21.09.09
East Sussex County Council appoints leading absence management specialist
East Sussex County Council has appointed an absence management specialist to provide day one absence management for over 3,000 employees from its Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and chief executive’s departments.
The service, which commences on the 1 October 2009, will encompass day one nurse-led absence reporting, policy compliance tracking, stage of absence management and the provision of a fully secure online managers' portal that enables instant access to real-time absence data.
A return to work notification and interview service will also be introduced following the implementation stage. FirstCare was appointed following a three-way competitive tender due to its proven track record of delivering long-term financial benefits and increased service levels for local authorities, trusts and large organisations.
Leatham Green, Assistant Director, Personnel and Training for ESCC comments:
“We appointed FirstCare because of their in-depth understanding of local authority absence issues and the ability to pinpoint specific areas for improvement. The cost savings of such a service were clear from our first meeting and made a strong case when it came to securing funding. They will compliment the strong internal expertise we have established within the Council over recent years however in order to improve our performance further in proactively managing attendance additional capacity is needed and we view First Care as the best way to achieve this. ”
“One of the benefits of bringing in an outside specialist is that FirstCare can deliver a dedicated call centre function manned by trained nurses, providing our staff with the best possible advice to help them during their period of absence. For us it is not just about managing absence, we see the implementation of the FirstCare service as an additional employee benefit too and we will look to extend the service to other divisions once success has been proven.”
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