Provision of Occupational Health IT System

Description

In November 2023, Network Rail brought its entire Occupational Health (OH) service in‑house. The service now operates nationally across 22 clinics, supported by remote and virtual delivery models, and provides health assessments, surveillance, management referrals and safety‑critical medicals for approximately 42,000 employees. This includes statutory obligations under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Transport and Works Act 1992, making the OH function central to compliance, governance and operational safety. The organisation’s Health Sustainability Strategy reinforces a shift towards evidence‑based health management, stronger governance, and better use of high‑quality data. An Occupational Health IT system is therefore fundamental to delivering a consistent, efficient and forward‑looking service. The system must not only support the day‑to‑day administration of clinical activity but also enhance the quality, governance and insight required from a national, safety‑critical operation. Network Rail require an Occupational Health system to build a detailed and accurate picture of workforce health, enabling richer understanding of demographics, emerging risks and preventive opportunities. It will generate robust management information and high‑quality OH data that supports statutory reporting, internal assurance and workforce analytics, aligning with Network Rail’s broader ambition to treat health as a core business outcome. Intelligent appointment and diary management will help reduce cancellations and no‑shows, ensuring clinics run efficiently and clinical time is maximised. Consistent national data sets will provide a clear view of health and wellbeing trends across all regions, reinforcing the need for standardisation and comparability across the organisation. In summary, the future OH IT system must: ⦁ Support a national Occupational Health service covering approximately 42,000 employees across 22 clinics, alongside remote and virtual delivery. ⦁ Accommodate a hybrid workforce of clinical and non‑clinical users involved in safety‑critical and statutory health activity. ⦁ Manage high‑volume, regulated workflows, including management referrals, health surveillance, fitness‑for‑work assessments and other statutory medicals. ⦁ Provide strong auditability, governance and management insight, enabling consistent assurance and evidence‑based decision‑making.