Welcome to the GP/Dentist Clinic Registration Portal

COVID-19 Assessments/Advice

COVID-19 assessments may include the results a PCR (antigen) and/or antibody test if uploaded by the staff member when completing an online health questionnaire. You may seek advice on COVID-19 issues or assessment by:-

Making a referral for COVID-19 general advice
Making a Health Surveillance referral to undertake an Occupational Health assessment for a staff member returning to work
Making a Management referral to undertake an Occupational Health assessment for a staff member already at work

When you make a referral for a COVID-19 assessment we will ask you to complete an online basic work risk assessment and if you have sufficient information an individual assessment based on what you know. When the referral is submitted we send a secure link to the staff member to complete an online health questionnaire (which includes current symptoms, COVID-19 heart age and related questions). The staff member can upload/provide results of any tests undertaken. Occupational Health will then assess the staff member's health and COVID-19 risk against the workplace risk and provide a Health Clearance certificate and additional Management Advice as needed. Costs are provided in the portal.

Introduction

The NHS England ICB contracts for Occupational Health services for GP and Dental practices started on 1/4/2023 with services being provided to these regions since 01/04/2017:

The service provides: -

A comprehensive Occupational Health service to all GPs, Dentists, Opthalmic/Optometry practices and Pharmacies.
Needlestick Injury (NSI) advice and support to NHS GPs, Dentists, Pharmacists and healthcare workers, including trainees
The ability for practices to purchase Occupational Health services for their clinical and non-clinical staff at preferential rates.
Clearance services for clinical practitioners 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 top or 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
COVID-19 general advice, return to work assessment or in-work assessment (including review of COVID-19 tests)
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 ICBs 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. 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 NHS Digital ODS Portal

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 NHS ODS Portal (https://odsportal.digital.nhs.uk/Organisation/Search) 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 03333 449089

Making referrals

Once your practice has registered with the service you will be able to start making referrals.

For performance related referrals "Management Referrals" , "Pre-Employment/Commencement Assessments" (PEQs) and "Health Surveillance", you will be able to refer directly online via the portal.

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 Practice 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 transferred and send them to us so that we can request the records from your previous OH Provider.

Date

To: "Name of Provider"

NHS ICBs have recently entered into a contract with Heales Medical for the provision of Occupational Health Services to GPs, Dental, Opthalmic and Pharmacy practices. This contract commenced from the 1st April 2023.

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 and GDPR 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 ICBs 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 provider 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
29 Bridge Street
Hitchin
Hertfordshire SG5 2DF

Telephone: 03333 449089, or option 2 on the automated switchboard

Email: nhsengland@heales.com

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.

Needlestick Injury Poster	Needlestick Injury 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 existing cases with your outgoing provider should be transferred 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 nhsengland@heales.com 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.