World Kindness Day 2021

Today is World Kindness Day, observed annually to celebrate kind people and acts of kindness. On Thursday 11^th November 2021, Progress Lifeline were announced as the winner of the Kindest Award 2021 at the North West Employee Engagement Group (NWEEG) awards. The award was looking for individuals or companies who recognise that the health and wellbeing of their people is the right thing to do and wanted examples of how colleagues are being encouraged to be healthier and kinder – both physically and emotionally, in and out of work.

We nominated Lorraine Duong, one of our emergency home responders, who showed true kindness and compassion to one of our service users at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lorraine’s win recognises the kindness she showed in going the extra mile to ensure a vulnerable customer’s needs were met. Here is Lorraine’s story…

After receiving a personal alarm activation from a profoundly deaf service user in Leyland, Lorraine was deployed by one of our trained operators from our alarm response centre to visit the service user’s property in response to a welfare call for a contracted service.

Lorraine found the gentleman distressed, cold and feeling unwell. After establishing that the service user didn’t have any local family to support him due to Covid-19 self-isolation restrictions, Lorraine immediately used her skills and training to communicate with him via lip-reading, sign language and written questions and answers.

Lorraine made a safeguarding referral and called 999 for further assistance. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, Lorraine wrote down everything she had learned about the gentleman and his situation for the paramedics.

Lorraine was unable to find food in the house, without hesitation, Lorraine supported the gentleman by going to the local shop to purchase some basic food items using her own money.

Between them, the paramedics and Lorraine also sent in a referral to the CATCH Team at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust which meant that a joined-up response from social services, the NHS and other health and adult safeguarding services could arrange intermediate care and resources for the gentleman while his needs are further assessed.

A post from one of the paramedics in attendance that day later appeared on social media thanking Lorraine for her support, “This absolute legend went out and shopped with her own hard-earned cash for a vulnerable patient this morning. Helping us out as a crew massively as well. The world needs more people like Lorraine #BeLikeLorraine! Good things are still happening folks. Well done Progress Lifeline!”

Laura Doyle, Emergency Home Response Manager at Progress Lifeline, said, “Because of the joined-up response and fantastic teamwork between Lorraine and the paramedics that day, carers now visit our service-user four times a day, the correct medication has been identified and is being administered, a regular food parcel is being delivered to his home, a frailty nurse is in place, the heating in the service-user’s property has been fixed and our Progress Lifeline installers have identified further telecare to help him communicate with us should he need help again. This includes a vibrating alert monitor to alert him to phone calls and his doorbell.

“I am so proud of Lorraine and the service that Progress Lifeline provides to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, it just shows now more than ever that this service really is a lifeline for people.”

The Policy, Information and Commissioning Manager at Lancashire County Council, said: "Colleagues at Progress Lifeline have worked really hard over the last few months to make sure they are well equipped to continue to provide safe, caring and effective services during the pandemic. What Lorraine did is a great example of this and she should be very proud of the difference she made to this gentleman and going beyond the call of duty."

Lorraine adds, “People are being asked to stay at home to protect ourselves and others, and I was worried about how or when the gentleman I’d been called out to would be able to get some food.

“After calling 999 and supporting the NWAS paramedics with understanding and communicating with the gentleman and making the necessary referrals, I took off my Emergency Home Responder hat, and, as any decent human being would have done, I went and bought the gentleman some food. I bought him what I thought my grandad would like as they are of a similar age; a roast dinner, sponge pudding, sausages in gravy and some milk and cereal. When I got back to his home, his eyes were smiling.”

Being kind is doing intentional, voluntary acts of kindness. Not only when it's easy to be kind, but when it's hard to be. You can show your gratitude and simplest acts of kindness to your family members, friends, colleagues, acquaintance or a total stranger. Whoever it may be, just pledge to show a little kindness to at least one person, every day.