What is the Health and Care Digital Inclusion Referral Hub
It has been recognised that more needs to be done to identify and support those who are digitally excluded by addressing the barriers to digital inclusion.
We offer a range of support to aid digital inclusion to ensure that our community are not missing out on vital information, opportunities, services and societal connections. Our Digital Inclusion Support is delivered in collaboration as part of a wider project that aims to tackle digital exclusion across the Staffordshire region. This site can be used by staff to refer a service user who requires digital support. This maybe digital Skills, advice on discount schemes available or support with accessing digital devices to access their healthcare record on line.
Digital Inclusion Service Referral Form
MPFT understand that there are many people within the community such as our service users who are being digitally excluded, we are trying to bridge and fix that digital divide by offering our support to address those in digital poverty.
We have devised the following Digital Inclusion Service Referral Form to make it even easier for health and care professionals to refer those that are in need to gain our Digital Inclusion support.
If you have a service user who is struggling to access digital services they will be entitled to support on this referral process if they fall into the following criteria:
Over 18 years of age
Low income/on benefits and unable to afford a device/data contract/home broadband
Without adequate skills/confidence to engage with digital health and care service offers
Subject to an accepted referral, we can offer digital inclusion support. We will get back to you within 18 weeks of submission of this form.
Please click on the link below to complete the Referral form:
What we offer in terms of digital inclusion support
In January 2023, we successfully won a bid to access free SIM cards from the Good Things Foundation. These SIM cards have unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 24GB of data per month which we are currently handing out to service users and those in the community. This is a fantastic offering to be able to get people online which will enable them to use things such as:
Online Banking
Emails
NHS App
Passport Renewal Online saving you money
Benefits applications
Job seeking
Online Learning Tutorials
Access to the online digital world is bridging the digital divide in the UK supporting those that are unable to financially afford having access to the internet.
Within MPFT we have a number of devices that come to their end of life meaning these can no longer be used by the Trust and need to be data wiped and cleared. We took the decision to support the NHS net zero ambition and support digital inclusion by gifting out our equipment to those on need such as service users, communities and local organisations.
We have supported many from the local community including:
Gifting equipment to local schools
House Of Bread
Community Libraries
Free IT Stafford
We are giving our equipment a new lease of life by gifting it out to those in need, we've had some fantastic feedback and have made a massive effort to support bridging the digital divide in our organisation.
We gift out:
Laptops
Mobile Phones
Tablets
Computer Screens
Keyboards/mouse
Desktops
We recognise that there are many people in the community that have low or no digital skills, so this is why we setup our digital support sessions in the community. We have many sessions that people can come along to gain support with digital equipment, learn how to use the internet and most importantly keeping safe online.
Our free digital sessions in the community run on the following days and locations:
Newcastle-Under-Lyme Library - Every Wednesday, 10am until 12noon
Rising Brook Library, Stafford - Every Friday, 10am until 12noon
Heath Hayes Library, Cannock - Every Friday, 1.30pm until 3.30pm
We also run support session with the NHS app at local GP surgeries which patients receive a text advertising the session, in the session we support on how to download and use the NHS app which has proven very popular and this run in line with the NHS England digital inclusion framework.
As we are enabling people to use digital devices we also want people to stay safe and this is why we reinforce using digital equipment safely by offering a number of cyber security sessions to the public at convenient locations such as village halls and community centres.
