Here at Medical Management Systems we take the impact of our Meddbase Software extremely seriously: our product positively impacts the health of patients regardless of their race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability status. We therefore feel strongly that the software should be created and shaped by a community of staff who represent all the patients we serve.
We have an innate belief in nurturing raw talent, meaning we have a natural policy of welcoming staff into our company from a wide variety of different backgrounds.
But we feel that now is the time to put our longstanding but unspoken policy into words, and be clear about what we stand for as an organisation – we understand that only by speaking up can companies such as ourselves play a small part in a larger change.
Now is also the time to acknowledge the multiple challenges faced by underrepresented groups and recognise that terms like BAME and LGBTQ+ are imperfect, as behind them are a diverse set of lived experiences of prejudice and inequality that we do not want to play any part in perpetuating as an employer.
We are proud to currently employ 18 different nationalities, including staff from the LGBTQ+ community, and to have a team comprised of almost one third women, against a national average of 19% women in tech companies.
Our commitments:
-We reiterate that our doors are fully open to all individuals equally
-As it is clear that there are underrepresented groups in tech, and that this is a systemic problem, we aim to do everything possible to challenge this at the root
-We have a passion for – and a long held unofficial policy of – growing talent in-house and will continue this going forward
-We are seeking out opportunities to continue to learn, including participation in industry events centred around underrepresented communities and digital transformation in healthcare
-We have created guidance for the IT teams and departments at our company to be sure everyone is alert to the danger of oppressive language or metaphors – for example terms like blacklist and whitelist
Our CTO Paul Louth comments:
‘It doesn’t matter how small changes may appear, it’s about making clear what you stand for as a company. If even one employee is impacted by oppressive vernacular, such as ‘master/slave database’, or if phrases contribute to an overall normalising of discriminatory language or concepts, we want to take action’.
He continues:
‘We aim to hire developers from diverse backgrounds and we want to encourage more women into tech, but we see that systemic issues can often mean individuals from those communities may never be given an opportunity to even reach the hiring process. As a result we have found the best way to foster change has been to seek and nurture talent at a grass roots level and work with those employees on a personal basis as their careers grow.’
Medical Management Systems’ Head of HR Sarah Cape comments:
‘Diversity is a business model – it’s not about changing stock images on a company website to portray or pay lip service to an inclusive image. At Meddbase we focus on building knowledge, creating opportunities for development and removing barriers to success. To us a policy of anti-racism and pro-diversity means appreciating and celebrating that everyone in our team is unique and will bring their own skills, experience and life stories to our melting pot.’
