Gateway Family Services

The Customer

Gateway Family Services is a Community Interest Company which provides vital services to the communities in and around Birmingham and the West Midlands. The not-for-profit organisation works in partnership with the NHS and Local Authorities. They provide health and wellbeing services with the common theme of “people who need help”.

Health and wellbeing are at the heart of Gateway, who offer support via their Pregnancy Outreach Worker Services and Health Trainers. They give one-to-one advice to vulnerable clients out in the community. These employees, along with volunteers, often work alone.

The Challenge

There are hazards to consider when out working with clients and this can be amplified whilst working alone. Should one face threats of abuse and assault, become a victim of an accident, or fall ill, without immediate help at hand, these situations can become critical.

If such scenarios occur, organisations employing lone workers can be subject to rigorous health and safety legislation. Prosecution can lead to crippling fines, loss of staff confidence, extended sick leave, tarnished reputations and even custodial sentences for those responsible for the welfare of employees.

Danny Dhadda, who manages one of the Outreach teams for Gateway explains why they chose Peoplesafe as a solution to protect their lone workers.

“We were looking for a new system to support our Outreach workers in their day-to-day roles when in the community supporting clients. Having looked around for various providers we found Peoplesafe to be reliable.”

The Solution

Gateway opted for Peoplesafe’s Lone Working App and ordered 60 licences for their lone workers. Available on all major operating platforms, the application gives users the ability to raise the alarm in the event of an emergency. It also allows lone workers to log in and out of daily tasks, leaving details of their location and the expected duration.

If an activity overruns, Peoplesafe will automatically call the lone worker to verify their safety. If the lone worker cannot be reached a nominated respondent will be notified informing them of the overrun activity. This is a feature that Gateway have found invaluable.

“Fortunately no one has had to genuinely raise the alarm,” explains Danny. “But we have had a series of overruns where the support worker is not contactable. However, with the detailed process and protocols that we set up, we managed to locate the individuals. Unfortunately, one incident resulted in us having to contact the police as per our protocols, but it ensured that we managed to locate the member of staff and they were safe. It also gave that individual the reassurance that the system works.”

The Benefits

“When we delivered the training, we did mock calls to show them how Peoplesafe worked in various scenarios. For example, a routine overrun, an SOS button alert, and a duress call using a PIN number. Seeing this gave them the reassurance of how effective it is. They have also been told that they could use it on public transport if they felt unsafe at any time.”

Danny goes on to explain the most impressive aspects of the service. “It’s the speed at which we can be informed as an On-call Manager that a visit has overrun and the fact that an individual can be located through GPS if an incident was to occur. We have clear protocols for a genuine emergency, and code words that Peoplesafe’s Alarm Receiving Centre can listen out for if they need to. It is also quick to log an activity.”