MacIntyre is committed to doing everything possible to keep all those connected with us safe during the Coronavirus pandemic. We recognise that it is an extremely anxious and frightening time and understand the importance of clear and timely information, guidance and advice. We are in daily communication with people across the organisation but thought it would be helpful to provide a wider update for all of our supporters on how we are faring and on the specific actions we have been taking.
We are working in a proactive way with representatives from the local councils and the local public health teams. Our aim has been to ensure that everyone we support is considered as part of the local public health planning and that they have fair and equal access to support and treatment. MacIntyre was pleased to see that the NICE guidelines on critical care during COVID19 were updated as we believed they discriminated against disabled people. We are also proud to be a signatory to the Rights of Disabled People statement prepared by Disability UK.
With our absolute priority being the safety of everyone we support and employ we are following the government and Public Health England guidance in all areas. Social distancing, self-isolating and shielding guidance is being followed although such guidance is not without challenge in shared care settings. The people we support, families and employees have been invaluable in helping us to reflect on the guidance and to agree on the implementation. We have gathered as much easy read information as we can and developed our own ways to explain as much about the virus and guidance as possible.
An amazing team of people from our support teams are linking to all of our local areas to develop ways of staying connected together, with friends, families and local neighbourhoods. We have achieved a great step up in our use of technology across all areas of the organisation and made many new friends and acquaintances on social media.
Having the right amount of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and having the confidence to use it well has been an important part of helping people to stay safe and to manage their anxieties. Within the context of the well documented national supply and distribution issues we are doing everything possible to ensure that our stocks of PPE are in line with the appropriate usage guidance issued by the government on 2nd April.
The response of the MacIntyre workforce has been remarkable with many taking extraordinary steps to keep the people we support safe. We are very conscious of the tensions that exist for employees who are balancing personal anxieties with professional commitments. We have a number of staff who are self-isolating and shielding and we update our HR advice within 24 hours of any new guidance issued by the government. All updates, guidelines and resources are being posted on MacIntyre’s staff Intranet to provide one central, up-to-date point of information.
In anticipation of increasing staff absences we have embarked on a temporary worker recruitment campaign and to date we have had 350 applications. We will ensure that all recruitment checks are completed and that every new employee has an induction before they start work. We would like to thank everyone who has connected with us and we promise to make each and every one feel welcome.
MacIntyre’s central office is maintaining the delivery of its core functions of Payroll, HR, Recruitment, Finance and IT to ensure our teams are fully supported during this time.
Sarah Burslem, MacIntyre’s CEO said:
“I am so proud of how everyone connected to MacIntyre has responded since COVID19 entered our lives. People have moved mountains to keep others safe and to ensure that morale stays high across the organisation. As the spread of the virus increases we will do everything possible to keep information and guidance up to date and to ensure everyone feels supported whatever the situation. Every day we see more examples of the many creative and personalised solutions to support each child, young person and adult we support though this difficult time. I could not be more grateful to everyone involved.”
Further information on Coronavirus
- If you have any concerns about the Coronavirus outbreak, please use the NHS 111 Online service.
- NHS – the best way to wash your hands: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/best-way-to-wash-your-hands/
- Public Health England: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
- Public Health Wales: https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/latest-information-on-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/
- Government advice for healthcare professionals and organisations: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance
- Easy read Coronavirus poster by Photosymbols: https://www.photosymbols.com/blogs/news/free-poster
- NHS Common Questions: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/common-questions/
