Epsom & Ewell Borough Council has increased its support for vulnerable residents, launching a home visit service for those they haven’t been able to reach by telephone. 

In the past month, the Borough Council, together with its community partners, have been telephoning around 3,000 vulnerable residents to check on their welfare and help them to access vital services.  

In most cases, these calls have been answered and are being appreciated as an important, caring, element in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

However, some residents have not answered their telephone after three attempts. To check on their wellbeing, the Borough Council and its partners are launching a dedicated taskforce of DBS checked volunteers and council park rangers. 

The team will call on up to 120 households each week, checking on residents’ general wellbeing and ensuring that they have sufficient food and are able to obtain required medicines. 

Councillor Liz Frost, Chair of the Health Liaison Panel and Covid-19 spokesperson, said “In a borough of more than 70,000 households, we know there are many people who are self-isolating to protect themselves and others from Covid-19. Not all of them will have a local network of friends and family to provide support and it's really important that people know where to go for help and advice, to support themselves and their families during this crisis. 

"We are really proud of our team, who would ordinarily be doing very different jobs, who are calling on and helping some of the most vulnerable in our community to ensure that they have access to the help and support they need." 

With a surge in Covid-19 scams, all council representatives calling on the vulnerable will be able to identify themselves with photo ID and other means. The council will not be asking for financial information, requiring access to properties and will ensure that all social distancing guidelines are met. Residents are urged to be vigilant and take the normal precautions when dealing with cold-callers. 

Note: 

The Government has identified those within our community who need to be ‘shielded’. These are people, including children, who are at very high risk of severe illness from Covid-19 because of an underlying health condition. These individuals and their carers will have received a letter from NHS England with important advice on how to protect themselves against Covid-19.  There are approximately 1,500 individuals in Epsom & Ewell who will have received the letter from the NHS. 

There are over 1,600 residents within the ‘vulnerable’ category, identified as potentially needing additional assistance.  Most of these individuals regularly depend on EEBC community support services including Meals at Home (meals on wheels), community alarm, etc.

Some of the individuals are on both lists.

Further information about the welfare calls can be seen in this press release: https://www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk/news/supporting-local-residents