The National Care Forum (NCF) has put together a comprehensive guide highlighting what you should look for in a care home when it comes to combatting Covid-19 infection.
You need to know the extra measures a home has in place so that you can be reassured that the
health and wellbeing of the person receiving care is top priority.
Please read or download the guide in the PDF reader below. The NCF also has more Covid-19 guidance and information on their website.
Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) amidst the Covid-19 outbreak has been a topic of controversy. Reports of a lack of PPE in care homes brings great concern to those with elderly or disabled relatives. People want to feel secure that loved ones residing in care are safe, and rightly so. If you’re looking for a summary of how PPE should be used and how safe care homes are at the moment, read our guide below. How PPE in Care Homes Should Be Used The Correct Order to Put on PPE in Care Homes Public Health England published this guide in April 2020 on how to use PPE in care homes. As shown above, the advice for care home staff to prepare is to make sure that they: Drink fluids before putting on PPE Tie back their hair Remove any jewellery Check that the PPE is the correct size Following this, staff members should do the following: Clean and disinfect their hands with either alcohol rub/gel, or soap and water. Put on an apron and tie this at their waist. Put on a facemask, with the upper straps positioned on the crown of the head and the […]
CQC reports are one of the best ways to keep track of how safe care services are. But how is the CQC responding to the Covid-19 pandemic? And where should you go to find information you can trust about UK care homes’ safety measures? Read this article to find out more about the current state of affairs. What Is the Care Quality Commission’s Role Right Now? In June 2020, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) released an update. This update was to let the public know about how the CQC are changing their way of work during the Covid-19 pandemic. CQC inspections and ratings are vital to maintain the quality of care services in England. The Care Quality Commission’s role is to independently regulate health and adult social care providers. Their role remains the same pre and post-Covid. Rather, how they execute their role has had to change. Here are a few of the CQC guidelines at this time: Notifications Registered service providers must notify the CQC of certain events or incidents, such as allegations of abuse and service user death. Individual cases of coronavirus do not require CQC notification. Registration Health and social care providers can apply for Covid-19 registration. […]
Make sure your system stops the risk of airborne aerosol transmission At the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, official guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) focused on addressing droplet transmission. It’s known that when people sneeze, cough, or talk they expel particles, which contain droplets and aerosols. Droplets are heavy and fall to the ground or surfaces within seconds and don’t travel far. As a result, experts advised care homes to focus on surface cleaning and hand washing to mitigate the spread of the virus. Now scientists have evidence that airborne aerosols can transmit the virus Aerosol particles are smaller, lighter and can linger in the air for hours and drift further, particularly indoors, causing potential transmission of the coronavirus. In a recent video the WHO recommends good room ventilation, or, where that is not possible, air purification devices that use HEPA filters. A paper by EMG under the UK Government on the role of ventilation presented to SAGE (Scientific Group for Emergencies) highlighted that ventilation should be integral to the COVID-19 mitigation strategy in multi-occupant spaces. The Guardian, The Times and The Daily Telegraph have all written extensive articles on the risk of COVID-19 airborne transmission. They report growing […]
