Occupational Health Requirements

The following vaccinations are mandatory for all healthcare students before you begin your studies:

• MMR (measles, mumps and rubella)

• Hepatitis B

• Meningococcal meningitis

• Diphtheria

• Pertussis (whooping cough)

• Poliomyelitis

• Tetanus.

If you do not have any of the vaccinations listed above, please contact your GP to arrange for these as soon as possible.

Screening for Chickenpox, Tuberculosis, HIV and Hepatitis B and C will be carried out by St George’s Occupational Health team when you begin your degree.

Decisions about fitness to study and practise are made by the Occupational Health department during an appointment. The Occupational Health team can discuss any concerns you might have during the application process and can be contacted directly on +44(0)20 8725 1661 or by email.

 We want to make sure we can support you through your studies.

If you suffer or have suffered from a serious illness (physical or psychological), have a disability, or have been required to shield due to Covid-19, please let us know. St George’s is committed to supporting our students and will explore all reasonable adjustments to support you to thrive on your course.

Please contact our Disability Advisor as soon as possible with details to help us establish whether your health history or disability is likely to affect your ability to study or practise. This will also give us sufficient time to carry out a detailed assessment, obtain reports and organise additional expert assessments if required.

Completing the Occupational Health form

We understand that the outbreak of Covid-19 may impact your ability to complete the Occupational Health requirement. Below is an outline of the things in place to try to make this process as simple as possible during this uncertain time.

• Most GP surgeries are now equipped with software to allow for remote consultations.  The GP sections of the Occupational Health form can usually be completed without you present, so you may be able to conduct the whole task via email. Please speak to your GP surgery about how they would like to you proceed.

• The Occupational Health department at St George’s is also able to offer remote meetings with our offer holders. Not all offer holders will require a meeting with Occupational Health, but a small proportion will be asked to attend a meeting in order to discuss Occupational Health’s recommended support.

Covid vaccinations

We do not require you to have been vaccinated against Covid-19 before enrolment, but we recommend that you seek a vaccination as soon as possible.

GMC Good Medical Practice recommends that doctors should be immunised against common serious communicable diseases unless this is contraindicated, and healthcare students on placements are expected to adhere to the same standards.

For students on clinical courses, the Department of Health and Social Care in England and NHS England recognise students on clinical placements as essential workers. Therefore, we recommend that you seek a vaccine before your age‐cohort is invited, in order to ensure you have had at least one, and if possible both doses, before you start your studies.

To do this you could:

• Ensure your GP is aware that you will be starting a clinical course, and ask if they would vaccinate you as a future essential worker.

• Book via the NHS England Website, self‐declaring as a healthcare student who will be going on placements. You can use your SGUL offer email as evidence if required.

• Wait until you are invited as your age-cohort reaches the top of the priority list.

You will be asked to provide details of whether you have or haven’t had a Covid vaccination on your Occupational Health questionnaire for our records.

We suggest you submit your occupational health form as soon as possible. For most offer holders, the deadline for forms to be received is 15 July 2021. The assessment of your form will then take place before enrolment.

Costs for the occupational health check varies depending on how many additional vaccines you may need, and how much the GP charges for completion of the form. You are responsible for meeting all of the costs associated with this check.

Please continue to chase your GP for the information you require as it remains your responsibility to ensure a completed form is submitted, and failure to do so may mean you are not issued an unconditional offer, or allowed to enrol.  If the deadline is approaching, you are advised to email Admissions to discuss your situation.

If you live in a country where General Practitioners are not available, the GP section of the form can be completed by a family doctor, or equivalent, or any physician who has provided treatment to you in the past. They will need to have access to your medical records to complete the questions we have in the GP section of the Occupational Health form. If you are from the UK, you will need to register with a GP in order to have the form completed. If you are still unsure, please contact our Occupational Health department who will consider your individual circumstances.

If you are unable to obtain one of the required vaccines, the Occupational Health department may be able to administer the required dose for you. Please submit the form with notes about vaccines you’ve been unable to obtain and the Occupational health department will be in touch to discuss this. Please be aware that it remains your responsibility to obtain the relevant vaccines so relying on the Occupational Health department should be considered a last resort. Further advice can be found by contacting the Occupational Health department directly on on 020 8725 1661 or by email. 

Deferred from 2020, to enrol in 2021

If you have deferred entry and are due to start your course in 2021, you may not need to complete another occupational health check. If you submitted and passed an occupational health check last year, and nothing has changed in the past year, you can request an Occupational Health Declaration for Deferred Offer Holders from the Admissions team. If you did not submit, or pass, an occupational health check last year, or if something health-related has changed in the last year, please complete your occupational health check as detailed above.

Deferred from 2021, to enrol in 2022

If you have deferred your offer and are due to start your course in 2022, please still complete your occupational health check as detailed above, as this is a condition of your offer. In 2022, you will be able to complete a declaration form if there have been no changes to your health.

We do not require you to have been vaccinated against Covid-19 before enrolment, but we recommend that you seek a vaccination as soon as possible.

To do this you could:

• Ensure your GP is aware that you will be starting a clinical course, and ask if they would vaccinate you as a future essential worker.

• Book via the NHS England Website, self‐declaring as a healthcare student who will be going on placements. You can use your SGUL offer email as evidence if required.

• Wait until you are invited as your age-cohort reaches the top of the priority list.

All applicants must complete an occupational health check by the deadline, but you might be able to submit all of the required information via a nominated representative. The GP report can often be completed without you present, so a relative or trusted friend could complete your sections, and complete the GP report on your behalf. It remains your responsibility to meet this requirement, and without an occupational health submission, you may not be issued an unconditional offer, or allowed to enrol.