Update on our front line services
9th April 2020
Coronavirus has changed many aspects of all our daily lives. Many of our supporters will be aware of our information hub, launched last month, which provides information on coronavirus and mental wellbeing. SAMH is also a major social care provider, with many frontline staff who are defined as keyworkers in the current situation and are continuing to work in the community. In recent weeks, the nature of SAMH’s service delivery has changed, in order to protect our staff, service users and volunteers. This short statement provides an update on the actions we have taken.
SAMH provides services including housing support, care at home, supported accommodation, employability services, care homes and many other community services. Almost all of our services remain operational, but we have moved quickly to introduce new models of working in line with Scottish Government guidance.
Two-thirds of our services have closed their office bases with staff either working from home, delivering support by telephone, working in a different service or working to a different operational model.
Fifteen of our services are fully operational, with appropriate social distancing safeguards and other protective measures in place. Most of these are care home and care at home services, where people are dependent on SAMH for essential support. This means that around 130 SAMH staff are working on the front line, delivering vital face to face support for vulnerable adults across the country. These staff are working in extremely challenging circumstances and going to incredible lengths to ensure our service users remain supported. We are deeply appreciative of their flexibility and commitment.
We are keeping the situation under constant review to ensure we are taking every possible action to protect our staff and the people we support.
Please visit our information hub on coronavirus and mental wellbeing: we are updating this page regularly. Our Info Team can help connect you with local support and information: they are available Mon-Fri, 9am - 6pm (except on Bank Holidays) on 0344 800 0550 or info@samh.org.uk. Calls are charged at local rates.
