We are aware that you might be concerned about what will happen to your care or the care of a loved one in relation to the spread of COVID-19 (also known as Coronavirus) should our staff be unable to work, and how we are going to support our staff to stay well. We want to reassure you that we have a contingency plan in place and we are assessing our care staff on a regular basis.
We are closely monitoring all the updates from the Government and relevant authorities that regulate and give guidance to care providers. We hope there will not be any disruption to the services we provide to our clients. However, just as we would normally if a staff member became ill, we will contact our clients regarding any changes or cancellations.
We will strive to continue to deliver all our care calls as planned but might, on occasion, offer a different care worker to deliver a care call.
In the meantime, the advice from Public Health England is that hand hygiene and cough etiquette are among the best ways of preventing the spread of the virus. This means covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throwing the tissue in a bin, and thorough frequent handwashing.
All of our staff are regularly trained and re-trained in infection prevention and control to a high standard and are supplied with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment. Your carer should wash their hands immediately upon arrival at your home and before putting on gloves and apron. Our staff are now provided with a supply of paper towels to dry their hands after washing. This is more effective at minimising the spread of infection and places less of a burden on you to supply clean towels. Staff should remove their Personal Protective Equipment (gloves and aprons) after carrying out care and place these in a nappy sack which should be sealed and binned immediately. Staff should then wash and dry their hands again before leaving. All of our staff are supplied with alcohol hand gel for further protection.
Public Health England advises that during normal day-to-day activities facemasks do not provide protection from respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19 and do not need to be worn by staff in any of these settings. Facemasks are only recommended to be worn by infected people when advised by a healthcare worker, to reduce the risk of transmitting the infection to other people. It remains very unlikely that people receiving care in the community will become infected.
If you/your family member receiving care believe you might have been affected by COVID-19 and are self-isolating, please contact NHS 111 and then contact us so we can act appropriately to protect our staff and clients.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact:
Lucy Deighton – Southport Registered Manager: 01704 829590 opt 1
Rosie Caunt – Blackpool Registered Manager: 01253 978969 opt 1
Claire Culshaw – Wigan & St Helens Registered Manager: 01942 409561 opt 1
