Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Protecting the environment

We acknowledge the impact that our activities have on the environment and the role that organisations like ours have to play in tackling climate change.

In 2022 we announced our ambition to become a net zero organisation by 2040, alongside a new plan specifying our targets to reduce our carbon footprint, eliminating scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 2030, and scope 3 emissions by 2040.

We have since taken several steps on this journey. We have calculated our carbon emissions since our baseline year of 2019, established a working group to implement our net zero plan and are currently working on projects that will help us make more efficient use of energy on site.

Everyone in the organisation will have a part to play in helping us achieve net zero, and we look forward to working with colleagues and suppliers to help us reach this important goal.

Promoting social mobility

As part of our commitment to CSR and to equality, diversity, and inclusion, we offer apprenticeship opportunities, and have recently expanded our apprenticeship scheme. Apprenticeships provide exciting and varied career opportunities to those who may not have access to further education or who particularly benefit from on-the-job training. 

We also strongly support widening participation in medical education. We want young people to have a fair and equal chance of becoming the medical professionals of the future. So we work with organisations who support young people from less advantaged backgrounds interested in a career in the medical field. For example, we have been working with the Social Mobility Foundation, Edge Hill Medical School and Lancaster Medical School to host joint events for A-level and first-year medical students from less advantaged backgrounds. The events are extremely well received, and provide valuable networking opportunities for many bright and capable individuals, as well as an early introduction to their future professional regulator. 

Supporting the community

In May 2023 we launched a new initiative to repurpose older generation laptops in the organisation and donate them to small community organisations across the UK. We have been working with Business in the Community to distribute these by the end of the year. We are hoping to extend this scheme in 2024 to include more electronic equipment.

We also continue to support the Royal Voluntary Service’s Befriending Scheme. Through the scheme, volunteer members of staff have weekly companionship phone calls with people at risk of being lonely or isolated. The scheme provides invaluable support to elderly people, and many of our volunteers have formed lasting connections with the people they call.

Colleagues have also continued to take part in our volunteer reading scheme. The volunteers spend time twice a week reading with secondary school students who need additional support with literacy. We have seen impressive results from programme participants, with some students showing reading age improvements of up to seven years within an academic year. 

And throughout 2023, some of our in-house coaches supported a Business in the Community initiative guiding long-term unemployed individuals seeking to re-enter the workplace, while others worked with senior leaders in a small environmental charity, helping our coaches and the charity workers alike build confidence in their respective fields. 

Benchmarking and working with partners to promote CSR

We play an active role within the Cross-regulator CSR Group, whose membership recently expanded further and now also includes:

• The Nursing and Midwifery Council
• General Dental Council
• General Pharmaceutical Council
• Health and Care Professionals Council
• Social Work England
• General Chiropractic Council
• General Optical Council. 

The group meets regularly throughout the year, discussing topics such as the regulation of sustainable healthcare, environmental matters, and responsible procurement.