The Millings

We found the following examples of good practice.

All essential visitors had to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). In addition, complete NHS Track and Trace information, have a negative COVID-19 test result and have their temperature checked prior to entering the home.

People were admitted to the home safely and procedures were in place and followed to ensure this.

People were supported to receive organised visits from relatives in a designated safe indoor 'visiting pod' area with robust cleaning procedures in place.

Staff supported people's social and emotional wellbeing. Meaningful activities were adapted and taking place in smaller groups in separate rooms or on a one to one basis . Where people were isolating then they had an activity pack made up for them. The used different methods including information technology to assist communication. Staff supported people to use other technology for making video calls.

The home had ample supplies of appropriate PPE which was stored hygienically and kept safe. Staff were provided with appropriate areas to put on, take off and dispose PPE safely.

Social distancing practices were in place at the home, where people used communal areas such as dining rooms and lounge areas, they were able to share these spaces safely.

Additional cleaning of all areas and frequent touch surfaces was in place and being carried out and recorded regularly by housekeeping staff. Additional deep cleaning was also carried out where required.

Staff completed online training and paper-based learning booklets provided by the local NHS infection prevention and control team. Training included putting on and taking off PPE, hand hygiene and other COVID-19 related training and updates.

Additional competency checks and spot checks were carried out by the registered manager with all staff regarding safe use of PPE and some staff were designated infection prevention and control (IPC) champions and were given extra responsibilities to help manage PPE requirements with staff.

The registered manager had quality systems in place to check the service was providing safe care. There was a robust communication system in place to ensure staff received consistent updates in relation to infection

control policy and practice.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found