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StaffConnect – Let’s stay connected StaffConnect is the new communications app for LTHT, available to all colleagues. All staff will have already received an email with instructions on how to download the app and log in.
Why an app?
Hepatitis C outreach team help Leeds homeless during lockdown Through collaboration between teams from Bevan Healthcare, The Hepatitis C Trust, and LTHT, support was provided for vulnerable people with Hepatitis C in Leeds during the pandemic.
to a unique set of circumstances which enabled the Leeds Viral Hepatitis team to take their outreach service directly to vulnerable and homeless people in Leeds.
Together, this outreach team has been testing groups of vulnerable and homeless people who had been housed in temporary accommodation around the city due to lockdown.
“During the pandemic this group have been housed in temporary accommodation meaning that the team could find patients who previously had not engaged with testing or treatment for Hepatitis C. This has only been possible through multiagency collaboration between LTHT, The Hepatitis C Trust and the Bevan HealthCare Street outreach team.”
Using a mobile clinic, the teams travelled to different hotels and hostels around the city to carry out Hepatitis C tests. On these days around 20 to 30 people met with the team to be tested and some individuals were soon later able to start their Hepatitis C treatment to cure them of the virus. Clinical Nurse Specialists Tracey Stirrup and Elizabeth Nother from LTHT have both been a key part of this collaborative outreach work which has seen a major step forward to eliminate the virus in vulnerable communities in Leeds. The initiative was supported by charity Leeds Cares, with individuals who were tested on the day also receiving a care package donated by the charity. Tracey Stirrup Clinical Nurse Specialist said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has led
It is estimated that 143,000 people in the UK are living with Hepatitis C, a bloodborne virus which can cause serious and even fatal damage to the liver if left untreated, among other health impacts. Despite this, around two-thirds of those with hepatitis C are living with an undiagnosed infection. The most common route of transmission is through sharing equipment for injecting drugs.
When we have talked to colleagues about what could be improved in LTHT internal communications, people have always highlighted not being able to read emails or access a PC and getting too much information that is not relevant. StaffConnect allows internal communications to be much more accessible and makes more targeted, personalised content.
What can I do on StaffConnect? With the launch of StaffConnect, staff will be able to use their Trust or personal smart phone or their desktop to access to all the latest Trust news usually received via email, including Intouch and Start the Week. Staff will also be able to access more personalised information from their CSU or corporate team in the My Community feed, once this is up and running. Staff will be able to ask a question, comment on a story or tag a colleague to get the conversation going.
Why don’t you give it a try? There are other functionalities to explore within StaffConnect, including a section for events, a dedicated survey area and an area to store frequently accessed documents that can be shared within a team. Feedback is invited through commenting on one of the posts or by answering some of the questions in the survey section of the app.
Since 2015, Hepatitis C treatments with short durations, limited side-effects and cure rates upwards of 95% have been widely available. The UK is committed to eliminate Hepatitis C as a public health concern by 2030 at the latest.
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