Social Value Statement 2024

Responsible organisations holistically consider the wider social, economic and environmental effects of their activities. Social value is the opportunity for organisations to provide ‘added value’ to their local communities - value that beneﬁts the long-term wellbeing and resilience of individuals, communities and society in general. At Alimentary Solutions, we strive to have a positive impact, improving outcomes for people through our work with our service users and as an employer. Through our direct and indirect actions, we want to beneﬁt our local society and enhance people’s lives through community support, inclusivity, economic and environmental sustainability, supporting activities that improve health and wellbeing.

In terms of social value, our three priorities as a business are to be responsible in our social, economic and environmental impacts.

Social: This concerns enhancing the well-being of individuals and communities, advocating for mutual support and beneﬁcial connections.

Economic: This focuses on responsible business practices that beneﬁt the local economy and boost societal well-being. Our financial prosperity should be intertwined with societal development and progress.

Environmental: We have a responsibility to care for and look after our planet on behalf of the next generation, working with ethical suppliers, delivering our services sustainably, and supporting initiatives and practices that minimise our carbon footprint.

Our journey so far

Though we are a small business, we harbour big ambitions in terms of maximising our societal impact. We have endeavoured to deliver social value ever since we ﬁrst started delivering services in 2017, and continually set goals that push us to go further.

Social – our duty to our service users:

As a healthcare provider, we are very aware of the great responsibility that rests on our Patients put their trust in us, often at times of personal stress and anxiety; we recognise and respect this, striving to always deliver safe, high quality, compassionate care that exceeds their expectations. Our patients have a right to expect the very best in terms of outcomes and experience. We are proud to have consistently outstanding feedback for all our services, with >98% of patients indicating they are very satisﬁed with their experience.
We continually review our patient feedback, clinical outcomes (via procedural Key Performance Indicators, KPI’s) and performance through a structured audit programme, sharing data with all our Education and learning are key to maintaining the highest standards, as are honesty, transparency, freedom to speak up and a no-blame culture.
Patients have differing needs and expectations, which is why care must be patient-centred and individually It is our policy to give all patients the time and information they need to make informed choices about their care, respecting autonomy, individuality and personal requirements. Our commitment to this approach is reﬂected in our consistently 5-star rated feedback.
We will work with local Commissioners to address healthcare inequalities in our communities, developing our services with local needs in Patients have a right to access healthcare services in a timely manner, and on a parity with those that have excellent access in other parts of the country. If we remain ﬂexible and responsive to patient needs in our approach to delivering healthcare, we can have the greatest impact in improving the overall health of the communities we serve.

Social – our duty to our staff:

As a business, we pride ourselves on being an open, fair, inclusive and welcoming We value diversity in our teams and how this can beneﬁt the working environment. We will create employment opportunities in our local communities and strive to maintain a reputation for being supportive and ﬂexible.
We will continue to care for the physical and mental wellbeing of our staff and always provide a safe and supported workplace that allows staff to be themselves and deliver their best for our service As an employer, we ensure staff are well remunerated and have all the resources they need to be able to deliver the exemplary care we insist on.
Education is very important to us, and we recognise it is one of the pillars on which the platform of clinical excellence Well informed and skilled staff are best placed to care for our patients, and support them through their journey with us.
We will bring together our diverse staff and continue team-building charitable endeavours – such as our charity walk that raised funds for bowel cancer
We aspire to work with local clinical and educational institutions to offer meaningful work placement

Social – our duty to our local communities:

Our ﬁrst and foremost priority is to be a leading provider of diagnostic healthcare services with a reputation for delivering outstanding quality, safety, patient outcomes and We are already well on our way with this, having a record of delivering consistently exceptional care. We will continue to closely audit all aspects of our performance, sharing data with our staff, commissioners and regulatory authorities.
As mentioned above, we will work with our local communities and healthcare commissioners to address inequalities, aiming to develop and provide timely access to the most needed
It is our aim to be an active contributor to events, activities and societies in our local We showcase our staff community and charitable achievements, and our founding Managing Directors lead by example by volunteering and fundraising. We will continue to further develop how we support our communities. ASL is a sponsor of Astley Bridge Cricket Club (ABCC), and in 2024 offered 2 grants to support their Junior Cricket programme. The ﬁrst grant provided vital playing equipment, enabled the club to ﬁnancially support coaches and maintain the grounds to facilitate junior cricket activities. The second grant directly supported 13 junior cricketers who were struggling ﬁnancially, and allowed them to continue to participate and thrive in the sport.

Economic – our duty to the healthcare economy

Economic pressures remain very high and the increasing healthcare demand, compounded by the after-efects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other unpredictable global events, is further increasing the demands on limited It has therefore always been our approach to be as lean as possible in terms of our corporate and clinical processes, to allow cost savings to be passed back to our commissioners. We will continue to be as cost-effective as possible, whilst never compromising our insistence on clinical excellence.
As well as insisting on the highest standards of clinical governance, we recognise the importance of corporate governance to support business ASL has achieved, and will work to maintain, ISO 9001, 14001, 22301 and 27001 accreditations as well as Cyber Essentials certiﬁcation.
We are proud to be on a number of national procurement frameworks and this is a testament to our responsible and rigorous corporate and clinical These in turn underpin our ability to deliver care of the highest quality and cost- effectiveness. We will continue to work with our Commissioners, NHS Trusts, General Practitioners, Independent Sector and Research partners to deliver the much-needed capacity for our local health economy needs.
Financial responsibility is vital to maintaining business We continually monitor our spending, ensuring we strike the balance between procuring high quality equipment and consumables whilst minimising costs and waste. Maintaining our own ﬁnancial health allows us to pass on any cost savings to commissioning partners.

Environmental – our duty to the planet and future generations

The climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges that humanity is currently facing, and the facts are In 2023, the average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere was 419.3 ppm (1)- the highest in human history and more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels. Up to 20 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans are due to deforestation, exceeding the emissions from all of the passenger vehicles on the planet (2, 3). It is estimated that 3.6 billion people live in areas of high vulnerability to climate change impacts such as droughts, ﬂoods, heat waves, extreme weather events and sea-level rise (4).
Of the many human activities that contribute to climate change, healthcare provision is a signiﬁcant If the healthcare sector were a country, it would be the ﬁfth largest polluter on Earth (5). At ASL, we recognised from our inception that one of the most important ways that we could add social value, and help safeguard the health and safety of people in our communities, was to reduce our impact on the environment. This remains one of our biggest priorities as a business, driving our corporate decision making and day-to-day running.
We will continue our long-running relationship with the International Tree Foundation (ITF), supporting them to plant a tree for every procedure we do (>30,000 to date and counting!).
In 2024 we achieved ISO14001 accreditation (Environmental Management Systems), and are working with Eco-Sourcing Hub to develop and publish in 2025 our Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP).
We will work with sustainable and ethical suppliers, ensuring environmental responsibility in our supply
As part of our internal assessments and audits, we will continue to carefully monitor our energy consumption, use of consumables and waste production, promoting sustainable initiatives wherever Our environmental performance and achievements will be communicated to all our staff, as well as regulatory bodies and commissioners. By adopting best practices and sharing our own innovations, our aim is to become a leader in delivering greener, sustainable healthcare.

References

National Oceanic and Atmospheric (2024, April). No sign of greenhouse gases increases slowing in 2023 U.S. Department of Commerce. https://research.noaa.gov/2024/04/05/no-sign-of-greenhouse-gases-increases- slowing-in-2023/
Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the (2023, February). What is the role of deforestation in climate change and how can 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation' (REDD+) help?. The London School of Economics and Political Science. https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/whats-redd-and-will-it-help-tackle-climate-change/

DeCicco, , Fung, F., An, F. (2006). Global Warming on the Road: The climate impact of America’s automobiles. Environmental Defense. https://www.edf.org/sites/default/ﬁles/5301_Globalwarmingontheroad_0.pdf
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate (2022). Key Findings of the AR6 Report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability [Report]. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2022/06/WGII_AR6_Presentation_SB56.pdf
Healthcare’s Climate Footprint – How the health sector contributes to the global climate crisis and opportunities for Health Care Without Harm, Climate- smart health care series, Green Paper Number One (produced in collaboration with Arup September 2019).