General practitioners and occupational health services

Background. Occupational physicians and general practitioners often appear to differ in their attitudes to the provision of health screening, health promotion and vaccination in the workplace. Aim. This study aimed to explore the attitudes of occupational physicians and general practitioners to particular aspects of workplace health services. Method. Anonymous piloted postal questionnaires were sent to 400 UK general practitioners and 300 occupational physicians. Results. Questionnaires were returned by 260 general practitioners (65%) and 223 occupational physicians (74%). There are differences between the specialties in attitude to specific health screening and vaccination at work, and to the role of occupational health services in helping the disabled, but greater agreement on the usefulness of workplace health promotion. Conclusion. General practitioners may misunderstand the role, responsibilities and priorities of occupational health services. Further educational work needs to be done to overcome communication difficulties between the specialties.