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Innovative practices, dedicated staff and new technology has allowed Sefton Council’s Planning team to remain working seamlessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 650 planning decisions and applications have been made in Sefton since March as Sefton Council continues to deliver this vital service without disruption.

Planning has been identified as one of the key factors in helping boost the borough’s well-being once the COVID-19 pandemic is over and work is now well underway to help kick start the economic recovery of Sefton.

To allow for this Sefton Council have implemented a number of both temporary and permanent changes to how the Planning process works to help support residents and businesses.

This includes:

Free pre-application advice
Refunding schemes which require a renewal of consent due to being impacted by COVID-19.
Issuing 5-year timeframes on all new consented schemes to help combat lost time due to COVID-19.
The news has been warmly welcomed by property developers and planning agents in the borough.

Rob Anderson from RAL Architects said: “During this pandemic I have not observed any difference in the high quality of service provided by Sefton Council, with the speed of decision making on planning application not noticeably affected, which is a real credit to the Council.”

While major borough investor Mike McComb of McComb Property Co added: “It is critical that during times like these that planning departments remain open for business and adopt flexible and innovative approaches that help build investor confidence and stimulate economic recovery, making it easier to attract funding.

“This is exactly what Sefton Council is doing and I will continue to invest in Sefton as a result of this, and no doubt many others will too.”

Cllr Daren Viedman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning & Building Control, praised the work of the Planning team, saying: “I am proud that we have excelled during these challenging times.

“It is vitally important that we do what we can to support the local economy and work to secure investment and opportunity across the borough and we are fully geared up to meet this challenge.”

“We also recognise that the Planning Committee must also does its part to ensure that decisions can continue to be made on some of the more complex and challenging proposals to compliment the proactive work of our officers. In this respect, we plan to meet more frequently than normal to ensure decisions on key proposals are made.”

For more information on Sefton Council’s Planning & Building Control services visit www.sefton.gov.uk/planning

Changes hospital physiotherapists made to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic are now shaping the future of the care they give.

The Joint Health Team at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust turned to video conferencing, YouTube and other online methods to help treat and advise patients throughout the lock-down.

The team provides specialist assessment, investigations and treatment for patients across Southport, Formby and West Lancashire with musculoskeletal conditions (problems with muscles, joints or spine). But because of the pandemic, they were unable to see patients in the usual way, despite their services being essential for many.

The service, which includes specialist physiotherapy consultant, specialist doctors and consultants in musculoskeletal medicine, specialist physiotherapists, advanced practice physiotherapists, and podiatrists and specialist occupational hand therapist, looked to other ways to help their patients.

With some staff redeployed, remaining team members dug out their devices and took to the internet to provide education sessions, advice services and even circuit classes via video link.

Specialists are also now able to assess patients’ condition in a virtual way and offer further support about how they can continue their treatment at home via instant messaging.

Laura Atherton, Consultant Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapy Practitioner, said: “At the start all we really had was a phone to talk to our patients. But as things developed and we started to use instant messaging and video, we began to get really good feedback from people.

“We began using something called ‘digital supertrack’ which allowed us to review people’s progress through their mobile device and then recommend changes to their treatment or different exercises to move-on to – all through instant messaging.

“In fact, this has been so popular that, we are now looking at how we can continue this virtual work with patients when we return to more ‘normal’ times.

“We were able to run a number of classes about pain, the social aspect of living with an MSK condition and also help both individuals and groups with their exercise and physical programmes.

“It just goes to show that people not only embrace new ways of working but often actually prefer doing things in a different way. We are very keen to explore how we can continue to work in a more flexible way in the future.”

As part of this week’s national Carers Week, Sefton Carers Centre has launched a new helpline for unpaid carers to get support and advice.

A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid (including those who are in receipt of Carers Allowance), for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot manage without their support.

Open Monday to Friday, between 10am and 3pm, the number for the new helpline is 0151 288 6086. There is an option for an evening call back for carers who are busy during the day. Carers can also email: help@carers.sefton.gov.uk.

Supported by Sefton Council and the South Sefton and Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) Sefton Carers Centre is a local charity. It provides invaluable free advice and guidance to unpaid Carers across the borough of Sefton. This includes Welfare Benefits Advice, Carer’s Assessments and specialist young carer and parent carer teams, as well as local information in relation to the current crisis.

Sefton Carers Centre is also organising events in supermarkets during this Carers Week to highlighting Carers and the need to support them, as well as holding virtual events for Carers.

Find out more about the free support services that Sefton Carers Centre provides.

Sefton Carers’ main reception can be contacted on 0151 288 6060, Monday – Friday (9.00am – 4.30pm).