Well Pharmacy has completed COVID risk assessments for almost all of their 6700 colleagues.
Jacqueline Lunardi, Well People Director, said:
“While the infection rate stats were clearly indicating a specific concern among the BAME community and other higher-risk groups, we decided from the start that the action we would take was going to be for every colleague, including those on furlough, as we all faced the challenges COVID presented us with together. We also set up an ongoing process so anyone returning to work after a period of time off – for example, from maternity or long-term sick – and those whose health situation changes, complete an assessment too.”
Well also engaged with Professor Mahendra Patel to help identify any particular risk areas for BAME colleagues that we needed to identify.
Speaking of the risk assessment process, Professor Patel said:
“It’s reassuring to see that Well are being extra vigilant at wanting to help address the issues around BAME communities being disproportionally affected by COVID, and it’s great to see meaningful action being taken. Equally, it’s a real positive step that Well has taken to apply this risk assessment across all their employees to make sure they don’t exclude anyone at risk.
“I’m even more delighted to see that this isn’t just a one-off exercise and that Well continue to understand their employees’ needs to keep everyone protected. It’s been a pleasure to share my insight and experience to help them with this work.”
In June, Well sent a risk assessment questionnaire to every colleague. They created a robust evaluation matrix that would assess the risk to individuals based on the responses to the questions they gave.
“Our number one priority is the safety and security of our teams,” continues Jacqueline. “and I believe we’ve taken prompt and comprehensive action to ensure this.”
Janice Perkins, Pharmacy Superintendent, added:
“Having this comprehensive risk assessment process has given a lot of reassurance to our teams. Continuing to serve patients and customers on the frontline in a healthcare setting throughout the pandemic was concerning to some colleagues. Knowing that we were not only providing PPE to manage this but also risk assessing each individual’s situation fully, meant that our teams knew we were going that step further for their own safety.”
Summing up the process Well has been through, Jacqueline said:
“Our teams responded fantastically and more than 95% have completed their assessments now. We’re now continuing to assess those who are returning to work and we also have a process in place to re-assess anyone whose situation changes to make sure we keep everyone safe during these challenging times.”