The safety of our treasured residents and team is our absolute priority. At present, our care home regulator, The Care Quality Commission, is continuing to monitor and engage with care providers to maintain standards and promote the delivery of best practice.
CARE QUALITY COMMISSION ASSESSMENT OF CARE DURING COVID-19
We are pleased to share the positive findings of their report published on 27th May 2020 into the safety and effectiveness of care at Alderwood. The report inspected four aspects of infection control and was conducted by telephone interview:
• Safe Care and Treatment
• Staffing arrangements
• Protection from Abuse
• Assurance Processes, Monitoring and Risk Management
CONSISTENT AND EFFECTIVE INFECTION CONTROL AND PREVENTION
The CQC concluded that we were managing the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
It noted that “stringent infection control measured and risk assessments were in place.” As well as “nursing staff being supported by community nurses to carry out tasks [in place of] outside health professionals.” It cited that “staff were following Government guidelines” and “extra checks were being carried out for high risk residents.” Finally, the innovative use of video-calling and virtual birthday parties was noted as supporting the overall health and wellbeing of residents.”
The report stated that:
• There were systems to assess and respond to risks regarding infection prevention and control, including those associated with COVID-19.
• Essential equipment, such as personal protective equipment, was available in sufficient quantities to help us manage the impact of COVID-19.
• We had taken steps to ensure the environment was as effective as possible in containing an outbreak of COVID-19.
• There were enough suitably skilled staff to provide people with safe care in a respectful and dignified way during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• People were being safeguarded from abuse, harassment and discrimination.
• There were effective systems to monitor the overall quality and safety of care being provided at the service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can read the full report here.
