SERVICE UPDATE FOR SIRONA STAFF
Launch of a pilot referral service for Sirona care & health staff (October 2024)
Baby Bank Network and Sirona have partnered with Voluntary Action North Somerset (VANS) to trial a 6-month pilot referral service. Volunteers from VANS will be able to collect items on your behalf and deliver them to the family.
We are only able to provide smaller items in this way (no cots or prams). Items must be able to fit into a normal sized car, and be liftable by one person. VANS volunteers deliver to the door and cannot enter the home as they are not DBS checked.
Starting with the Family Nurser Partnership (FNP), you will be invited to sign up to use this service in waves. You will receive an email with information on how to sign up when it is available for you. You will need to sign up again even if you have previously referred families to Baby Bank Network.
This pilot has been made possible by the close collaboration of VANS, BBN and Sirona. Its use will be monitored by all parties, and it’s only accessible to those whose names have been shared by Sirona with BBN.
How to sign up as a referral partner
Information on how to sign up as a referral partner will be provided when you are invited to to use the service. The list of eligible people has been provided to Baby Bank Network by Sirona, we cannot add anyone unless their names have been shared with us. Please wait to receive an invite.
The Referral Process
You can find the full guidelines and terms and conditions for Sirona staff here.
Once you have signed up and received confirmation that your application has been approved, you can follow these steps to make a referral and to arrange collection and delivery of the items:
To make a referral:
- When you identify a family that would benefit from being referred to BBN, discuss the idea with the family and ensure they are aware you will be sharing some personal details with VANS to enable delivery of the items.
- Give the family a copy of the Baby Bundle leaflet
- Ensure you have captured on EMIS that permission for their personal details to be shared has been given.
- Make the referral via the BBN website (click on the “Make a Referral” tab at the top of the page)
- Upon receipt of the automatic confirmation email from BBN, please forward this email to the VANS co-ordinator (denise.paviour@vansmail.org.uk) along with the details of the family that the order is to be delivered to (contact name, address, phone number). You could also let them know any other important information, such as if the family’s english isn’t very good.
We are only able to provide smaller items in this way (no cots or prams). Items must be able to fit into a normal sized car, and be liftable by one person.
Important:
All personal information regarding the family will be provided directly from Sirona to VANS and must not be shared with Baby Bank Network.
Collection and delivery:
- When the order is ready, BBN will email you and the VANS co-ordinator to let you know.
- Dee, the VANS coordinator will liaise with the family and their volunteers to book a delivery slot, and will email you to let you know the date and time of the delivery.
- The VANS volunteer driver will collect the items from the BBN warehouse and deliver the items to the family at the agreed time. They are not allowed to enter the premises nor leave the items in a safe place or with a neighbour.
- If the VANS volunteer driver cannot make a delivery, they will take the items back to the BBN warehouse and contact the VANS Co-ordinator who will arrange a new delivery date. They can attempt one redelivery (at their discretion) but after that the order may be cancelled.
Once the order has been delivered, you will receive an email asking for feedback. Please fill this out, as we rely on your feedback to secure funding to run our service generally, to be able to ensure that this pilot partnership works as well as possible and to secure future funds to continue to run it after the initial 6 months of funding runs out.
If you have any feedback or questions, then please contact Ali Winter or Jenny Smith at Sirona, or email us on referrals@babybanknetwork.com. If the query is about why this decision has been made then please contact Sirona directly on sirona.hello@nhs.net