Case Study 3 - West Midlands Fire Service
West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is a Marmot Partner. WMFS was presented with an award by Sir Michael Marmot in 2015 for their work with partners to reduce health inequalities.
WMFS have embedded the Marmot approach in their work. For example, the service:
- Implement Marmot approach training as part of their onboarding of new staff.
- Deliver engagement activities with children and young people as part of their prevention offer, to ‘enable all children, young people, and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives’, and ‘strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention’ Marmot Principles.
- Undertake ‘safe and well’ visits to advise and educate on safety at home, and identify and increase support to more vulnerable residents, taking a proportionate universalism approach; an important part of WMFS.
- Conducted a ‘safe and well’ risk prioritisation trial, using risk scoring data to inform prioritisation of services. Actions from safe and well referrals enabled those of high risk to be identified quickly – those at most risk were contacted within seven days of a referral in most cases, and where possible, a shorter time frame than this.
An additional level of case support is also available for residents with more complex needs.
Successes
Early indications from the ‘safe and well’ risk prioritisation trial are that wait times for safe and well visits are reducing.
Visit the West Midlands Fire Service website for more information.