This statement comprises the modern slavery statement of the md healthcare Ltd, Optimum Nurse and Optimum Care’s (hereafter, referred to as ‘The Company’) in accordance with Section 54, Part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Modern slavery covers slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking. It is often intertwined with organised crime and victims are treated as commodities and exploited for criminal gain.
The Modern Slavery Act, (the “Act”), was published in 2015 and builds upon existing legislation, consolidating a number of different offences into a single act. These offences are set out and defined below:
Organisational Structure
The Company provides a broad range of services, from provision of nursing and domiciliary care, provided under the name Optimum Care, practical support, through to high-quality nursing and residential care provided in comfortable, attractive, purpose-built care homes by our sister company MD Healthcare.
Across the group, the Company employs approximately 800 staff members.
Protecting Our Staff
The Company is committed to treating all its staff in a fair and consistent manner and in accordance with our values: Teamwork & Partnership, Openness & Honesty, Kindness, Understanding & Respect and Quality & Best Practice. The measures we have in place to prevent modern slavery from occurring in our operations and supply chain are summarised below.
Recruitment
We take a robust approach to recruiting both our permanent and bank staff. We communicate directly with people to discuss any work opportunities and to confirm details of any offer made. We have rigorous procedures in place for the vetting of new team members and flexible workers and ensure that we are able to confirm their identities and their right to work in the UK. We pay Real Living Wage directly into a personal bank account.
All new staff are required to complete an induction, which includes information and training on the Company’s policies through our E-learning platform Optimum Inspire.
When using employment agencies, we only use specific reputable companies to source workers and always verify their practices before we engage them.
Policies
The Company is committed to achieving and maintaining high standards of professional and ethical conduct amongst all team members. Our expectations are made clear through a number of policies including, but not limited to, the following:
The Company’s supply chain
Our approach to procurement and our supply chain includes:
Training
Advice and training about modern slavery is available to staff through our mandatory safeguarding children and adults training courses.
Review
This policy will be reviewed by the Senior Management Team annually and in accordance with changes in legislation.