While there are now no Government restrictions on visiting our care homes Covid-19 is still circulating in the general population and continues to have an impact on the way in which we operate.
Visits can take place freely in an resident’s bedroom, in a communal area or outdoors. In addition, there are no restrictions on taking your loved one out of their home for a trip out.
Dealing with an outbreak
If we do have an outbreak of Covid-19 or any other infectious illness, we will discuss this with our local public health teams. A Covid-19 outbreak in a care home is when there are two or more confirmed (or clinically suspected) cases in the home, and their symptoms started within 10 days of each other.
In these circumstances residents will still be able to have one nominated individual visit them as well as receive end of life visits. Your loved ones’ care home will be able to give you more information about this as restrictions are laid down by public health for individual homes.
If a home is closed due to an outbreak, it might be that the local public health team still allows homes to take in new residents. If you or a loved one is considering a move to one of our homes, then please check with the home manager.
In addition, you should be aware that care homes can also be closed on the advice of public health due to other infectious outbreaks such as norovirus and flu.
Mask wearing
Government guidelines regarding mask wearing changed for care homes on 15 December 2022. Staff and support teams are no longer required to wear face masks unless there is a risk of infection or if there is an outbreak in the home. Care home managers will continue to assess any risks to your loved ones and provide the necessary advice to keep everyone safe.
Covid-19 testing
Asymptomatic testing for Covid-19 in care homes is now paused, both for staff and residents. Testing will only take place if there are suspected cases of Covid-19.
If you have any symptoms of Covid-19, or indeed any other infectious virus, then we would ask you not to visit and to preferably take a test before your next visit. If you are offered a Covid-19 or flu vaccination, we would ask you to consider taking these up to help limit the spread of these viruses.