Occupational Health
Why Choose CRVMC?
28 Harvey Street (GP28) is a designated, purpose-built building for occupational health.
Our doctors and nurses are experienced in managing the occupational health needs of the local industry since 1998.
We have a team of GPs, nurses, audiologists and audiometric officers, and work closely together with locally based physiotherapists, radiology and pathology departments.
Medicals can be tailored for the needs of your businesses.
Appointments can be made at short notice.
Reports are clear, concise and delivered in a short time frame.
We are local and convenient for Collie based businesses.
Pre-employment Medicals
Pre-employment medicals are an essential component in assessing whether a person will be able to undertake the duties of a specific position. Early identification of health concerns provides a business with better information to enable it to place the right person in the right job. The main components of these medicals include a detailed history and general physical examination by a doctor, audiometric testing, functional capacity by a trained exercise physiologist, drug and alcohol testing, spirometry and other practice based tests such as ECGs.
Our Pre-employment medicals are fully compliant with all industry standards and can be individualised to meet the needs of any business.
Injury Management
Effective injury management aims to use the most appropriate treatment for the best overall outcome and to ensure an injured worker can return to work promptly and safely. We understand the need to reduce an employee’s risk of developing chronic injury complaints.
CRVMC offers an integrated approach that utilises the services of GPs, exercise physiologists, and experienced nurses in a purpose-built facility. Our doctors are actively involved with the local hospital in Collie and we have a doctor on-call for the emergency department. This allows us to offer a complete injury management program from the point of acute assessment through to chronic injury rehabilitation. During business hours, any injured worker can present to our surgery for immediate triage by our experienced practice nurses and then be seen by the on-call doctor who will initiate a coordinated treatment plan. This comprehensive, local approach allows us to provide a complete injury management service.
CRVMC has also fostered a good relationship with Physio Group South West (located next to our surgery) so physical therapies can commence early, if required, as part of our comprehensive plan. Other allied health options are also available within the Collie community so injury management can largely be provided close to the workplace and allow easy access to treatment during the crucial period when a worker returns to work.
Health Surveillance
A healthy workforce is a productive workforce. It is beneficial for a company to detect serious medical problems in their employees early and ultimately reduce time off work due to illness. A health surveillance medical can be tailored to the needs of the workforce and can be performed on-site to reduce interruption to production.
Essentially, the employee has preliminary blood tests prior to their appointment. These results, coupled with a thorough analysis of the employee’s medical history and physical examination, allows the doctor to provide guidance in regard to any general health concerns. Specific medical treatment is not usually commenced at this appointment as we recommend ongoing medical treatment be managed through their usual GP, however advice and specific recommendations are provided to the worker. We are happy to provide a copy of the medical findings to the employee’s regular GP to aid ongoing management.
The aim is to provide early detection of serious disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, etc. Ultimately, early detection can have a huge impact on the future health of individual workers and the stability of your workforce.
Executive Medicals
CRVMC offers an extremely comprehensive medical assessment for companies seeking the highest level of health analysis for members of their workforce. This medical assessment is very involved and has a number of parts to the process. There is a very thorough history including screening tests for specific health concerns such as depression and sleep apnoea. This is followed by a comprehensive physical examination. There is pathology based tests to screen for a variety of health concerns. We can also incorporate a variety of additional tests such as spirometry, ECGs, audiology, full fitness capacity analysis and in depth psychological evaluation. In addition, we can arrange exercise ECGs or stress tests for patients with heart disease risk and CXRs or low dose CTs to screen for lung cancer in at risk patients. The essential idea is to provide the most in depth personal health analysis available.
This service is provided by our comprehensive team of Doctors (local GPs), Nurses, Counsellors, Exercise Physiologist and Audiometric Officers. The majority of the executive medical can be performed at our surgery at the one visit. Feedback from the medical is provided on the day with a hard copy report to follow. Recommendations and advice are provided but specific management and follow-up should be handled by the patients regular GP. Health of the executive team in any business is highly important and being proactive can really make a difference.
Audiology
CRVMC has the capacity to perform detailed audiology studies, including WorkCover assessment. We have a WorkCover approved audiology booth in a specifically designed area of our practice. This is serviced by qualified audiometry officers, allowing a high quality audiometric service conveniently located in our clinic. It is easily incorporated into any occupational medical but can also be provided to workers or the general public interested in having their hearing tested.
In addition, Audika has regular clinics on the first Monday of the month at GP28. A fully qualified independent audiologist is able to provide the best hearing care solutions specialising in hearing aids, hearing loss prevention, hearing accessories, ear plugs and tinnitus advice.
This comprehensive approach to audiology allows CRVMC to offer a complete local hearing service to meet the needs of our patients.
Pathology
PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA is a state-owned pathology service. Their main laboratory in Collie is based at Collie District Hospital with 24/7 access via on-call scientists. This service is crucial to providing a quality service at the Collie District Hospital particularly in the emergency department and for maternity services.
PathWest Collection Centre is conveniently located at CRVMC. This service is offered Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 5.00pm. Through this service, we are able to offer a full range of pathology specimen collection. More complex tests such as Helicobacter breath test, etc. are also offered at our centre. The inclusion of this service has allowed Drug and Alcohol testing on-site as part of any occupational medical. This can be done on the day of the medical reducing delays and any impact upon an employee’s time.
Drug and Alcohol Screening
In accordance with current occupational practices, CRVMC is supportive of illicit drug and alcohol screening within industry. We are very pleased to be able to offer both instant and lab based Drug and Alcohol screening.
Instant testing is via a urine test strip for illicit drugs and an industrial approved breathalyser for alcohol testing. Laboratory based testing is performed by PathWest staff who have a collection site at our clinic. Urine samples for lab based testing are by supervised collection as per industry standards. Results are available within 24-48 hours.
CRVMC has now streamlined this part of the occupational medical so it is an easy process for both the employee and employer.
On-site Services
CRVMC has a strong commitment to supporting local industry with their medical needs. Part of this can involve services provided on-site. This will allow the provision of important medical support and initiatives with minimal disruption to production.
The services currently offered on-site are influenza vaccination programs and health surveillance programs.
The influenza vaccination program is provided by a nurse and doctor in middle to late autumn prior to the beginning of the flu season. We are prepared to come on-site several times to ensure all shifts have the opportunity to access the vaccination program. We also vary the timing to suit the industry (the changeover of shifts is an excellent time to ensure the maximum impact of the service). CRVMC sees safety as a high priority and so provides appropriate safety measures including emergency equipment and having a doctor present at all times. Influenza outbreaks can have a major impact on a workforce and vaccination programs have been successful in reducing lost time due to illness.
Health Surveillance is designed to assess and screen interested members of a workforce for significant preventable illness in its early stages. Detecting a disease early allows treatment to delay or prevent its development. To a business, this translates to a reduction in lost days due to illness. An example would include detecting and managing heart disease risk factors and by doing so reduce the heart attack rate amongst a workforce.
CRVMC has developed a simple format which includes screening blood tests prior to the on-site visit and physical examination. We believe prevention is much more powerful than cure and CRVMC would like to assist any company with this philosophy when applied to its workforce, with minimal disruption to the lives of the employees and production.
Flu Vaccination
CRVMC offers an on-site flu vaccination service that will allow for the minimal disruption to your business while ensuring that your staff is ready for the flu season.
The influenza vaccination program is provided by a nurse and doctor in middle to late autumn prior to the beginning of the flu season. We are prepared to come on-site several times to ensure all shifts have the opportunity to access the vaccination program. We also vary the timing to suit the industry (the changeover of shifts is an excellent time to ensure the maximum impact of the service). CRVMC views safety as a high priority and so provides appropriate safety measures including emergency equipment and having a doctor present at all times. Influenza outbreaks can have a major impact on a workforce and vaccination programs have been successful in reducing lost time due to illness.
For this on-site service, there will need to be a minimum of 20 people for vaccination. Please phone our nurse administration assistant Julie Morton on 9734 4111 or email Julie@crvmc.com.au to discuss your requirements.