Optegra announced as official "The sunday times best places to work employer"

Optegra announced as official “The sunday times best places to work employer”

Specialist eye hospital group, Optegra, has been announced as an official employer in the prestigious The Sunday Times Best Places to Work UK listing.

The eye hospital group, with 19 hospitals and clinics in the UK, has been successfully recognised for its consistently high levels of employee experience and wellbeing, and notably is the only private health provider on this prestigious list.

Edna Osborn, HR and Finance Director for Optegra, commented: “We are so proud of this recognition, which reflects our continued commitment to always put patients and employees first. We go above and beyond to support all our colleagues from perks – offering not only perks like free eye health checks, but even complimentary vision correction surgery, private medical insurance, and access to exceptional training and apprenticeship opportunities.

“We foster a healthy and safe working environment for both body and mind, focus on attracting, developing and retaining top talent, and are proud of our respectful, diverse and inclusive culture.

“This achievement marks a significant milestone for us as a business, and it reflects the hard work, dedication, and passion each of our employees brings to work every day.”

This nationwide workplace survey honours and celebrates the UK’s top employers, which number over 500 organisations across industries and sizes, and acknowledges the best workplaces for women, LGBTQIA+ community, disabled employees, ethnic minorities, younger and older workers, and wellbeing.

Mat Pickering, Managing Director for Optegra, added: “I am delighted that Optegra has been recognised in the ‘Best Big Companies’ category of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work. The professionalism and dedication of the team are often praised by patients who note the excellent communication and efficient processes that make daily operations smooth and rewarding.

“Beyond the clinical impact, we are proud of the meaningful career opportunities we provide, coupled with a competitive and comprehensive package of benefits – from Future Leaders training and Kudos Recognition programmes to Annual Star Awards to encourage employees, wellbeing events and charitable support. We want to build on this achievement and continue striving for excellence in everything we do.”

How the survey works

The Sunday Times partnered with employee-experience platform WorkL to deliver fresh insights into what makes a Best Place to Work. The awards use 26 questions from WorkL’s employee engagement survey, developed by behavioural scientists, data analysts, psychologists, business leaders, academics and other independent parties to most accurately monitor employee engagement, wellbeing and discretionary effort in the workplace. To achieve a high overall engagement score, an organisation must score well across WorkL’s six-step framework:

Reward and Recognition
Instilling Pride
Information Sharing
Empowerment
Wellbeing
Job Satisfaction

Optegra Eye Health Care is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, with its first hospital opening in 2008, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 70 eye hospitals across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Holland.

As well as providing private vision correction treatments – from lens replacement and laser eye surgery to implantable contact lenses – Optegra treats cataract surgery both privately and through its partnership with the NHS. Optegra also treats medical conditions AMD and glaucoma; and has launched the first ever treatment for people with the Dry form of AMD.

Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 140,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service.