How South Tyneside Homes Streamlined Daily Welfare Checks And Increased Service Participation

“We’ve been able to manage much more efficiently and maintain a high level of service when we’ve had staff absences, which we simply wouldn’t have been able to do prior to using the Wellbeing service”

Kate Curry | Area Manager

The challenge

Those who live in sheltered accommodation generally have more complex and intensive needs. As such, daily welfare checks to make sure they’re safe and well are essential. Yet the traditional method of manually calling each individual resident is a highly resource-intensive process – not to mention, it can take hours to complete. This needed to change, especially in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

In previous years, STH assessed its check-in service according to those who were happy with traditional methods. But Voicescape found that not everyone wanted to use the more conventional forms of contact. We also discovered that a large percentage of tenants didn’t want to sit at home waiting for a call and were seeking a greater degree of independence instead.

The solution

In this instance, STH didn’t want to reduce its staff levels and were therefore looking at ways to allocate existing resources more effectively and free up officer time to concentrate on more critical activities. That’s where Voicescape Wellbeing came in. Our powerful solution automated the process of calling residents to check in on their security and wellbeing.

How it works

Every day, our Wellbeing service conducts daily check-in calls to tenants at their preferred time, via their preferred method of contact. The residents then hear a recorded message that allows them to either confirm that they’re safe or to request assistance. If they requested assistance or failed to respond to the call, the Wellbeing system automatically raises an alarm to the relevant officer via SMS or email. The alarm is then registered on the online portal.

By not having to manually engage with tenants who don’t require daily welfare checks, STH had more time to engage with those who have more complex needs. It also allowed the housing provider to quickly and easily share information relating to the most vulnerable tenants with social or occupational health services.

The result

Since implementing Voicescape Wellbeing, a huge 459 out of 668 tenants (69%) are now using the service. STH even saw a 26% increase in overall service participation, which includes both traditional calls and our Wellbeing solution.

What’s more, our Wellbeing technology eliminates the need for residents who need urgent assistance and may have been unable to raise their alarms to wait several hours for a call.

STH’s Housing Plus Officer Ally Gill said, “The tenants have expressed how easy and modern the service is and how they can have this service bespoke to their needs. The vulnerable tenants who aren’t suitable for a Voicescape Wellbeing call now have their traditional type of call so much quicker, which is a massive improvement in monitoring their welfare. I couldn’t imagine going back to the old method now.”

Staff have also reported a noticeable shift in capacity and have had much more time to spend engaging with those who have more complex needs. As a result, they are now able to better prioritise their workload and take a more resident-centric approach to wellbeing.

“The impact on staff wellbeing has been hugely encouraging to see,” said Area Manager Kate Curry. “We’ve been able to manage much more efficiently and maintain a high level of service when we’ve had staff absences, which we simply wouldn’t have been able to do prior to using the Wellbeing service. Voicescape Wellbeing has been extremely well received by staff and has allowed them to build on their existing skill set.”