Resources

RESOURCES

The documents in this section are free to download and use for personal use. You may not adapt them without permission, and must acknowledge the source if you wish to use them. 

Other commercial providers should contact me before using them.

Resources

  1. Covid risk calculations have dominated Occupational Medical practice during 2020. See here for an evidence-based resource, which is free to use. This will help organisations and individuals to understand their risk of serious complications. It is based on very good evidence, which surpasses the original Government advice of normal risk-vulnerable-extremely vulnerable. 
  2. Management referral form. If you wish to refer an employee for an assessment, you can use this document. Alternatively, we can accept an email, letter, etc. 
  3. The OH assessment: frequently asked questions for employees. This document provides the employee with some understanding of what to expect in the occupational health assessment. 
  4. Management referrals: advice for managers. This document provides advice to managers on how to refer employees for an OH assessment. 
  5. Stress. Advice for individuals. This document contains lots of practical advice on how to address stress. 
  6. Drug and alcohol misuse. The Faculty of Occupational Medicine issued Guidance on Alcohol and Drug Misuse in the Workplace in 2006. (ISBN: 1860162819). This guidance has been summarised in this document, to help employers ensure their policies reflect best practice. 
  7. Living Life to the Full is an online service, providing CBT to individuals. It can be accessed here. 
  8. Injury on duty guidance. This applies to the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. I was involved in a group that sought to develop an approach to these assessments that is compliant with the Regulations and case law. The document can be downloaded here. 

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Other organisations

We have worked closely with a number of other organisations, whose contact details are here:
  1. Willows Counselling Service is based in Swindon, and provides counselling to the local population. Their website is here.
  2. Karen Bresloff is an experienced psychotherapist, whom I have recommended to a number of organisations and individuals. Her website is here. 
  3. Advanced Coaching Academy provides business coaching. I have recommended Sarah Johnson on a number of occasions. They can be reached here.
  4. Opus Health is a nurse-led occupational health company based in London. I work closely with Henri Vale for cases where a physician's opinion is indicated. Her website is here. 
  5. Smart Clinic is a larger nurse-led occupational health provider, for whom I undertake regular clinics. Their website is here. 
  6. Medigold Health is a national OH provider, with whom we work closely for the delivery of a number of services. If you need a large OH provider, they can be reached here. 
  7. Genius Within is a company that aims to enable employees with neurodiverse conditions to maximise their potential and work to their strengths. They help support individuals and organisations. They can be reached here.
  8. Faculty of Occupational Medicine is the professional body for Occupational Physicians. Their website is here.
  9. Society of Occupational Medicine provides education and support to OH practitioners. Their website is here. 
  10. The HSE has a large number of resources free resources to support businesses, which can be found here. 

 A NUMBER OF BOOKS HAVE HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON OUR APPROACH TO CLINICAL PRACTICE. THESE ARE SUMMARISED BELOW

  1. Social Determinants of Health. Marmot. The first book I read, which exposed me to the evidence that social factors are far more important for individual health than are individual factors. A healthy society is good news! See here. 
  2. The Spirit Level, by Wilkinson and Pickett. This book provides the evidence for how inequality within a society impacts on health and social factors. Above a (fairly) low average income, the more equal the society, the longer is life expectancy. It can be bought here. 
  3. The Health Gap. Marmot. Exploration of how inequality in society drives disease. He suggests moving from GDP to the HDI (human development index) as a more effective means of measuring a country's standing in the world. The social democratic policies pursued by the Nordic countries are lauded. It is available here.
  4. On Rock or Sand? Edited by Sentamu. This is one of the Church of England's contributions to tackling social inequality. Most telling quote: "All the main political parties currently approach the provision of ‘welfare’ based on a critical assumption- that, unless the receipt of help is made as unpleasant as possible, poor people will always opt not to work. This latter-day conception of the Victorian mantra of ‘less eligibility’ assumes that poor people hold a set of motives and aspirations that are entirely different from everyone else’s. This has no basis in evidence. Indeed most of the evidence and experience is that people who are poor are desperate to change their circumstances and try extraordinarily hard to do so." Julia Unwin, former CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.  See here.
  5. Labour and Justice. Duffy. A summary of the Catholic Church's teaching regarding the interaction between employers and employees, from the first encyclical in the 19th Century, in response to communism. See here. 
  6. The State We're In. Hutton. This book explores the political and economic changes in our society in the last 30 years, the implications of which are captured by Marmot and Wilkinson, amongst others. The book is available here. 
  7. The Price of Inequality. Stiglitz. Another book highlighting the risks associated with neoliberal capitalism. It can be bought here. 
  8. Stabbed in the Back. Hadler. Nortin Hadler is a professor of rheumatology in the USA, who has written this book for patients, to help them best understand their back pain. See here.
  9. The Last Well Person. Hadler. In this book, Hadler exposes a number of the errors in modern healthcare. A superb read, which can be bought here.
  10. Malingering and Illness Deception. Ed Halligan et al. Explores in detail the evidence regarding deception for illness claims, and recognises this is a relatively minor problem. Patients exaggerate, either to deceive, or to convince the doctor that they are ill. The latter is far more common. Available here. 
  11. Whiplash and other useful Illnesses. Halligan. Points out that much of the evidence regarding whiplash is seriously flawed, and the implications for incapacity assessments. Available here. 
  12. Chronic Fatigue and its Syndromes. Wessely. A journey through the evidence surrounding CFS from the 19th century onwards, highlighting how physical and psychological explanations continue to elude us. See here. 
  13. Why we sleep. Walker. He outlines the current research evidence regarding sleep, and how vitally important it is. Available here. 
  14. Mind-Body Medicine. Watkins. Explores the evidence of the link between the mind, the nervous system and the immune system, and the importance of this in the onset and development of disease. See here. 
  15. The Power of Belief. Ed Halligan. Explores the evidence for the biopsychosocial model, and how this provides a much more compelling explanation of incapacity than a reliance on normal medical models. See here. 
  16. It's all in your head. O'Sullivan. This neurologist outlines her experience of subjective health complaints from her practice. A kind and helpful book, available here. 
  17. Coaching for Performance. Whitmore. Uses the GROW model (goal-reality-options-will) to help individuals solve their problems. See here. 
  18. Bad Pharma. Goldacre. Explores the problems in the Pharmaceutical Industry. A must-read for any doctor, and indeed any patient! See here. 
  19. Limits to Medicine. Illich. He emphasises the importance of patients not handing over their lives to their doctors. See here. 
  20. The Brain that Changes itself. Doidge. Explores the extraordinary ability of the brain's ability to regenerate in a way that is at odds with much current understanding. Available here. 
  21. Grief Works. Samuel. Julia Samuel uses her extensive experience as a psychotherapist to outline her patients' journeys with bereavement. Immensely helpful book, which can be bought here. 
  22. Emotional Intelligence. Goleman. Explores the neuroscience of PTSD. It can be bought here. 

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