The health and wellbeing of carers, our team members and our volunteers is paramount to our Leadership Team and our Board of Trustees.  We are coordinating our services to ensure we continue to support vulnerable people in the community while safeguarding all our team members and our volunteers.  As an organisation that works with carers and their cared for across Devon we recognise our responsibility to keep communicating and connecting at the heart of our response to the current situation. 

Following advice from the Government, we have decided to suspend all our face to face meetings and groups until further notice. 

We are delivering the following services:

• Our helpline is open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. We have increased the amount of people working on our helpline during this difficult period.
• Webchat – chat online with one of our helpline team during office hours by clicking on the ‘Ask’ button on our website.
• Health and Wellbeing Checks (Carers Assessments) – all planned assessments and reviews will be carried out either online or over the telephone where possible. Home visits will only be provided on a case by case basis and will be individually risk assessed to ensure the safety of carers and staff.
• Hospital Services will be expanded to meet the need – we are more than doubling the amount of people we have working on this project and have increased hours of operation in anticipation of increased demand.
• Remote peer support is available over the telephone with a member of the team or through an online forum where you can chat with other carers.
• Time for you may be available over the telephone although a number of our partners are choosing to close down operations which would mean that this service will be patchy.
• Alert cards and the ‘What-if’ emergency plan can be applied for by contacting the helpline. Please bear in mind that with reduced office staff this may take longer than usual to process.
• Free online training is available; please visit https://devoncarers.org.uk/information-and-advice/self-help/on-line-training/free-on-line-course/ for course information. We will add to the training offered online as things become available.
• A dedicated ‘help during the coronavirus’ website page has been published https://devoncarers.org.uk/help-during-coronavirus-covid-19/

How our team are working to deliver this service:

Our team will provide the services above by email, telephone or through webchat.  For more information t: 03456 434 0345 or visit Devon Carers

Support for our volunteers:

We aim to make sure that anyone who gives their time to us feels valued, understood and proud to be part of Westbank.  We will support you in your volunteering role, through telephone and online catch-ups, safeguard you in your role by providing any necessary PPE, look after your health and safety, and reimburse all agreed out of pocket expenses.

Further information:

Visit our Coronavirus page which includes practical advice and guidance.