LOOKING AFTER
THE MEDICINE MAKERS
At Accord Healthcare, a Barnstaple-based manufacturer of
essential medicines, COVID-19 blew up a perfect storm. While
the country went into lockdown, Accord faced the challenge
of managing production to meet rising customer demand
Accord is one of the largest private sector
employers in North Devon, employing
around 700 people at its state-of-theart
pharmaceutical manufacturing
facility in Barnstaple. We manufacture
and supply medicines that are used by
the NHS and beyond.
As an international business in the
pharmaceutical sector I feel that we were wellinformed
as to the risk that COVID-19 might
pose to us as a business and our ability to provide
essential medicines.
With news coming from Asia about the
ferocity of the virus and reports of cases reaching
Europe, we took the decision to draw up plans
which would safeguard our workforce and ensure
business continuity.
We were very aware that our front-line
staff would become key workers by nature –
as essential as the doctors and nurses in our
hospitals who cannot do their work without
the vital medicines that our teams produce
and distribute. And I felt strongly that our
responsibility to our people went beyond our
employees – to their families and the wider
community.
I often use the metaphor of a beating heart
to describe a manufacturing operation. Without
all the parts pulsing together, it won’t function
as it should. The pandemic has certainly tested
Accord hired 50
new members
of staff to meet
demand during
the pandemic
the stamina of our Barnstaple
operation and while there have
been significant challenges, it
feels like we are now coming out
the other side fit for the future.
The approach
Rather than cutting our
workforce like other
manufacturers have been forced
to do, we took the decision to
recruit over 50 new employees
to support during the pandemic.
This would not only help to
safeguard production but
also promote stability in the
business and the region.
We took the decision to add
our ‘shadow workforce’. This is
a team of people trained, and
ready in the wings, to provide
cover where we need it. Our risk
assessment suggested we should
prepare for staff absence levels
of around 20-30%. This would
cover sickness, those caring
for dependents, employees
shielding, those without
childcare etc.
We understood that this
would both supplement and
challenge our existing teams
in the short term as some staff
would need to train others while
fulfilling their existing roles.
But we felt that if we did this
up front, we would be in a far
better position when the peak
of the virus hit.
Working arrangements
To minimise the risk of
transmission of the virus, the
main priority was to reduce the
headcount on site. So, we sat
WELFARE JULY/AUGUST 2020
down and analysed – function
by function – which staff
could conceivably do their job
from home. It was a question
of practicality, but we had
other considerations to make
about how this would impact
teamwork and morale of the
teams on site and those working
remotely. We had to balance the
needs of the business with the
wellbeing of our people.
Once we had made our
assessments and communicated
to our teams, we worked closely
with our IT team to get over 120
employees set up to work from
home. This was no mean feat for
teams who had previously only
worked together on site.
Together, but socially
distanced
Next, we had to plan for how
those remaining on site would
operate safely and efficiently.
We already work in a sterile
environment because of the
nature of what we produce.
What we needed to do was to
keep physical distance between
our people where we could,
and providing the right PPE for
those working in a two-person
process (e.g. carrying parts from
one station to the next).
BY SANDRA LEE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ACCORD HEALTHCARE
700
people work at
Accord's state-of-theart
factory in Devon
22 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk