by the Practice, whether GP or Allied Health Professional joining their employment.
