CHEC achieves Investors in People status

CHEC, one of the largest providers of community-based ophthalmology services in the UK, has achieved Investors in People status, with its company values and culture pinpointed as being fundamental to the company’s success. 

Achieving the accreditation for the first time since it was established in 2012, CHEC has been recognised for its ability to lead and inspire team members; deliver a structured programme of work with ongoing performance management; achieve continuous improvement and create sustainable success. 

Specific feedback included that team members are ‘overwhelmingly happy and proud to be a part of the organisation’, seeing CHEC as ‘a long-term employer with whom they want to develop their career well into the future’. Assessors noted the ‘close-knit community feel of CHEC’, and described it as a place where feedback is always ‘constructive and positive’.

For more than a decade, CHEC has been working in partnership with the NHS to increase patient choice and provide access to timely care and treatment locally. Through its community hospitals nationwide, CHEC makes specialist eyecare and gastroenterology services more readily accessible in local communities by offering patients greater flexibility and reduced waiting times. In 2022/23, CHEC consulted over 335,000 patients, with an average referral to treatment time of less than four weeks.

In the last 12 months, CHEC has increased its number of sites nationally from 14 to 21, creating 135 new jobs; has appointed to various positions in its senior leadership team, and has launched an enhanced market strategy which brings with it an improved business structure and a broader range of development opportunities for the CHEC team.

Amanda Williams, chief people officer for CHEC, said of the accreditation: “People are at the heart of what we do. Our company mission originates in improving patient choice and wellbeing, but we know that to achieve that we must focus much of our attention on our team, ensuring they’re happy, safe and supported at work.

“Achieving Investors in People status proves we are getting that right. The feedback from our assessors is that we are clear in our company objectives, and that we work collectively – as team – to achieve them; that our values of care, passion, togetherness, listening and focus are embedded at every level of the organisation; and that we give our people the information, authority, knowledge and skills to do their job well.

“As a relatively new organisation, we have areas we want to improve on as we move forward. This accreditation gives us the perfect springboard from which to make considered and strategic decisions which ensure our team continues to excel, collaborate and thrive during their time with us.”