Our staff are our greatest asset and the engine for all the good things we do. Our culture, policies and systems enable them to reach their full potential and best support our partners.

In the past five years, more than 30 NHS organisations have benefited from our in-house expertise in staff engagement and skills development. We also encourage innovation and stimulate continuous improvement through formal and informal methods.

We enjoy an inclusive working environment. Diversity and equalities issues are at the heart of how we work as a partner, how we manage our workforce and engage our supply chains. All our people/workforce policies and procedures are equality impact assessed and vigorously promoted.

We run programmes, including apprenticeship schemes, aimed at recruiting members of the local community, residents and specific groups. Every year, we provide work experience placements to local school children.

We work with public sector, NHS and local authority partners to tackle discrimination and embed equality and human rights policies into our structures and processes. Our award-winning equality and inclusion team is one of the largest in the NHS and has helped numerous partners to achieve national firsts and win prestigious awards. They also support equalities-led service transformation by providing expert equality impact assessments.

Our comprehensive system for assessing potential suppliers includes an evaluation of their approach to corporate social responsibility. Our scale and our established supply chain enable us to bring different types of expertise together – providing a fusion of perspectives that is often a catalyst for new thinking and innovation.

We strive to ensure that all our staff feel valued and supported in their roles, and that they have the appropriate skills and training. To attract and retain the best people, we offer flexible working arrangements so that they can excel in our organisation while still fulfilling their other commitments.

We believe that the best ideas come from those involved in day-to-day practice. Away days help our staff to reflect on the service we provide and how it can be improved. Regular time is allocated to continuing professional development, performance review and appraisal.

More than just a job, we aim to provide our staff with a career. Our apprenticeships and management graduate trainee programme allows us to provide bespoke development support for trainees to grow into future leaders.