Introduction
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was introduced to help eradicate slavery, forced labour and human trafficking in the operations and supply chains of companies. Modern slavery is a heinous crime and a morally reprehensible act that deprives a person’s liberty and dignity for another person’s gain. It is a real problem for millions of people around the world, including many in developed countries, who are being kept and exploited in various forms of slavery. Every company is at risk of being involved in this crime through its own operations and its supply chain.
Our Commitment
At Silicon Practice we have a zero tolerance approach to modern slavery and are fully committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our operations and supply chain. This statement outlines the steps we have taken to understand the risk related to our business and the actions we take to prevent and mitigate those risks.
Our Business
Silicon Practice Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales No 4174491. We operate in England and have one office location: Kingston House, Lydiard Fields, Swindon, Wiltshire SN5 8UB. Our registered office address is Westbury Court, Church Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, BS9 3EF. We directly employ more than 38 staff within the UK and colleagues across Silicon Practice work under comparable terms and conditions that are in accordance with UK employment law.
Silicon Practice delivers a digital first approach to the way patients access services from their GP Practice. We do this with FootFall, The Digital Practice, designed to help patients navigate their way to find help in exactly the way they would if they walked into reception. The home page of FootFall is clearly laid out to help patients manage their health more easily and request advice from a health professional.
It means people are getting the help they need quicker and more conveniently. For practices it reduces the pressure on the phone, helps them manage their time more effectively and keep face to face appointments for those who really need it.
Risk Assessment & Supply Chain
In the last year we have conducted a risk assessment of our business and supply chain taking into account:
- The risk profile of individual countries based on the Global Slavery Index
- The business services rendered by our suppliers
- The presence of vulnerable demographic groups
- The insights provided by human rights groups
The suppliers we use to deliver our activities and our own operations are primarily based in the UK. We contract with a small range of suppliers from large companies to sole traders. As part of our approach to maintaining a supply chain that is free of modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking, we require all commercial organisations forming part of our supply chain to provide a copy or link to their anti-slavery statement.
Where such a statement does not exist (for example, where the company does not meet the act’s criteria for a statement to be produced), we require a statement from the company confirming that it is committed to and acts according to the moral principles of the act.
Policies
Silicon Practice has a number of policies in place that assist with preventing and identifying human trafficking and slavery in our operations:
- Whistle-blowing policy- we encourage all employees, customers and suppliers to report any suspicion of slavery or human trafficking without fear of retaliation.
- Employee Handbook- our handbook encourages employees to do the right thing by clearly stating the actions and behaviour expected of them when representing the business. We strive to maintain the highest standards of employee conduct and ethical behaviour
Awareness
Silicon Practice has raised awareness of modern slavery issues by sending an email that is focused specifically on modern slavery to all our staff, which explains:
- Our commitment in the fight against modern slavery
- Red flags for potential cases of modern slavery and human trafficking
- How employees should report suspicions of modern slavery
Measuring our Performance
Silicon Practice has defined some key performance indicators and controls to combat modern slavery and human trafficking in our organisation and supply chain. These include:
- How many awareness updates has the company provided to staff in the last year?
- How many employees have completed mandatory training?
- How many suppliers have provided us with a modern slavery & human trafficking statement or declaration?
- How many reports have been made by our employees that indicate awareness of and sensitivity to ethical issues?
- What are the findings from annual reviews on how we are addressing modern slavery and human trafficking?
Future Plans
In the next financial year we commit to:
- All employees completing mandatory training which covers:
- Various forms of modern slavery in which people can be held and exploited
- The size of the problem and the risk to our organisation
- How employees can identify the signs of slavery and human trafficking, including unrealistically low prices
- How employees should respond if they suspect slavery or human trafficking
- What external help is available for the victims of slavery
- What terms and guidance should be provided to suppliers in relation to slavery policies and controls
- What steps Silicon Practice will take if a supplier fails to implement anti-slavery policies or controls
- An attestation from employees that they will abide by Silicon Practices modern slavery policy
- Create a modern slavery policy
- Create a procurement and supplier policy
- Allocate supplier contract management roles and responsibilities
- Review all supplier agreements to ensure they best reflect our commitment
- Continue to raise awareness of modern slavery through regular staff bulletins and training
- Convene a small group of staff to consider further steps we can take that are proportionate to our risk areas
Declaration
This statement has been approved by the Directors of Silicon Practice.