Care First - Employee Assistance Programme

Care First Access Portal 

Who are Care First?

With ever increasing pressures at work and home, there are times when we all need some extra support to balance the demands of everyday life. Care First are an independent, leading provider of professional employee support services. Care First employ professionally qualified Counsellors and Information Specialists, who are experienced in helping people to deal with all kinds of practical and emotional issues such as Wellbeing, family matters, relationships, debt management, workplace issues, and much more. 

Care First Leaflet

How to access Care First services?

Care First is accessible via telephone and online. In order to access the telephone and online Care First Services, you will need to log into our dedicated portal where using your university username and password. Once you've logged in, you will see instructions for online and telephone support. 

Care First Access Portal 

How do I use the service?

Care First provides confidential, impartial advice and support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service is free for you to access whenever you need. You don’t need to ask permission from your manager or organisation before contacting Care First.

The EAP can provide information booklets, articles, resource information on support services in your local area and even short term face-to-face counselling to help get you back on track.

What do I use the service for?

Care First is designed to help you with a wide range of work, family and personal issues. From work-life balance to childcare information, relationships to workplace issues, health and well-being, let your EAP support you on the issues that affect all of us at some point in our lives. Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Work-life balance
  • Relationships
  • Childcare information
  • Health and well-being
  • Debt
  • Disability and illness
  • Careers
  • Bereavement and loss
  • Stress
  • Elder care information
  • Life events
  • Immigration
  • Anxiety and depression
  • Family issues
  • Bullying and harassment
  • Education
  • Consumer rights
  • Workplace pressure.

Is it confidential?

Your organisation does not know who uses our service unless the individual personally chooses to tell someone about their contact with Care First. Care First provide statistics to your organisation to show how many employees use the service and the broad types of issues that employees raise with us, for example; ‘relationship breakdown at home’ or ‘bullying and harassment in the workplace’, so no information is ever passed on which could potentially identify you.

Care First - Introducing a new support service (PDF)
Care First Leaflet (PDF)
Management Service (PDF)
Care First Confidentiality Promise (PDF)
COVID-19 Links between Care first services

Wellbeing Zone resources

Care First offer a range of courses each month that are free to staff.   Simply follow the links below, or for more information, please go to our Training & Development page, and follow the link to "Health & Wellbeing":  Staff Health & Wellbeing page