Bay of Plenty businesses are embracing a new way of providing health services to their staff – a mobile Fit For Work clinic
Fit For Work, one of the country’s leading providers of occupational health services, has recently launched the clinic which will travel to workplaces.
The clinic has an occupational health doctor and three highly experienced occupational health nurses.
KiwiRail Bay of Plenty area Operations Manager Simon Prevett says KiwiRail has used the services of Fit For Work doctor Ian Gourlay for many years and has been looking forward to the mobile clinic starting.
“The value of having a mobile service in the Bay of Plenty means that we can have medical professionals come to us when we need them, rather than having to disrupt staff to get them to a medical centre,” he says.
Bay of Plenty is the first region to have one of the clinics, which Fit For Work will eventually roll out in other parts of New Zealand.
“We are really excited to be offering this service in the Bay of Plenty,” Fit For Work Director Lenny O’Connell says.
“We know many local businesses require staff to have checks to make sure they are safe and healthy in the workplace.
“Our mobile service means that these can now be done easily and to a high standard, without people having to go off-site.
“The service integrates the collective expertise of occupational health nursing and occupational medicine.”
If staff are unable to visit the mobile clinic on the day that it is at their workplace, they will be able to attend Fit For Work’s clinic at Riverslea Mall in Edgecumbe.
Services offered through the mobile clinic and Edgecumbe clinic will include pre-employment health assessments; health monitoring (hearing, vision and lung function tests); occupational health advice; specialty medical assessments (heat stress, breathing apparatus, pilot and Maritime NZ medicals); injury management; alcohol and drug testing; and vaccinations.
“Everyone benefits from a healthy workforce and our service is about making people fit for life as well as fit for work,” O’Connell says.
Fit For Work has offices across the country, employing more than 90 employees and 200 contracted staff.
It provides services to workplaces in all industries, as well as physiotherapy and injury rehabilitation for people of all ages and stages of life.
