Surrey Heath Borough Council

06/15/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/15/2022 08:21

Surrey Heath Place COVID-19 Response Team named the South East Regional Winner in the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2022 in the COVID-19 Response Category

We are so proud the Surrey Heath Place COVID-19 Response Team are the South East Regional winner in the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2022.

This award recognises a huge co-ordinated response in Surrey Heath from many organisations and a fantastic group of volunteers which enabled our residents to get vaccinated quickly and smoothly.

The whole Surrey Heath population aged 5+ years old, have been offered a vaccination by the Place Team - with 77% of eligible people vaccinated and 88% receiving a booster dose. In total 157,452 doses have been administered at Lakeside - a huge achievement.

Surrey Heath Borough Council was recognised in the nomination for providing wheelchairs, free SHBC transport for anyone within the borough to attend the vaccination centre (one of the few borough councils in the country and the only one in Surrey to offer this) and coordinated an active group of Covid Champions that continues to thrive.

Additional support was provided by the SHBC Contact centre to field FAQs, facilitate appointment booking and telephone invites.

Councillor Sarah Jane Croke, Housing, Safeguarding and Support Portfolio Holder said;

"This award is testament to everyone who was involved in this very effective response across Surrey Heath - it was a huge response to coordinate so successfully and swiftly and this effectiveness no doubt saved many lives from COVID.

The Council is so proud of all the agencies, organisations and the volunteers who came out in all weathers, at all times of the day and who worked so hard to ensure the vaccination programme ran so well.

Councillor Alan McClafferty, Leader, Surrey Heath Borough Council added:

"The bonds formed in this challenging time and the efficiency of this operation will help us in the future as we continue to recover from the pandemic.

The vaccination programme still continues so the work is not done yet. The Council will continue to support our residents using our full resources."

Many thanks to all of those from our local GP Practices, Surrey Heath Primary Care Network (PCN), Surrey Heath Community Providers Ltd, Voluntary Support North Surrey, Surrey County Council, NHS Frimley Clinical Commissioning Group and all of the individual volunteers for their outstanding work for the people of Surrey Heath.

The award was nominated for by Surrey Heath's MP Michael Gove. The awards ceremony will take place on 6 July when the national winners will be announced.

Full details of the nomination.

The rapid multi-agency response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Surrey Heath Place, included a vital vaccination programme involving the SH Primary Care Network (PCN), Surrey Heath Borough Council (SHBC), Surrey County Council (SCC), Voluntary Support North Surrey (VSNS), GP Practices, local volunteers and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Place Team. With the number of partners involved, it was incredible to work in collaboration and to see the huge success of the vaccination programme in Surrey Heath as a result.

The programme was set up and delivered first vaccinations at a local surgery on 16th December 2020 to ensure the first cohort could be delivered as quickly as possible, with a move to Lakeside Vaccination Centre in January 2021.

All partners collaborated to make available special info for carers, elderly, those with vulnerabilities and disabilities to ensure all felt welcome. Volunteers, coordinated by VSNS, have continued providing a fantastic level of support throughout. Surrey Heath Borough Council, provided wheelchairs, free SHBC transport for anyone within the Surrey Heath Place area to attend the vaccination centre (one of the few BCs in the country and the only one in Surrey to offer this) and coordinated an active group of Covid Champions that continues to thrive.

Additional support was provided by the SHBC Contact centre to field FAQs, facilitate appointment booking and telephone invites. Flu vaccination was also done at Lakeside and Hypertension & Pulse checks also formed part of the offer on site. Coordination of the Care Home vaccination support for our very large local population was augmented by the mobile unit team.

The success of the programme in Surrey Heath is tribute to hard work by so many - and this is why we have chosen to nominate the whole Place team for this prestigious and deserved award.

Details of how many patients/communities and/or staff this has had a positive impact on, including particular groups where applicable and to what extent:

The whole Surrey Heath population aged 5+ years old, have been offered a vaccination by the Place Team - with 77% of eligible people vaccinated and 88% receiving a booster dose. In total 157,452 doses have been administered at Lakeside - a huge achievement.

Particular outreach clinics have been held for the Gypsy Roma Traveller Community, Homeless residents via Hope hub and SCC COVID Pods for COVID+ people who were homeless (Mindenhurst) and SHBC Housing Team (Laurence Lodge). Additional support has been arranged for the BAME community and the Nepali community in particular. Outreach for our Learning Disabilities (LD) & Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Community with both reasonable adjustments at the centre, access to a needle desensitisation programme and housebound visits.

A COVID Minivan walk in service has also been offered across the patch and close working with the COVID Champions team to spread the word locally.

Subsequently, there has been a positive impact on the Nepali community in ensuring uptake and relationship building with the community has increased health literacy. Gypsy Roma Traveller outreach has resulted in higher vaccine uptake, and continuing engagement and trust has built steadily, other work that has followed this with the local Care Coordinator, has resulted in digital inclusion.

Working closely with support teams at SCC, SHBC and voluntary sectors with local GP practice support has built a strong relationship and identity within Surrey Heath Place. The feedback on the service for the public at Lakeside has been excellent and we have been able to retain both staff and volunteers over the whole period.

Details of how this improvement can be sustained and/or developed further or shared with others locally, regionally or nationally to benefit more patients or staff:

Building good relationships with the Surrey Heath Place community has been the goal since the inception of the Place team. The pandemic and vaccination efforts have served to further cement this.

Teams have built up a very open relationship with our local statutory and voluntary organisations, ensuring the help needed was immediately provided but also assisted with our long-term planning. GP practices have collaborated in a whole new way, and worked cross organisationally to capitalise on specific skill sets. Staff working in this way has provided new opportunities for peer support, friendship, and camaraderie, and has supported staff retention.

The Surrey Heath Place will continue to build on the partnerships, community relationships and multi-agency working. This model of working has ensured we have been able to respond quickly and well to the ever-changing requirements of the pandemic.

The trust building, flexible and innovative approaches to delivering the COVID-19 Response in Surrey Heath Place has ensured the excellent outcome for the population and built a strong foundation for other current and future projects.

For staff and volunteers working at Lakeside the sense of ownership, community and belonging has ensured the Lakeside Vaccination Centre has been able to deliver to a consistently high standard across a sustained period of time. The contacts and relationships formed in this programme continue to be built on with many other programmes, leaving a legacy that will carry Surrey Heath Place forward in future developments.