Residential and Nursing Care Homes in Hertfordshire

WILTON HOUSE LTD CORONAVIRUS NEWS UPDATE JUNE 15th 2020

Wilton House Ltd continues to make progress in protecting our residents and staff throughout the covid-19 pandemic. During these challenging times our care homes remain closed to visitors, we like to share some details about the measures we have in place and how we keep our residents and staff safe. We have been working incredibly hard to reduce the influence of the coronavirus in our homes; despite our best efforts we have felt a considerable impact from the coronavirus.

We are continuously following government guidelines and reviewing our current position with regards to our decision to suspend all non-essential visits in our homes until further notice.  

I hope you all agree this has been the best way we can keep your loved-one safe and minimise the transmission of the virus as much as possible. Whilst we acknowledge these are very difficult times for our residents not being able to see their loved-ones we have taken the difficult decision to continue to suspend all non-essential visitors to our nursing and residential homes. 

We act promptly each day to the changing government guidelines to ensure we are following the up to date guidelines and advice to keep our residents and staff safe.

Thanks to your support around the stringent restrictions we have had in place and the incredible work of our care home teams, the number of new cases of Covid-19 has been diminished.

While we appreciate the importance of family visits, our first priority must remain the safety of residents, colleagues and visitors in our homes.  We are very mindful of suggestions that there may be a second wave of infection as lockdown restrictions are loosened and we want to do all we can to minimise this risk of a second wave of infection in our homes.    

We will continue to follow Government guidelines and Public Health of England procedures, staff continue to protect our residents with the necessary PPE equipment. All our homes have access to the right PPE; these include mace masks, disposable aprons and gloves for use on a daily basis.

MAINTAIN SAFE ENVIRONMENT

Our team relentlessly clean and re-clean all areas of the home and constantly clean areas where regularly touched.

Robust infection control measures have meant that on Covid-19 testing for all of our residents and staff in our homes is Covid-19 free, however we continue to take precautions and stay alert.

Daily temperatures are recorded for all staff prior to starting their duties, in the event a staff member has a raised temperature they will not be permitted to work and will be sent home to self-isolate. We are following government guidelines regarding self-isolation, these include should a staff member live in a household with a person diagnosed with Covid-19 or have been in contact with people displaying covid-19 symptoms they are instructed to follow the government guidelines and self-isolate.

Staff are required to change into their uniforms on arrival for work and again change into their outdoor clothes on leaving to go home

Residents have their temperatures tested daily and are monitored closely for any potential symptoms of the virus.

Meticulous infection control measures are in place, particular attention to regular hand washing, use of sanitizers and gels are available throughout the homes.

Social distancing guidelines are followed in the homes

Residents that present with symptoms of the virus will be isolated in accordance to government guidelines

New admissions from hospital will not be admitted until a negative Covid-19 test has been confirmed; in addition on arrival to the home they will be isolated for 14 days as a precautionary measure.

In the event a resident has a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 or is displaying symptoms of the virus you can feel reassured our staff will always follow universal infection control processes to avoid the spread of the virus.

Should your loved-one become unwell we will always contact your or next of kin in accordance to our policies

Arrangements are in place for delivery drivers to deliver items in designated areas of the homes

RESIDENTS WELLBEING

The pandemic has brought out the creativity in our homes, activities continue to take place, and we have many photos and videos to share on social media.  We will continue to support our residents to maintain links with their loved ones and remain in contact with the community. We have provided I Pads for our care homes to support our residents to remain in contact with their family and friends. We have facilitated Zoom video, Face Time, Skype, Whats App for conference calls for our relatives, staff and visitors.

We encourage and support our residents to go outside in our garden to continue with their garden activities, we have arranged entertainment to take place in the garden during the good weather.

Whilst our care homes are closed for non-essential visitors, we will work with you on individual cases to facilitate visits for residents that are nearing the end of life, we will provide the relevant essential PPE and all appropriate precautions will be put in place in place.

STAFF WELL BEING

We are holding regular meetings with our staff to ensure they are kept up to date with the changing government guidelines; support is given in team meetings and through staff supervisions. We have training that covers all aspects of Covid-19, safeguarding the ways to prevent the spread of the virus; Hertfordshire CCG is providing us with extra training on how to use PPE. HCPA continue to support us in training, advice and support in processes and procedures.

Whilst all of our staff has received training in Coronavirus, additional training and on-going training will be given on a regular basis to meet the changing Government guidelines.

Staff are supported to follow government guidelines in self-isolation, should they have the virus or symptoms of the virus or have been in contact with people with the virus or having symptoms of the virus will be required to self-isolate.

We welcome the government’s Action Plan Adult Social Care, the plan has helped us with support measures to help control the spread of Covid-19 This support includes access to PPE and update guidance.

NEW ADMISSIONS

Our homes have had restrictions on new admissions in place over the past few months.  In order to protect the future sustainability of our business, it is important that we continue to admit people whose care needs can no longer be met at home or in hospital. 

We are only admitting new residents where it is safe to do so and are putting every precaution in place to protect both current and future residents.

All new admission are required to have a COVID-19 clear test as well as a full health history from any new resident that is discharged from hospital or another care setting.

TESTING

All of our residents and staff have been tested for Covid-19; we will continue to test both residents and staff on an on-going basis as required. All our staff are required to have their temperatures recorded prior to starting their duty and are advised to follow government guidelines for self-isolation

EASING THE RESTRICTIONS

We are exploring options for easing restrictions to enable relatives or close friends to visit their loved ones in ways that adhere to current Government guidance and protect visitors, residents and staff teams.

We are closely observing government guidelines on a daily basis and will continue to adhere to any lockdown measures as they apply to our care homes. However, we are also responsible for the safety and wellbeing of some extremely vulnerable residents, so at times we may feel that additional measures may be warranted. Full details of how your visit will be managed will be provided by the home manager as each home is ready to accept visitors

We would like to offer our condolences to the friends and families who are mourning loved ones who have passed away.

We would like to say a very public thank you to our staff who has worked tirelessly in the last few months to provide exceptional levels of care under challenging circumstances.  We are exceptionally grateful for the commitment and dedication of our teams.

We would also like to thank the families that have supported our homes over the last few months.  We have received cards, gifts and other messages of support which have been invaluable in motivating our teams to continue working through these challenging times.