As an early signatory to the C-19 Business Pledge, we have focused throughout the pandemic on safeguarding our people and communities and ensuring the successful ongoing provision of our business critical software and services. We have responded with new resources and rapid innovations, from the COVIDCare app delivered in March for the Northern Ireland Department of Health to a contact solution to support local track and trace in the London Borough of Redbridge.
Public services have maintained a tremendous effort in difficult circumstances and we remain committed to doing all we can to assist. In line with evolving local guidelines and restrictions we have adapted consistently around the globe to support our colleagues, customers and communities, working through business as usual.
We have been delighted during this time to receive significant recognition, from individual awards for our people and as an employer of choice, to our cloud and digital solutions such as Best Cloud Finance Solution for our work with South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We recognise that many customers are looking to build on new and stronger ways of working, and are also focused on accelerating the adoption of new technologies.
Supporting our Employees
Our priority remains the physical and mental wellbeing of all our colleagues. Our teams have done an amazing job in responding to extraordinary change with exceptional resilience and flexibility. Underpinned by our strong operating platform, this has sustained our business activities.
We’ve worked hard to proactively provide guidance and support for our people, from keeping remote workers engaged to our mental health champions and free-to-access Employee Assistance programme. We’ve enhanced the way we communicate and created new ways to share ideas and inspiration, and we continue to gather and react to feedback via regular Pulse surveys.
As we continue to work from home our Incident Response and People teams have augmented our established working practices. This includes a consistent phased approach to the operation of all facilities globally, to be carried out at appropriate local pace depending on varying circumstances and with robust processes for site impact assessments whether for Civica or customer sites.
Where national circumstances dictate, our facilities remain closed except for those colleagues in key worker roles who have done an excellent job throughout in supporting the delivery of vital services. In regions where facilities can be accessed, colleagues are able to ‘opt in’ to a limited number of workspaces available in our hub offices for occasional days. This is made possible by our workspace booking app and supported by attendance tracking together with comprehensive arrangements to protect the safety of colleagues.
Providing tools and resources for our customers
Alongside business as usual for our customers, we’re working hard to support the national and local level response through practical, innovative and updated software capability. We have delivered a range of new capabilities quickly, such as those listed below, and continue to provide system advice, configuration and data insights to ensure effective action. Our supporting programme of customer and community check-ins and forums has seen 6,000 attendees.
Helping beat the virus
Department of Health, Northern Ireland
In March the Department of Health launched a COVID-19 app commissioned and delivered in just two weeks by Civica with partner Big Motive. The first app of its kind in the UK and Ireland, it provides a single trusted source of immediate information and advice for NI citizens. Functions include an interactive symptom checker leading to guidance on what action to take, a chatbot to answer questions and a notification service to alert people to official updates or advice. With more than 44,000 initial downloads it is helping to ease pressure on GP surgeries, pharmacies and community services.
Staffing our NHS
NHS recruitment
We are supporting NHS Trusts in recruiting staff including volunteers and reducing turnaround times. Our cloud-based Trac recruitment platform supports the complete recruitment process for 180 Trusts. We responded rapidly to COVID-19 legislation to streamline recruitment processes to get the right candidates into posts quickly while supporting compliance. This includes fast-tracking DBS checks and professional registration to support specific temporary recruitment. Our support team continues to provide essential additional capacity for NHS Trusts, processing record numbers of DBS checks.
Supporting vulnerable citizens
Community Helper
Building on our iCasework digital platform we have made available Community Helper software free of charge for 6 months to help local authorities support their communities. Developed in partnership with Liverpool City Council, the digital platform is easy to use, quick to implement and highly secure. It enables councils to securely manage incoming requests for support with smart routing to match and direct these to service, volunteer or third sector teams based on criteria such as location, type of help needed and level of vulnerability. Authorities are then able to co-ordinate support to their most vulnerable residents, minimising data and safeguarding risks and delivering support as quickly as possible.
Funding for those who need it
Local Government Revenues & Benefits
We’ve diverted resources to rapidly update local government software to ensure authorities are able to provide critical assistance for local citizens and businesses and to reduce the amount of manual work required. These measures include support for councils in delivering vital business rates grant funds – with over £500 million paid by customer councils to date – and for the new Council Tax Hardship Fund. We’re working closely and swiftly with all local authority customers, including supporting the delivery of services with remote processing resource via our OnDemand capability and advising on options available to support households most in need.
Supporting employee processes
We have augmented our HR software in response to the significant issues faced by all organisations to implement and administer new schemes quickly in line with legislation, providing new functionality and reports with quick access to management information. In addition we have made available emergency payroll and BACS services with rapid set-up to ensure critical payroll processes are maintained and employees paid on time.
- Health & Care Northern Ireland
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COVID-19 App
First app of its kind in UK & Ireland, developed and launched with the Northern Ireland Department of Health in less than 10 days. We can also point to helping reduce the pressure on the 111 helpline which has seen daily call centres volumes reduced from 6,000 to less than 1,000
Southern Health & Social Care Trust
Innovative mobile app developed in four weeks to ensure vital information is shared with the Trust’s 13,000 employees including contract and agency staff without regular access to corporate systems. The Connect app provides an information hub with notifications and alerts and includes chatbot functionality to support and learn from employee requests.
- Local Govt and Social Housing
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Community Helper software
Built on the iCasework platform to help local authorities co-ordinate rapid support for vulnerable people while minimising safeguarding risks. Securely manages requests with smart routing to rapidly match and direct these to agencies and volunteers. Free to councils for 6 months. Initial partnership with Liverpool City Council, the digital platform is easy to use, quick to implement and highly secure.
Supporting Revenues and Benefits teams
When the Government announced a series of six measures to support businesses and Council Tax payers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, local authorities needed to respond rapidly to ensure businesses and vulnerable citizens were protected.
For the two largest measures, Business Rates Grant fund and Council Tax Hardship fund, we quickly created software solutions. To date, our software has supported 43 OPENRevenues customers to provide over £1.6bn in critical Business Rates Grants. Our Council Tax Hardship Fund module enables the reduction of bills by up to a further £150 for working age Council Tax support recipients. Processing the entire caseload in minutes means local authorities are helping those vulnerable people who need it fast.
Supporting social housing tenants
Assisting social housing teams to re-focus resources and provide vital support to tenants, from using our software to help reduce homelessness through providing emergency accommodation, direct hardship credits to those struggling with payments and enabling repairs staff to deliver food and other essential services to vulnerable people.
- Health & Care
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Trac e-recruitment software
Rapid response to COVID-19 legislation to streamline recruitment and get right candidates into posts quickly, including assistance to NHS recruiters and fast-tracking DBS checks. Record number of DBS checks processed in a single day by the team (over 1,600). Investigation into potential deployment of Microsoft Teams alongside Trac software to aid video recruitment ahead of face-to-face interviews, enabling NHS Trust teams to accelerate recruitment activity securely and at an affordable cost.
Civica Experience
We are working with hospitals in the UK and Australia to support patient feedback and surveys in a virtual environment using the Civica Experience platform. This is enabling feedback to be obtained in real time, ensuring that patient concerns are not being missed and helping identify priority patients or those that need additional support.
Occupational Health
OPAS cloud software is used to manage both administrative and clinical activities associated with screening staff during their current deployment or any on-boarding process. Enabling frontline staff to complete placement assessments remotely it is supporting the re-deployment of existing or returning staff to frontline roles, as well as the management of clinical testing.
- Local Public Service
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TranSend electronic Proof-of-Delivery mobile app
TranSend delivery app adapted with simple-to-use workflow and key features to enable critical supplies to be delivered to those in need with clear instructions for drivers and proof of delivery obtained. Offered free of charge for essential services, e.g. delivery to vulnerable citizens, school meals, fire services.
- HR and Payroll
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HR & Payroll
Extended Payroll software in response to the significant issues faced by all organisations to implement and administer new schemes quickly in line with legislation – such as furlough – and provide management information. Provision of emergency payroll and BACS services with rapid set-up to ensure critical payroll processes are maintained and employees paid on time.
Helping our Communities
In challenging times, people take great comfort from supporting and helping their colleagues and their wider community. We actively encourage our colleagues to support their local communities including through our Donate-a-Day scheme. Our people continue to help with causes close to their hearts including providing food parcels to those self-isolating and elderly.
