Occupational Health Nurse Advisor | East Healthcare NHS Trust

Occupational Health Nurse Advisor | East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

The Band 6 Occupational Health Nurse Advisor plays a key role in supporting the health, safety and wellbeing of the workforce within East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. The post holder provides specialist occupational health advice to managers and staff, ensuring employees are fit to work safely and effectively while promoting early intervention and preventative health strategies.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary occupational health team, the role focuses on clinical triage, fitness for work assessments, and case management of employees with physical or mental health conditions impacting their work.

A significant element of the role includes managing occupational health referrals, prioritising clinical need, and acting as a gatekeeper to ensure appropriate allocation and escalation of complex cases. The post holder also undertakes pre-employment health screening (“clear to work”) assessments, ensuring safe recruitment practices, and contributes to immunisation, screening, and blood‑borne virus (BBV) management programmes in line with national guidance.

The role requires strong clinical judgement, communication, and case management skills, with the ability to liaise effectively with managers, HR, clinicians and external stakeholders. The post holder contributes to the duty clinician function, responding to urgent workforce health queries and coordinating timely interventions where required.

• Clinical triage and referral management – Review and prioritise occupational health referrals, assess risk and urgency, and ensure cases are directed to the most appropriate pathway or escalated when required.
• Fitness for work assessments – Undertake occupational health assessments to determine employees’ ability to work safely, providing advice on workplace adjustments, phased returns, restrictions, and rehabilitation plans.
• Case management – Manage a caseload of staff with physical and mental health conditions, supporting early intervention, reducing sickness absence, and coordinating ongoing care with relevant stakeholders.
• Pre‑employment (clear to work) screening – Assess health questionnaires and supporting medical information to determine fitness for employment and advise on any adjustments required prior to start.
• Immunisation and screening programmes – Support occupational health vaccination, screening, and health surveillance programmes in line with national guidance and local policy.
• Exposure and BBV management – Assess and manage workplace exposure incidents, including blood‑borne virus risks, ensuring appropriate follow‑up, advice, and escalation where necessary.
• Duty clinician responsibilities – Provide clinical coordination on a rota basis, respond to urgent queries, support incident management, and deliver timely occupational health advice.

A wide range of staff benefits are available to our staff including staff development, enrolment in the NHS pension scheme, auto‑enrolment to our Temporary Workforce Service, access to onsite nurseries, staff restaurants and accommodation.

In addition to an internal Occupational Health department, all staff also have access to free psychological support through our confidential Employee Assistance Programme. Onsite parking is available from only £50 a year.

Statement on the Use of AI

We value the individuality that each candidate brings to the application process. While we understand that AI tools are widely available, we strongly discourage applicants from using AI‑generated content when applying for jobs with us. We believe that your application should reflect your true skills, experiences, and motivations, which are best conveyed through your own words and unique perspective.

Using AI for your application may not accurately represent your knowledge, skills, and experience and may result in a disconnect between your qualifications and our assessment of your application.

We encourage applicants to take the time to thoughtfully complete their applications; by doing so, you allow us to better understand your true potential and ensure a fair and transparent evaluation of your application. Over reliance on AI‑generated content may diminish your chance of success.

Please refer to the job description attached when considering if this role is right for you. Please use your personal statement to evidence how you meet the requirements for this job role.

If you have any questions about this position please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Company: ESHT

Salary: £39,959 - £48,117 per annum

Hours:

Part‑time

Location:

Eastbourne, BN21 2UD

Job type:
Permanent

Posting date: 6 Aug 2026

Closing date: 5 Sept 2026

About Disability Confident

Disability Confident is a government scheme. It encourages employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term health conditions.