Work Health Joint Unit External Challenge Fund (2019) (360G-cabinetoffice-GA-338996)

OTVoc will use a stepped care model delivered via various online platforms. Each patient will receive a personalised Allied Health Professions Advisory Fitness for Work Report that they can share with their GP and/or employer. A gap exists in our understanding of how to address the most common causes of sickness absence (mental health and/or MSK conditions) with one service to address needs. Currently, 93% of GP Fit notes, designed to give general rather than job specific advice, state that patients are unable to work and a third are issued for five weeks or longer. The OTVoc initiative will test whether these figures could be improved with earlier, individualised return to work advice from occupational therapists in primary care at times to suit those in employment, for example, evenings.