Health surveillance guidance note and consent.

What is health surveillance?

Health surveillance is a system of ongoing health checks, usually required by law for employees who are exposed to specific health risks in the workplace. The health checks required will depend on the risks associated to your job role, and may involve completing questionnaires and having physical health assessments.

Why am I being asked to complete forms?

If you’ve been asked to complete any health related questionnaires it is to adhere to the ongoing health surveillance procedures associated with your employment.

Will I need an appointment?

Perhaps. Depending on the exposures within your role and your own health history, we may need to arrange a physical appointment with you. If this is the case, arrangements for attending an appointment will be sent to you.

Additionally, you may be contacted to arrange a short telephone appointment with a nurse to talk about the information on your forms before a physical appointment is arranged.

What happens next?

Once you have completed and returned the forms, these will be reviewed by an occupational health practitioner (nurse or doctor). You may be asked to clarify certain information, or asked to book an appointment.

A fitness certificate will be issued to you and your employer with some basic information relating to your current fitness for work. 

What about confidentiality?

Any documents you complete will be stored confidentially by the Smart Clinic and will not be shared with your employer. In some instances if a health concern becomes apparent to the Smart Clinic clinical team this will need to be disclosed to your employer in line with health and safety regulations. You will always be notified of this, and will be sent a copy of the information that has been shared.

What if I refuse?

You have the option to refuse to complete the health surveillance forms or attend an appointment. Please be aware that this may affect your employment, so it will be important to discuss the ramifications with your employer before making a decision.

Who is the report / certificate sent to?

Usually this will be sent to a health and safety or HR representative within your organisation. For clarification on who this is, please contact your line manager to confirm.

How is information stored?

To provide the highest level of customer service possible, we need to keep accurate personal data about you. Personal data provided via telephone, email, video conferencing and via our online system is used to confirm your identity to maintain confidentiality. Telephone conversations and video conferencing are recorded for training and audit purposes. Health information provided by you is used to form the basis of our occupational health assessment and advice to you and your employer. We will take steps to ensure the accuracy of personal data or sensitive information we obtain, and this will be stored securely on our system. If you have questions or queries regarding this, please contact our Data Protection Officer at hello@smartclinic.com.