Nettlestead, Priors Mead and HomeCare are all at Implementation Level Two, although Nettlestead is under review (see Outbreak, below)

Covid-19 Outbreak

One Member of Staff at Nettlestead, who was amongst the first to be Vaccinated, has Tested Positive. Thankfully, she is Asymptomatic. After assessing the situation, PHE advised that it originated from outside of the Home and should not therefore affect Nettlestead coming out of its Outbreak Lockdown. However, we have since been told they are reviewing this advice. Our own view is that there is little risk and will be pressing for Nettlestead to remain at its current status. Nettlestead Residents are due to get their Second Vaccination this week.

Care Home Visits

We are pleased, as we are sure you are too, that with effect 8th March 2021 we can start to receive Two Designated Visitors per Resident Indoors. You will still be able to use our Visiting Pods, but this is a very welcome step towards normality.

Each of the Two Designated Visitors will need to complete a Designated Visitor Declaration and, once selected, can only be changed in exceptional circumstances. Only One Designated Visitor can attend at each visit and must notify the Home in advance. We would be grateful if you would follow these guidelines:

• Visits may need to be conducted in Designated Areas rather than Residents’ Rooms, but room visits will be permitted where possible.
• Please book 48 hours before a visit is to take place to allow us to ensure we do not have too-many Visitors at the same time.
• Each Visitor must take a Lateral Flow Test (LFT) which must show Negative before coming into the Home. You will be told how to Self-Administer the LFT and provide you with the testing kit. You will then need to provide us with the result on the day of visit.
• All Visitors must wear Full PPE which will be provided on the day of the visit.
• Physical Contact is restricted to Holding Hands only. We know you will be dying to hug each other, but please hold off for a few more weeks.
• Visits should not last more than Half-an-Hour, although we hope to be able to extend this once we have got into the rhythm of the Visits.
• We may have to ask you to book another time if there are too-many requests, bearing in mind that Pod Visits will be continuing also.

We will need to confirm the date we can open up for indoor visits at Nettlestead, given the recent Positive Test of a Staff Member once we have clarified the advice from Public Health England, which we expect to have done in the next couple of days.

Pods and Visiting

The Visiting Pod at Priors Mead remains open, subject to weather conditions, with the plan to open the Nettlestead Visiting Pod remaining on or about 8th March, subject to the conversation with PHE.

Nettlestead

• Jane continues to focus on Physical Exercises this week with the help and support from St Christophers.
• Video Clips – please ensure that short clips are sent to Katherine so we can start to put these together for a  Mother’s Day montage!
• Pod Visits – Please ensure that you have made your booking to avoid any disappointment.
• Second Vaccines are booked for Wednesday 3rd March for all residents 🙂
• Jane is baking cupcakes with the residents tomorrow, watch out for some pictures on Facebook.
• We will also be making Easter decorations & cards this week 🙂

Priors Mead

• This week is World Book Week so we will be sharing our favorite books and authors and also creating our own Bookmarks.
• We have a Mid-Morning Movie planned for Tuesday and we’ve opted for Lawrence of Arabia which we discovered was a favorite amongst us from 1962. Perhaps you could watch along with us at home and share your thoughts?
• June was our Quiz Queen again this week following our Zoom Quiz with Eshal, well done!
• Our Homemade Savoury Muffins went down well – we all got creative with our chosen ingredients including; spinach, cheese, sweetcorn and tomato.
• Ten members of the Priors Mead Team are taking part in the Priors Mead March where we have committed to walking 11,000 steps every day in March to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society. You can find out more here; https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/priorsmeadmarch and we would love for anyone to join us and share our fundraising page! We will be getting our Residents involved too by encouraging them to walk with us and challenge themselves to Spring into Spring!

HomeCare 

• Nella-May is now a full time member of the office team, so be prepared for a new voice when you phone.
• We sadly have a few Clients in hospital, all for  non-covid reasons, and we wish them a speedy recovery.

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