Across England, the HCRG Care Group support communities of many millions and directly helps more than half a million people each year.
The challenge
As you would expect, delivering health and care services to over half a million patients comes with the responsibility of handling huge volumes of sensitive patient information. With sensitive information being handled all across the UK, HCRG Care Group needed a supplier that was both reliable and capable of taking on the destruction of these sensitive materials.
HCRG Care Group has over 100 sites across the UK, each with different volumes of material to destroy. Shred Station was tasked with providing a service that could be tailored to suit each premises.
Our approach
One of our most popular services is our on-site shredding service. Due to the sensitive nature of the materials that need to be destroyed and the value of medical information in the wrong hands, most sites choose this option. With the on-site service, destruction takes place on board our shredding vehicles using a fast and powerful industrial shredder. As the destruction happens on-site, representatives from each location can witness the shredding for ultimate peace of mind. Each location also receives proof that its materials have been destroyed in the form of a Certificate of Destruction. This document is issued immediately with the on-site service.
Most of the records we destroy for the HCRG Care Group are paper-based. However, as with most of our larger customers, some sites occasionally require shredding for other materials. This could include anything from X-Rays to textiles to digital media devices. With our UK-wide coverage and industrial equipment, we can respond to any additional requirements quickly and easily.
To keep things easy to manage for our larger customers, we always recommend utilising our frequently scheduled service. We can schedule a service for each location that suits its frequency requirements. For instance, one site may want a service every day, whereas another site might want one every eight weeks. With regular services, sites are automatically booked onto our drivers’ routes, and the services require minimal management for each site.
Due to its ease of management, the majority of HCRG Care Group sites choose to have a service on a regular schedule. Site managers don’t have to waste time calling us up to arrange a visit; they know exactly what date we’ll be coming and can focus on what matters the most - the health and care of their patients.
The results
Shred Station won the national contract to be HCRG Care Group’s provider of confidential shredding services in early 2022.
Alex Blatherwick, Head of Procurement at HCRG Care Group, has given praise for the services we have provided since our contract began.
Since early 2022, we have been with Shred Station on a national contract covering over 100 sites with varying collection arrangements. The support to exit our previous contract and mobilise was top class, and since entering into the contract with Shred Station, we have been incredibly impressed at having no service issues, especially given the complexity of some of our locations within wider NHS premises. We are proud to partner with a provider who demonstrably helps us achieve carbon reductions, which come about thanks to the passion of the Shred Station team. From a financial and accounting perspective, Shred Station provide their services at a very competitive price and worked closely with us to quickly ensure that invoicing and billing are as simple as possible, thus also reducing indirect costs. We look forward to our continuing partnership with Shred Station and would highly recommend them as a company to meet all confidential waste requirements.
Alex Blatherwick
Head of Procurement, HCRG Care Group.
In 2022 alone, we performed around 1,200 collections across the HCRG Care Group’s sites. All of these services were delivered CarbonNeutral® certified. This was important to the group in their selection of the contract winner, so this, coupled with our Zero to Landfill policy and commitment to recycling 100% of the paper we shred at UK mills, made for the foundations of a sustainable partnership. We are pleased to be able to work with the group, both keeping their confidential waste stream compliant and green.
The future
Kristian Carter, Commercial Director at Shred Station, also has great things to say about our partnership with HCRG Care Group.
HCRG Care Group’s work is a vital part of our country’s national infrastructure. By providing the group with reliable services that come without any issues or interruptions, their teams can focus their efforts on the care they provide. We are proud to take on the responsibility of confidential waste destruction for HCRG Care Group. It is great to partner with a business so passionate about reducing environmental impacts. Our shared ethos and commitments to looking after the world around us have made for a highly successful business relationship, and we hope this partnership can continue for many years to come.
Kristian Carter
Commercial Director, Shred Station.