18 February 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We found the following examples of good practice.
• Enhanced visiting processes in place and being reviewed to keep in line with Government guidance. This ensured that people who had been identified as struggling through the pandemic or showing any distressed behaviour had been able to have access to visitors. Each visit through the pandemic was risk assessed on an individual basis to ensure people and relatives were kept safe.
• There was a high level of communication with people and relatives through the pandemic. The registered manager had provided updates on a regular basis to relatives around any outbreaks and provided updates on people’s health and wellbeing to relatives. The registered manager was able to obtain additional feedback and ideas from people’s relatives on ways to encourage people through the pandemic to keep it as person-centred as possible.
• The provider set up a Covid-19 taskforce which provided support to all the services in the organisation. The taskforce concentrated on ensuring all Government guidance was passed through to services. The taskforce also reviewed how each service had been responding and provided support and guidance around all areas such as human resources, management, dining and policy changes.
• The registered manager involved staff with the daily management around Covid-19. A staff member had taken on the responsibility of Covid-19 coordinator within the home. This staff member was responsible for monitoring daily tasks such as Covid-19 testing with people and relatives. This ensured any identified actions were identified in a timely manner and brought to the attention of the registered manager to be actioned.
• During any outbreaks of Covid-19 in the home it had been possible to split the home into zones to minimize the spread of infection. If needed these zones could also be split further to ensure there was no mix of residents who had tested positive and those who had tested negative.
• Any potential admission into the home were part of a robust management process to ensure all details had been obtained to be able to complete an individual risk assessment prior to attending the home. Any new admissions into the home were also subject to a 14-day isolation period and regular testing as per Government guidance.
• The registered manager had ensured there was plenty of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to staff. Staff had been observed safely using PPE within the home. PPE stations had been set up outside of rooms and discreet, yet clear signage was on display to remind staff of the people who were isolating within their rooms.