All doctors should have an individual Covid-19 risk assessment conducted in their workplace. This will inform work-place-related safety adjustments.
If you have not been given a risk assessment, or feel that you may be at risk based on any individual or environmental factors, scroll down to the bottom of this page and launch the Covid-19 risk assessment wizard.
Individual risk assessments for staff are separate to, and do not replace the need for, risk assessment of the workplace.
This must take account of COVID-19 hazards and mitigation for them including the use of social distancing and PPE.
To empower doctors and GP partners to be appropriately risk assessed, the BMA has brought together resources that can help.
Risk assessments should be conducted on an individual basis and consider a range of factors that may put doctors and health care workers at greater risk from COVID-19, or have a greater impact on the disease.
Factors relevant to an assessment of COVID-19 risk include:
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Biological sex
- Disability
- Health conditions, and
- Pregnancy.
A risk assessment should not replace the advice some doctors will have received, by letter or text message, explaining that they have already been determined as clinically vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable.
A clinical evaluation of increased vulnerability should take precedence over any other risk assessment tool.
For doctors in these groups, working arrangements to mitigate their additional risk from COVID-19 should have already been implemented and should be maintained until they are informed otherwise.
Risk assessments should be done in a one-to-one setting, recognising this will require sensitive discussions.
An individual health RA (risk assessment) for COVID-19 is an estimate of how likely you are to contract it in the type of work you do (workplace RA) and the likely medical consequences if this happens (personal health RA).
The workplace RA is the legal duty of the employer who controls the workplace.
The employer is responsible for the ultimate decision on the work conditions and role in which an employee can be deployed, as they are likely to be held accountable in their workplace.
For a workplace risk assessment, work activities and work conditions are usually categorised into ‘traffic light’ risk category areas, according to the likelihood of exposure to COVID-19.
If the employer does not have sufficient expertise to do this they should consult relevant experts eg in infection control and occupational medical and safety advice.
The individual health risk assessment can be completed on a self-assessment template, but where there is any doubt or concern, should be assessed through an OH (occupational health) department in medical confidence.
Depending on where you work, the approach to individual risk assessment will vary.
Primary care
If you are working in a GP practice, it may not be clear where responsibility for risk assessments lies and occupational health services are not available to all staff.
If you are a GP partner or a single-handed GP, you may need to undertake a self-assessment.
GP practices should provide a risk assessment working with locums who deliver sessions at their surgery.
The impact on primary care
The adjustments required for high-risk staff could have wide-ranging and significant impacts on individual practices, other staff, and patients, particularly where it is a smaller practice, a rural practice, and/or a practice with predominantly high-risk individuals.
Secondary care and public health
If you are working in a hospital, it is generally your line manager who will carry out a risk assessment with input from an occupational health service where available.
You may find undertaking a self-assessment of your risk first is helpful preparation for discussions you may have with a manager.
For doctors who work in multiple settings, you may require separate assessments.
Of the many risk assessment tools out there, the British National Health Service recommends the Safety Assessment And Decision (SAAD) Score (2) risk assessment tool.
One of the reasons for backing this personal COVID-19 risk assessment tool is a significant concern amongst all clinicians as Blacks, Asians or
Minority Ethnic (BAME) is a risk factor for morbidities and mortalities.
