Redeployment advice

Nonethewiser

Hi. New here. I work in frontline social work and am struggling at the moment. I am very undrr pressure and usually would be able to manage however my physical health is making things more difficult. I take medication for arthritis and the side effects make me ill, tired, headaches etc. This makes it difficult to cope with the demands of my already stressful post. I need to make changes but not sure what to do. I dont want to go sick leave but would like to be redeployed to another social work post but not frontline. I dont know what to do. Our trust does not have a transfer process and any advertised posts are all frontline ones. I cant go on like this but need to and want to be working !! Any advice would be most appreciated x

Torry_Quine

Are you in a union as they may be able to help

fraserbooks

Does your department have an occupational health service? If so could you ask for a referral and with a doctor's backing ask for shorter hours or a less stressful job.

Nonethewiser

Yes we do have an OH department. Do i ask my line manager to do this?

TELLIT01

Have you spoken to your GP about the side effects you are having with the medication? They may be able to prescribe different medication, or provide additional meds to counteract the side effects.

fraserbooks

I think you can often self refer to occupational health or if you wish to keep matters confidential if you get on with your line manager make him aware of your situation and ask for a referral. I worked for the NHS not social services so things might be a bit different. Occupational health should be able to get you an appointment with a specialist doctor who could tell you if you are on the most suitable medication. Your pharmacist should also know if there is something available with less side effects.

Manxman_in_exile

OP - you mention "our trust". Do you actually work for something like a NHS mental health trust? Were you TUPE'd over from your local authority via a s.75 agreement or similar?


If so, is there any opportunity to get back to your old employer in a non-frontline role?


I ask because in my experience (I used to work for a MH trust) there may not be much scope to re-deploy to a non-frontline role and, ironically, MH trusts don't always deal very well with stress issues.


But I'd also agree with getting a referral to OH. Not sure if you can self-refer or not.