NHS and primary care| Article Index |
|---|
| Practice Perfect, H&S for GP's and PCT's |
| The System |
| The Practice Perfect Document |
| The Practice Perfect Commitment |
| Cost Breakdown |
| Tackling Safety 'In House' |
| All Pages |
'The NHS is Europe's largest employer. The Nuffield Trust estimated the cost of sickness absence in the NHS to be in the region of £714 million. Reducing sickness absence by 20% by 2001 and 30% by 2003 is one of the Public Sector Agreement targets. The targets also form part of Working Together, the Governments human resources strategy for the NHS, and are core to Improving Working Lives.' Jane Huntley, NHS Head of Workplace Health
Pressure comes from many sources to manage exposure to risk within any Doctors Sugery or General Practice. Your staff, your patients and your colleagues all need to be safe whilst they perform their daily tasks. Legislation places clear responsibilities on employers and on controllers of premises to carry out risk assessments and to act on their findings to reduce risks to their lowest reasonably practicable level. With the huge growth in No Win - No Fee actions your staff and the public at large are more aware of their rights and of the value claims which can be won.
We have provided various services to the health sector including general practice for a number of years including manual handling of patients, fire safety training and risk assessment and general support on health and safety issues. Practices need to have clear documentation, risk assessments and safety protocols in order to comply and to reduce civil and criminal liability exposure but finding the time and building the competence to tackle these issues cost effectively is a difficult task.
We are still arranging visits to Primary Care Trusts and groups of interested practices, if you would like to meet an experienced safety consultant or receive more information please contact us.
