Coronavirus Outbreak
The welfare and safety of our residents and colleagues is always
our priority. The recent outbreak of coronavirus has heightened the
need to take more steps to protect everyone in our homes.
A robust action plan to reduce the risk coronavirus poses to our
residents and colleagues has been put in place to ensure we are
taking every possible step to prevent a case at our homes but that
we are also prepared should this happen.
Below we have detailed how this guidance will protect residents
and colleagues, as well as important information for anyone
visiting any of our Care Homes.
Visiting our Care Homes
We currently do not intend to entirely close our homes to
visitors, contact with loved ones is an important factor in the
lives of our residents and we should not isolate them from this
unnecessarily.
However, to greatly support our efforts to protect our residents
have put in place some restrictions on visitation and ask that
careful consideration is given before visiting our homes. We are
limiting visits to essential visits only i.e. for people at end of
life care or those who provide hands on care on a daily basis to
their family member.
If you choose to visit, please follow management guidelines and
be aware that visiting will be restricted to the resident's
own room or private lounges.
Visits from the local community into the home have been
cancelled for the foreseeable future. However, socialisation will
continue to be an important aspect of daily life in our homes with
our teams ensuring that our residents have as much social
interaction and entertainment as possible.
Essential medical visits will continue to be made, and our staff
will ensure that any visitors that do come into the home are made
aware of interim visiting requirements.
We are always on hand to assist with telephone/video calls to
our residents.
Please contact the Home Manager if you have any questions or to
discuss how we can help in any other way.
PLEASE DO NOT visit our homes if:
As this is a developing situation, we will continue to monitor
the situation and update our approach while keeping our teams,
residents and their families fully informed
Precautions During your visit:
- The most effective way of preventing transmission is to wash
your hands with soap and water and we ask that all visitors do so
as soon as they enter the home.
- You can read more about NHS handwashing advice here:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/best-way-to-wash-your-hands/
- We also recommend using hand sanitiser with at least a 60%
alcohol content and to do this before entering the home, especially
after using public transport.
- Please cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve
(not your hands) when you cough or sneeze and put used tissues in
the bin immediately. Extra tissues will be provided at all
homes.
Managing the risk to our residents and colleagues
We understand the severity of coronavirus and the impact a
significant outbreak could have on our residents and so we are
treating it with the utmost seriousness. Our colleagues are well
versed on the steps to take and our team of Senior Clinicians are
also on hand to offer extra support.
As per the government advice we have implemented control
measures at all our homes. These are based on our existing
infectious disease protocols and whilst we have made specific
updates to address the particularities of this new virus, this is
very much normal procedure for our colleagues.
Our teams are closely observing residents for respiratory
symptoms including elevated temperatures and are fully aware of the
protocol they should follow should they suspect a case.
We are confident that our colleagues have the knowledge, skills
and resources to minimise the risk that coronavirus presents to our
residents.
We will continue to monitor all government advice and update our
approach in accordance with the latest recommendations. Please do
check this page regularly as it will be updated to reflect any
development or change to our guidance.