View from the Chair April 2020
Welcome to the latest issue of View from the Chair.
This issue comes in the middle of these exceptionally, unusual and challenging times as we continue to provide support during the coronavirus outbreak.
We managed to continue with our Board meetings during March via remote Video Conferencing and have continued to operate the Business using a mix of remote technologies and practicing social distancing. It has been a steep learning curve for many of us, but it has enabled us to continue to manage the business and operate to our Governance Framework.
We have ensured that as many staff members as possible are now working from home to adhere to social distancing advice from the government. We are still providing direct support to those people who need it, whilst ensuring staff who are still working with people we support are adhering to social distancing guidance and have the correct PPE.
I would like to take this opportunity to express thanks on behalf of the Board to so many of the staff, who have continued to provide service and support to the people we support, their parents and carers during this difficult period, they have been quite exceptional.
During this period, some of our workforce may be called upon to work within supported living settings, working in collaboration with other organisations to help with the pressure on all Wirral services.
You can find the most up to date information and advice about the outbreak and our response following these hot links on our website, our Facebook page and twitter.
In the background of coordinating our response to coronavirus, Jean has also managed to progress with our Annual Plan for 2020-2021 and our 5-year Business Strategy 2025. Our Annual Plan was submitted to Wirral Council’s Shareholder Board in January but due to the impact of the pandemic, it maybe some time before we can formally gain approval. We will however now be working to our Annual Plan as submitted to ensure the improvements we have proposed can be implemented during the coming financial year.
At Board we signed off against the top strategic priorities proposed by Jean for the coming financial year from the 5-year Business Strategy which will be our initial focus as a business in the next 6 months and onwards. These priorities are as follows:
1. To deliver safe, consistent and quality assured standard of care utilising the ‘people banding’ analysis to restructure and invest in the workforce where needed
2. To enhance our leadership capacity and capability by conducting a skills analysis of all the workforce, to identify gaps and subsequently invest where needed
3. To improve innovation, competitiveness and market positioning, enabling greater sustainability.
Each of these priorities are a basis for wider pieces of work and will provide the foundations for the rest of the Business Strategy 2025.
We have made significant progress in reviewing and updating our Policies and Procedures. We commissioned a large piece of work to look at our existing policies and procedures, to bring them up to date and to simplify them. This work is on target for completion at the end of April.
The Board were extremely pleased to hear the news that we have been awarded the Community Action Wirral Volunteer Standard. The standard is an external accreditation for the volunteer programme we have rolled out this past year. I would like to thank Lorraine Moran (Head of Quality), and the Volunteer Action Group for the work that has led to us achieving this standard.
I am pleased to report that our website has had a makeover - https://www.wirralevolutions.org/
It is now more user friendly and has many useful resources available. We are also working towards having a staff portal so staff can access relevant information and resources with more ease.
As of writing, our Corporate Services office in Wallasey remains closed. You can still contact us via email admin@wirralevolutions.org or on the following numbers:
· 07392 501 022
· 07385 832 512
Mike Naden – Chair of the Board
22 April 2020