Chairman’s statement
We recognise that Ergomed has a key role in improving patient health and well-being through supporting the safe development and monitoring of medicines. We are convinced that our company can have a positive impact on society. To ensure the long-term fulfilment of this role, Ergomed must always strive to improve its governance rigour and keep social and environmental matters at the heart of any decisions made.
Ergomed has planned, managed, monitored and reported over 600 Phase I-IV clinical trials with a range of technologies that include small molecule drugs, monoclonal antibodies and other targeted agents as well as cancer vaccines, immunotherapy, radioactive agents, photodynamic therapies, and more recently, COVID-19 vaccines. As part of the accurate and timely monitoring of drug safety, Ergomed globally processed over 275,000 patient cases per annum.
Our CSR policies have been developed directly in line with our company values and are integral to our strategy: we place a great emphasis on the importance of implementing these policies. We recognise that, because of our rapid growth and development, some parts of our policies are evolving and show the future direction that Ergomed’s will take: we will strive to improve accordingly.
CSR policies cover these broad topics:
Customers and stakeholders: we enter into professional, responsible and cordial relationships with our customers, suppliers, regulators and competitors. Our CSR policy describes the manner in which we interact with our customers, including how we make proposals and charge for our services in a fair, ethical and transparent way and show due accountability for our actions. Our behaviour is strongly focused on the needs of our customers and their satisfaction is of great importance to us. We deal fairly with our suppliers and competitors.
Communications: we encourage effective, professional, open and honest communication at all levels internally and with our customers. In the CSR policy, we emphasise the importance of good communication within and between departments in the company and with the Board and the mechanisms for achieving this are described. The policy also covers the need for excellent communication with our customers and the concepts of how this can be achieved.
The workplace: we provide a well-maintained comfortable working environment. The physical environment in our offices is described in our CSR policy, but this also covers the social environment which is supportive and collegial such that each employee feels respected and able to give their best.
Employee relations: our employees are of paramount importance to our success: recruitment is based on merit and suitability and all are treated with equal openness, honesty and respect in a dynamic environment that fosters development, excellence and a sense of personal value. The CSR policy explains how this is to be achieved, including the principles of: recruitment, terms of employment, job descriptions, hours of work, availability of resources, leave, reporting structure, appraisals, bullying, whistle-blowing and grievance management, personal crisis support, team-building and the need for an open, non-blaming culture. The policy covers our valuing of diversity, all employees being treated equally at all levels within the company regardless of religious belief, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation: recruitment does not discriminate based on physical or mental fitness or on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious belief or ethnicity. It also explains the need for professional development and how this can be encouraged and for recognising and rewarding talent and the importance of promoting health, well-being and safety for employees.
Community: we have a responsibility towards the local communities where we are located, as well as to a wider professional community within the fields of pharmacovigilance and medical information. Thus, our CSR policy describes how we aim to inspire talent by offering Graduate placements through local universities, as well as supporting local initiatives for improving and protecting the natural environment and helping relevant local charities and social initiatives. We encourage the sharing of our experience and expertise by voluntarily presenting and teaching at pharmacovigilance conferences and symposia, engaging with relevant professional societies other forums and contributing when possible to research and educational programmes aimed at improving the scientific basis and application of pharmacovigilance.
The environment: we endeavour to minimise any negative effect that we may have on our environment. Our policy is aimed at preventing waste, reducing consumption and avoiding unnecessary harm and describes how we encourage employees to reduce energy consumption and waste of natural resources, re-use and recycle as much as possible, disposing of waste responsibly. We promote awareness within the company of our effects on the environment and we adopt simple, environmentally friendly initiatives, helping raise awareness among our stakeholders and in the wider community.
