Current Department of Health and Cabinet Office guidance advises voluntary and community groups to plan for a figure of up to 30-35 % staff absence during the peak periods of the pandemic, and for very small organisations, the figure should be half of all staff. The peaks are currently forecast for the end of August, and again during the autumn / winter, possibly in November. However, the situation is very fluid and these predictions may change.

This might mean delivering some services in a different way. Organisations also need to think about their duty of care to staff, reinforce good hygiene messages and if necessary carry out risk assessments for those employees and volunteers in higher risk groups.

Finally, with pressure on the NHS and public sector social care likely to intensify, community-minded charities should consider how they may be able to assist.

There is no shortage of guidance available to third sector organisations wanting to review their arrangements. Staff from the Cornwall Infrastructure Partnership have gone through the many documents available and would recommend that following is a good place to start is the Cabinet Office – NHS guidance:

“Pandemic Influenza – Suplementary information for third sector organisations”

See the following web link:
http://tinyurl.com/nwolfr

For more information, contact your local Interlink officer:

• Doug Polman, West Cornwall, email: doug@pcdt.org.uk, tel: 01736 334670

• Vicki Horner, North & East Cornwall, email: v.horner@eccvs.org.uk , tel: 01208 832763

• Alison Mitchelmore, Mid Cornwall, email: AlisonM@volunteercornwall.org.uk , tel: 01872 278782