FirstAssist operates from two sites, Hinckley, in Leicestershire and Purley in Surrey, and currently employs 400 people. A number of the operations within the company deliver a 24 hour service, 365 days of the year.
Our telephone advice, information and support services form the basis of our core services, as well as acting as individual ‘off the shelf’ services for insurers and membership organisations to ‘add on’ to their existing products.
Legal Advice and Information – From our Hinckley office, our team of qualified legal professionals run a 24/7 quality accredited operation offering telephone legal advice and information on behalf of hundreds of clients.
Telephone Counselling – Also operating from our Hinckley office, our team of professional counsellors operate a quality accredited counselling service offering immediate support to individuals through the day or night.
Medical Advice and Information – From our Purley office, FirstAssist operates a 24/7 medical advice and information service run by a team of qualified medical professionals, doctors and nurses.
Bespoke Contact Centre Services – Providing the most efficient, cost effective solutions, FirstAssist supplies bespoke operations for organisations which outsource their call handling or out of hour’s telephone answering services.
EAPs are designed to offer 24/7 support to assist in the identification and early resolution of employee concerns before they affect performance or lead to absence.
Purchased by businesses as a benefit for employees, an EAP offers counselling, support and information services to organisations and their employees on a range of personal and work related issues. Services are delivered primarily over the telephone or online, and face to face counselling appointments can also be arranged for counselling.
FirstAssist provides a range of occupational health services including pre-employment screening, health promotion and awareness initiatives, and training services for business.
Our Absence Management services are designed to accurately track, measure and manage employee absence on behalf of organisations.
Managing Absence from ‘Day One’: The FirstAssist ‘Day One’ absence service provides a contact centre for organisations absent employees. Employees are required to report into our absence centre on the first day of their absence, where our team of health coaches log details of the absences, offer support and capture expected return to work details.
Managing Cases of Long Term Absence: Our teams of clinical and non clinical case managers are concerned with finding the most efficient resolution to longer term absences. This involves the assessment of the cause of the absence and the management of the employee through appropriate treatment (if required), in order to get them back to health and work.
FirstAssist’s rehabilitation services are provided on behalf of insurers. Our Purley-based team of dedicated case managers manage a variety of rehabilitation cases - from facilitating a simple course of physiotherapy to dealing with the many multi-dimensional needs of a person who has suffered a severe brain injury. We co-ordinate and facilitate treatment though many different providers always ensuring that appropriate and cost effective treatment is provided from beginning to end.
FirstAssist provide international medical assistance services which protect the health of business and leisure travellers overseas. When a traveller falls ill, suffers an accident or requires any other travel or medical-related help, our dedicated in-house teams of doctors, nurses and case managers are on hand 24/7 to provide advice, support and assistance and an immediate response including emergency evacuation and repatriation.
FirstAssist was originally formed in March 1998, combining the operations of three specialist companies; The Legal Protection Group (LPG), International Assistance Services (IAS) and The CareAssist Group (CAG). These companies had previously been integrated as part of the merger of Royal & Sun Alliance in 1996 and had been providing a range of legal expenses products and assistance services since 1977.
The healthcare business of FirstAssist was formed in 1997 under Royal & Sun Alliance and rapidly grew to become one of the market leaders in the provision of health and wellbeing products and services.
Bought out by management in 2003, backed by Barclays Private Equity, FirstAssist Services strengthened its Employee Assistance Programme offering with the acquisition of The Lancaster Group’s business.
The most recent development for the company was a break away from the FirstAssist Group of companies in 2007, which consisted of FirstAssist Services, FirstAssist Insurance Services and FirstAssist Legal Expenses.
Today, FirstAssist operates as an independent company, with offices in Purley and Hinckley and employs over 400 staff, including experts in medicine, law, and counselling.
FirstAssist is a leading provider of health and wellbeing services, with core products including Employee Assistance Programmes, Absence Management Solutions, Rehabilitation and International Assistance, in addition to a range of round-the-clock telephone advice, information and support services.
FirstAssist Services Limited. Registered in England and Wales No. 01404718.
Registered Office: 32 High Street, Purley, Surrey CR8 2PP