I was increasingly concerned about the impact of shielding on patient safety, and so initiated a support system for vulnerable individuals. I pulled together a group of local volunteers to support pharmacies, and help with medication delivery to the target population (listed above) in Sheffield by collaborating with different organisations across the city to provide a sustainable way forward to co-ordinate and support volunteers to safely deliver medicines. This included working closely with the local pharmacy committee (Community Pharmacy Sheffield), Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, Sheffield Accountable Care Partnership and, Voluntary Action Sheffield. Forty five individuals were recruited from various sectors. Volunteers were supported, and provided with written training material to facilitate safe handling and delivery of medicines to over 180 homes across Sheffield between 26th March to 18th May, 2020. Volunteers also facilitated transportation to hospital and pharmacy appointments for vulnerable individuals and provided Support to community pharmacies in Sheffield.
I also worked with the Move More Team that developed and distributed a resource to shielding, and older people across Sheffield. The resource is a printed booklet called Active at Home, it was developed to support people to find ways to stay active at home during lockdown; particularly people who are digitally excluded. I played a key role in rapidly bringing people together to co-produce the booklet and in contributing to the content by working with the illustrator to ensure that the end product was suitable. I liaised with the Local Pharmacy Council and the CCG to facilitate delivery of the booklet to every community pharmacy in Sheffield so that copies could be included in medicine bags for people who were shielding. We conducted a small evaluation of this project, I led the telephone interviews and co-authored the report.
