How to write a management referral that gets you a usable answer

Managers often describe occupational health reports as vague. Nearly always, the report was as specific as the referral allowed. The quality of the answer is set before the appointment happens.

Decide what you actually need to know

Write down the decision you are trying to make. Are you asking whether someone is fit for their current role, what adjustments would help them return, whether a condition is likely to be covered by the Equality Act, or how long an absence is likely to last? These are different questions with different answers. "Please assess" is not a question, and it will not produce one.

Get consent, and explain what happens

The employee needs to know why they are being referred, what information is being shared, who will see the report and what happens next. A referral that arrives as a surprise starts the process badly and often produces a guarded consultation. Explaining it properly is both a legal necessity and the thing most likely to get you a useful conversation.

Send the background, not just the job title

The clinician cannot assess fitness for a role they cannot picture. Include the actual duties, the physical and psychological demands, the shift pattern, the absence record, any adjustments already tried and what happened. If there is a job description, send it — and say where it differs from what the person actually does.

Ask specific, answerable questions

Ask questions a clinician can answer with the information available. "Is the employee fit to return to their substantive role, and if not, what adjustments would make that possible and for how long?" is answerable. "What is wrong with them?" is not — and you are not entitled to a diagnosis. Number your questions; the report will follow them.

Say what you can and cannot accommodate

If a phased return is impossible on a night shift, or a particular adjustment is not available, say so up front. Advice that recommends something you cannot provide wastes everyone's time and leaves you no further forward.

Act on the advice, and record what you did

The advice is advice: the employment decision remains yours. But if you depart from it, record why. That record is what demonstrates you considered the recommendation properly — and it is what you will be asked for if the decision is ever challenged.