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Social value at Spectrum

As a not-for-profit social business, we reinvest funds into initiatives and projects which tackle health inequalities and improve public health and wellbeing.

We are a member of Social Enterprise UK, the UK’s membership body for social enterprises and the voice for social enterprise.

This entertaining video from Social Enterprise UK helps to explain what social enterprises are and how they differ from charities and traditional businesses.

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But our social value is about so much more.

We are proud to take on challenging contracts which contribute towards addressing health inequalities.

Our entire health services portfolio achieves a wealth of social value which other organisations can only dream of. This includes:

  • Providing healthcare in prison and other secure environments, and helping patients access community healthcare services after their release.
  • Providing primary care for people in deprived areas and for those excluded from healthcare services.
  • Supporting health inclusion groups such as homeless people and asylum seekers.
  • Referring people in police custody into appropriate healthcare services.
  • Providing confidential and without prejudice community sexual health and substance misuse services.
  • Supporting the needs of young people through our Relationships and Sex Education programme in schools, and raising awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation.
  • Award winning work across all our services to develop innovative solutions to healthcare.
  • Health promotion and outreach work across our services, supporting our patients to access the right services and increase their personal health and wellbeing.
  • Providing volunteering and in some cases paid work opportunities for our patients in secure environments.
  • Participating in Greener on the Outside for Prisons (GOOP), which encourages initiatives using nature to support health, wellbeing and rehabilitation.

And there’s more.

We do our part by responding to emergencies and community issues:

  • Supporting which address a range of social inequalities, such as the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
  • Establishing our Wakefield Health Inclusion Service (now part of WY-FI Plus) which provides a person centred approach to support the multiple and complex needs of people who are currently homeless or rough sleeping.
  • Using our expertise to lead on national work to understand and manage Mpox.
  • Mobilising a large scale COVID-19 clinic in under six weeks – the largest in West Yorkshire.
  • Utilising our research services to develop solutions for a wide range of health inequalities. For example, our partnership study on the impact of COVID-19 has helped to evidence the disproportionately high effects of the pandemic on our prison population compared to our community populations.

Charitable initiatives

  • We have an independent charity, Spectrum People, which works to support vulnerable people overcoming barriers in their lives.
  • We undertake a number of charitable works each year, including donations based on completion of our staff survey to charities chosen by our staff. Our chief executive and many of our staff undertake challenges and support local fundraising initiatives.
  • We support local and overseas social prescribing community projects, including the donation of equipment to Ukraine (in conjunction with Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust and the Medical Association of Ukraine) and the gifting of our award-winning colposcopy equipment to Pakistan (via DP Medical and the charity IMRA).

Within Spectrum

Our social value reaches across our own organisation, with a number of initiatives in place to support our staff, improve our carbon footprint, improve our services and encourage people into employment:

  • We are committed to co-producing our services with our staff and our patients.
  • We are a lived experience inclusive employer and a pilot site for the NHS Lived Experience Charter, which supports employment opportunities for people with lived experience of the criminal justice and care systems.
  • We are a participant in Project Search, a transition to work programme committed to transforming the lives of young adults with a learning disability and autism or both.
  • We have a comprehensive staff wellbeing programme in place.
  • We are committed to our Green Plan, supporting the UK Climate Change policy and the NHS Net Zero target.

By choosing to work with Spectrum, you are choosing to help us continue to deliver a wealth of initiatives which enhance economic, social and environmental wellbeing for people in vulnerable circumstances.