Last year we carried out a survey to ask our service users about their experience of using our services during the pandemic.

We know how difficult it has been for everyone during this period, especially if you're already receiving support. We wanted to know about what's gone well, what hasn't gone so well and what we can improve on.

All of the staff working in the service were also contacted to listen to their experiences of providing the service during this time had been.

We received 62 responses to the survey, which provided helpful insights to how clients felt about the current situation and the changes introduced.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has taken part. Your feedback is really important to us and we have been considering it carefully.

On the whole the feedback has confirmed that the support provided by STEP has been beneficial during the early stages of the pandemic. The responses have also helped to guide further developments and develop new ideas.

The findings have been shared with staff and we wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some of the main themes that emerged and how we have responded.

Online learning

You said you wanted to move to online learning.

STEP listened to this feedback and have worked to transfer all of their courses to an online format.

These online sessions have been well received, with some unexpected benefits emerging along with the added benefit of increased attendance.

Staff have received positive feedback about how they have evolved an approach to maintain the interactive nature of the sessions.

STEP delivered and recorded a workshop about online group courses as part of the Quality Improvement Week, helping share their learning and experiences with other teams.

You also said you wanted more information on the website and we are continuing to work on developing our page and continue to gather feedback about what you would like on there.

Enrolments on Attend Anywhere

You said that enrolling onto the courses using Attend Anywhere was comparable to doing it in person.

We continue to offer Attend Anywhere for all enrolments, but also offer phone appointments as an alternative.

We continue to gain feedback via a survey on completion of an Attend Anywhere session.

How to find out more

If you would like to find out more or see the results in more detail please contact the Quality Improvement Team by emailing qiteam@shsc.nhs.uk or speak to someone in the STEP team.