Occupational health - unsure re advice to return to work

anj_S

Bit of background, i work for nhs (same trust for 10+ years) as a nurse. I have had 1 previous short sick episode in last 5 years

10 weeks ago i was injured in a road accident and had a dislocated knee and wrist fracture. I have been off work since then signed off by gp. Been off crutch for about a month and knee is improved still seeing physio weekly to build up strength in it.

Wrist is different story, not healing, now been in plaster for 10 weeks, last lot of xrays still clearly show fracture. Still painful, swelling and needing regular painkillers

Went to see occupational health yesterday and nurse who i saw felt i could return to work doing non patient contact clerical stuff as broken wrist is non dominant hand. I explained that what i could do in my dept would be limited, one handed on pc, cant get notes on/off filing shelves, etc etc

In addition i still cant drive, and living in a very rural community it us extremely difficult to get to/from work. No colleagues live this way, no friends/family travelling that direction to work. I have looked at public transport (i had used that to get to appt) its about 1hr 40 mins each way (takes 25 mins in car!) as its bus, train, bus and there are waits between all of them. In addition the first bus out of the village isnt until just before 9am. Therefore i couldnt get to work until 1030 and would have to leave at 3.30pm so i could make the last bus back to the village. Ie only in work 5 hours. She felt that would be ok but i would have to use 2 1/2 hours annual leave each day to make up.

I go back to see the orthopaedic consultant this week so will see where we are at with arm and what he thinks but even if he thinks i cant work who do i listen to?

Raksha

I believe your employer has the final say, although obviously if they couldn't make reasonable adjustments and your condition worsened, you may have a case against them