Executive territory manager Rebecca Taylor won the Pharma Times award for best specialist care sales representative just weeks after colleague Carol Liburd, a senior territory manager with Coloplast, was named as medical sales person of the year at the Pharma Field industry awards.

In addition to Carol Liburd, four other Coloplast territory managers (Steve Thompson, Natalie Tarr, Lornie Blake and David Warren) were shortlisted in the Pharma Field awards following an in-depth application process and an all-day assessment. Steve and Lornie then took second and third places in the competition behind Carol.

In the Pharma Times awards Coloplast staff Vanessa Dosanjh, Aideen Lilley and Jo Perry all made it through to the final alongside Rebecca.

Coloplast sales director Soren Nielsen said: “It was a particularly impressive result in the Pharma Field Awards as this was the first time we had entered – and other companies have had representatives in the competition year after year without ever winning anything. These awards are really high profile and recognise commercial excellence across the healthcare industry.

“Our achievement in the Pharma Times awards was equally impressive because entrants are nominated not by their employers but by the customers. As a company, Coloplast always strives to deliver the perfect customer experience. To have four staff nominated and then for Rebecca to come through a demanding judging process to be declared the best in a field of more than 150 nominees is testimony to great achievements by members of the team. “This makes me very proud and I would like to offer congratulations to Carol, Rebecca and the other Coloplast finalists in both awards for their achievements.”

Carol Liburd said: “For Coloplast to take the top three places in this award when we’ve never entered before is amazing – and to be named as the medical sales person of the year myself is even more amazing!”
Rebecca Taylor added: “To have my name put forward by customers for this award was an honour in itself. It was great to see so many other people from Coloplast also being nominated and ranked so highly – and then to be named the overall winner myself was just fantastic!”

Coloplast is to create at least 150 new jobs over the next few years – and recruitment for the first 50 has already started. 

The news came during a visit to the Peterborough offices by Lars Rasmussen, chief executive of Coloplast’s Danish parent company, and Kristian Villumsen, the company’s executive vice president for chronic care.

They told UK staff that the company’s board of directors had approved the ambitious plans for the UK drawn up by general manager Sue Kernahan and her team in Peterborough. They said that the company would back the plan with the major investment needed.

Sue Kernahan said: “We have a clear vision and strategy for where we want Coloplast to be by 2020 – a bigger and better number one in our industry, the first choice for customers and consumers and a great place to work for our staff.

“The investment and plans which the board has now approved give us another boost on our journey ‘from good to great’. They will give us the opportunity to create substantially more revenue and profit while focusing on our commitment to make life easier for people with intimate healthcare needs. We will only succeed by putting the users of our products and services at the centre of everything we do.”

Lars Rasmussen said: “We have congratulated Sue and the UK management team on an excellent business plan and we are excited by what can be achieved here in the UK. We are now looking forward to seeing the plan put into operation.”

Coloplast has already begun the process of recruiting 50 new people in roles that include sales, marketing, nursing, operations, customer care, delivery, finance and IT. Many of the new posts are in Coloplast’s chronic care division which provides stoma care and continence care medical devices. The company's sales growth will be very significant by 2020.

Most of the new jobs will be based in the Peterborough offices which, together with the nearby warehouse and despatch centre, currently house around 300 of Coloplast’s 350 UK staff. 

Sue Kernahan said: “Getting the right people is critical to the success of our plans. I am extremely proud of the team we have in place already – people with a real commitment and passion to make a difference to the lives of our users who depend upon us in so many ways. Now we need to expand the team with people who share that commitment and passion.

“We are able to offer them tremendous job satisfaction at what has been externally assessed to be a great place to work. Earlier this year we were ranked at number 39 in The Sunday Times ‘top 100’ league table of best companies to work for – the fourth year running that we have been named in this list and our highest score ever.”

Today’s report, which was produced by Coloplast in conjunction with the MS Trust, surveyed people with MS as well as MS specialist nurses. It found that:

• 88% of people with MS were not given information on bowel management when they were first diagnosed with MS.
• Almost half of people with MS had never had the issue of how the condition may impact on their bowel management proactively raised by a healthcare professional. The issue was most commonly raised by specialist nurses - only 10% of those responding had had the issue raised by a GP.
• Satisfaction with bowel care varied widely among people with MS, with 34% of respondents rating care as poor or very poor.
• Both patients and nurses identified a number of barriers to improving care, including improving the knowledge of healthcare professionals and patients; ensuring that healthcare professionals have appropriate information and resources to call on; making sure that all healthcare professionals know where to refer patients for specialist continence advice; and ensuring that continence services have sufficient funding and staff.

By not proactively managing bowel problems at an early stage, there is a significant risk that problems will worsen; this can lead to complex, costly and long-term problems.

Poor management of bowel problems also costs the NHS money. Analysis of Hospital Episode Statistic (HES) data showed that in 2013, £59 million was spent on non-elective admissions to hospital for constipation, related to just five neurological conditions – MS, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s, spina bifida and stroke. Many of these admissions could have been avoided had patients received better care earlier in the pathway – demonstrating the importance of properly managing bowel problems in patients with MS and other neurological conditions.

Sue Kernahan, General Manager of Coloplast, said

“This report highlights that a reluctance to have a frank discussion about bowel problems remains one of the biggest barriers to delivering effective care for people with MS and other neurological conditions. It is essential that we empower patients and healthcare professionals to discuss these problems, and support healthcare professionals by providing them with the information they need to refer patients to effective care and support. Poor management of bowel problems doesn’t only cause physical discomfort and ill-health; it also causes acute embarrassment and distress, and can impact a person’s quality of life .”

Amy Bowen, Director of Service Development at the MS Trust, said

“Bowel problems can have a huge impact on the lives of people with MS and can be a difficult issue to raise with the care team. This report demonstrates that MS specialist nurses are a key resource that people with MS rely on. However it also shows that services to help people manage problems with bowels vary greatly and there is much important work to be done to improve care and ensure that all health professionals know how to help people with MS access the services they need. The MS Trust welcomes this helpful report.”

Now in its third year, Bowel Independence Day, supported by Coloplast, aims to improve patient outcomes and reduce the economic burden associated with bowel conditions such as faecal incontinence and chronic constipation.

It is estimated that 100,000 people in the UK have MS, and chronic bowel problems are a common problem caused by the condition. Around half of people with MS will experience constipation at some point – with between 30 and 50 percent experiencing bowel incontinence.

With an estimated 1 in 10 British citizens being affected by some sort of bowel problem, this year’s Bowel Independence Day will centre on a forum discussion around improving the quality of bowel services and identifying root causes, so that problems are identified early and properly managed.

Further information

Bowel Independence Day is an initiative that was launched in 2012 to raise awareness around bowel issues with the aim of improving patient outcomes and reducing the economic burden associated with faecal incontinence and chronic constipation.

In 2013 the Declaration of Bowel Independence was launched, highlighting four key priorities to improve the quality of bowel management services. These are:

• Public awareness of bowel management problems, and the impact they have on individuals and society, must be raised.
• People with bowel management needs should have access to specialist healthcare provision such as continence services.
• Guidelines and clinical pathways need to be in place to improve outcomes for people experiencing bowel management problems.
• GPs need to offer a proactive approach to bowel management problems, particularly for those people with neurogenic disorders and chronic conditions.

In conjunction, Coloplast launched the “My Bowel” website which provides information on bowel management treatments and a self-assessment tool to help guide users to appropriate support.

About the Bowel Independence Day Forum

Chaired by Professor David Colin-Thomé, an Independent Health Care Consultant, the forum will gather patients and clinicians together to provide viewpoints around access to bowel treatments. Speakers will include:

• Kerry Lloyd - giving a patient’s perspective as someone who suffers from multiple sclerosis.
• Matt Hampson – giving a patient’s perspective as someone with a spinal cord injury.

• Sue Thomas – Chief Executive, Neurological Commissioning Support, addressing the commissioning of services for neurogenic bowel dysfunction.
• Dr Anton Emmanuel – Senior Lecturer in Neuro-Gastroenterology, University College London Hospital discussing the treatment options for managing neurogenic bowel dysfunction.

CONTACTS

Coloplast has the best worldwide patient reputation among 28 leading medico companies. That is the conclusion from the independent, UK research organisation: PatientView, who has conducted a survey and asked 428 patient organisations in 54 countries.

Coloplast is the overall winner for the third year running and ranks number one in three out of six categories. Coloplast thus beats one of its closest competitors Convatec (second place) as well as St. Jude Medical (third) and Novo Nordisk (fourth).

“The best kind of recognition is that coming from the users, so we are extremely happy to see that our effort is noted. However, others are also doing well and are catching up with us,” says Senior Vice President of Global Marketing in Coloplast, Nicolas Nemery. Coloplast won in both 2012 and 2013 in all six categories in the PatientView survey.

“We want to create impactful improvements for people who use our products – and this survey indicates that this is appreciated,” says Nicolas Nemery.

“We’re pursuing a strategy that puts the user in the centre. The majority of our users have had critical accidents or diseases, and we want to help them return to their normal lives. We can only do that by listening to their needs and incorporating them into everything we do.”

“We hope to remove some of the “patient stigma” that many live with – for instance by designing products that do not look like hospital equipment but instead look like products you would normally have in your handbag or in the bathroom.

Read more about the survey at PatientView’s website.

Coloplast develops products and services that make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions. Our business includes ostomy care, urology and continence care and wound and skin care.

Facts

The survey examined the reputation of the medico industry as a whole, and the asked patient groups rated the individual reputation of the companies in six different areas:

• Whether the company has an effective patient-centered strategy (1st )

• The quality of the information that the company provides to patients (1st )

• The company’s record on patient safety (1st )

• The usefulness of the company’s products to patients (2nd )

• Record of transparency with external healthcare stakeholders (2nd )

• Whether the company acts with integrity (3rd)

Top medical device performance – overall rankings 2013-2014

Coloplast A/S – 1st

Convatec – 2nd

St Jude Medical – 3rd

Novo Nordisk A/S – 4th

Roche Diagnostics – 5th

Sanofi – 6th

28 companies were included in the survey

Coloplast A/S, ConvaTec, St Jude Medical, Smith & Nephew, Novo Nordisk A/S, Roche Diagnostics, Sanofi, Fresenius Medical Care, Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic, Inc, Johnson & Johnson, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc, Philips Healthcare, Baxter International, Kimberly-Clark, GE Healthcare, B. Braun Melsungen AG, 3M Healthcare, Becton Dickinson, Olympus Medical Business, Mölnlycke Health Care, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Alcon, Boston Scientific, Bausch + Lomb, Hartmann Group, Biotronik International, Siemens Healthcare

The asked patient groups represent at least 1.5 million patients and cover a broad range of care areas, including neurology, cancer, diabetes and mental health. The majority (16 percent) is from Great Britain, 10 percent from Germany, 9 percent from the US. The rest is scattered from countries around the world. The survey was conducted from mid-February to end March 2014.

Investors in People (www.investorsinpeople.co.uk) is a tool for helping businesses improve performance by successfully managing and developing their staff. It sets criteria that companies must meet in order to be accredited. These include demonstrating that learning and development is planned, equal opportunities are given to employees, managers effectively lead people and improvements are continually made to the way people are developed.

The Investors in People organisation which oversees the standard is owned by the UK government and managed by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).

To be recognised as an Investor in People Coloplast had to produce evidence that it met 39 separate requirements. As part of the rigorous assessment a number of randomly selected Coloplast staff were interviewed to check the company’s performance and to rate the overall satisfaction of people working for the company.

The independent assessment report concluded: “Coloplast UK has met all the evidence requirements for the Core Standard. There are also very good signs that many more evidence requirements are likely to be met if the company were interested in being assessed for a higher level award.”

The report also noted that the company has “very clear mission, values, strategy and objectives with everyone involved in planning either directly through the management meetings or via their manager”.

Coloplast general manager Sue Kernahan commented: “We are delighted to have been reaccredited with the Investors in People standard. To have now achieved the standard for 13 successive years is a fantastic accomplishment.

“Employee satisfaction is at the heart of what we do. To have been awarded the accreditation through first-hand interviews with our staff shows that they appreciate the investment we make in them.

“We are continuously looking for ways we can improve performance and the latest Investors in People assessment has helped us to set new targets that we will work towards.”

Nearly 900 companies took part in this year’s awards process, with employees giving their opinions on their employers and places of work. As part of the process, Coloplast staff were asked to give their views on eight key areas of their relationship with the company, including leadership, wellbeing and personal growth.

When asked if they feel the company makes a real difference to the world, staff rated the company so highly that, for the second year running, it ranked second in the UK.

Speaking after the glittering awards ceremony, Sam Sedwill, HR director at Coloplast, said: “What an amazing achievement! We had hoped to make it into the top 50 this year, so to be number 39 is fantastic, jumping 29 places up the table from last year.

“The award is given as a result of staff feedback so each year it has enabled us to see exactly what makes us great and what areas we need to focus on. Having taken the feedback on board over the last three years we have worked hard to make Coloplast an even greater place to work and the results are there in black and white.

“It isn’t just one thing that makes the difference. We have introduced leadership forums and training, plus we run sessions where employees can come and talk to us openly about any ideas they may have for the company. We support staff when undertaking charity events, like last year’s Snowdon Push which saw 15 of our employees push, pull and lift a colleague in a wheelchair up and down Mount Snowdon in a day.

“We work to support the Hampson Foundation and staff have been able to spend time with the founder, former English rugby union prop Matt Hampson. We invite customers in to talk to staff about the service we provide, we hold events like family fun days and have introduced annual wellbeing weeks. On top of all of this we offer great benefits, profit related pay, plus regular treats like vouchers at Christmas.”

Coloplast manufactures medical products ranging from dressings and gels to catheters and colostomy bags. Its ‘mission’ is to make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions. The Sunday Times found that staff are excited about where the organisation is going (81 per cent) and have a great deal of faith in UK general manager Sue Kernahan (81 per cent). Staff feel that executives truly live the values of the organisation (80 per cent) and were impressed when Sue worked a shift in the firm’s warehouse, demonstrating her ability to pick, pack and despatch products.

Sue commented: “I believe in leading by example and it is an honour to see that highlighted by our staff and by the Sunday Times. I also believe in nurturing and developing our staff – after all it is their hard work and dedication that make the company the success that it is. To hear that staff find the training we provide of great benefit (73 per cent) and that they believe they can make a valuable contribution to Coloplast’s success (84 per cent) is fantastic.

“Knowing that staff enjoy working here and that they are proud to do so (85 per cent) makes me incredibly proud.”

Coloplast was presented with the prestigious Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2014 award at a ceremony in London where company representatives celebrated alongside other winners including multi-national companies and public sector organisations.

If you are interested in joining a company that is recognised in the top 50 of The Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For, has won awards for people development, cares for its customers and genuinely recognises and rewards success, visit the Coloplast Careers pages.

The company finished last year employing a total of 350 people – an increase of 10 per cent on the figure at the start of the year.

The increasing number of jobs reflected a year of development, innovation and investment.
UK general manager Sue Kernahan said: “Businesses across the UK had a tough time last year and I am incredibly proud of the way in which, despite the economic climate, Coloplast continued to invest in all areas that can improve outcomes for employees and customers. 

“I am delighted that we were able to pay Profit Related Pay as a result of everyone’s hard work and dedication, as well as giving all employees £100 in vouchers for a high street store as a Christmas gift.

“It has been exciting to see our hard work and plans come to fruition, with new products being launched, new roles created and new technology enabling us to serve our customers in a way never before possible. 

“We are anticipating even more exciting times in 2014 as we make this a great place to work for employees and deliver a perfect customer experience for our health care professionals and users!”

In the summer of 2013 Coloplast launched the new SpeediCath Compact Set (the only compact and discreet catheter with an integrated and sterile bag). By the end of the year it had won two prestigious awards - the Red Dot Award for Product Design (previous Red Dot winners include Apple, Sony and Mercedes-Benz) and the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) Independent Living Best Product Award for 2013.

Coloplast also invested in new technology as field staff were given Windows tablets to improve their productivity. New apps are currently in development which will help to streamline and standardise many aspects of the work, ensuring that the service provided to customers is of a consistently high standard. 

The company continued its support of the charitable Matt Hampson Foundation which aims to provide advice, support, relief and/or treatment for anyone suffering serious injury or disability from sporting activity. The company is also now involved with Matt’s Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Rugby team, which is making a name for itself in the UK league.

Coloplast has also teamed up with blogger and ostomate (a person who has a stoma) Thaila Skye, a long-term supporter and user of Coloplast’s products and services, to bring customers a series of videos exploring the world of intimate healthcare.

The new social media strategy has proven to be a huge success with the launch of Coloplast’s Facebook page and Twitter account. These have given users additional ways to contact Coloplast and have provided useful ‘question and answer’ tools.

Training was also a focus in 2013, with the company’s ‘annual’ training event being held twice in one year for the first time in the company’s history. Additional training resources were developed for all areas of the company, with new leadership forums taking place to ensure that everyone who is in a leadership role is fully equipped and supported.