Lead Organisation: BCUHB
The engagement team from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) spoke to over 40 different partner organisations about changes that took place during the pandemic through phone calls and online conversations.
Video and phone consultations
Many participants mentioned the way that patient consultations changed during the period. Digital technologies and phone calls were the main way participants had kept in touch with residents, vulnerable individuals, carers, family and friends.
Benefits of video or phone consultations:
- Convenient, no need to travel to appointments. Particularly for patients with mobility issues.
- Good way to conduct routine and follow-up appointments
Challenges with video or phone consultations
- Impersonal, some people missed the human interaction
- Not suitable in situations where a physical examination is required
- Could miss important indicators
- Potential to misinterpret symptoms
- Not accessible to all, particularly people with hearing or visual impairments or without access to digital technology or where there were language barriers
Health appointments
There was positive feedback about GP services, for example, some surgeries contacted patients to ask them to monitor blood pressure and other health issues, which helped provide reassurance. There were some difficulties contacting some GPs and getting prescriptions. A lot of people were anxious about accessing health services because of fear of infection and not wanting to put additional pressure on GPs. Patients wanted to be reassured on availability of adequate provisions of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of everyone, especially when face to face services resume. They also want to know that appointments will be safe to attend.
Mental health and isolation
While some participants were able to quickly adapt to working online and have been able to reach more people this way, there were many concerns about the impact isolation will have on people’s mental health. This included a lack of communication and difficulty accessing the health board’s mental health services. Other concerns were around people having difficulty paying rent, debt and unemployment due to the pandemic which is also likely to impact people’s mental health.
Communication and information
Digital technology and social media have been useful tools in sharing information about Covid-19 and services available during the pandemic. There were some difficulties finding information about service changes from the health board and contacting family members in hospital. Information needed to be available in all languages spoken in North Wales in addition to Welsh and English.
Carers
Many care and support services were reduced or stopped during the pandemic so more people had to start providing care to friends and family or provide additional care, which affected their well-being. Local councils and voluntary associations were working together to support carers, which included:
- Recruiting and coordinating volunteers
- Providing food boxes through the Welsh Government initiative for residents that were shielding
- Volunteers providing delivery services including shopping and collecting prescriptions
- Providing key support systems (befriending schemes) including weekly phone calls to the most vulnerable and hosting virtual support groups
See also: Covid conversations: Public survey
