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Thank You To Our Fantastic Team! MY CARER When Covid-19 came along, it became all to surreal, after all no one in our lifetime has lived through anything like this. Is this real, is it really happing, is it as bad as they all say, were questions and thoughts we had. With all this buzzing around and the uncertainty of it all, my staff and I took the decision to lock down our families before the official lockdown. We were very unsure, was this something we really needed to do? After all this would mean keeping vulnerable people from their friends, families, support networks, and social interaction. This was a massive decision for us, but our priority was to keep our clients safe. In the first weeks, we became anxious, worried, and scared, one of us self-isolated and a few sadly left the care sector. We had gloves and aprons, but only a few face masks, the 3D splash proof face shields where not something readily available and so became hard to source. Public pulled together to support the NHS and then care homes, but us in domiciliary care, felt like we had been forgotten. PPE was becoming increasingly hard to obtain. Staff went to work on the front line with Covid-19, with feelings of uncertainty, would we bring this disease home to our families? Children? Waking up each morning wondering, would today be the day I contracted Covid-19? We had to take drastic action, we posted a plea on Facebook several times, for face shields to protect us and our clients. In time, a man from Faringdon came forward, followed by a school in Wallingford, they made us face shields, for which we were so incredibly grateful. PPE continues to be a big problem with little or no suppliers available and when we do find a supplier, stock is extremely limited. As we adjusted to our new working conditions Covid-19 becoming the norm, a few cracks began to show. One family craved the support of their son, we had calls from the son and the husband about how the husband needed his son’s support, to be able to care for his wife. It was noticeably clear that the emotional distress from this separation, was causing more harm than good. We had to act immediately! Risk assessment after risk assessment, we put strict infection control measures in, to allow the son to move back into the home with his parents, for his support. Another client who missed her daughters support terribly. It became a regular daily thing to FaceTime her daughter while we visited in the evening. This 89-year-old lady loved FaceTime on our phones so much, she asked her daughter to get her a phone. We are so enormously proud, to have taught this 89-year-old lady to use FaceTime on a smart phone, she now has her own smart phone to face time her family and friends. As the owner of a domiciliary provider, I feel truly fortunate to have such a kind and caring, dedicated team, who go far above and beyond with their duties. We as a team have worked so hard, we have had to take on the partial roles of, cleaners, bakers, entertainers, hairdressers, social workers, nurses, a sympathetic ear and emotional support networkers, the list does goes on! The very least I could do, is make them all goodie bags full of treats each week. The support from local people has been very welcomed too and has been a huge morale boost in exceedingly difficult circumstances. Thank you all very much. To say I am proud of my team is an understatement, what we have achieved and come through has been amazing and they all totally deserve their outstanding CQC report. If you think you have what it takes to be a care worker and would like to join our team we are currently recruiting please contact us at Mycarer@live.com Tel 01367 244014 Marie Browning
Marie Browning Director/Registered Manager Tel; 01367 244014 www.mycareroxfordshire.org.uk