New Care Covid19 information.
The health, safety and wellbeing of our Residents and Staff are always our top priorities. We have therefore put in place robust and comprehensive contingency plans to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Our plans will be kept under regular review and updated as advised by the Public health authorities.
We are currently still taking admissions into our care homes for those that can no longer manage at home and need the additional support a residential setting can offer. Please contact our enquiry line or your local home to speak the team who will be happy to assist you. Please be assured that we are taking the necessary steps to keep our residents and staff safe and well.
Detailed below are the latest guidelines and the steps we are taking to keep our residents and staff safe during this time
Visiting
To support our residents, patients and staff during this period of uncertainty with coronavirus COVID-19, we are asking for your help and support as we are asking that we have no visitors, except healthcare professionals. This is to ensure that we keep residents and their friends & family as safe as possible as we know that this virus is very contagious. We will still ensure that vital medical visits are made ensuring that professionals wash their hands on entering and we will be asking all visitors to ensure they have no symptoms and will be taking their temperature.
All of our homes have now Skype and or WhatsApp video calling facilities to enable residents to keep in touch with their families. We are confident that our staff will do all they can to ensure that life in our homes remains as comfortable and sociable as possible as we support them with delivering interactive activities, whilst practicing physical distancing.
We understand that this is a worrying time for everyone, and we want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to ensure that our residents and staff are as safe as possible, and we are following the advice from public health authorities.
Residents Going Out & About
It remains the case that residents are not going out and about unless for hospital appointments that are necessary. The Home will let relatives know if their loved one needs to attend hospital. At this time, however, staff or relatives are not allowed to accompany residents to hospital.
Health Monitoring of Residents
We continue to deliver care to all of our residents in line with their care plans. We are also carrying out twice daily monitoring of resident’s vital signs. This is enabling us to identify when any resident is becoming unwell or has a temperature. Whilst there are many reasons which affect a residents health, if we do detect a change we seek medical advice. In all cases, we place the resident in isolation in their own room for a period of 14 days and carry out barrier nursing. In all cases we notify the resident’s relatives where we have taken these steps. We can also confirm that all of our residents are receiving medical support when they become unwell and are being treated proactively. We am aware of some media reports that medical care is not being given to residents in some care homes. We have not experienced this in any of our homes.
If residents are well and wish to, they are coming out of their rooms and enjoying social interaction. We continue to conduct well-being activities in smaller groups or 1 to 1’s. We are now using alternative arrangements for other well-being activities so that resident’s wellbeing is maintained in as safe an environment as possible. We are keeping residents and staff 1 metre apart where possible, which in line with guidance for care homes.
Health Monitoring of Staff & Professional Visitors
We continue to take the vital signs of our staff and any professional visitors when they arrive at the home. Anybody with a temperature or symptoms are not allowed in the building.
Staff who are self –isolating either do so in line with government guidance. We have just been given access to government testing for symptomatic staff and/or their symptomatic relative in 6 of our 7 homes. The first appointments have been arranged for this week.
We do not have significant number of staff who are currently absent due to sickness. The sickness absence % of staff in our homes is normally about 4.6%. The level of sickness absence did increase following the Covid19 pandemic, and it peaked at 10.6% a few weeks ago. Currently it is reducing and is now at 8.4%. This is significantly lower than a number of media reports about the levels of sickness absence being experienced in the health and social care sector. From a review of our sickness absence levels, some 50% are due to staff being isolated due to a family member having symptoms and not due to them being unwell. With the implementation of testing, we are hopeful that the sickness absence rate will decrease further.
We are using minimal or zero agency staff. Where agency staff are utilised, we are using the same people who only visit our homes. We also take their vital signs on entry to the building as we do for all staff and visitors to the home.
Some of our GP’s and other health care professionals are now conducting virtual visits to the home using technological solutions.
We have also arranged with our food supplier for all of our staff to have accounts so that they can order food and supplies, which are then delivered directly to the home. This saves staff having to visit supermarkets; and guarantees that they can get the food/supplies that they require so it eases some of their day-to-day worries as well. This has now been rolled out to all of our homes.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
There continues to be a great deal of information in the media at present regarding the paucity of PPE, and particularly in Care Homes. At present, we continue to have sufficient supplies of PPE. We have registered with the NHS who have advised that they can assist us if we are having difficulties obtaining PPE. Currently, we are obtaining supplies from our usual suppliers and a couple of new suppliers.
We have had some recent issues obtaining Fluid Repellent Masks. Our usual supplier had zero stock from the government. However, we worked with a new supplier who was able to provide us with a significant number of masks. These are now in the homes. Our usual supplier has today confirmed that they have started to receive masks from the government again and we have secured a further order from them as well.
To confirm we have the following stock items in all of our homes in sufficient quantities to meet our needs both immediately and in the foreseeable future:-
- Visors
- Fluid Repellent masks
- Goggles/safety Glasses
- Gloves
- Aprons
- Hats
- Overshoes
Therefore, we would like to reassure you that all of our homes have sufficient PPE. Please be assured that it is an area that we keep under review. We follow or exceed government guidance in terms of the recommended level of PPE for the roles that we carry out.
We also have good supplies of hand soap, hand gel and disposable hand towels, which are supplied, throughout the home. This supports our staff, residents & professional visitors to conduct their hand washing/hand hygiene in line with government guidance.
The well-being of our residents, relatives and staff is of the utmost importance to us and we hope that we have reassured you that this is the case.
