Types of Assessment

Ill Health Retirement

Ill health retirement is specific to the employer’s pension scheme. Each scheme has its own definitions and conditions for ill health retirement as well as its own benefits. Your employer should be able to provide you details of these, the process to be followed and how benefits are calculated.

The medical appointment will involve taking a detailed medical history, and how your medical condition(s) affect your ability to work. A physical examination may or may not be required depending on the nature of your medical condition and supporting medical documentation available to the occupational health specialist. To find out more information on ill-health retirement click here.

Health Surveillance

Health surveillance medicals are tailored to the risks in the workplace. The medical will usually will involve completing a questionnaire and undergoing specific tests to assess your fitness to work. For example, if you are employed in a potentially noisy environment, you may be required to undergo a hearing test. For more information about HSE requirements regarding health surveillance click here.

Assessment of Fitness For Work

You may be referred to occupational health because of concerns regarding your fitness for work. In such cases, the medical appointment will involve a discussion about any health problems you are experiencing, assessing the potential impact of the medical condition(s) on work, and recommending any adjustments that might support you in the workplace to your employer/manager. An examination may be conducted during the appointment, depending on the health issue.

The Role of a Medical Advisor

In all types of medical, the role of a medical adviser is to carry out an objective and independent professional assessment of all the available medical evidence and offer an opinion based on that assessment. A medical adviser may recommend that further medical evidence is obtained, if they consider it relevant and helpful to their assessment, for example from your general practitioner or specialist.

(We have tried to answer any questions you will have here about the different types of assessment you may have. If you have a question that isn’t covered here, please do get in touch).