We remain at Implementation Level Two for both Homes with no Symptomatic Residents or Staff.

Our Covid-Positive HomeCare Client is still awaiting her retest, but remains Asymptomatic, as do her Carers. All other HomeCare Clients and Staff are well.

Drive-Through Visits

A number of Families have asked if the relaxation of Lock-Down Rules means they can now visit their loved ones in the Homes or at home. Sadly, it doesn’t. We are required to keep shielding our Residents until advised otherwise by the Government, who are currently finalising what advice to give us as to how and when this should happen. However, another home in Devon had a novel idea we are considering copying, being Drive-Through Visits –

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-52776767/coronavirus-care-home-creates-drive-through-visit

As this would be a relaxation of our Lock-Down Policy, we feel we should give any Residents or their Families the opportunity to object before putting it in place as any risk would potentially be shared by everyone in each Home. However, so long as we all follow the spirit and letter of the following guidance, we do not believe there would be a significant risk.

We are proposing:

• That Visitors would arrive by car and remain in their car for the duration of the visit and until after they have left the grounds. This eliminates the risk of a Visitor inadvertently touching something or someone, which could then act as a point of transmission.
• On arrival, they would phone the Home and a Member of Staff in PPE would come out to give everyone in the car a Face Visor to wear for the duration of the visit. This means the Visitors’ faces could be clearly seen by the Resident, but any exhaled breath would be directed downwards into the car rather than towards the person they are visiting. The Face Visor would be for the Visitors to retain for their next visit.
• The Resident would then come out with a Member of Staff who would help them to sit on a chair more than two metres from the car. They would remain at a discreet distance, but an important part of the Staff Member’s role would be to ensure the two metre gap is maintained for the safety of everyone in the Home.
• Initially, the visits would be limited to Fifteen Minutes as this seems to be a key time in the transmission of the virus, but this could be reviewed for future visits.
• The Resident would return into the Home at the end of the visit prior to the visitors driving away.

Visits would obviously need to be by appointment, and the person leading each visit would have to submit an Online Disclaimer for each visit confirming everyone in the car was Asymptomatic and had not been close to anyone symptomatic in the past Fourteen Days. Subsequent Visits can be booked after each visit has happened to ensure everyone has an opportunity to book.

If no one has objected to Drive-Through Visits by midnight on Tuesday, 2nd June, we will send a further email on Wednesday morning attaching the Disclaimer and advising how visits can be booked. If you have any concerns or suggested modification, please email nick.bruce@nightingales.co.uk.

Testing

All Residents and Staff have been tested negative at Nettlestead and Priors Mead.

Lauren is in conversation with Bromley CCG regarding testing as guidelines are changing for domiciliary care.

Nettlestead

Nettlestead currently has one Staff Member Self-Isolating for twelve weeks.

• We have received letters from a number of children aged 5-11 which have been cheering up our Residents with their notes and poems.
• The Alzheimer’s Cake Sale was a great success, raising £70. Thank you to those who dropped off cakes at the door and the Staff who all took time to bake!
• We undertook a PPE refresher course with Bromley CCG to ensure we are doing everything correctly, with Holly & Katherine acting as PPE Champions to ensure this is being followed.

Priors Mead

Priors Mead currently has one Staff Member Self-Isolating for twelve weeks.

• We are looking forward to helping two Residents celebrate their birthdays this week.
• We are delighted to announce that Kelly has welcomed her new addition last night, increasing our Priors Mead family further. Congratulations to Kelly and her family.
• Glen and Michal have been working hard in our garden and Residents are already enjoying the additional colour and flowers that are the fruits of their labour.

HomeCare

HomeCare has two Staff Members Self-Isolating for twelve weeks.

• The two Members of Staff who are Self Isolating are due to return in the coming weeks, and are therefore going to have a test carried out to ensure they are clear.
• We are also delighted to welcome back some Clients who decided to temporarily suspend their service as a precaution.

Welcoming New Residents and Clients

We have vacancies in both Homes and have capacity to take on more Clients at HomeCare, so if you know anyone who could benefit from our service, please put them in touch. Any new Residents or Clients would follow our new stricter Admissions Checks, but the additional fees they would provide would be a welcome offset to the increased costs that Covid-19 has brought.

Resilience

• We are awaiting Government’s proposals on ending Lock-Down before finalising our own plans for the Homes.
• We continue to audit the implementation of our Pandemic Procedure on a weekly basis.

Suggestions

Suggestions continue to be welcome. Please share them with us by emailing covid-19@nightingales.co.uk.

Thank you all for your continued support and understanding.

Nick & Sarah Bruce

nick.bruce@nightingales.co.uk

sarah.bruce@nightingales.co.uk