Immacolata House

We found the following examples of good practice.

Staff were committed to keeping people safe. They had undertaken additional training and understood the importance of wearing appropriate PPE. There were sufficient stocks available including masks, gloves, aprons and hand sanitiser. Sanitisation and PPE stations were placed around the service.

The service had appointed a dedicated lead in regards infection control, they supported staff to understand the importance of wearing PPE correctly. Staff were following good infection prevention and control practices which helped to minimise risks to people. The service demonstrated a good understanding of when and how to access local IPC resources (for example local health protection team or infection control leads) when they need advice and support.

Infection prevention and control audits took place and action plans were developed to follow up on any required actions. This ensured the registered manager had effective oversight of infection control measures.

Staff supported people and their relatives to understand the isolation processes and how the service could help to alleviate them feeling lonely, such as video calls with friends and loved ones. A booking system was in place to support visitors at a time that suited people and was spaced out to avoid potential infection transmission with other visitors. Visitors were being given access to gloves, masks, aprons and alcohol gel on arrival. Remote consultations were also considered by other visitors such as professionals and clinical consultations.

Regular COVID testing was carried out at the service for both staff and people living there, and contingency plans in were in place in the event of any outbreak of Covid-19 or other emergency.

We have also signposted the provider to resources to develop their approach, in regards staff disposing of their PPE on entering the service.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found