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Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company have trusted Reliance Protect for many years

For several years Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company (DTV CRC) had used Reliance Protect to safeguard its lone workers. When the contract came up for renewal in 2015, it was able to procure the service via the Reliance Protect NHS Framework Agreement for the first time, securing multiple benefits, greater flexibility with a very cost-effective all-inclusive service.

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Local & Central Government March 29, 2024

DTV CRC needed to safeguard their staff in the line of duty

DTV CRC supervises 5,000 individuals on probation across 4000km² of Teesside and County Durham, from the remote north Pennines to urban Middlesbrough and Darlington. Staff, volunteers and peer mentors often work alone with adults who have a community sentence or have been released from prison. As well as field-based community colleagues, staff also work in prisons preparing individuals for their transition into the community. Following major restructuring, the organisation wanted to readdress lone worker safety training and awareness, to create more flexibility for departments to manage their procurement needs, strengthen health and safety compliance and improve detailed reporting.

Reliance Protect offered everything DTV CRC needed and more

Reliance Protect proposed a fully managed service to give frontline probation staff for DTV CRC enhanced emergency protection when they could be vulnerable. DTV CRC required flexibility in their package in order to manage procurement at department level, so they could respond to the needs of a local team. Reliance Protect offered detailed device usage reports to better equip the teams to comply with health and safety rules with a cost-effective all-inclusive package, which includes support, training and full reporting.

Powerful protection for probation teams from Reliance Protect

Following a detailed needs analysis and risk assessment, DTV CRC agreed to a comprehensive package of lone worker device management and emergency response services through the NHS Framework Agreement. The end-to-end solution, which is available to any NHS or UK public sector organisation or charity, offers enhanced safety and peace of mind for any employee or volunteer potentially exposed to harassment, intimidation or violence in their working day.

Phased implementation began in Spring 2016, with roll-out of initial training and devices to most users completed within five weeks. DTV CRC contracted 280 new personal safety devices for its probation workers, volunteer work officers and programme support workers. The mix is 230 dedicated devices plus 50 pooled devices for use by an additional 300 users. A number of pooled devices are also allocated directly to patrol which makes them easier to account for. All devices are equipped with GPS location technology and added functionality assuring users of a rapid response and access to personal support, wherever they are, 24/7.

A flexible framework for future needs

Renewing its contract under the terms of the NHS Framework Agreement has made it easier and more cost-effective for DTV CRC to maintain a safer working environment for its colleagues while mitigating risk and meeting its duty of care.

With total transparency about costs, the contract includes all face-to-face training, webinars, e-learning, 24/7 service desk, technical support, reporting and administration. Following significant restructuring, lone worker device training was a key priority as part of the drive to maintain a safe working culture and support the long-term needs of the organisation.

The solution has also delivered the additional flexibility required for departmental device allocation, management and reporting. Department managers now have access to detailed usage reports that make it clear when, where and how the devices are being used, which is enabling them to ensure that team members continue to get best use from the service.

The Reliance Protect lone worker solution is compliant with the UK’s most stringent regulatory standards and provided Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilition Company with enhanced safety and care for field-based staff and lone workers. The flexibile solution included constant 24/7 incident response, monitoring, management and reporting. This full managed service gave reduced in-house administration with all SLAs and KPIs accountable to rigorous NHS benchmarks. DTV CRC is now able to maintain a safer working environment for its staff while mitigating risk and meeting its duty of care for all employees.

The all-inclusive service is enabling us to minimise the administrative burden and reduce costs. What’s more, the flexibility to filter procurement planning down to department level has been a major benefit. Most importantly, our lone workers feel safer knowing that extra protection is readily available at their fingertips if they should need it.

Chris Douglass, Health and Safety Manager at DTV CRC