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Preparing for coronavirus in the care sector
Sarah Clarke-Kuehn explains how Sanctuary Care is preparing for coronavirus
With COVID-19 (coronavirus) dominating the headlines – and likely to do so for the foreseeable future – its impact on the care sector is being brought more into focus every day.
With more than 100 care homes in operation, it’s a situation we at Sanctuary take extremely seriously and one we are constantly monitoring. We pride ourselves on the delivery of high-quality care and health and safety in our homes, and the processes we have in place to maintain those standards.
We have already seen in the United States the devastating effects of the virus in a care home and this only highlights how vulnerable such environments can be.
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The safety and well-being of our residents, their families and our staff is of paramount importance and we are doing everything we can to ensure that safety, while continuing to deliver the highest quality of care.
We’re not unique in our approach to managing the risk across the sector, but we have already introduced several measures in line with our current processes, including issuing best practice guidance, and we will continue to review these.
Posters and leaflets have been emailed to each of our care homes with information about the virus, its symptoms and how to avoid further spread. Crucially, every care home manager has been required to confirm that they have received these, so we know this information has been read and shared throughout the home.
In addition to general advice displayed throughout the homes, staff have access to information through our intranet and updates will be provided through mobile apps used by our care workers.
We have also provided detailed guidance to homes on managing admissions and visitors. A flow chart outlining the steps for a home to take when assessing a new admission has been published and visitors are being given detailed guidance to reduce the risk of bringing the infection into the home – including a ban on those entering who have returned from any of the high-risk countries in the past few weeks.
Following the prime minister’s announcement of new statutory sick pay measures, all staff required to self-isolate for 14 days will be paid for the full duration of that period based on their contractual hours.
This is a fast-moving situation and COVID-19 is new to all of us. We’ll continue to be guided by advice from Public Health England and make further steps with other care providers to ensure safety across all our homes.
Sarah Clarke-Kuehn, group director of care, Sanctuary
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