Episode 3: The relationship between work and health with Dr Rob Hampton

In the third episode of our GP Essentials podcast series, Dr Lara Shemtob talks to Dr Rob Hampton about the relationship between work and health, the role of GPs in helping patients stay in or return to work, and what an occupational health consultation can offer that is difficult to achieve in a GP consultation.

They explore the ways in which work can have a negative effect on physical health, such as occupational cancers, asthma and other respiratory conditions, and skin conditions, plus the impact of the pandemic, for example isolation arising from home working, and how Long COVID is becoming a major health and work issue.

They discuss making use of the re-assessment section of the fit note, sharing practical resources to encourage employees to start having discussions with their employers, and sharing evidence with patients when it is available. In discussions with patients, Dr Hampton encourages GPs to think not just about paid employment, but about meaningful activity, and to use the techniques of motivational interviewing to help the individual decide on next steps and find their purpose.

Dr Rob Hampton was a GP Partner for 15 years before becoming freelance in 2012. His portfolio includes roles in drugs and alcohol treatment and occupational medicine. He has led various projects and educational initiatives to support GPs in helping patients with long term conditions to stay at work. A co-opted member of the BMA Occupational Medicine Committee and founder of a SOM GP Interest Group, Rob’s aim is to see employment support move closer to mainstream primary care so that employment is a health outcome of the care we provide to the working age population.

Further reading: https://www.health.org.uk/publications/long-reads/the-quality-of-work-and-what-it-means-for-health

Fit note: guidance for occupational health professionals, updated on 17th December 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fit-note-guidance-for-occupational-health-professionals

About the host:

Dr Lara Shemtob in an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice and GPST3 at Imperial College London with an interest in occupational health. Lara works at Parkview Practice in White City and has recently undertaken the Diploma in Occupational Medicine.