Business excellence and employer awards

As well as complying with all relevant standards and guidelines from regulators, we benchmark our work against leading private, public and not-for-profit organisations.

We’ve invested in dedicated Quality and Performance resources. We’re also an active member of various trade bodies, strategy groups and partnerships, and collaborate with local and national research agencies.

We deliver excellent, high quality services 

Quality and performance

Our Quality and Performance analysts oversee data collection and analysis across all our services and initiatives. This focused, analytical approach helps us understand why different models of support and interventions are effective, and how we can keep improving.

Our Board has overall responsibility for good governance and ensuring that we meet all our regulatory and legal requirements.

Our Risk, Audit and Performance Committee regularly reviews all our activity around quality.

As a result of our commitment to excellence and effectiveness in service design and delivery, we’ve been recognised as an IPS (Individual Placement and Support) Centre of Excellence by the Centre of Mental Health.

Our Positive Behaviour Support training and Restrictive Physical Interventions training has also been formally certified by the British Institute of Learning Disability Association of Certified Training (BILD ACT) as meeting the Restraint Reduction Network (RRN) standards.

Research collaborations

We collaborate with local and national agencies on research. As a leading provider of care and support for people, we believe we have a responsibility to support the development of best practice in the sectors within which we work.   

Health and safety

We have an excellent record of ensuring the safety of our clients and employees, and our high standards are recognised by the British Safety Council. We’re also fully accredited by the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme.

We continually review and update our health and safety systems to meet the changing needs of our clients and employees as well as all relevant regulations and legal requirements. We promote a positive and proactive health and safety culture within our organisation and across our operations.

This is underpinned by a systematic approach to the management of health and safety which includes: 

• having clear and accessible health and safety policies which are easy to understand and implement
• actively minimising any risk to employees, clients, and the wider community
• helping our clients develop an awareness of health and safety issues at home, in the community, and in work and training and to gain the skills to keep them safe
• making sure that all our properties and working environments are safe and comply with relevant regulations
• ensuring all our contractors and sub-contractors have appropriate health and safety measures in place
• monitoring and recording accidents, incidents, near misses, dangerous occurrences, and any health, safety or environmental-related sickness absence, so that we can ensure safe practices and appropriate staff support is in place
• achieving occupational health and wellbeing targets
• maintaining and continually improving measurable standards in occupational health and safety
• demonstrating our commitment and compliance to health and safety standards to our clients and stakeholders
• promoting the benefits of good health and safety management to all staff as well as promoting the general benefits of a healthy lifestyle

We strive to be the best employer we can be

We aim to be an employer of choice, and offer excellent benefits and working conditions to our employees to help attract and keep the very best team.

Investors in People

We are accredited by Investors in People as a ‘Gold Standard’ employer, which means we’re in the top 2% of Investors in People companies.

Top Thirty Employer for Working Families

For the eleventh year running, we’ve been named as one of the top thirty employers in the UK for working families, an award given to the most flexible and family-friendly employers in the country.

Disability Confident Employer

As a disability confident employer, we recognise the vital skills our disabled employees bring to our organisation and aim to recruit and retain staff with disabilities.

Mindful Employer

As a member of Mindful Employer we are committed to providing information and support for employees that experience stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health conditions.

Age-friendly Employer

Southdown has joined the nationwide programme run by the Centre for Ageing Better. We are committed to supporting the recruitment, retention and development of older workers and ensuring our workplace is age-friendly.