NU/1883 Occupational Health and EAP

Tender description

Newcastle University is tendering the provision of a comprehensive and highly integrated range of occupational health services (OHS) and an Employee Assistance Programme to enable the University to meet their service needs and common law and statutory duties of care for the health, safety and welfare of its employees in their working environment. It is envisaged that a maximum of two suppliers will be appointed - one for each Lot or a single provider maybe appointed for both Lots. The prime aim of these services is to reduce the level of sickness absence and improve the level of physical and mental wellbeing of employees during their employment. In particular, the need to develop a corporate and integrated approach to these services is vital. To reduce the amount of sickness absence and promote wellbeing, the Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) will need to be close to the health, safety, wellbeing and Human Resources (referred to as People Services from this point) of the University and most importantly close to line managers and the employees themselves. OHS practitioners must address a wide remit and embrace close working with public health, general practice and vocational rehabilitation in meeting the needs of employees. For both OHS and EAP services will be underpinned by excellent operational relationships, good quality data, analysis and clear actionable advice. The Service Provider shall satisfy the University, via regular updates, that the OHS provided takes account of all revisions to good professional procedures, diagnosis, treatment and equipment as recommended or approved by the FOM, the BMA, the GMC, the NMC, HEOPS and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and meets the Occupational Health Standards. Employees provided to manage this contract should have relevant and current qualifications and the mix of these employees should be sufficient to enable any referred employee to be assessed or examined by a clinician or physician. Arrangements must be in place to cover the absence of permanent employees, including Occupation Health Physician’s, to ensure continuity of OHS and an EAP to the Customer. Suppliers must have sufficient resource resilience to continue service delivery at all times, barring short timescales for cover to be provided. All clinicians involved in providing these services must be familiar with all relevant legislation, for example, but not exclusively, the Equality Act 2010; the Health & Safety at Work Act; the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations; the Human Rights Act 1998, taking into account any updates in law. The Service Provider shall consult the University in good time and before implementation, on any proposed changes in professional practice that may affect the type, number and quality of the OHS and EAP provided and the welfare and wellbeing of the University’s employees. The University shall reserve the right to refuse to agree to any changes to the Contract requirements, including financial. The Service Provider shall ensure that they respond in a timely and efficient manner, making sure that they analyse each referral to identify and provide a clear diagnosis and business focused management advice. Keywords: occupational, health