The Patient HEROES - words cannot express our gratitude for the selfless acts of help so many volunteers offered
25th November 2020
Submitted by Carly Szasz and Chris Jenner, Elliott Hall Medical Centre
The Elliott Hall Patients’ Association (a registered charity) and the EHMC Patient Heroes volunteers for a COVID-19 bring people together, showing the very best in humanity and compassion during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In mid-March, as cases began to rise, it became clear that North West London, and Harrow in particular, was becoming a major centre for the pandemic in the UK. Our local hospital declared their capacity as an emergency situation, drawing increased media and public interest. From the 23 March the UK Government declared a national lockdown. At Elliott Hall Medical Centre, we immediately became overwhelmed with calls from concerned patients (and staff) who were becoming unwell or self isolating. Daily updates with policy and service changes started to arrive from various agencies and it was clear that this pandemic was unlike anything any of us had seen or experienced in our careers.
With one of the highest populations of older people in North West London, we recognised that many of our vulnerable patients would have significant challenges with the lockdown measures being put in place. We were aware of the need to mobilise volunteers to step forward and support us, just as much as they were needed to support the national effort.
On 18 March, EHMC sent a text message to all our patients aged 18-65 who do not routinely receive an annual flu jab, asking for volunteers of help for our patients in need. The response was truly humbling. Over the next few days we received almost 300 offers of assistance, these volunteers were known as PATIENT HEROES.
At the same time we started to contact targeted groups of patients in order to check what support was required. It was clear that many were feeling isolated, vulnerable and scared.
We identified 10 patients who we knew particularly well or had worked closely with the practice in the past, to be locality stewards - ‘lead volunteers’ who would help us run the programme and ensure volunteers were supported adequately.
Our approach was to divide the volunteers into groups of 25 and then match them to patients who lived nearby. The locality stewards would oversee this pairing and check both the volunteer and the patients were being supported and were happy. The practice was there to offer support, especially when medical problems arose or patients/volunteers were in crisis.
Our fantastic Patients’ Association were closely involved from the outset, building on their strong legacy of involvement with advocating patient interests at EHMC. Under the leadership of the charity’s new Chairman, a steering group was set up to support the team.
A number of our Patients’ Association Committee were themselves isolating, but by using weekly Zoom calls, the steering committee were able to support the project, step up to cover locality stewards when they were unable to volunteer, and offer the vast experience of volunteering they had gained working with the Patients’ Association.
It was clear from an early stage that there were many people needing help. Telephone calls were often lengthy, which highlighted the complexities of some patient’s social and health needs. We estimate 2,000 hours+ of volunteering was given through our HEROES programme between March to September 2020, including more than 200 hours by our Locality Stewards who helped facilitate the programme.
A couple of examples of how the volunteers stepped in when needed.
During the lockdown period our local water mains burst. This flooded our high street and there was a need to turn off the mains impacting many local houses. Volunteers responded by delivering bottles of water to shielding patients they were supporting without being asked to do so.
We encouraged all volunteers to register with the ‘GoodSam’ scheme as a way to reduce risk to vulnerable patients. The HEROES steering group came up with the idea of ID badges, the Patients’ Association funded NHS Lanyards (approved by our CCG) and printed an identification to which we inserted their driving licence. This was a simple system that gave reassurance to our patients about their visitors.
As restrictions lifted there was a need to support a number of patients with essential transport to the hospital. The organising team identified volunteers that would be happy to help. This required a DBS check and they organised with a local voluntary organisation for this to be coordinated from the surgery. The Patients’ Association agreed to subsidise the costs from its charitable funds and within a couple of days the volunteers had been assessed, forms completed and sent for processing. This usually long winded process took place so smoothly.
Words cannot express our gratitude for the selfless acts of help so many volunteers offered. Four months after starting the EHMC Patient Heroes, we continue to support over 160 patients on an ongoing basis. New friendships have emerged and so many acts of kindness and generosity have been seen.
We celebrated the first 100 days of our project with a Zoom call to our volunteers and it was good to have the opportunity to personally thank everyone. We continue to carefully respect social distancing rules and we are now looking at how in the post COVID world we can continue to help our vulnerable patients who are socially isolated. Some of our volunteers have offered to help with existing Patient Association activities including transport and the exercise group. A companionship group is ready to launch once we are able to meet again as groups, and we are looking forward to offering more 1:1 visits.
The Patient Heroes programme has been a significant undertaking at a time when we have been stretched and under pressure as a practice. We are unaware of any projects of this scale taking place in practices locally, and it is a tribute to the EHMC team, our Patients’ Association and our patients, that we have been able to offer the services we do.
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