Recovery workers in East Kent are now able to request postal Covid-19 tests on behalf of service users, thanks to the initiative taken by Forward Trust’s Thanet Team Leader, Sam Blake.
In East Kent, many of our service users are both vulnerable and extremely isolated, making it particularly challenging for them to get tested if they start experiencing symptoms of Covid-19.
‘Some of our service users don’t even have mobile phones, let alone the internet. So if they fall ill at a time like this, they’re pretty stuck – and that can have a knock-on effect on the rest of their treatment too.’ says Sam.
‘Unfortunately, the Covid helpline weren’t able to let us bulk order tests to keep in the hub as we’d hoped, but they did agree to send postal tests directly to service users if we were to request them on their behalf.’
The next step was figuring out the easiest and safest way for service users to provide consent for their personal details to be shared. Sam consulted our Governance Team, who were able to produce a consent form that could be completed verbally and uploaded to our system ahead of time. This means that, in future, if a client reports symptoms of Covid-19, teams already have the consent necessary to get a test sent to their home address immediately. This system has now been rolled out across all of our hubs in East Kent.
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