To that end we have been working hard since the start of the year to prepare for the impact that a wider outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) could have here in the UK.
As health authorities have made clear this particular virus does present more of a risk to older people and to those individuals with pre-existing medical conditions and so we are taking extra precautionary measures to ensure that our residents and staff are as protected as possible.
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Please be reassured that there has been no COVID-19 case linked to Hamberley Care Homes, however we feel some additional layers of precautionary measures would be reassuring to families given that identifying, monitoring and containing the spread of the virus is proving increasingly challenging to the authorities.
As soon as health authorities alerted us to the risk of COVID-19 our procurement team acted to ensure all of Hamberley’s care homes were well stocked in terms of essential hygiene products such as hand sanitiser, bacterial hand wash and other relevant medical materials.
As a result, all of our homes are adequately supplied for the foreseeable future and we would encourage all visitors to use these products and observe good hand hygiene when attending the home.
Please ask a staff member if you need any help.
We are also enacting plans to go beyond the standard advice from Public Health England and will be installing ultraviolet light boxes in reception areas and at nurse stations to ensure that hand hygiene is at the very highest level.
After washing your hands, a second liquid is applied which, under UV light, reveals how thorough hand washing has been.
This is not only an essential training tool, but we would encourage all visitors to use the UV light boxes themselves to ensure their hands are germ-free.
Good hand hygiene is THE most important weapon in our fight against the spread of COVID-19.
In addition, we will be installing non-invasive thermometers in reception areas to monitor the temperature of all staff and visitors coming into the home.
Once installed anyone whose temperature is outside of normal limits will not be allowed to enter the building.
We are sure that you can appreciate that this is in the health interests of all residents.
As we enter the ‘delay’ phase of the outbreak response we have taken the decision to minimise the number of unnecessary visits to the home.
While we pride ourselves on being a valuable member of our local community, with numerous community groups coming into the home to interact with residents, we believe at the current time this presents an unnecessary infection risk so will be placing a temporary halt on these visits.
In addition, we would request that family and friends do NOT visit the home if they are experiencing a high temperature, a cough or shortness of breath.
You should also not visit the home if you have visited any of the COVID-19 infection hot spots as identified by Public Health England – either category 1 or category 2 countries.
For a full list of these countries and ‘at risk’ groups please go to: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
It is prudent for older people and their families to know what they should do to limit their exposure to the illness.
1. If you have been in contact with someone with coronavirus or have returned from an affected area identified by the Chief Medical Officer as high risk and you are feeling unwell with a cough, difficulty breathing or fever, stay at home and use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service or call NHS 111.
2. Wash your hands more often than usual, for 20 seconds using soap and hot water, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose, or after being in public areas where other people are doing so. Use hand sanitiser if that’s all you have access to.
3. To reduce the spread of germs when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, or your sleeve (not your hands) if you don’t have a tissue, and throw the tissue away immediately. Then wash your hands or use a hand sanitising gel.
4. Clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces using your regular cleaning products to reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people.
Public information notices have been displayed in our homes now for a number of weeks regarding the risk of the spread of COVID-19 and the steps we can all take to minimise this.
Again, thorough hand washing is vital so we would urge you to follow these instructions not only in the home, but also in your day to day life.
To that end, and as part of our ongoing infection control measures, we will be conducting additional infection control training sessions which will include handwashing training sessions with all care staff to ensure we are doing everything we can to minimise the risk of virus transfer in the home.
For the latest information on COVID-19 and how to minimise your risk of infection please go to the following websites:
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
If you have any other questions regarding Hamberley Care Homes’ preparedness for COVID-19 please contact your local care home. All contact details can be found here.
