Agenda item

A communications and engagement strategy has been developed to support the Local Outbreak Control Plan?from?the 1 July. The primary objective of the plan is to communicate Test and Trace advice and guidance to maximise awareness and compliance and so help contain and reduce the spread of COVID-19.  

The PowerPoint slides used are included as Annex 1

Sponsors:

Ruth Hutchinson - Interim Director of Public Health (SCC)

Tim Oliver - Leader of the Council and LOEB Chairman (SCC)

Witnesses:

Andrea Newman - Director of Communications & Engagement (SCC)

Key points raised in the discussion:

1.    The Director of Communications & Engagement introduced the report and noted that it was aligned with the LOCP, the Communications Plan was constantly being updated adopting best practice and learning experiences from others such as Leicester; and could be adapted to local needs.

2.    She explained that the main objective of the Plan was to raise awareness and increase compliance around the Test and Trace campaign, particularly around how people could be tested and reminding people of the main symptoms. It was key to motivate whilst reassuring residents, alerting them to messages regarding Test and Trace.

3.    She noted that the Multi-Agency Information Group (MIG) continued to meet as it was key to share information across the county with stakeholders and partners to ensure consistent messaging to residents.

4.    She explained that Phase 1 of the Plan was based on raising awareness with residents as behavioural insights feedback from the Good Practice Network (GPN) and briefings from the Cabinet Office indicated the low awareness of testing, - 42% of the UK’s population believed that testing was only for keyworkers - symptom knowledge and when to self-isolate. Some groups such as the 35-50 male age group were supposedly less compliant, so getting messages out to many such as to friends and family connections was key. The Communications team were working on infographics with key words such as ‘keep surrey safe’ and ‘play your part’.

5.    She discussed the activity undertaken up until 8 July, noting:

·         The launch of the Communications Plan and extensive media release and social media campaign on 1 July, there had been a huge uptake in impressions regarding the Plan - 154,000 in less than one day. She planned to report back on the analytics and reach of the Plan and media campaign.

·         A technical briefing session led by the Interim Director of Public Health had been held with Surrey media editors outlining the messaging process in the event of a local lockdown, explaining what the changes in data on positive cases for example meant. The Chairman of the Board had held interviews on BBC Radio, Eagle Radio and briefings on Surrey Live, and the Communications team would continue to keep the media updated.

·         That extensive advertising and publicity was being done to complement the work that borough and district councils, and partners have done. As public buildings reopen, there would be visuals such as posters in libraries for example, signposting residents to public health information.

·         The community messaging service Nextdoor was also useful and focused messaging to businesses was being done via LinkedIn. Links to businesses was a weakness so she welcomed the addition of the Chief Executive of Surrey Chambers of Commerce to the Board.

6.      In event of a local outbreak, the Communications team were ready to deploy Phase 2 aided by the Rapid Response team, a certain amount of pre-prepared assets was set aside that could be tailored to localities.

7.      The Director of Communications & Engagement noted that they were working on grading the communications messaging by colour to alert residents - green, amber and red - depending on the severity of a situation.

8.      She noted the importance of local messaging:

·         Ensuring accessibility for the diverse communities in Surrey was vital, the languages and translation sets from the Government had not arrived so the Communications team were working with faith leaders in Surrey such as the imam in Woking to develop tailored information in a variety of languages - as well as working with Leicester City Council.

·         Toolkits had been sent to eighty organisations and local influencers to help promote messaging.

·         In extremis, there was the ability to put in place a GP text messaging service.

·         The geo-targeted information campaign through Google display adverts and tailoring messaging on social media feeds, was used successfully during the Epsom Derby.

·         The use of the shielded residents’ database from the Vulnerable Cell in the LRF was useful, to target those individuals in the event of a localised lockdown.

9.    A Board member highlighted that there was a single website used across the Primary Care Network which patients used and she could link the Director of Communications & Engagement with the relevant communications team.

10.  A Board member queried if the language in the report could be changed from single mothers with children to single parents. 

11.  A Board member pointed out that the potential WhatsApp cascades for frontline staff must include staff across both health and the local authority. In response, the Director of Communications & Engagement noted that was an omission as the Communications team were working closely with the Associate Director of Communications and Engagement at Surrey Heartlands Health & Care Partnership and CCG, as well as other colleagues from the Health and Wellbeing Communications Strategy Board in order to co-ordinate across the MIG.

12.  In response to the Chairman’s query regarding the trigger processes, the Director of Communications & Engagement reassured the Board that it would be notified of the course of action in the event of a local outbreak; in conjunction with advice from the Interim Director of Public Health.

13.  A Board member stressed that elected Members of all levels in an area affected by a localised lockdown should be informed before the media and residents. In response, the Director of Communications & Engagement explained that following the inundation of calls when Surrey had its first Covid-19 case on 27 February 2020 in Haslemere, the Communications team ran a ‘briefing for the member of an affected area’. Since the early stages of the outbreak, she was working closely with the Interim Director of Public Health on contacting the relevant people affected and an officer from the Communications team was assigned to the elected Member of the affected area. The Rapid Response team consisted of the communications lead for the borough and district councils, to ensure that local elected Members were kept updated.

14.  A Board member commented that she had spoken to some residents from Leicester who noted that there was a large role for maps, in some cases they felt that there were illogical boundaries of areas included and excluded halfway through areas people used. The Director of Communications & Engagement noted that officers in both the Communications and Public Health teams were working on maps.

RESOLVED:

The Board noted the communications strategy and the activity to date.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.   The Director of Communications & Engagement will report back to the Board on the analytics and reach of the Plan and media campaign.

2.   The Board member to liaise with the Director of Communications & Engagement on the Primary Care Network website to display messaging by the Communications team.

3.   The reference to single mothers with children will be changed to single parents going forward.  

4.   An update on the potential use of maps in the event of a localised outbreak will be provided.