Occupational Health Manager

Blmk Icb; Bedford; Hybrid; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced Occupational Health Manager to lead the Bedfordshire Occupational Health Service based at Bedford Hospital. You will oversee clinical governance, manage a team and collaborate across the Trust to deliver a responsive, high-quality service.

The role requires a recognised OH qualification, NHS OH experience and strong leadership, communication and analytical skills. Occasional travel between sites may be required.

Qualifications

• Recognised OH Specialist Nurse qualification or equivalent.
• Recognised Health & Safety qualification.
• Good range of substantial experience in Occupational Health setting.
• Experience of NHS and private industry as OHN.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop Bedfordshire Occupational Health Service and manage resources.
• Provide clinical advice, manage referrals and health surveillance.
• Oversee pre-employment health screening and vaccinations.
• Ensure compliance with Data Protection Act and professional standards.
• Support policy development, audits and SEQOHS accreditation.

Skills

Managing own workload

Operational management

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Spirometry

Phlebotomy

Education

Recognised OH Specialist nurse qualification or equivalent

Recognised Health & Safety qualification

Job description

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Occupational Health Manager

The closing date is 26 October 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as an Occupational Health Manager, based at Bedford Hospital.

This is a key clinical leadership role within the Occupational Health Service. You will lead the day-to-day delivery and continued development of the Bedford Hospital and wider cross site service, ensuring that staff, systems and resources are managed effectively and that employees receive a responsive, professional and high-quality service.

Working with the wider Occupational Health team, you will provide specialist clinical advice and support to managers and employees across the Trust. Your responsibilities will include management referrals, pre-placement health screening, immunisation and vaccination programmes, health surveillance, rehabilitation advice and support following workplace incidents.

You will help ensure that the service complies with occupational health legislation, professional standards, Trust policies and recognised good practice. You will also contribute to service improvement, audit, income generation and the delivery of occupational health services to external organisations.

We are looking for an experienced and approachable Occupational Health professional who can provide visible leadership, manage and develop a team and build effective working relationships across the organisation. You should be innovative, adaptable and committed to improving the experience of staff and service users.

Main duties of the job

You will combine leadership and operational management with a varied clinical caseload, including complex management referrals, clinical reviews, health surveillance, vaccinations, blood sampling and self-referrals. You will provide evidence-based advice on fitness for work, rehabilitation, workplace adjustments and occupational health risks, while maintaining confidential and accurate clinical records.

You will develop and supervise colleagues, support workforce planning, and contribute to policy development, audit and accreditation. Working with Human Resources, Infection Prevention and Control, Health and Safety and other services, you will help manage workplace incidents and promote staff health.

You must be a first-level registered nurse with a recognised Occupational Health specialist nursing qualification, or equivalent, and substantial post-registration Occupational Health experience. You will need strong clinical judgement, current knowledge of occupational health, health surveillance and immunisation, and excellent communication, analytical and report-writing skills. You should be organised, approachable and confident in managing complex cases, competing priorities and team development. You must also be able to travel between Trust sites when required.

About us

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Job responsibilities

Please read the attached job description for full details of this role, duties and responsibilities. MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:1) To assist the Head of Occupational Health for Bedfordshire Hospitals to manage and develop the Occupational Health Service at BedfordHospital, ensuring there is effective use of departmental resources, including staff management (including skill mix issues). 2) To assist the Head of Occupational Health with manpower planning, recruitment, appraisal, personnel development plans and managingdisciplinary issues for the Occupational Health Department at Bedford Hospital. 3) To meet targets set for Income Generation, to work with the Deputy Director HR (Services) ensuring prices of services are regularly reviewed and that the service is marketed effectively. 4) To help manage the service level agreements to other local NHS Trusts and CCG's. 5) To maintain a high standard of leadership for the service, and keep abreast of developments within Occupational Health generally, ensuring all agreed policies are maintained and reviewed. 6) To ensure the continued development of all staff employed within the Bedford Occupational Health Service, by way of appropriate training andsupport. 7) To assist in the delivery of the Trust response to changes in legislation/good practice and provide professional advice to managers andemployees, both within and outside the Bedford Hospital NHS Trust in all aspects of Occupational Health within the environment, ensuring thatchanges in legislation with reference to Occupational Health issues, are developed and implemented in a timely manner. 8) To ensure that pre-employment health screening for all staff takes place, referring for medical examination as necessary. Advise managers ofcandidates fitness for specific jobs. 9) To ensure confidential Occupational Health records, both paper records and electronic, are maintained and safeguarded and full compliancewith the Data Protection Act. 10) To ensure all staff are offered the appropriate vaccinations/health surveillance for the purpose of protecting both themselves and others whilstat work. 11) To triage management referrals and ensure appointments are made for the appropriate Occupational Health professional in a timely manner. 12) To undertake a clinical workload. This will usually be a management referral caseload but will also include health surveillance; vaccinationsand blood taking; and self-referrals. 13) To ensure that all reported staff incidents/accidents are followed up with appropriate treatment/advice. 14) To advise both managers and staff in relation to the performance of Occupational Health related risk assessments. 15)To assist in monitoring and identifying patterns of sickness absence and work incidents/accidents, to enable the Head of Occupational Healthto report to the Health and Safety Committee where appropriate. Advise Managers and HR where levels cause concern. 16) To participate in the Hospitals induction programme. 17) To advise both Managers and staff on rehabilitation and re-settlement following long term sickness absence or repeated short-term sicknessabsence. 18) To represent the Occupational Health Service Team in discussions relating to Occupational Health issues. 19) To assist in the development of Trust wide Occupational Health Policies, impacting across the whole organisation. 21) To work with the Control of Infection Team in relation to preventative measures, infection control incidents and education of staff. 23) To assist in the improvement of the health of staff by appropriate Occupational Health interventions, based on an assessment of need for both the employer and employee. 24) To work with the Head of Occupational Health to ensure SEQOHS accreditation is attained, maintained and updated. 25) To ensure a programme of regular departmental audits (including MoHawk) are performed to ensure full compliance and best practice andadherence to occupational health protocols.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Recognised OH Specialist nurse qualification or equivalent
• Recognised Health & Safety qualification

Experience

• Good range of substantial experience in Occupational Health setting
• Experience of working in OH
• Experience of working in NHS and private industry as OHN

Knowledge

• Evidence of up to date occupational health and health and safety knowledge
• Knowledge of immunisations & vaccine schedules
• Health surveillance Legislation and Programmes

Personal Skills

• Managing own workload and experience of managing others
• Good operational management skills.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with staff at all levels of an organisation
• Ability to be analytical and use data to inform decisions
• Practical OH skills, such as spirometry, phlebotomy etc.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

£57,528 to £64,750 a yearPer Annum depending on experience