Highlands Borders Care Home

We found the following examples of good practice.

The staff were following infection prevention and control guidance to help people to stay safe. This is a home with a long standing, small and loyal staff team who know the people they support well. They were working together to ensure shifts were covered during the outbreak and accessing all available support resources. For example, covering kitchen and laundry shifts so that care staff could focus on meeting people's needs. Additional senior staff were being trained in managerial tasks and medicine management and a new administrator/care worker was about to start their induction to alleviate staff pressure during this time. Agency staff had not previously been used but agencies had been approached to provide some long term cover, these staff would only work at Highlands Borders.

Due to the majority of people living with dementia, the home had been unable to separate areas in zones but staff were allocated to support named people. People were being supported to isolate in their rooms. The deputy manager was ensuring that people had every comfort available in their rooms and regular reassurance. Staffing levels had been increased as some people required further support to maintain safe isolation. The deputy manager was looking at simple visual ways for staff to easily identify which staff were working in which area to further promote good social distancing.

There were posters and guidance accessible at the service. The registered manager and senior staff ensured staff understood why every measure was in place and there were regular updates and reminders.

There were clear risk assessments and staff were following the correct procedures. For example, staff were not car sharing and were social distancing, including for staff breaks. Staff were also ensuring they were following safety guidelines in their home lives to further protect the people they supported. The home was very clean throughout and the domestics were working hard to maintain an increased cleaning schedule. The provider was not accepting any new admissions at this time but were aware of the correct admission processes.

The provider had provided training to ensure staff knew how to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a good stock of the correct PPE and staff knew what to do. Each room had separate PPE stations. Staff were a close-knit group and were well supported. The provider and registered manager were very supportive in a difficult situation and staff said they felt well supported and valued for working additional hours. Their focus was on ensuring the people they cared for were as safe as possible and had their needs met. The provider was now available at the home to take on any roles to alleviate the additional time required to support people in their rooms.

Staff supported people to occupy themselves whilst maintaining their safety. Staff allocated to named people were providing additional one to one activity with people in their rooms and visited them frequently. An activity co-ordinator was also able to provide one to one support. The communal areas were not being used at this time. Staff helped people to stay in touch with family and friends through phone and video calls but this was particularly difficult at this time. The registered manager was talking to families as much as possible and working with the local council to ensure supportive communication was maintained whilst focussing on people's care needs. The home were unable to welcome any visitors at this time but were well prepared for safe visiting as soon as possible.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found