Care UK revamps benefits offering with launch of online portal

Care UK has revamped its benefits offering with the launch of an online portal to give nurses, carers and remote workers easy access to its employee reward scheme.

The health and social care provider said the portal would help its staff save money and easily find useful information about discounts and services by using smart-phones, tablets and computers.

The portal, which is accessible by more than 20,000 employees, includes access to selected corporate discount partners; the organisation’s pension schemes providers; personal insurance services; and advice about what help is available to people returning to work after time at home with their children.

Care UK said it had launched the reward portal to help workers who were rarely in a traditional office environment – noting it would be particularly useful to the thousands of staff like nurses and care workers whose jobs meant they did not have regular access to a Care UK computer or its intranet.

Care UK group human resources director Karen McCormick said: “Care UK is unique in the health and social care sector. Not only is it one of the largest independent organisations – and still growing – it is also one of the most diverse in terms of the services it provides and the people it employs.

“An engaged workforce is crucial to the success of Care UK and we are constantly evaluating the channels we use to communicate with employees. This can be challenging due to the fact that many colleagues are not online while at work, but we have a responsibility to ensure that the people delivering care – and our many remote workers – have convenient access to the same resources as their colleagues who are usually office-based.

“The flexibility of the reward portal is what makes it truly useful in everyday life. For example, a colleague out shopping can now compare prices with our corporate discount partners to find the best deal before they pay for goods and services.”

During the past 18 months Care UK has gained more than 10,000 employees following the expansion of its healthcare, homecare, mental health and residential care services.

Next year it anticipates opening 14 new, state-of-the-art care homes across the country, which has attracted investment estimated to be in the region of £110m.