Fenland carer Stuart trials Zoom to attend Healthwatch meetings

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed many local services and support organisations online. But what happens if you don’t have internet or may be just don’t want to be online?

Health and care champions Healthwatch Cambridgeshire want to make sure that local people can access help and information in different ways - and also continue to have their say about services.

Although most of its face-to-face meetings have had to move online because of the need for social distancing, Healthwatch is looking at a blend of online and offline so that people have both options.

Its Partnership Boards – which help improve adult social care across the county – are also concerned about the digital divide because not everyone has access to, or the skills to use a computer.

Although lots of people are online, many families cannot afford Broadband and some older people lack confidence about going digital or worry about online safety and scams.

Recently Healthwatch arranged for Fenland carer Stuart to trial a remote meeting via Zoom, the Web-based video conferencing service.

Full-time carer Stuart, from Wisbech, is a long serving member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Carers’ Partnership Board.

The Board helps to improve services for carers in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and usually meets every two months in different places across our region.

But since the start of the pandemic, meetings have switched to online.

“I’ve been involved with the Partnership Board for nine years. I enjoy it because it keeps me in touch with developments on services for carers. I can also put forward any concerns that I hear,” Stuart explained.

“I tried joining the previous meeting remotely - by telephone, using the landline and hands-free option. But that didn’t work very well because the quality of the sound was really poor which was difficult especially on a meeting lasting a couple of hours.

“So when Healthwatch suggested I try using Zoom, I decided to give it a shot.”

The session took place at the Healthwatch offices in Huntingdon – and Stuart’s visit was fully risk-assessed and safe.

He sat in one of the meeting rooms with the laptop already set up and connected to the meeting.

“It took a bit of getting used to seeing people’s faces in those little squares as they joined in – and seeing myself on there as well was rather off-putting.

“Sometimes people just disappeared and there was just a black space on the screen, which was a bit disconcerting, but it was just the internet connections fading in and out.

“The technology seemed quite fiddly and I felt that it was a bit of a distraction and slowed the flow of the meeting.

“Zoom was better than no communications at all and it was definitely worth trying. However, for me it wasn’t as effective as meeting face to face where you get the personal interaction with others,” summed up Stuart.

“I do hope that we can get back to having our usual style of meeting. I worry that the longer the meetings continue online, the more reluctant people are to leave home and meet up.”

Can you access help and information?

Healthwatch wants to hear how local people are managing to access health and

care information.

 Share your views online at https://www.healthwatchcambridgeshire.co.uk/share-your-views

 Or call Healthwatch on 0330 355 1285.