Corporate & Social Responsibility

Iskus Health is privately owned and founded in June 2000, over the last 24 years we have grown by the addition of new products or services and the focus on Patient Outcomes. Currently we 21 direct employees, (5 in the UK) and supported by 8 outsourced dedicated employees and additional contractors with a turnover of €20m+.

We entered the UK market in 2012 and setup our own company Iskus Health UK Ltd. in 2014 and now have a staff of 5 in the UK.

The company is focused on introducing new innovative products and supporting our customers with product training to Improve Patient Outcomes.

Iskus Health is committed to high quality standards and are certified to ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems, ISO45001 Occupational Health and Safety and ISO9001 Quality Management System.

Iskus Health is a trusted partner to primarily MedTech manufacturers, working to “Improve Patient Outcomes” by the Introduction of new innovative products and to provide “best in class products & solutions” for the benefits of our customers, employees and the public.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities, and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but of our reputation and the Group’s overall success. We embrace and encourage the differences that make our employees unique.

Iskus Health is committed to Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. Our employee’s investment and enthusiasm for their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but of our reputation and the Group’s overall success.

A number of our team have been with the company for between 15 years and close to half of the team for over 10 years.

Teamwork and collaboration are encouraged and through our diverse team, with different backgrounds and experiences we benefit as a company and without doubt has greatly contributed to our success.

Community Support & Customer Welfare

This segment is under development but the initial support of our customer, patients and suppliers is important to our community involvement.

Supporting our community partners is a vital element of our involvement is the provision of the highest quality medical devices and access to these devices is key to our community focused support.

We are very customer focused and during the pandemic we continued to provide product and more importantly training to the hospital communities. Our moto is “the customer comes first” and to support this we have 24 hour 365 days a year on call service, which includes getting the products to the customers over weekends and holidays.

The Company provides sponsorship for customers towards in-house or European conferences and exhibitions approved by the customers management.

The company is certified to ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems and audited each year by an approved ISO certification body.

Iskus has an Environmental Policy (EP01 rev06) as part of their ISO accreditation and outlines our responsibilities and commitments. We are committed to driving positive change within our industry and suppliers. We acknowledge that environment criteria and improvements are a requirement for a sustainable future.

Our Environmental policy is communicated to all employees regularly with a training on our policies recorded at least every two years. A copy of our policy is provided to all suppliers and contractors. A copy of the policy is available here.

We are conscious that a significant portion of our carbon footprint arises through outsourced activities such as logistics, office rental and through our supply chain and we are committed to working with our supply chain partners in this area.

During late 2023, we engaged with a number of our key suppliers and freight companies, to request copies of their environmental & sustainability initiatives to reduce our collective impact on the environment. The response has been mixed but it is a priority for Iskus Health to work with our partners to implement effective initiatives to provide sustainability improvements. The project is at an early stage but a key priority for 2024.

Once we have an overview of our partners actions it is planned, we will develop and published a Codes of Conduct for our Suppliers and Outsourced Partners during 2024.

Complying with the highest standards of governance, compliance and quality is a requirement in the healthcare industry and is essential for the Iskus Health business to be successful. The industry is already heavily regulated with Country and European requirements for medicinal and medical device products.

For medicinal product you must be licensed by the HPRA (in Ireland) or the MHRA (in the UK) and we are regularly audited by these authorised bodies.

For medical devices, there are CE, MDR (medical device regulations) and again the need to register with the MHRA or the HPRA.

All manufactures and distributors are responsible for ensuring compliance with all legal aspects of the sourcing, transport and provision of products to the healthcare market.

The industry is a highly regulated, and these regulations are essential to protect the health and safety of people who use the products and services we supply.

Iskus Health is committed to ensuring that the products we supply reach the patient in perfect condition and that we provide all services in an ethical and compliant manner.

Through extensive training the Company places a focus on a quality culture and a strong understanding of quality risk management. This allows us to meet or exceed the requirements and expectations of our customers and partners.

As referenced earlier in this document, the requirement for “Responsible and Ethical Sourcing of Products and Services” is a key driver for governance compliance and quality.  We have a draft of a new policy due to go to our next board meeting in March 2024.

“Iskus Health is committed to conducting our business in a responsible, ethical and sustainable manner. We recognise the importance of ethical, environmental, and social considerations in our supply chain and procurement activities.”

We are committed to:

• Ethical Sourcing. We commit to conducting business with honesty, integrity, and transparency.
• Respect for Human Rights. We are dedicated to upholding human rights and promoting fair labour practices throughout our supply chain.
• Environmental Sustainability. We recognize our responsibility to minimize the environmental impact of our sourcing activities.
• Supplier Engagement. We expect our suppliers to share our commitment to responsible sourcing and work with us to meet these standards. We encourage open communication and collaboration to ensure alignment with our values and principles.
• Regular Review. We commit that our sourcing practices will consistently meet the highest ethical, social, and environmental standards, we are dedicated to regular reviews of our policies and procedures.
• Resourcing for success. We understand that responsible sourcing is not just a statement of intent but a commitment that requires adequate support. We commit to investing in the training, technology, and expertise needed to monitor and improve our supply chain practices continually.

We believe that by adhering to these principles and working closely with our suppliers and stakeholders, we can create a positive impact, protect human rights, preserve the environment, and contribute to a sustainable and responsible global supply chain.

Iskus Health’s committed to promoting a company culture that is based on sound ethical values and behaviours. The Company’s Code of Conduct and Business Ethics policies defines business conduct standards for everyone who works for us, in all business areas, in every function and role.

A copy of our Code of Conduct is available here.

A copy of the Ethics Policy is available here.

The Company also has a Whistleblower Policy in place, establishing a structure where behaviours which depart from this ethical culture can be reported whilst protecting the rights of the whistleblower. A copy of our Whistleblower Policy is available here.

Iskus Health has an Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy in place and adopts a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of bribery and corruption. These standards are communicated to, and expected of, all employees. All employees under go Anti-bribery training on an I-Hasco on line training portal which issues a certificate of course completion.

Anti-bribery is also included in our Ethics Policy accessible above and finally HR handbook in section 7 procedure 7.12 Foreign Corrupt Practices Policy. Our policy is available to view here.

Iskus Health is opposed to poor labour standards in all forms. Child labour, slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, freedom of association, discrimination, inadequate working conditions or payment.

The company send a questionnaire and declaration to all suppliers and when the response is received it under goes a review and further question will be asked if required. A copy of our Labour Standards Assurance Policy is available here.

Business development and innovation is a key focus for our team, it drives our “can-do” and “the customer comes first” culture that has contributed to the growth of the company as well as our employees and their families over the past 24 years.

The out-sourced model the Company selected has performed well and has contributed to the development of our business planning, reporting and success. We are very reliant on our key Service Provider as they provide all the offices, power, heating, telephones , internet, warehousing, deliveries, storage facilities, temperature management, waste disposal and other key services. Currently we are coordinating with these service providers to drive their sustainability performance. Luckily, we have partnered with a some very large corporate company that are well ahead in their sustainable project.

A large proportion of our carbon footprint derives from our purchased goods from many areas of the world as well as the transport costs to the UK & Ireland. We have committed to a supplier engagement to investigate their emission reduction plans and timelines. In addition, we are focusing on the key freight and shipping companies we use to understand their plans and timelines.

Where possible we have switched from some suppliers from the far east to companies in Europe or North Africa, this project will continue.

However, it should be noted that the cost of the goods is generally higher from Europe and the NHS and HSE are increasing the tendering process for goods, with a key factor being price we are faced with a dilemma, reduction in emissions is driving costs higher and then government funded organisations are looking for lower cost products and these two drivers will never be compatible.

There is a need to lobby the governments in the UK and Ireland and understand and explain the economics of the incompatibilities and to look for solutions that work for the environment, the paying customers and the suppliers.

We are actively engage with our suppliers to improve data collection in our supply chain and to work together to not only set targets, but to find innovative solutions to how we can collectively reduce the impact of our supply chain on the environment.