The Waiting Room (TWR) Team are proud to present a milestone in community engagement.

In the last twelve months TWR have had over 100,000 visits to the website by Birmingham and Solihull communities. The smart online directory has offered support to professionals and the citizens within our communities across Birmingham and Solihull. It has played an especially important role since the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown in March.

TWR has continued to roll out the information in as many ways as possible to ensure accessibility to support services at such a crucial time. This includes:

• The Waiting Room Apps being launched and promoted since September 2019 on Google Play and Apple App Store
   
• More than 20,000 instant access key fobs across all GP practices in Birmingham and Solihull
   
• 7,500 key fobs rolled out through Birmingham Public Health within the emergency packs
   
• 400 scannable posters for public areas.

Alongside this we have promoted the importance of accessing support utilising key Public Health messages related to the pandemic both through short information videos and the development of the Covid-19 Support Section at TWR.

This achievement would not have been possible without the ongoing collaboration and support of our wider partners including Birmingham City Council Public Health and Adult Safeguarding Team, Birmingham and Solihull NHS CCG,  our GP’s, Universities, locals schools and our third sector colleagues to name a few.

We are in unprecedented times and facing uncertainty as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to affect our daily lives. We want to assure you that Common Unity is fully committed to the safety and health of our communities.

During this period we all need to be there for each other even more so than usual. This is difficult as the lock-down means that for many people they are finding the experience of life with little or no contact a real challenge to cope with.

But there are opportunities especially through the links we have online.

The Waiting Room Online Directory

For overall Health and Wellbeing service information there is The Waiting Room (TWR) . Although many of the services are struggling regarding staffing numbers available and the amount of support they can practically put in place they are still providing as much support as they can personally, online, via text and the telephone. 

TWR also provides you with links to Birmingham and Solihull’s local NHS website. These links gives advice to the public around this challenge as well as links to all the national websites provided by the NHS and the Government. TWR also provides you with directories to all GP surgeries across Birmingham and Solihull.

Dealing with loss

We are conscious that even after this situation has subsided, the longer term impact and issue of loss will remain with many of us for years to come. That’s why TWR has also included within its listed services access to the national Cruse Bereavement website. This provides crucial advice as to how best be supported through these difficult times.

Our mental health

Another key thing to look after is our own wellbeing. The NHS backed Every Mind Matters website provides loads of tips to improve your mental wellbeing. Looking after yourself is priority during these challenging times, after all, we need to be as well as we can so we can continue to help and support those around us that we love. We have added this link to TWR but you can also read it HERE

Domestic Violence

During this period of lock-down there are also rising concerns in respect of domestic abuse. We have added the Governments advice and guidance page to TWR but there are a number of superb services in Birmingham and Solihull that support people at risk of, or experiencing domestic abuse. Such services include RSVP and Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid. There are also a range of Helplines listed in TWR because as we all should know, it’s good to talk. Organisations include Samaritans, Calm and for those under 25, The Mix helpline. 

Finance

We also have listed Food-banks in Birmingham and Solihull as currently there are many who are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet. We have also provided the National Debtline link that many community members might find useful which includes a Web-chat option.

Don’t forget, there are loads of other areas including Mental Health, Virtual Support, Therapeutic Support and more besides that you can tap into from home.

Keep in touch

If there are any services that you are aware of that have recently popped up to support Birmingham and Solihull citizens and it is not on TWR, please do not hesitate in letting us know either by clicking on ‘add a service’ at TWR or emailing us directly at info@the-waitingroom.org.

Common Unity and the Waiting Room team will be highlighting other relevant and useful services over the coming weeks that may be able to support you, your family and friends. In the meantime, look after your wellbeing and please keep yourself safe.

Best Caron x

It’s a clever way of linking people with local support with the least amount of stress, hassle or disappointment

Back in the 80’s, there was a song called “Road To Nowhere” – pretty good as well – but when I think of online resource directories, or worse still, paper directories for health and social care services, they are often just like this song. They are, too often, a Road To Nowhere.

The telephone numbers are often wrong or discontinued; the organisation you are searching for has either moved, closed or changed the services they provide; the website links don’t work or the pages you are looking for don’t exist anymore – so we designed The Waiting Room in Birmingham (known as TWR) and the TWR Resource Key.

It’s a clever way of linking people with local support with the least amount of stress, hassle or disappointment – access to information is instant, information is current and making contact is do-able for both professionals and the public.

In 2016 we started testing the TWR Resource Key with 25 GP Surgeries to see how it went down with their staff and their patients. The results are astounding and demand for TWR both in Birmingham and wider is growing fast with both Professionals and the public realising that access to local services can be up-to-date and are quite literally at their finger-tips.

Please check out our Pilot Overview document by clicking on TWR below and tell us what you think of it.

We think it’s a road to somewhere.