17 February 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We found the following examples of good practice.
Safe arrangements were in place for friends and family members to visit people who used the service. Visiting was allowed in line with the government guidance at the time of inspection. When there had been more restrictive guidance in place around visiting care homes, the service had sought to enable people to maintain contact with relatives as much as possible, for example, through using the garden for visits and encouraging the use of electronic communication between people.
On arrival at the service staff took the temperature of any visitors and a plentiful supply of Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] was available to visitors. Information was on display around the premises about how to keep safe.
Although visiting professionals were asked by staff to demonstrate their vaccine status on arrival at the premises, this was not recorded.
During the pandemic, there were two new admissions to the service. COVID-19 tests were carried out on them before they moved into the service. On admission, they spent the first week in an isolated part of the premises, so they had no contact with other people. They also had their own designated staff team which helped reduce the risk of the spread of infection.
All staff and people using the service had received COVID-19 vaccines and there was a routine testing schedule in place for both staff and people. Staff had undertaken recent training about infection prevention and control, which covered the use of PPE. There was a plentiful supply of PPE available at the service and staff were observed to be using it appropriately.
Policies and procedures were in place to help guide staff on good practice in relation to infection control and prevention. A monthly infection prevention and control audit was carried out by the manager. Cleaning schedules were in place to help ensure all areas of the premises were regularly cleaned. We saw the premises were visibly clean on the day of our inspection.