How ECS Healthwatch is Adapting to Deliver its Services During the Coronavirus Pandemic
In order to offer the best and safest Healthwatch service we can, that is fully compliant with all Government anti-Coronavirus measures, we have implemented the following measures and procedures, which will stay in place until the Government advises otherwise. We believe these measures will help us to continue deliver a good quality Healthwatch Service under unprecedented circumstances.
ECS Healthwatch has the welfare and well-being of our staff and all our volunteers at the forefront of our plans to continue safe delivery of our Healthwatch services throughout the West Midlands, The Midlands and the North of England.
As with all other companies, we are monitoring the situation closely, and if we need to further adapt, we will, and we will announce any further measures through our website and other communication channels.
1. Agile Working Technology. ECS invested in agile working technology 2 years ago to enable our Healthwatch staff to work within the heart of the community with full connectivity to our cloud-based systems. This investment is currently proving its value.
2. Innovative Service Delivery. As the market leader in Healthwatch services, ECS have continually innovated in the delivery of the services enabling our staff to work from any location within the communities we deliver services to, and, of course, from home as required.
3. Continuity of Service. ECS monitored the spread of Covid-19 across the continents from an early stage and the rise of confirmed cases in the UK, deploying staff to work from home ahead of the Prime Minister’s announcements, in order to maintain continuity of service for the communities we serve.
4. Enter and View Activity. All Enter and View activity is suspended. Many of our stalwart volunteers who support us in this important role live with long term health conditions and are often within the age range where contracting covid-19 has worse impacts/outcomes than other age ranges.
5. Volunteer led activities. All volunteer led activities will be postponed and rearranged at the earliest permitted date. However, all ECS Healthwatch are encouraging their volunteers to let the groups and networks they in turn are part of know that Healthwatch has all the up to date information about Covid-19 and local service provision.
6. Community Engagement Events. All community engagement events will be postponed and rearranged on dates in the future once the outbreak settles down, and Government advice allows this.
7. Ease of Access to Key Healthwatch Information. ECS has tailored its delivery of Healthwatch services, including dedicated webpages and the use of social media channels, to enable members of the community to access all relevant national and local information in one place regarding health and social care services as well as other important information which supports people to maintain their well-being in these unprecedented times.
8. Maintaining Community Engagement. All ECS Healthwatch are maintaining community engagement with their networks using the agile facilities ECS have invested in. This means we can continue to check in with some of the harder to reach/seldom heard communities to ensure they have received information that they can share with their members about Covid-19. We can provide guidance and symptom literature in a range of languages, BSL and easy read formats as well as signpost people to services still operating in their areas.
9. The sharing of important intelligence. All ECS Healthwatch will continue to share important items of current news and intelligence with commissioners and providers of health and social care services to key groups including people living with long term conditions who may have difficulties in accessing ongoing support or access to acute services with newly emerging conditions.
Please Contact us if you have any questions
If you have any questions about any of the above measures, then please contact your local Healthwatch, in the following areas:
www.healthwatchstaffordshire.co.uk
www.healthwatchstokeontrent.co.uk
www.healthwatchwarrington.co.uk
www.healthwatchwolverhampton.co.uk