How ERS Medical supports the Armed Forces

At ERS Medical, our support for the Armed Forces runs through our values, our people and the way we work. We signed the Armed Forces Covenant at the start of 2020 and shortly afterwards, we were awarded an Employer Recognition Scheme Bronze Award. This was upgraded to a Silver Award earlier this month. Here’s how this translates to our values and everyday life at ERS Medical:

Armed Forces Covenant

The Armed Forces Covenant is a pledge to help members of the armed forces community to get the same access to government and commercial services and products as any other citizen. This includes starting a new career. Signing the Armed Forces Covenant demonstrates that a business is a forces-friendly employer.

At ERS Medical, we have pledged to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:

No member of the armed forces community should face a disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen
In some circumstances, special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved

We recognise the value that serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. Here’s how we demonstrate our support:

Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation
Seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old and working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), in order to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers
Striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners
Endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment
Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible;
Offering support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible
Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day

Defence Employer Recognition Scheme

The Defence Employer Recognition Scheme recognises employers that have pledged their support and aligned their values with the armed forces community. There are bronze, silver and gold awards.

Bronze award holders can nominate themselves if they have signed the Armed Forces Covenant, actively promote being a forces-friendly employer and are open to employing members of the armed forces community.

Silver award holders must have registered for Bronze, and meet the following criteria:

Proactively demonstrate that the armed forces community are not unfairly disadvantaged as part of the recruitment process
Employ at least one member of the armed forces community
Actively ensure that the workforce is aware of their positive policies towards the armed forces community
They must not have been the subject of any negative PR or media activity

We openly share our values which are aligned with the core values of the armed forces.

Our people

Being a forces-friendly employer applies at all levels of our organisation. Our managing director and members of our senior team served in the military. Here’s what some of them say about how this has transferred to working at ERS Medical:

Andrew Pooley, Managing Director

Andrew joined the Army Reserve in 2004 and served in the 6th Battalion the Rifles. After working alongside the Medical Emergency Response Team in Afghanistan, Andrew was inspired and he joined ERS Medical in 2013. He explains the parallels between the military and healthcare:

“Key to our company leadership strategy has been implementing the military doctrine of Mission Command, or Mission Leadership as we call it. This involves devolving responsibility for decision making to the lowest possible level, supporting with direction, training, resources and suitable constraints. It is very applicable to healthcare where a decision about a patient’s care may need to be made quickly with the information available ‘on the ground’.

“We also strongly believe in and adhere to our vision and values. These are drilled into you as a soldier because when you are under pressure and have difficult decisions to make, they form a framework to guide you to the right outcome. Again, this is no different in ERS medical, every day we make decisions that affect our most important asset, our patients and our people”

Simon Smith, Head of Care Standards

Following a 23-year career in the Royal Air Force, Simon volunteered with the East of England Ambulance Service and discovered a passion for medicine. He joined ERS Medical in 2014, and is now our Head of Care Standards. Simon describes ERS Medical as an ideal fit for ex-forces personnel:

“ERS gives ex-forces personnel an opportunity to make a difference and be a force for good with often very vulnerable people. It also offers them an identity to be proud of, something some will long for as they leave what has been their lives for a long time.”

We will continue to share our work supporting the armed forces and we always welcome job applications from the armed forces community.

Read more about the Armed Forces Covenant, the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and how we are a forces-friendly employer.