Supplier Code of Conduct

MEDIAN Group Human Rights Policy Statement

Headquartered in Bussum/Netherlands, the MEDIAN B.V. is today one of the leading providers of medical rehabilitation and mental healthcare in Europe. With more than 29,400 employees, MEDIAN looks after around 290,000 patients every year across 425 clinics and facilities in Germany, the UK and Spain. In partnership with its subsidiary, Priory, the UK’s leading independent operator of hospitals and provider of socio-therapy for treating psychological illnesses and learning difficulties, MEDIAN Group is a leader in the field, offering a unique combination of cutting-edge medicine, the highest quality standards and digital expertise in modern rehabilitation.

MEDIAN focuses on providing all patients with the best possible medical, therapeutic and nursing care. When it comes to quality, MEDIAN wants to lead by example and be a solid provider with above-average service. MEDIAN wishes to achieve this aim but not at the expense of suppliers, employees or the environment. Instead, MEDIAN aims to take human rights and environmental risks into consideration in every area of its business and at every stage of creating value.

Scope of application

This Policy Statement is applicable to MEDIAN B.V, its affiliated companies, and all employees, organs and supervisory boards of these companies.

MEDIAN’s commitment to human rights and the environment and MEDIAN’s expectations of its business partners

MEDIAN is committed to all human rights and environmental conventions reflected in Annex 2 to the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), as applicable at any time, and lives up to this commitment in its day-to-day operations.

MEDIAN expects the same commitment from its business partners. MEDIAN business partners  should ideally pre-empt and monitor human rights or environmental risks and implement remedies and other preventive actions to ensure these risks do not happen again. The Supplier Code of Conduct describes what specifically MEDIAN expects of its business partners. Compliance with the standards set out in the Supplier Code of Conduct is ensured through contractual agreements.

Responsibility for human rights or environmental risks at MEDIAN

Human rights and environmental matters at MEDIAN are addressed at the senior management level. The Human Rights Officer is responsible for conducting and monitoring risk management in day-to-day operations. The Human Rights Officer is in direct contact with senior management. In addition to the annual report, the Human Rights Officer reports serious risks to people or the environment to senior management on an ad hoc basis in order that remedies can be implemented immediately.

Risk management 

A risk management strategy which covers the entire value creation chain is intended to protect all people and the world they live in. For that reason, MEDIAN uses a number of different tools to assess the risks that might arise from the operation of hospitals, clinics, therapy centres, reintegration facilities and internal service providers.

Risk assessment

Risk assessments are at the core of MEDIAN’s risk management strategy. 

These risk assessments cover three different areas of business operations: MEDIAN’s own operations, the procurement of products and services, and the manufacture of products by indirect suppliers.

MEDIAN conducts risk assessments for all Group companies and all areas of the business wherever appropriate and on a regular basis. MEDIAN also regularly assesses the quality assurance reports produced by the quality management team, as well as human rights and environmental indices and sources in order to assess changes in existing risks and to map and categorise new risks.

Risk assessments for direct suppliers are conducted regularly throughout the year. New suppliers are always subjected to a risk assessment before a contract is signed and risk assessments are also carried out any time MEDIAN becomes aware of human rights or environmental risks affecting direct or indirect suppliers.

However, at a service company such as MEDIAN, risk assessments cover not just the products used, but also services which MEDIAN employs in order to fulfil its duties in the interests of its patients. The risk assessments described above are also conducted when selecting suppliers and executing contracts.

Risk assessments at MEDIAN are conducted as follows:

MEDIAN monitors its own operations and the situation in those countries where products which MEDIAN uses are produced using human rights and environmental risk indices.

MEDIAN then takes this assessment and adds any individual findings it has obtained regarding its own business, suppliers and service providers during their contract periods. Where processes and companies on the supply chain are not known, suppliers are sent a questionnaire and asked to provide this information themselves. We always take into account the principle of proportionality.

Each supplier and service provider is then assigned an individual risk score to represent the human rights and environmental risk. This is illustrated using a traffic light system which enables all MEDIAN employees to see straight away the risk status of the supplier or service provider. The traffic light system indicates a high risk if the indices used indicate a high risk to human rights or the environment for the products and services in the country in question and we are unable to justify any other decision after taking into account the conditions of the individual contract and talking to our supplier. If a supplier receives an increased risk score, they are contacted in order to verify the existing risk. The specific risks we have identified are then compared against the information they have provided. If this comparison produces a different risk score, the values are realigned.

The risk assessment focuses on products which come from countries with weak scores according to human rights and environmental indices (e.g. high-risk countries) and products which are used in large volumes at MEDIAN.

Findings from previous regular and ad hoc risk assessments, from the effectiveness of preventive measures and remedies and from grievances are also used for future risk assessments as part of a so-called PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act).

When it comes to risk assessments concerning its own business, MEDIAN relies on extensive surveying of employees and analyses of company data on all human rights and environmental risks. After evaluating the results, MEDIAN takes appropriate action to combat the risks identified.

According to these risk assessments, MEDIAN considers itself exposed to the following human rights and environmental risks in its business activities:

With respect to its own business operations, MEDIAN’s risk assessments indicate that the company is primarily exposed to risks in the following areas:

• Isolated non-compliances with occupational health and safety
  Not every breach of an OHS regulation constitutes a violation of human rights. Instead, a breach must be of such a nature that it cannot lead to only insignificant harm.
• Unintentional unequal treatment of employees
  The individual grounds should be understood as defined in the General Act on Equal Treatment (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz – AGG). Not paying equal wages for work of equal value, in particular between female and male workers, is an extremely relevant form of unequal treatment. Worldwide, 30% fewer women are in employment than men and women earn on average 20% less than men when hired.

The results of the risk assessment are broken down according to region (North West, North East, South West, Ease, Central, Service, Head Office) in order to identify regional trends. Individual risks are then assessed qualitatively (low, medium, high). Appropriate preventive measures and remedies are then drawn up depending on the protected characteristic, the number of risks reported per protected characteristic and the assessment of the risk.

MEDIAN has appointed a Human Rights Officer who reports directly to senior management to ensure that compliance with human rights and environmental regulations is a management issue and in order that the findings from our risk assessments can be applied across the company.

Preventive measures

In order to identify risks as early as possible, MEDIAN assesses human rights and environmental risks continuously within its own operations and when selecting contract partners.

Contracts with MEDIAN contain corresponding disclosure and accountability obligations in order that information can be demanded from contract partners. MEDIAN also reserves the right to conduct on-site checks directly with contract partners or with their suppliers.

MEDIAN conducts regular trainings on identifying risks.

MEDIAN proactively seeks out feedback on risks within its own business by regularly surveying employees of the MEDIAN Group. All employees are aware of the whistleblower system which MEDIAN has already implemented and which allows grievances to be reported anonymously.

Remedies

If risk assessments indicate that MEDIAN is exposed to human rights or environmental risks within its own operations or that relationships with suppliers will lead to such risks, MEDIAN will take appropriate action, which may include terminating business relationships.

In these cases, an ad hoc working group will be formed, comprising the department in question and the Human Rights Officer who will assess these actions for their effectiveness and then select and implement remedies. Remedies may take the form of on-site checks, certifications or verification but may also result in the termination of contracts with suppliers or service providers.

In these cases, MEDIAN assesses which actions it must take within its own operations or with suppliers.  

In such cases, it is appropriate to notify the business partner of their breach of obligations in written form and to urge them to remedy this immediately. Should it not be possible to remedy the situation promptly, the business partner is required to present a minimisation concept in order to limit negative effects.

Should this partner continue to breach their obligations or if the minimisation concept is not sufficient, it may be necessary to suspend relationships with this partner. This decision depends on the severity of the breach and the significance of the business relationship.

Indirect suppliers

MEDIAN also assesses risks that may arise from indirect suppliers. Should risks arise at indirect suppliers, MEDIAN will conduct an ad hoc risk assessment. In trainings, MEDIAN employees are made aware that they should also query and assess the supply chains behind direct suppliers. MEDIAN implements suitable and effective remedies against risks that arise from indirect suppliers as well, which may result in terminating the business relationship.

Grievance mechanism

MEDIAN has set up a grievance mechanism in the form of a whistleblower system for reporting grievances according to the German Whistleblower Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz). This system allows users to report grievances or non-compliances either anonymously or together with their name. The whistleblower system is managed by the solicitors at BETTE WESTENBERGER BRINK. The client-lawyer relationship ensures that employees reporting grievances can remain anonymous if they wish. Even if they have made an anonymous report, users can remain in touch with the solicitors via the whistleblower system. This system does not collect any personal data in an IT sense (server logs, identifying cookies etc.) and does not require a user to disclose their identity.

The whistleblower system can be accessed via the following link:

https://median-kliniken.advowhistle.de