Help@hand sees uptake of appointments for partners and children, even out of hours

Employee benefits provider Unum have announced that their health and wellbeing app, Help@hand, now has over 250,000 eligible users, with more than 1,100 businesses signed up for the service. 

Over 8,400 appointments were booked via the Help@hand app in 2020, with 1 in 6 (16%) bookings in the last six months being made for partners and children of employees, indicating that Help@hand’s Remote GP service – which includes unlimited appointments and 24/7, 365 day a year access – is not only benefiting those in the workplace, but also their loved ones.

The app has been particularly valuable for children’s medical appointments, with 9% of bookings from July last year being made for those under the age of 16. One of Help@hand’s standout features is that it offers the employee’s family members access to the services.

Employees and their families have also utilised the 24/7, unlimited aspect of the remote GP service via the app, with 15% of patients making an appointment ‘out-of-hours’ – either before or after 8am-8pm on a weekday, or any time on a weekend, another key offering from the Help@hand app – allowing employees to create a better work/health balance with appointments available at a time that suits them.

97% of remote GP appointments have been offered within 2 hours of initial customer engagement or within 2 hours of customer’s preferred time (if later) – and 96% of mental health support and physio appointments have been offered with 2 working days. 

Unum’s Help@hand service provides fast, direct access to medical experts – including personalised physiotherapy treatment plans, mental health support, medical second opinions with specialist UK based consultants and unlimited access to remote GPs. The employee benefits provider also integrated their Employee Assistance Programme within the app in April last year, to provide a comprehensive digital health and wellbeing offering for employees in the workplace.

The service is available at no additional cost for employees insured through a Unum Group Income Protection policy and has exponentially grown over the last year**. The app is powered by Square Health – who were recognised by the Care Quality Commission in their last inspection as having an ‘outstanding’ culture of placing patient safety first.

Peter O’Donnell, CEO of Unum UK commented: “Our focus is on providing quality health and wellbeing services that enable simple and fast access to medical experts. 2020 was an extremely difficult year for us all, and we are proud to be able to give employers, employees and their families the vital support they need – whenever they need it.”