Heartbeat: YHP at the heart of the community during COVID-19

March 22, 2021

On 1 April 2020, we officially welcomed Your Health Partnership (YHP) into our organisation. Working as an additional directorate, it marked the start of a new phase for both our organisation and Your Health Partnership. It has been less than a year that we have been working together collaboratively and what a year it has been.

As we progress through 2021, it’s only natural that we take a moment to look back on what we’ve achieved and our plans for the future. We caught up with Tom Finan, Patient Engagement and Transformation Lead to discuss all things YHP!

Without a doubt, the overarching theme for 2020 has to be the team effort that has gone into tackling COVID-19. Colleagues have stepped up and gone the extra mile to ensure patient care has not been compromised. Tom told us: “Everyone has done such a splendid job this year, we’ve all had our part to play, and the teamwork has seen us through these

trying times. Everyone from our clinicians to our non-clinical colleagues such as our reception and telephony teams, patient services, housekeeping and secretaries – we couldn’t have made it this far without a combined effort with us all pulling in the same direction.”

“2020 has seen our workforce adapt and make changes to how they work. There has been much flexibility among the team. Colleagues have had to work on new sites, meet new people and sometimes cover roles they are unfamiliar with at short notice. Others have had to work from home and isolate when family members have been unwell. It’s all been done without question and with a good dose of humour. Being able to have a laugh and a joke with colleagues has been uplifting as we have had a lot of challenges to face together.”

So, how did the team meet the ever-changing demands placed on them by COVID-19? “There were several operational changes we had to make,” Tom told us. “Effective communication has been at the core of what we’ve done since this all started. We set up our version of Cobra meetings called Yobra (YHP Cobra). It added a bit of humour but importantly meant we could all make sense of the information. This, in turn, helped us to make rapid changes.

“We also reduced the number of sites that patients were being seen face to face from seven down to two. It enabled us to provide colleagues most at risk with a safe location to work from. As the pandemic progressed, we were able to re-open in a planned way and are now back to four sites. One of our proudest achievements has to be that we were able to keep our services running seven days a week and increased availability during the evenings and at weekends. We have also been able to continue to support our care homes and intermediate care beds throughout this pandemic.”

2020 has enabled many teams to innovate, and that is something YHP have embraced. Tom explained: “One of the biggest positives has to be better use of technology for colleagues and patients. The use of laptops has allowed colleagues to work flexibly and remotely. We’ve used WebEx teams too, another first for us.

“We’ve also started actively using accuRx. It’s is a simple way of facilitating two-way communication with patients; holding video consultations and sharing pictures of things like rashes. We are also able to text advice and links to more online information to help patients manage their condition. Patients can also submit non-urgent requests for help with medical and administrative issues by completing an online form 24/7.”

Other stand out successes includes integrated working between YHP and Great Bridge. The nursing team is now operating as one PCN team. As well as this, a new paediatric clinic provides specialist GP input to improve the identification and management of children with chronic conditions in primary care.

Looking to the future, Tom says the team are looking forward to getting behind the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out programme. “We’re excited to start delivering the vaccine and helping our community move forward after such a difficult year.”