Lockdown has been full of firsts for most of us as we try to navigate moving almost every aspect of our lives online. Last week I had my first experience of presenting a webinar via Microsoft Teams Live. The webinar itself went smoothly (minus a couple of user error tech issues – all mine by the way!), the audience was engaged, sharing comments and asking questions throughout the session, and the presenters spoke passionately about the work we have been doing as a team over the past 12 months and about what we hope will happen next.

The topic of the webinar was Why Community Matters – an insight report into Early Help in Wirral for children and their families when they first start to face challenges that they cannot overcome on their own. I’ve spent the majority of the last 12 months listening, learning, writing about and listening again to families who have had good, bad and ugly experiences of getting the help they need. I’ve been desperate to share the things I’ve heard, so that steps can be taken to build on what works and get rid of what doesn’t. Ultimately, the system should work for families, rather than making families work within a system.

Halton Borough Council, with the support of local care organisation Catalyst Choices CIC, has opened the doors to Lilycross, its step-down care facility in Widnes, just four weeks after starting work on the derelict care home. 

The 60-bed facility is intended as a regional hub for people recovering from Covid-19 and other major illness. It forms an important part of a wider ‘Out of Hospital’ project happening across Cheshire and Merseyside to provide additional capacity in the community, freeing up much needed bed space in local hospitals. 

The Council commissioned the project at the beginning of April, working in partnership with Catalyst Choices, Eric Wright Health & Care and Capacity, as part of its commitment to supporting the Halton population during the outbreak of Covid-19 coronavirus. 

To support the new facility Catalyst Choices has recruited 60 people from both the local community and the healthcare sector. 

Capacity is delighted to announce the new partnership with between SWAGGA and Childwall Wavertree PCNs and Patchwork Health. Patchwork will support the GP teams to meet staffing demands for the NHS Covid-19 Treatment Centre in Garston, the development and launch of which Capacity has been heavily involved.

Since the Coronavirus outbreak, designated practices within Primary Care Networks (PCNs) have been dividing themselves into “hot clinics” (treating patients with symptoms of COVID-19), and “cold clinics” (treating asymptomatic patients), to ensure the continued provision of care whilst limiting both exposure to and the spread of the virus.

Through its collaboration with Patchwork Health, and with support from Capacity, South Liverpool NHS Treatment Centre has recently opened its ‘hot clinic’, staffed by primary care workers across a range of 24 practices within the Speke, Woolton, Allerton, Gateacre, Garston and Aigburth (SWAGGA) and Childwall Wavertree Primary Care Networks.

With shifts and schedules previously managed by the networks using laborious and time-consuming Excel spreadsheets, Patchwork Health has granted the PCNs full access to its digital staffing solution for the duration of the pandemic. With Patchwork Health’s user-friendly technology, GPs are now offered the ability and flexibility to self-book onto vacant shifts, as well as ensure increased fill rates for safe staffing levels, reduced admin burden and greater visibility of workforce data for managers.

Most importantly, the process has been mobilised at significant speed; with initial consultations through to implementation of the Patchwork software taking only a matter of days.

Capacity Development Manager, Emma Lord, who has been working closely with Network Leads in South Liverpool for nearly two years now, said,