The Government has today issued new guidance on care home visiting. We have therefore published our updated Visiting Policy which can be viewed on our Covid-19 page by clicking HERE and scrolling down the page to today’s date, 8th March. In addition, you will find on our Covid-19 page our latest letter to families, friends and essential carers, again of today’s date. …
After a rollercoaster few months for all residing or working in social care, it hardly seems possible that a vaccine, and thus a pathway back to the life we love to live, is on the horizon. At Apple House care homes we want to assure you that we are working hard behind the scenes to keep safe the people entrusted to our care and our teams. PPE continues to be worn at all times in accordance with PHE best practice guidelines and we pay our team their full wages if they are called upon to isolate. We have collectively worked …
Here at Apple House care homes, we recognise and value the importance of safe visiting to our services. COVID-19 continues to throw considerable challenges at all of us in our communities. At a time of uncertainty and change it is often our families we turn to for support and love to see us through difficult times. We at Apple House believe this connection to our loved ones is fundamental to emotional wellbeing. How then do we uphold a strong and positive visiting ethos at a time when social interaction and mixing of households potentially causes harm? Visiting Pods! The Government …
Visiting Policy During Covid-19 Pandemic [Click HERE for quick link to PDF] Our priority has always been your safety and wellbeing. Closing our doors to visitors has been one ofthe most difficult decisions we have had to make and we understand the impact that this has on youand the people you care about. We do not know how long the coronavirus will affect all of our lives butwanted to share with you what we are doing to keep you safe and well. Reducing the Risk from COVID-19 We closed our doors to all visitors at the start of the pandemic, as the situation escalated quickly across the nation. Any visitors, such as visiting health professionals, only enter the care home if it is necessary and if they have followed strict infection control procedures. This includeswearing the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) and of course, making sure that goodhand hygiene is always followed. You will have seen the news about concerns relating to masks, gloves and aprons. We want toassure you that we are following the correct procedures to make sure we protect you and our staff teams. We are keeping up to date with all the guidance and are making sure that our staff knowhow to use the correct equipment. Any staff with symptoms, or staff who have been in contact with anyone with COVID-19, arenot coming to work and are following the government’s guidance on self-isolation. We are monitoring all of the people we support for symptoms or behaviour that is considered different to their usual presentation. We understand that not everyone will have the samesymptoms of a persistent/new cough and temperature or loss of smell and taste, and our staffunderstand the need to look for other symptoms and act immediately. Responsibilities of Apple House Ltd We are responsible for ensuring that we support people within our care to meet with family and friends if they wish and that staff have the ability to facilitate this. This support includeshaving written policies and procedures so that all of our team understand what they need to do. We will identify other ways to connect with friends and family when face-to-face visits arenot possible. We will use technology such as video conference or telephone calls tocompensate for limited visits. We will ensure that we are open and …
Last evening the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that coronavirus, COVID-19, was now classified as a worldwide pandemic. In turn the British Government are set to increase measures to ‘delay’ the spread of the virus in the UK. Here at Apple House care homes we want to reassure service users, their families, professionals, our staff and suppliers that we will deal with any suspected outbreak in accordance with published NHS and PHE guidelines. These guidelines cover what to do if a staff member or resident, or someone else connected to our homes, are diagnosed with COVID-19. Incorporating the NHS guidance …
As the risk of coronavirus increases, the government is urging organisations to put in place contingency plans to mitigate its potential impact – but what will be needed and when is still uncertain. Apple House today released our COVID-19 (coronavirus) Contingency Plan which is a working document to keep our team and people we support safe and to plan for worst case scenarios in the event the virus spreads or is declared to be a pandemic. Planning for all eventualities is a sensible step even though we all hope the current containment of the virus in this country will continue. …
