Stevie Corbin-Clarke and Dr Mel Hughes from the 蜜桃AV Research Centre for Seldom Heard Voices have been collaborating with National Voices on a project which aimed to develop an understanding of practical ways to support people who might find it difficult to access virtual or remote health services and who might be affected by wider inequalities.
Covid-19 has meant changes in the way that people access services and accelerated a move to virtual and remote models of care 鈥� a digital 鈥渇ront door鈥�. This has opened up may opportunities for聽innovation to develop easier access, but has also thrown a spotlight on inequalities, barriers for people to access health and social care and a digital divide.
With the pandemic leading the NHS to move to a "111 First" approach,聽with聽digital-first access encouraged for聽primary care, it has become essential that聽health and social care services adapt in order to be inclusive and responsive to people from all backgrounds and with a range of needs. Through our listening exercise we explored people鈥檚 experience of this rapid shift.
We hoped to explore what a more joined-up and person-centred experience of care looks like, how virtual services could meet the full range of clinical, emotional and practical needs of people at risk of exclusion and address the barriers to access and use confronting some groups. We wanted to address barriers to good care and improve health and wellbeing outcomes, particularly for those people who have high burdens of ill health and who are affected by inequality.
The report also explores how the move to remote service models impacted people and how the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE) has led innovative ways to deliver healthcare and support people during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Research partners
Our report
You can , where you'll also find;
- a聽literature review and insight data, derived from聽interviews聽with people at risk of exclusion.
- personal narratives聽- people's experiences of digital, COVID, exclusion and innovation.
- a聽call to action, which brings together the insight and practice of our members, and the learning from our widespread engagement and insight work. This includes聽recommendations聽for better practice, better policy, and better innovations.
- a poster/leaflet聽that explains to people what they can expect when using services now. This poster has been endorsed by the RCGP, RCP, Healthwatch England and many of our members.
