Issue 16 15.07.20 We are committed to supporting customers in these unprecedented times, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me or a member of my team to talk about how we can help Derek Breingan, Head of Health and Social Care 07818 454674
The weekly online newsletter for the care sector
Home visits get cautious welcome CARE providers have given a cautious welcome to plans to allow relatives to visit care and nursing homes. The Independent Care Group says enabling relatives to visit their loved ones is vital to both sides’ mental and physical health after lockdown. But it has urged caution and warned that a resumption of visits must be carefully planned and staged to avoid contributing to a second wave of coronavirus. Secretary of State Matt Hancock told a television interview that he thought visits to residents in care and nursing homes could resume in a matter of days. ICG chair Mike Padgham said: “The announcement is a positive one and will be welcomed by thousands of care and nursing home residents and their loved ones who have endured separation now for many, many weeks. “It is really important that we can reunite our residents with their families, as it has been distressing for both sides to be physically apart for so long. “The sector has been very innovative with quickly introducing remote ways of staying in touch. “However, this has not worked well for everyone and is
not ideal. “But we have to urge caution too, as all relaxation of lockdown restrictions carries with it a risk of reigniting the virus and contributing to a second wave of Covid-19. “Any resumption of visiting will have to be limited at first and carefully-managed, with full personal protective equipment in use, social distancing and hand washing a priority and numbers kept under control. “We will probably need to do it on an appointment basis at first as homes will not be able to cope with a sudden rush and it will ultimately be up to individual homes and individual local authority areas to decide whether they feel it is safe to allow relatives in. “We will also need to be mindful of the enormous extra demand this will create for PPE and systems will have to be in place for homes to get supplies to cope with visitors. “We look forward to hearing more about the Government’s plans, hopefully very soon.” The ICG has also supported calls from leading charities including Dementia UK and the Alzheimer’s Society, for relatives of those with dementia to be treated as key workers, enabling them to visit.
Children send home letters and pictures
Kind-hearted children at a special needs Scout group have lifted spirits at a Winchester dementia care home. Nine members of the Osborne Scouts painted around 50 colourful pebbles as sensory gifts for residents at Colten Care’s St Catherines View. The children, who all attend the Osborne School, decorated their stones with acrylic paintings of rainbows, faces, flowers, butterflies and other designs. Members of the St Catherines View companionship team received the pebbles in a socially distanced handover from Scout group leader Lisa Massey and her son Barnaby Pearce. Colleagues then placed the pebbles around the St Catherines View garden, giving residents the opportunity to pick them up and discuss their feel, weight, shape, size and colour.
STAFF and residents at Alwoodleigh care home in Huddersfield have received letters and hand-drawn pictures from local children. Children at Harlequin Nursery and Huddersfield Grammar have been sending letters and pictures to the Edgerton-based home to help put a smile on the faces of residents during the recent period of restricted visits. In their letters, the children shared stories about their experience during recent restrictions, their return to school and their delight at seeing friends once again. The children also used the letters as an opportunity to praise the efforts of carers at the home for all their hard work. Home manager Karen Williams praised the kindness and generosity of the children She said: “Pictures and letters are a wonderful way to keep in touch with people and I would just like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all the children that took the time to contact us. “Our residents have been eager to keep in touch with the local community during the last few months and it has meant the world to us that they have taken the time to share their pictures and stories with us. “As soon as we can welcome visitors to the home again, it would be great to meet the lovely children that were involved.” The pictures and letters are now displayed on the home’s walls.
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