Volunteers Required to Provide COVID-19 Support

As you are aware, COVID-19 has not gone away and members of staff are working tirelessly across the council to keep business going.

However, there are some service areas which need more help than others due to the particular line of work they are in and that’s why we are writing to you today.

We need your help.

Some care homes are finding it increasingly difficult to operate safely because their staff are having to self-isolate because of COVID-19.

There have been times over the past few weeks where some homes have been close to having too few members of staff to be able to provide support to their residents, some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

There are good contingency plans in place to ensure the continuity of care staff, to provide the personal and medical care residents need, but we might need support in delivering some of the extra help around the care home in order to allow these essential workers to focus on providing critical care.

There are every day jobs that are so important within the care sector which we need support with, such as making drinks for the residents to ensure they are hydrated sufficiently, cleaning to make sure the residents and staff are safe at all times and answering the phones to take important calls from suppliers and family members.

Even simply sitting with residents and reading to them can free up care staff to enable them to carry out vital jobs, such as feeding residents, dealing with their personal care and undertaking medication duties.

Do you think you could carry out one of these supporting roles if we found that a care home simply didn't have the staff to keep functioning?

Our aim is to create a pool of people that we might call in an emergency and when we have exhausted all the other options available to us. Ideally you would have a current DBS certificate.

This would be on a short-term secondment basis from your normal job, on your existing pay, terms and conditions.

This is a serious situation, and a genuine request, but one that you need to feel comfortable in volunteering for. We know that many people will have reservations about working in what is likely to be a COVID-positive environment.

There are comprehensive safe systems of work in place and, if you did volunteer, we will provide you with the suitable training and PPE that you need to minimise the risk of catching COVID-19. This would mean that you are in no more danger than you would be going to the shops or a restaurant. However, this role wouldn't be suitable if you have any pre-existing health conditions.

If you volunteered, we would only ask for your help if we think it is essential in keeping a home operating and if we think that the consequences of not doing so were going to be serious and life-threatening.

Volunteering might result in an urgent request to work at any care home in the East Riding of Yorkshire and potentially to cover evening shifts.

As you are aware, these times are serious and taking part in this request could help to save a life.

If you feel that you are in a position to provide support to this extremely important service, we would love to hear from you.

If you think would be suited for this role, please send a message to emergency.planning@eastriding.gov.uk and we'll get in touch with more information.

Training would be provided in advance of deployment and you would be provided with regular COVID-19 tests.

CMT and SMT have given their full support to release staff that would be comfortable carrying out the role.

Thank You!

Yvonne Rhodes

Head of Business Management and Commissioning

#TogetherEastRiding