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Life at CHEC

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nottingham team

We are an NHS provider organisation founded in 2012. Today, we are the largest provider of community-based ophthalmology services in the UK, and in more recent times, we have branched into delivery of Gastroenterology services which will be expanded throughout England.

The manner in which we conduct ourselves as one team is through our CHEC values of Caring, Passionate, Togetherness, Listening and Focus. This is the golden thread that runs through the business and differentiates us from others in this space.

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    Caring

    Making life better

    We provide high-quality care, treating each patient as we would our own relatives. Our commitment to making lives better is at the heart of everything we do.

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    Passionate

    A willingness to give our best

    We share our strengths, offering our time, knowledge, and skills to ensure the best possible care. Our passion drives us to continually improve and exceed expectations.

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    Togetherness

    Celebrating what brings us together every day

    We recognise and celebrate diversities and individualities, treating each other with respect and dignity. Together, we form one inclusive, united team.

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    Listening

    Being the best we can be

    We actively listen to patients and colleagues, showing compassion and empathy. We take ownership and responsibility, constantly striving to be the best versions of ourselves.

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    Focus

    Always striving for a better tomorrow

    We are accountable, believing in ourselves, and resilient in the face of daily challenges. Our focus is on a better tomorrow for our team, our patients, and the communities we serve.

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Great Places to Work

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amanda williams

Being recognised as one of the country’s best places to work for a second year in a row is a significant achievement for us, and is something we’ve worked hard towards.

Of note to the panel were our ability to make people of any gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation feel fairly treated, the positivity amongst our team, and the continuing sense that their work has special meaning and makes a difference – which gives them a feel-good factor about their contribution to the communities they work in.

We will always put our people at the centre of what we do and how we run the business. By ensuring positive wellbeing in the workplace, we don’t only guarantee the happiness of our staff, but we also go on to have a more beneficial impact for the patients we serve.

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thrive at work foundation level award
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great place to work logo 2023-2024
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Rewards and Recognition

accringtons first anniversary

At CHEC recognition is important and we encourage colleague to recognise their peers who show they are working in line with the company values.

We have launched a benefits platform that has something for everyone, including:

  • Cyclescheme – Discounted Cycles, via salary sacrifice
  • Techscheme – Discounted Tech and White goods via Curry’s, salary sacrifice
  • bYond – Cashback where you shop
  • Extras Discounts and Offers– discounts on a huge range of items from Coffee to Days out via discounted gift cards and e-vouchers
chief commercial director
  • Annual leave starting at 23 days, which increases with length of service and the added option to buy and sell
  • BlueLight Card
  • Dedicated reward frameworks and multiple learning opportunities
  • Dedicated clinical education team
  • Health and Wellbeing Calendar
  • MediCash- Cash health plan
  • Pension scheme
  • Gym discounts
  • Dawes Rewards – employee discount scheme
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Environmental, Social and Governance

  • We encourage the most sustainable travel wherever possible, including Cycle to Work scheme.
  • Strong culture of agile working through web conferencing, teleconferencing, phone calls, using public transport, car-sharing and monitoring and managing staff travel against mileage limits.
  • Leading digital transformation projects to facilitate virtual consultations, development of apps for patient care and supporting a reduction in travel and associated carbon.
  • IT equipment recycling and reuse schemes are in place, for example, laptops to charities to extend their lifespan.
  • Energy-saving features including motion sensor lighting fitted in many offices and treatment centres
  • Cutting plastic across the organisation by working with suppliers to remove plastic packaging and move away from single use instruments to reusable instruments
  • Recycling facilities are available on all our sites.
  • Actively contributing to a paperless NHS through our use of technology, via our electronic patient records system, booking app and greater use of email to patients rather than appointment letters.
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Health and Wellbeing

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Each month Marketing send out a social media post for things such as National Glaucoma Awareness or events such as 100% optical. As part of this calendar, we also include ESG Charity events such as the Macmillan Coffee Morning or KidsOut that donate Christmas presents to disadvantaged children.

Your health and wellbeing are as important to us as our patients. I am delighted that as an employer we have successfully achieved the Thrive at Work Foundation Level, a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to the well-being and success of our employees. This reflects our dedication to fostering a workplace culture that prioritises the health, happiness, and professional growth of every individual within our organisation.

We joined the Thrive at Work programme with the belief that a thriving workforce is the foundation of a successful company. By participating in this initiative, we have gained valuable insights and tools to enhance employee well-being, resilience, and overall satisfaction. The program has provided us with a structured framework to assess and improve various aspects of our workplace, ensuring that we create an environment where everyone can flourish.

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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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CHEC’s aim is to ensure that all colleagues are equally valued and respected and that our organisation is representative of all members of society. We define diversity as valuing everyone as an individual – we value our colleagues, job applicants, partners, sessional, bank and patients as people. This is reflected within our CHEC values.

We believe that everyone stands to benefit when we embrace and value the diversity of thoughts, ideas and ways of working and the value people from different backgrounds, experiences and identities bring. This helps our colleagues to grow and learn, enables them to realise their potential, improves decision-making, boosts engagement and innovation, and enables us to better meet the needs of our colleagues & patients.

Our current workforce is 66.5% White/Non BME and 33.5% BME. This is 15.2% higher than the 2021 Census national population average and 9.3% higher than the NHS. CHEC is a national organisation and incorporates regional diversity, across the UK. We are an equal opportunities employer and value our diverse workforce. We have a number of live initiatives to continue to diversify and celebrate our diversity. This includes:

  • Partner with Job Centre Plus, and attendance at Job Fairs
  • Partner with Health and Work Programmes, such as Ingeus
  • An ED&I Calendar covering, local, national and worldwide events
  • We are Disability Confident Committed

Current CHEC Workforce

Census 2021 NHS Workforce
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CHEC aim to continue to develop and improve our workforce demographic data held by the organisation to ensure we can continue to monitor the above-mentioned areas and improve our employees experience encouraging positive health & wellbeing. 85% of colleagues felt people cared about each other at CHEC and 90% of colleagues felt CHEC was a physically safe place to work.

  • Employee Testimonials

    Simone, Endoscopy Lead Practitioner

  • Employee Testimonials

    Demi, L&D Business Partner

  • Employee Testimonials

    Mellissa, Regional Relationship Manager

  • Employee Testimonials

    Sofija, Assistant Management Accountant

  • Employee Testimonials

    Mandie, Assistant Manager Patient Booking Centre

  • Employee Testimonials

    Sagitha, Regional Operations Manager