Western Australia’s low numbers in COVID-19 cases are encouraging but with the recent outbreaks in Victoria, other parts of Australia, and internationally it is important to remain vigilant and have a plan.
Interchange continues to follow government advice and best practice. Our Support Workers and other staff follow the restrictions in place, observe physical distancing, and practice good personal hygiene to better protect you and the general health of our community.
Our organisation recently conducted two surveys to find out more about the experiences of people we support and our employees during the COVID-19 outbreak in WA in order to update our plans and be prepared if needed for the future.
Customer Survey Results
We are happy to hear people we support who responded to the survey had a positive service experience throughout COVID-19, mentioning great communication and hygiene protocols as some of our best assets.
- 70 % of our customers would continue In-HomeServices with us in case of another COVID-19 Outbreak in Western Australia, naming Daily Living Support and recreational activities inside their home as their main priority.
- Over 40% of respondents told us they are in need of essential services to manage their day to day life in case of a future outbreak. These may include personal care, medication support, health care needs, mealtime or mobility supports.
- 42% would be interested in Support from a distance via phone, video calls, or chats.
Even though the people we support were mainly satisfied with their supports, they also gave us some great pointers on what to do better such as continuity of support staff and staff training.
Our leadership team is now discussing these results, taking feedback on board, and coming up with solutions and actions to ensure we are prepared if needed.
Employee Survey Results
Our organisation couldn’t provide quality supports without the passion, dedication, and commitment of our valued employees. We highly appreciate that most of our staff continued to work for Interchange throughout the crisis and were fully committed to providing quality services to the people we support.
We are also happy to see 75% of Interchangers were satisfied with our response to the pandemic, telling us communication was great and they felt well educated and informed. They also appreciated our efforts in keeping staff and customers safe, and the provision of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).
Safety plans and protocols:
- Interchange put in place various COVID-19 safety plans and protocols for working, which 80% of staff found helpful.
- 75% of respondents felt that they got the PPE they needed to carry out their job safely and were satisfied with their access to PPE.
- Most of our staff feel confident in accessing our technology outside of Interchange offices and could get all the information they needed.
- 80% of respondents feel they received the level of support they required from their supervisors.
Working during another outbreak:
Almost half of the responding support staff would be prepared to work with a customer who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and we continue to be impressed by the dedication and resilience of our Interchangers.
- 90% of support staff would also be interested in offering distant support to customers via phone, email or online.
- 85% of respondents would be able to continue working with us in case of another COVID-19 outbreak.
We would like to thank the people we support and our employees who responded to our surveys for being so open to us. We heard you and will put actions in motion. We will also continue to have regular opportunities to collect valued feedback, find out what is going well, and what needs to be worked on. Your feedback is important to us and helps us to continue to build an organisation that does outstanding work in supporting people with disability, even in a time of crisis.