The financial fallout from Covid-19, with businesses and OH providers likely to be under intense pressure, means that costs will be being interrogated like never before. In such a climate, Victoria Tait considers whether we might get to a point where the expense of becoming SEQOHS-accredited could begin to outweigh its reputational benefits.
Over the past year, during the Covid-19 lockdowns, many Chartered Quality Institute online branch meetings have steered away from topics of compliance or root cause analysis and instead focused on the topical subjects of health and wellbeing in the workplace and returning to work.
Many attendees to these meetings have been brave enough to open up about their own personal experiences surrounding their mental health as well as encounters with their companies’ occupational health departments.
As Occupational Health & Wellbeing highlighted in December, the SOM (Society of Occupational Medicine) Christmas lecture by Professor Dame Carol Black urged OH practitioners to use the harsh spotlight that Covid-19 has thrown on to workplace health to “seize the moment”, to raise their voice and profile with government and employers and truly show the value OH can bring to the table.
Dame Carol Black’s seminal review of the health of Britain’s working-age population, Working for a healthier tomorrow was published back in March 2008. Among its recommendations was the need for clear standards of practice and formal accreditation of all providers who support people of working age. The government’s response to her review, Improving health and work: changing lives, endorsed that recommendation.
In response to this, a broad stakeholder group led by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) developed standards and accreditation for OH services. The first set of standards was launched as “SEQOHS” in January 2010 and FOM commissioned the Royal College of Physicians to develop and manage the scheme, which was launched in December 2010.
In July 2019, the running of SEQOH
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