Occupational Medicine for the GP

Abstract

Occupational medicine is concerned with the relationship between work and health and covers a wide variety of disciplines. Following the 2008 Black and 2010 Marmot reviews, in which the costs and damaging effects of worklessness were highlighted, occupational medicine has never been more important. Health and Safety Executive figures for 2010/2011 show that 26.4 million working days were lost due to work-related ill health and injury and it is estimated that the cost of work-related ill health is approaching £100 billion/year. In the UK, dedicated occupational medicine teaching in medical schools is given a low priority despite the fact that doctors are expected to assess fitness to work, advise patients about returning to work and, according to the General Medical Council's ‘Tomorrow's Doctors’, understand the link between health and work. This article discusses how and why patients present with problems related to their work and highlights key areas where an appreciation of occupationally related disease is important for the GP.