At the start of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, Healthcare Improvement Scotland took the decision to adapt our normal ways of working to provide support to, and minimise demand on, Scotland's frontline health and social care services. For the Community Engagement directorate, this included deploying staff to other parts of NHS Scotland to support activities where there was particular help cope with demand.

We are now moving through the Scottish Government’s route map to ease out of lockdown restrictions, looking again at our work plans from the beginning of 2020. This means restarting some programmes.

These include activities that require direct engagement with health and social care services, third sector organisations and members of the public. 

We continue to be closely involved in COVID-19 related work such as Virtual Visiting. This initiative aims to support vital inpatient communication with friends and loved ones through the use of smartphones and tablet devices.

We have also developed starter briefing materials and resources for NHS boards and health and social care partnerships. The Engaging Differently toolkit includes practical support to encourage and facilitate participation within local communities, while respecting the need for physical distancing.

Our approach to restarting some work programmes will continue to be informed by current Scottish Government guidance on COVID-19, with the safety of our participants and staff being of utmost importance.

We will be updating our website with more information on our work programmes, and our approach as we move through the phased easing out the lockdown restrictions. In the meantime, if you have any queries relating to our work please don't hesitate to get in touch.