Covid-19

The guidelines for visiting care homes has changed regularly since March 2020.  At the current time we are thankfully supporting visiting of our residents in line with national guidance.  

In warmer weather we encourage visiting in our secure outdoor spaces. In colder weather we also have a dedicated indoor visitor room which is accessed through its own external door.

Visitors are tested using rapid LFD tests prior to the visit and provided with full PPE including mask and visor.  Temperature and symptom monitoring is also required.    Visits must be booked in advance.  The room is also thoroughly cleaned after each visit.  One allocated, constant visitor per resident (a maximum of 2 where necessary).

Care home staff were in the first group of people to be offered vaccinations.  It is reported that nationally up to a third of care assistants are refusing to be vaccinated.  At Crimson Manor, safety is our top priority and we have 100% staff compliance with the Covid-19 vaccination.  Vaccination is a mandatory requirement for any new recruits.

All our residents have also recieved the vaccine.  Any new admissions to the home must also have been vaccinated as part of our admission requirements.

We take the temperature of all staff members on arrival for shift and any visiting professionals to the home.  We also take the temperature of every resident each morning.  Staff with a high temperature are not permitted to work and must self isolate for 10 days or until test results confirm negative.  Visitors with a high temperature are not permitted entry.  Any resident with a temperature is given a covid test and isolated in their room.

Staff are also trained to monitor everyone for any symptom of covid-19 so that immediate testing and isolation precautions can be implemented.

Staff must also self-isolate for 10 days if anyone in their household displays symptoms (or until houshold member tests negative).

All staff are tested weekly for covid-19 using home testing kits.  Staff also use rapid testing kits (20 min test results) known as LFD tests twice weekly before attending their shifts.

All residents (where possible) are tested every 4 weeks or immediatly on display of symptoms. 

Silent hypoxia is a significant risk for older people who are exposed to coronavirus.  This is where the oxygen levels in the body fall too low but without the normal warning signs of breathlessness.  Crimson Manor has oxymeters to measure the oxygen levels of residents.  This is done twice daily for any resident with suspected or confirmed coronavirus.   In the event of a coronaviurs outbreak within the home, all residents oxygen levels will be tested daily.

Any new resident being admitted from hospital must isolate in their room for 14 days.  This also applies to exisiting residents returning from a hospital admission.

Every resident has a Covid-19 care plan with detailed information pertaining to isolation and how this will be facilitated especially in light of the difficulties that dementia can present for adhering to such requirements.

Namaste Care Programme:  

It was with great sadness that we had to temporarily suspend our Namaste Care Programme at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.  This unique dementia care provision involves close extended contact between residents and staff.  Now all our staff and residents have been vaccinatied, we hope to restart the programme soon.

External entertainment:

All external entertainment has been suspended since March 2020.  It is unlikely that this will be re-started until the majority of the country has been vaccinated and national guidance changes.

Outings & Excursions:

All outings and excusions have been suspended since March 2020.  As with external entertainment, we hope that this will be re-started once national guidlines change as a result of wide-spread vaccination.

In-house activity programme:

We have continued with our in-house activity programme as before.

Staff wear facemasks and eye protection throughout all shifts.  In the event of any resident being isoalated, staff also have full body protection PPE to be worn and changed after each resident to prevent any spread throughout the home.

We recognise the imporatnace of good air flow in minimising the spread of the virus.  All rooms are throughly ventilated when residents are not in their room, and communal areas are ventilated during night shifts.  If the weather is warm enough, windows are opened throughout the day.

Staff hand hygiene is continually emphasised, including proper washing technique and use of alcohol gel.  We have a UV light machine which we use to spot check the handwashing techniques of staff members throught the week.

Staff also support residents to maintain hand-hygiene, particularly before eating.

Anyone visiting the home is required to wash their hands upon arrival.

To aid social distancing, we are holding all staff meetings over Zoom.  We have restricted numbers of staff members in training sessions so people can space out, and also with continual ventilation.  We encourage staff members to maintain distance from each other wherever possible.  Staff also support residents to space out throughout the home to minmise any virus transmission.

We have introduced additional cleaning protocols to reduce the risk of coronavirus within the home.  We use the hospital grade disinfectant Clor-clean to clean all floors, hard surfaces, door handles, handrails and equipment daily.  All our door handles, handrails and telephones are cleaned 3 times per day.