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Are people still seeing people?
Hi
I would be interested to know what provisions organisations are making during the Covid19 problem.
Are people still seeing clients ? Working from home? etc etc.
I’m advising any of my clients who fall into the vulnerable groups (a majority of them do) to stay home as much as possible. I’ll advise them over the phone, and/or post out mandates instead of seeing them in person. I haven’t happened upon the implicit UC issues yet.
Other clients are free to come to their appointments if they want to.
Our offices are still open for appointments only, and we’ve got cleaning/disinfection procedures in place at intervals, and whenever someone visits.
We’re probably going to move to telephone advice only by the end of next week. We’re still seeing the clients that we had booked in, if they turn up for their appointment(!), with cleaning/disinfection after each visit but otherwise we’ll be on telephone advice only soon. Just grappling with how to deal with form filling at the moment as that is going to be tricky over the phone!!
Moving to telephone advice from today and home working, just honouring pre-booked face to face if they are not in high risk groups (which majority are based on our client group).
I’ve had no issues with completing a word document and attaching this to a benefit claim form, such as PIP etc for clients. For clients who can’t make it to an appointment anyway, I send these out by post with directions of where to attach it, stating all answers are on the particular page and advising clients on what tick boxes to mark.Just make sure NI number and client’s name are on each page and ensure they sign the form before sending.
No face to face contact. All existing appointments cancelled/postponed. We are providing telephone and email advice only until further notice.
No face to face contact. All existing appointments cancelled/postponed. We are providing telephone and email advice only until further notice.
Same here as above. We are also trying to sort through technology to work from home?
We are no longer providing face to face contact (same for most other advice centres and similar organisations locally). Likely to move to home working as we are located in a multi-user building which is likely to be closed.
Already starting to recognise some of the practical issues this involves (aside from the technology) such as receiving post, being able to see clients decision letters etc (particularly problematic with multiple HB decision notices or tax credits for example), GDPR and dealing with the local council (they don’t offer a version of ‘implicit consent’) and UC. helping clients to complete UC claims, UC/ESA50’s, PIP forms etc by phone. I’m sure there will be more!
Largely working from home (probably wholly pretty soon) and only telephone or email contact. Possibility of face to face in exceptional circumstances but I can’t imagine what would trump “pandemic” in the current circumstances. Technology can always find a way. Not being in a vulnerable group or disinfecting a room disregards that it’s not just about direct transmission but also being a asymptomatic carrier. If R is to = <1 then face to face is likely untenable.
Hope all are well. Would be interesting to explore how this site could become an even greater support network in the current climate.
Not being in a vulnerable group or disinfecting a room disregards that it’s not just about direct transmission but also being a asymptomatic carrier.
Exactly - can you tell HMCTS that?
I am fortunate enough to be a pretty low risk all things considered but I am still working from home because the purpose of social distancing isn’t just to protect you from it but to slow the spread generally. There is a really good article here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
The top diagram represents a court venue on a typical day - even if the security guards wear gloves.
Already starting to recognise some of the practical issues this involves (aside from the technology) such as receiving post, being able to see clients decision letters etc (particularly problematic with multiple HB decision notices or tax credits for example), GDPR and dealing with the local council (they don’t offer a version of ‘implicit consent’) and UC. helping clients to complete UC claims, UC/ESA50’s, PIP forms etc by phone. I’m sure there will be more!
Issues are starting to crop up here too.
Just had a very vulnerable client drop in to our closed offices, because he didn’t have credit on his phone to contact any other way. Aside from being exposed to Covid, he’s got mental health issues that didn’t really make it a feasible option to turn him away.
Thoughts on dealing with new clients in terms of registration, and particularly mandates etc? I’ve never operated a remote-only service before, and my default approach of posting out forms is tardy at best.
Did Citizens Advice come up with any clever ways of alleviating this when you designed the Help to Claim service etc?
Can anyone tell HMCTS anything Elliot!
I understand initial instructions (at least up here) were to keep 2m distance between the panel and members. Total disregard for interactions on the way in and out; frisking by security or indeed the panel sat next to you. Wholly impractical for some sensory impairment cases and so on. Better still lets hand over a summary decision! Lists collapsing left, right and centre with the inevitability of appellants and reps self-isolating.
We have already requested postponements (after consulting client). Given the Lord Chancellors statement https://www.gov.uk/government/news/courts-during-coronavirus-pandemic-robert-buckland-statement it will be interesting to see if they are refused on the grounds that there is no reason for the appellant & rep not to attend.
Although given HMCTS appears to be in a state of near collapse anyway once staff / tribunal members start to fall be the wayside little will be listed / heard anyway?
On a different note - are any organisations under pressure to continue face to face services and/or lose funding for reducing their methods / level of service?
... Hope all are well. Would be interesting to explore how this site could become an even greater support network in the current climate.
Hi Mike, and others ... great idea ... let us know if you’ve got particular thoughts about stuff we could be doing ... a couple of thoughts from us:
- we could create a new/separate coronavirus forum so that all related posts/threads are collected in one place
- is there something about supporting you as more of you start to work from home ... so not necessarily about support in relation to the social welfare law stuff, but about us all as a community of like-minded, but temporarily isolated, people .... for example, sometimes in the past, people have expressed an interest in us creating a pub/bar forum, where people can also catch up with each other about non-work stuff ... would something like that be of interest (though maybe we could call it something other than a pub/bar.. any thoughts?)
Do either of these sound like something worth looking at? ... do you have other ideas to throw into the mix?
Cheers - Shawn
I was thinking especially of the second one Shawn but a firm “yes” to both if you have the capacity as I’m sure like the rest of us you’ll be paddling rapidly below the surface just to give the appearance nothing has changed.
The second option strikes me as logically as in reality this is where we live online work wise so it makes sense to maybe expand (perhaps temporarily) with some caveats that might make the place require minimum administration/intervention e.g. no politics in an off-topic area.
One of the small number of other forums I haunt refers to such an area as the “Padded Cell”. Something like that would work :)
[ Edited: 18 Mar 2020 at 03:47 pm by Mike Hughes ]Shawn:
A chatroom perhaps? Depending on the build of the forum it might be difficult to implement, but I suppose it could also be hosted under a different domain.
Similar to your Covid-19 page, how about a similar page for tools and provisions/tips for working from home. Gathering up bits and bobs from our current discussions and collating it in an orderly form.
... Hope all are well. Would be interesting to explore how this site could become an even greater support network in the current climate.
Hi Mike, and others ... great idea ... let us know if you’ve got particular thoughts about stuff we could be doing ...
... we could create a new/separate coronavirus forum so that all related posts/threads are collected in one place ...
Here we go: https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewforum/42
What took you so long?
😊
... Hope all are well. Would be interesting to explore how this site could become an even greater support network in the current climate.
Hi Mike, and others ... great idea ... let us know if you’ve got particular thoughts about stuff we could be doing ... a couple of thoughts from us:
- we could create a new/separate coronavirus forum so that all related posts/threads are collected in one place
- is there something about supporting you as more of you start to work from home ... so not necessarily about support in relation to the social welfare law stuff, but about us all as a community of like-minded, but temporarily isolated, people .... for example, sometimes in the past, people have expressed an interest in us creating a pub/bar forum, where people can also catch up with each other about non-work stuff ... would something like that be of interest (though maybe we could call it something other than a pub/bar.. any thoughts?)
Do either of these sound like something worth looking at? ... do you have other ideas to throw into the mix?
Cheers - Shawn
Not all those working from home will have access to the normal textbooks. I hope there will be a bit of extra sympathy in this forum for what might previously have been “you should really look this up yourself” type questions. Not that simple questions tend to get rebuffed on this forum anyway, but please bear in mind the potential lack of resources.
Some forums end up having a stickied “simple questions” thread for this sort of thing ...
(I am speaking as someone who now has our office copy of the CPAG handbook stashed in his bedroom for the forseeable future)
There’s also the free trial to askCpag at the moment, although that’s only for a month.
I’m always happy to answer any questions, and ask a fair share of them myself (including some that were, in hindsight, unnecessary at best). An active forum is a healthy forum as far as I’m concerned (I grew up with Norway’s largest open discussion forum, with thousands of users).
I’ve had no issues with completing a word document and attaching this to a benefit claim form, such as PIP etc for clients. For clients who can’t make it to an appointment anyway, I send these out by post with directions of where to attach it, stating all answers are on the particular page and advising clients on what tick boxes to mark.Just make sure NI number and client’s name are on each page and ensure they sign the form before sending.
Would you be able to share your document that you use for PIP forms? I was going to create something this morning but if one already exists, that would be very helpful.
Thanks,
[ Edited: 19 Mar 2020 at 10:09 am by AdviceShop ]Not all those working from home will have access to the normal textbooks. I hope there will be a bit of extra sympathy in this forum for what might previously have been “you should really look this up yourself” type questions. Not that simple questions tend to get rebuffed on this forum anyway, but please bear in mind the potential lack of resources.
We love those kinds of questions ....
... we’re always trying to think of ways to address the barrier to people posting what they think might be a simple question or something they should know the answer to in a public forum .... but, in my view, providing support with those kinds of questions is a big part of what this forum, and us all as a community, should be about.
Keep them coming I say ....
Cheers - Shawn
Keep them coming I say ....
I quite like them as I’m confident answering them correctly!!
One thought, would it be possible to have some emojis or emoticons or something built in to the software? Makes it a bit easier to express tone which might help once this over and certainly during could be helpful if we’re going to be a bit more social around here!
Keep them coming I say ....
I quite like them as I’m confident answering them correctly!!
One thought, would it be possible to have some emojis or emoticons or something built in to the software? Makes it a bit easier to express tone which might help once this over and certainly during could be helpful if we’re going to be a bit more social around here!
I was going to say something similar as regards simple questions :)
As for emojiis… NO :) They are also a form of virus!
I’m only saying that because I have literally no ability to read emojis or deduce what they mean. Friends who know I’m sight impaired then just text them bigger. Makes no difference. All emojis just look sinister when made bigger.
On a more serious note I think we’ve always welcomed questions at all levels without judgement and I think it’s rightly been said that this is definitely the moment to persist with that. It’s a huge strength of this place. Not least because right now the sheer volume of new information and “trying to maintain a service” information most of us have flying through our brains means all of us will be doing incredibly well to just keep going. No doubt even the most experienced of us will miss something and simply get it wrong or forget things we actually know.
I’ve had no issues with completing a word document and attaching this to a benefit claim form, such as PIP etc for clients. For clients who can’t make it to an appointment anyway, I send these out by post with directions of where to attach it, stating all answers are on the particular page and advising clients on what tick boxes to mark.Just make sure NI number and client’s name are on each page and ensure they sign the form before sending.
Would you be able to share your document that you use for PIP forms? I was going to create something this morning but if one already exists, that would be very helpful.
Thanks,
Hi AdviceShop, sent this over to you. As I say, it’s just an adhoc document I use for clients over telephone, but you can add/detract anything from it, say if an activity isn’t relevant, just delete it.
Any chance you could send it onto myself also. Adhoc or not I’m sure it will be better than what I could come up with!
Pretty soon we may all get an opportunity to;
hardly leave the house, become anxious in crowded places, need prompted to change clothes or wash (what’s the point if you aren’t going anywhere), have difficulty taking nutrition, have difficulty socializing and meeting new people, can have outbursts of behavior that would not be reasonable in a workplace (toilet rolls) and develop depression and poor mental health.
We all might learn something new about our poor clients and ourselves. Keep safe!
N.B. I think I saw some emoji’s on a draft Scottish Social Security disability form ;-)
Pretty soon we may all get an opportunity to;
hardly leave the house, become anxious in crowded places, need prompted to change clothes or wash (what’s the point if you aren’t going anywhere), have difficulty taking nutrition, have difficulty socializing and meeting new people, can have outbursts of behavior that would not be reasonable in a workplace (toilet rolls) and develop depression and poor mental health.
We all might learn something new about our poor clients and ourselves. Keep safe!
N.B. I think I saw some emoji’s on a draft Scottish Social Security disability form ;-)
What do you mean “... get an opportunity to”?
You’re basically describing most WRAs now! :)
I mean we Welfare Rights advisors personally may be limited by such things if we have to ‘self isolate’ irony never works in writing!
any already formulated PIP/word documents that can be shared would be great. Our admin is in self isolation.
We’re providing telephone and email advice. I’m going to start playing with Skype tomorrow as well where clients can access it; there’s a lot of value in face to face work, even if it’s over video link.
We are in the middle of 5 different training courses at the moment so will be investigating Zoom to try to maintain some momentum.