OH Assist –FAQs v2.04
This is still Work in Progress. It should be read alongside the following documents:
OH Assist Customer Portal User Guide and the OH Assist Health Service User Guide
Contents
Please highlight the relevant section, press control and click
1. About OH Assist; an introduction to OH Assist, their services and support
2. About the OH Assist Portal; accessing the Portal and some terminology
3. Making a Referral and Accessing a Report; employee consent, information required ,uploading supplementary
information, consultation process, accessing the report and cancelations
4. Recruitment and OH Assist; the process and timescales for completing the BHQ
5. Supplementary Services; charging and re- charging for services, ill health retirement , school crossing patrol officer,
considerations before purchasing a supplementary service
Question / Issue
Comment
About OH Assist
Who are OH Assist and how do they deliver their service?
7th April 2015
OH Assist is a large occupational health care service provider. They
currently support several large government departments and a
number of County Councils. They already provide OH services to
other organisations in the county.
You will access OH Assist services via the OH Assist Portal and by
telephone. Contact details are published on the HR Extranet and on I
Post.
You will be able to manage your own referrals using real time
information. When recruiting, you will be kept informed of progress of
the medical screening process.
Referred employees may be invited to attend a telephone or face to
face consultation, as appropriate to their circumstances. You will be
kept informed of progress of the referral.
For more information about OH Assist and how the online service
works see the links on the Occupational Health page of the HR
Extranet and on I Post.
What services do SCC and schools subscribe to?
Managers may access the following OH Assist services which are
regarded as core:



General Occupational Health Advice - the route to creating a
referral
Medical Helpdesk – the opportunity to talk to an OH Adviser for
advice around any aspect of OH.
General Pre-Employment checks (see final section below)
SCC and schools are able to use a range of supplementary services
available through the OH Assist portal. However, please be aware
that there will be charges applied for using them, unless the service is
for an Academy that has purchased the Full Service. (Please see the
section on Supplementary Services below and note ‘comments 2 &
7th April 2015
4’. Where a supplementary service is supplied by SCC’s Health and
Safety Team or elsewhere, it may not be appropriate to the service
offered by OH Assist e.g. Physiotherapy).
There are bespoke services listed in the OH Assist Health Service
User Guide tailored to a specific request or requirement. Accessing
these services may only be done via your HR Advisor, who will seek
confirmation of the charge and liaise with you before commissioning
the service. Your service will bear the cost and there is a specific
form to be completed.
Scales of charges for both supplementary and bespoke services are
held by your HR Adviser.
Who will be supporting SCC and schools?
Administrative Support:
Internal: The SCC HR Advisory Team are all Power Users for the
OH Assist Portal and can help with setting up new accounts .They
can transfer referrals to another manager e.g. when a referring
manager is absent for a long period of time or leaves the
organisation.
External: When you telephone the OH Assist Service Centre you will
speak to a call taker in Sheffield who is allocated to this contract.
OH Assist Service Centre - 0845 601 8028
Medical Support :
Two Aspects:
A. If you contact the OH Assist Medical Help desk, either from the
OH Assist portal, or by telephone using the number above,
nurses in Glasgow will respond with generic advice. (From the
portal, click ‘Contact Us’ to get to the message page.)
7th April 2015
B. Should you have a specific query on a medical report that you
have received, you may contact the clinician who provided the
report directly.
How do I know if my school subscribes to OH Assist?
(For Academies only)
How will consultations be undertaken following a
management referral?
Please ask your Business Manager or Head Teacher to check if the
school subscribes to OH Assist.
The contract is set up in anticipation that a higher proportion of
referral appointments will be conducted via the telephone than
hitherto. The OH Assist triage process will determine how a referral
is to be handled. All referrals will be handled by practitioners who are
familiar with SCC policies and job roles.
Where the triage indicates a face-to-face consultation is required, the
referral will be directed to an OH Assist practitioner based in
Somerset and be scheduled for a clinic location in Taunton,
Bridgwater, Yeovil or Shepton Mallet.
See the OH Assist Health Service User Guide, S3, Contacting OH
Assist, Delivery location for addresses and S5.OH Referrals ,Face to
Face Appointments .
How may I contact OH Assist and is there any further
guidance on using their services?
For the many methods of contacting OH Assist and using their
services please see the Occupational Health Page on the HR
Extranet and I Post (Schools only).
Whilst using the OH Assist Portal is intuitive before making your first
referral it is recommended that you read the:
7th April 2015



What should an employee do if they wish to see their
medical records held by OH Assist?
The OH Assist Customer Portal User Guide is a generic
document, which describes how to use the OH Portal and
make a referral or access other services.
The OH Assist Health Service User Guide which describes all
the services available to Southwest One and its partners and
what you can expect from OH Assist.
The sections below may also be helpful when using the OH
Assist portal for pre-employment and management referrals or
for guidance on the supplementary services.
OH Assist will on request, share with the employee any report they
write following a medical referral. If however, the employee seeks
access to the medical records held by OH Assist, they are required to
make a ‘Subject Access Request’ and there may be a charge.
Details of how to make the request are available in the OH Assist
Health Service User Guide – Access to Medical Reports.
What do I do if I am unhappy with the service I receive from
OH Assist and wish to make a complaint?
Initially managers are encouraged to resolve the issue quickly by
contacting the OH Assist Service Centre on 0845 601 8028. If
appropriate, please quote the referral reference number (see About
the OH Assist Portal below). If a satisfactory resolution is not
reached, contact your HR Adviser for advice. Further details on
making a formal complaint are contained in the OH Assist Health
Service User Guide.
About the OH Assist Portal
What is the Cosmas Vista system and where can I get
more help in using the system?
7th April 2015
Cosmas Vista is the operating system used to run the OH Assist
Portal. The portal is accessed via the link on the HR Extranet site or
for schools, in the document ‘Contacting OH Assist and Portal Links’
on I Post.
OH Assist Customer Portal User Guide is available on the SCC
Learning Centre and for schools, on I Post. This is a generic
document and should be read in conjunction with the OH Assist
Health Service User Guide which is specific to Southwest One and its
partners (including schools).
What do I do if:

I forget my password or security number; or,
An email will be sent to your registered email address with your new
password/security number when:



I am locked out of the system?
you use the "I have forgotten my password/pin" option on the
log-in page and correctly answering the security question.
having incorrectly entered my password /security number 3
times you correctly answer the security question
You should log into the system within 1 working day of receiving the
email. You will be required to answer the security question again.
Who is the client (the term used in the Portal)?
The client is the employee who has been referred. You may access
the ‘client list’, via the navigation menu. It will display all the referrals
you have made or that you have been given access to by another
user.
Who are Power Users and what can they do?
Power Users have access to see all OH referral reports. Within SCC,
they are all based within the HR Advisory Service.
7th April 2015
What is a referral number and how is it used?
This number will be sent to you when a referral has been accepted by
OH Assist. You should make a note of the number and use it in any
correspondence/communication with OH Assist. It will make dealing
with the correspondence much easier for OH Assist.
Making a Referral and Accessing a Report
Obtaining employee consent to attend a referral.
There is no longer a requirement to obtain an employee’s signature
indicating informed consent prior to making a referral. It is sufficient
for you to confirm on the portal, when submitting the referral, that the
employee is aware of the reason for the referral, the content of the
referral and the advice sought, including how that information may be
used.
Whilst when discussing a referral with an employee, you will often
gain verbal consent. However the OH clinician will, at the start of any
consultation, discuss and seek informed consent. If the employee
does not provide consent, please contact HR for advice.
What if the employee wants to be supported during the
referral?
Employees may be supported, for example by their TU
representative, during a referral but should be aware that most
referrals are conducted over the telephone.
What Information do I need before completing the OH
Assist Referral Form?
To complete a referral quickly you will need to have all the relevant
information to hand as each page of the referral must be fully
completed before moving to the next page. After 25 Minutes you will
be ‘Timed Out’ of the system.
7th April 2015
You may save incomplete referrals on a “complete page” basis and
access them again at another time by clicking on the next button and
then you may log out or go to another area of the portal. To reopen
the referral click ‘unsubmitted referrals’.
Employee (client)





Contact details including home and work base post codes, email
and telephone numbers (2)
DoB
SAP Number (customer identifier)
Job Title (see question: What Job Title do I Use?)
Reasons for the absence (there is a narrative section on the
Referral Form)
You will also need to have considered what:
 Supplementary information may be helpful to the OH Adviser e.g.
Sickness Absence Reports (SAR) for the last 24 months, Job
description.
 Questions you want answered as a result of the referral.
Additional Manager
Anyone nominated as an Additional Manager will receive email alerts
as you do and will be able to access reports. This is useful should
you be unexpectedly absent. It is advisable to add your line manager
and your HR Adviser as additional managers. You will need the
following details:


7th April 2015
Name
Email Address

What is a ‘SAR’ and where do I find one?
SAP Number (Customer Identifier - optional)
A ‘SAR’ is a sickness absence report. Managers should be able to
supply OH Assist with the sickness absence history for the employee
they are referring.
For an up to date record, you can use SAP to run Bradford Factor
and Sickness Spells reports, save them to your system and then
upload them in the referral. Guidance on producing a Bradford Factor
and Sickness Absence Spells reports may be found on the HR
Extranet – Sickness Absence Management , Manager Guide
Further information on supplying additional information can be found
below in the question ‘What do I do if I need to send supplementary
information to OH Assist?’
7th April 2015
What are the job-title options that I will be presented with?
Only 1 option is permitted.
Within SCC Corporate: The following categories have been entered
onto the system as Job roles. Please choose the one that best
represents the work of the employee. The “Remote” prefix is there to
use when the employee spends a lot of time away from a fixed base.
Where there is no prefix, it is assumed the role is premises-based.
Manager / Leader
Office Worker
Caretaker/Maintenance/Cleaner
Library / Training
Education / Children
Scientific / Technical
Hospitality and Catering
Care Work
Social Work
Remote - Rural environment
Remote - Highways/Traffic
Remote - Transport-related
Remote - Buildings-related
Remote - Social Work
Remote - Personal Care
Remote - Education-related
7th April 2015
Within Somerset Education Establishments: The following
categories have been entered onto the system as Job roles:
School Leaders
Teachers
Classroom Support Staff
Pupil Support Staff
Administrative Support Staff
Catering Staff
Crossing Patrol Staff
Premises Support Staff
What should I select for Customer Identifier?
The individual’s SAP / Payroll number should be used to populate this
required field. However, there is no link between SAP and the OH
Assist system.
My employee’s email account may be accessed by others;
should I still supply this to OH Assist on the referral form?
OH Assist will telephone and on occasions will use email to contact
employees (clients). Email contact might include contact details to
arrange a referral appointment or sending a copy of the referral
report, which may contain personal sensitive information.
You therefore need to check whether the employee is providing you
with a shared email address or not. The possibility that other people
can access the report before the employee has read it themselves
may make it a route they do not wish to use. It should be the
employee’s decision whether or not to provide a shared email
address. However, OH Assist may reject an email which is clearly
7th April 2015
shared, in which case the Royal Mail postal service may be used.
I want another manager to receive a copy of the Referral
Report but I don’t know their SAP number, what should I
do?
You may add up to 10 ‘additional managers’ to the referral, providing
they have a portal user account. In normal circumstances it would be
usual to add only an extra one, or two, for each referral. Also see the
above question ‘What Information do I need before completing the
OH Assist Referral Form?’
To check, whether the selected managers already have portal
accounts, use the search facility and input the ‘additional’ manager’s
surname and email address. Please ensure you have the correct
person, especially when there are two people with the same name.
Use of the SAP number is optional.
All line managers, grade 11 and above, should have an account as a
portal user. Please contact your HR Adviser if a new account is
required.
If you already have the referral report and wish to transfer it to
another manager – for example whilst you are on leave, you will need
to contact HR for it to be processed.
What do I do if I need to send supplementary information to
OH Assist?
OH Assist needs relevant supporting documentation particularly a
sickness absence report (SAR). These may be uploaded
electronically, faxed or posted with the referral or after the referral has
been created.
If information is posted, it must arrive at OH Assist within 8 days of
the referral being submitted or the referral will be terminated. With the
exception of a SAR you will not be able to view uploaded documents.
A maximum of 5mb (megabytes) per document may be uploaded.
7th April 2015
When faxing information you must download the ‘header sheet’ to
accompany the information. You will be prompted to do at the
appropriate point during the online the referral process.
For more information please refer to the guidance in the OH Assist
Customer Portal User Guide and be mindful of your Data Protection
responsibilities.
When posting personal sensitive information you should use a secure
method such as registered post.
Please note, if the case is complex or there is a lot of information of
supplementary information, it may be advisable to request a double
appointment as there is a limited time allocated to each referral. The
allotted time includes preparing for the referral, the consultation and
writing the report. The request may be made in the special
requirements section.
If in doubt, contact the OH Assist Service Centre on 0845 601 8028
for guidance.
The OH Assist Customer Portal User Guide is available on I Post (for
schools) and the SCC Learning Centre.
What do I do if I have a complex case and wish to arrange
to have a pre-consultation or post-consultation
conversation with OH Assist?
7th April 2015
Pre-referral discussion - You should contact the Medical help desk
via the portal or the OH Assist Service Centre who will arrange for
you to be contacted by an OHA/OHP for a general discussion. This is
useful where the case is complex or you think further medical
evidence (FME) such as GP or consultants’ reports would add value
to the OH Assist report. If the case is complex you may be advised to
request a double appointment – under special requirements on the
referral form.
Post-referral discussion - Following receipt of the referral report you
may telephone the clinician to enquire about any comment in the
report.
What does the abbreviation FME mean and what do I need
to know about it?
Further Medical Evidence (FME) such as GP and Specialists’ reports,
may be required where OH Assist consider it will add to the value of
their advice to managers. OH Assist will charge for obtaining this
information.
Employees are required to give specific consent for OH Assist to
contact their medical professionals. Requesting such information
may delay OH Assist’s report by approximately 21 days.
Where managers believe that FME would be of benefit they may
contact the Medical help desk via the portal or the OH Assist Service
Centre on 0845 601 8028 for a pre-referral discussion.
How will the consultation be arranged with the employee
and how will I know the date of that appointment?
OH Assist will first triage the referral and then contact the employee
(normally by telephone*) to arrange a date for the consultation. OH
Assist will attempt to contact the employee three times to arrange an
appointment, after which they will escalate the matter to the referring
manager. Telephone messages with a contact number will be left for
the employee, where an answer machine facility is available e.g. on
a mobile, to enable the employee to respond.
At the manager’s request a further attempt may then be made to
telephone the employee or a written invitation sent with the contact
number for the employee to confirm their attendance or reschedule.
Depending upon the circumstances the consultation may be via the
7th April 2015
telephone or face to face.
Managers will be advised of the consultation date via an email alert.
*Managers, when making a referral may, under ‘special requirements’
request that OH Assist contact the employee by email to arrange a
consultation.
How will I know when a report is available for me to read or
OH Assist is waiting for further information?
You will be sent a short email prompting you to access the OH Assist
Portal. No personal information will be sent by email.
To check the status of a referral, managers should access Key Point
Information on the OH Assist Portal (see View Referrals Screen).
How do I access OH reports?
You should log into the OH Assist Portal and search for the referral in
‘Client List’ and click on the name of the report you wish to access.
Whilst you may wish to save OH Reports to your SCC System, there
will no longer be a need. The referral, reports and all other
documents will be held on the OH Assist Portal and, providing your
account is active, may be accessed for 2 years. You will only have
access to the referrals you have initiated or those where you are
named as an ‘additional’ manager.
What do I do if I have a question arising from the report or
require further information?
7th April 2015
Following receipt of the referral report you may telephone the clinician
to enquire about any comment in the report. The number will be on
the report.
Will the referred employee receive a copy of the report?
How long will a referral remain open?
Employees will not automatically receive a copy of the report but may
request to do so.

The OH Assist model does not provide a complete a case
management programme. All referrals cases will normally remain
open for a maximum of 4 weeks. To ensure an OH report is based
upon the most recent medical information and to avoid the need to rerefer, managers should consider the 4 week window when making a
referral. This is important where, for example, an employee has an
appointment with their specialist etc. in the near future. In such
circumstances the OH Assist will give guidance on the timings of
referrals.
I have created and submitted a referral for an employee –
but no longer require it. What should I do?
The referral may be only be withdrawn by contacting the Service
Centre on 0845 601 8028. This is important as the previously
submitted referral documentation will need to be securely destroyed.
If I need to cancel an appointment (but the referral is still
required), what should I do?
You need to contact the OH Assist Service Centre on 0845 601 8028.
Appointments which are cancelled but are still required should be
rearranged as soon as possible.
Cancellations with less than 24 notice or should the employee not be
available for the consultation will incur the full referral charge.
Cancellations are monitored and it may be that service areas/schools
will be re-charged in future if it is found that there are a significant
number of cancellations which incur charges.
7th April 2015
If an employee wishes to cancel an appointment with OH
Assist what should they do?
The employee should contact you as their referring manager. You
should explore the reasons for requesting a cancellation and then if
appropriate, you should cancel the appointment, using the guidance
above.
The employee is unable to cancel and rearrange an appointment
themselves; they must do so via their manager.
What happens if the employee does not attend the OH
consultation?
OH Assist will make 3 attempts to contact the employee in a 10
minute period on all numbers available. They will not ask the
employee to call them back as:
 the numbers they are calling from are withheld number
 after 10mins there is insufficient time to complete the
assessment.
Should the employee not be available for the consultation as
arranged, the full referral charge will still be incurred.
If the appointment is still required, the manager needs to request
another appointment within 8 days of the cancellation otherwise the
referral will be terminated.
Recruitment and OH Assist
I am recruiting a new employee how will their medical
fitness for the role be checked?
7th April 2015
SCC: The SWOne Recruitment team will continue to arrange for the
screening of Baseline Health Questionnaires (BHQs) using the “short
form” and, where appropriate, creating the appropriate referral on the
OH Assist Portal. OH Assist will then contact the candidate.
Managers will be kept informed of progress as they will be added as
an ‘additional manager’ to the referral.
Schools and Academies: The recruiting manager within the school
will manage the BHQ process and make a candidate referral using
the OH Assist Portal.
Are there any significant changes to the process?
Yes – Those creating pre-employment screening referrals in
recruitment (within SCC plus Schools and Academies) will need to
indicate whether the prospective employee will be required to
undertake specific roles, or potentially be exposed to certain hazards,
prior to submission.
Within SCC, the Recruitment team will seek this information in
advance from the recruiting manager together with other recruitment
documentation.
See OH Assist Health Service User Guide for further information.
What happens if the candidate does not complete the
BHQ?
If the individual does not complete the health declaration online within
7 calendar days, they will be sent a reminder letter and will also be
contacted by OH Assist™ the following day by telephone. At this point
the referrer will also receive an update on the OH Assist Portal in the
key point information. This update will be titled Health Dec Reminder.
If the individual has not responded after the reminder letter, a further
update will be sent to the referrer after 14 days, and the referral will
withdraw after 4 weeks if the individual does not respond.
Supplementary Services
7th April 2015
What are the payment arrangements for Supplementary
Services
All supplementary services will be charged for separately from the
core service to SCC. SCC will recharge for them as follows:




Applying for Ill Health Retirement may be appropriate for a
member of my team, what should I do?
An Academy that has purchased the Full Service (Option 1),
SCC will not be re-charged for the remainder of the 2014/15
Academic year for services recommended by OH Assist
following a BHQ or referral.
Academies that purchased Option 2 will be re-charged.
All SCC service areas will be re-charged.
Scales of charges for both supplementary and bespoke
services are held by your HR adviser.
An opinion on whether an employee is potentially a candidate for Ill
Health Retirement (IHR) is a question which may be asked as part of
the Core Service – General Occupational Advice. You should refer
the employee to OH Assist as described elsewhere –‘Making a
Referral and Accessing a Report‘.
Should the report indicate that IHR is an appropriate strategy for you
to pursue, you must contact your HR Adviser in order to start the Ill
Health Retirement process. Please note that although IHR may be an
option to be formally pursued, it is not guaranteed that the application
will be accepted.
There are no set timescales for dealing with IHR cases but will be
processed as quickly as possible. Terminally ill cases will have
priority.
I employ School Crossing Patrol officers (SCPo), what do I
7th April 2015
need to be aware of in relation to them and the OH services 
provided?
On Recruitment: The initial BHQ assessment will be treated as a
core service. It may generate the need for a full School Crossing
Patrol Health Assessment (SCPHA).

The SCPHA: This service is a supplementary service and may be
requested should there be a concern about a SCPo and their
ability to perform their job. There will be a charge for the service.
Apart from Ill-health Retirement, am I able to use any of the
supplementary services listed in the OH Assist Health
Service User Guide?
Key to table:
Services
HA= Health Assessment
HS = Health Surveillance
HAV = Hand-Arm Vibration
FLT = Forklift Truck
WSA = Workstation assessment
WPA = Workplace Assessment
Comment Notes:
1 = Should not be needed within SCC/schools - Seek H&S advice first
2 = There may be employees for whom this is appropriate – please
consult H&S prior to making a request
3 = There should be a screening process to identify those who want
this – please consult HR Advisory if unsure of the process
7th April 2015
Service
Yes/No
Comment
Food handler HA
Yes
1
Night worker HA
Yes
3
School crossing patrol HA
Yes
2
Working at heights HA
Yes
2
Audiometry HS
Yes
7
HAV Syndrome HS
Yes
2
Ionising Radiation HS
Yes
1
Respiratory HS
Yes
2
Skin HS
Yes
2
Asbestos Medical
Yes
2
Confined Spaces Medical
Yes
1
FLT Driver Medical
Yes
2
Driver Medical (DVLA Gp 1 and 2)
Yes
2
4 = This is, or will be, available from elsewhere for SCC corporate.
Vision Screening
Yes
2
5 = This may be appropriate for Academies – seek H&S advice first
WSA/WPA
Yes
2
6 = This may be appropriate for Schools and Academies
Air quality testing
No
4, 5
7 = There are people in job roles who need this. It may need to be
picked up and re-started.
Physiotherapy
No
4, 6
7th April 2015