Benchmark International Provides Equipment to Keep In-Patients and Residents in Touch with Loved Ones

It is now well-documented that care homes have been closed to visitors since early March, leaving already vulnerable residents feeling isolated and cut off from family and friends. Hospices and hospitals have also been forced to put severe visiting restrictions in place to protect people in their care.

In many instances, it has been the carers, themselves, going above and beyond by letting those in their care use their own personal devices to reach a family member, and to keep in touch with loved ones by video, particularly where the residents do not otherwise have access to technology.

In the most tragic cases, the devices are used by patients saying goodbye to their loved ones for the last time.

Like many businesses, Benchmark International has been keen to find ways of supporting those on the frontline. As a technology-driven business, we are fortunate to have facilities that enable seamless communication around the world, and we recognised an opportunity to make the same facilities available to the most vulnerable in our community, with the hope of bringing them some comfort during difficult times.

Therefore, we were grateful to partner with a local charity to donate 20 tablets and iPads that will be supplied directly to care homes, hospitals and hospices across the North West, and which it is hoped will give in-patients and residents the freedom to stay in touch with family and friends.

The tablets have been sent to Silver Springs (Tameside and Glossop NHS Trust) and Stepping Hill (Stockport NHS).

Rob Conyers, Head of Patient Experience and Volunteering at Tameside and Glossop NHS Trust, commented, “This is such a wonderful donation and will be so greatly appreciated. We are just in the process of supporting a patient with a video call now, and the service is a great way for people to keep in touch. The devices will be used for this purpose, and other patient experiences work to support patients and their relatives. We thank Benchmark International for making this donation.”

Benchmark International would like to express its own gratitude and thanks to all keyworkers at every level in the NHS, in care and residential homes, in hospices, and to those providing vital efforts in schools, supermarkets, pharmacies, haulage and other local services.

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