Avenue House Nursing and Care Home

We found the following examples of good practice.

● Safe arrangements were in place for professional visitors to the service. These included temperature checks, hand sanitisation and wearing a mask. Visitor plans and a visitor 'pod' were in place to support visits by relatives when it became safe to do so.

● There was plenty of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, aprons and hand sanitiser available. PPE stations were located around the corridors and nearby all of the rooms where people were isolating.

● All staff had been trained in current infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance and in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). There were designated areas for putting on and taking off PPE and handwashing facilities were easily accessible to people and staff. We observed staff followed current guidance and practice throughout our visit.

● A regular programme of testing for COVID-19 was in place for staff and people who lived in the service. The service were preparing to offer testing to relatives in the near future as part of the government roll out of this service.

● Enhanced cleaning schedules including regular cleaning of touch areas such as handrails and door handles were in place. This reduced the risk of cross infection. We observed the environment was clean and hygienic. Communal spaces were used creatively to ensure people could continue to interact with each other and staff in a safe way.

● The clinical lead was also the designated IPC lead at the service and undertook regular audits to ensure staff complied with current guidance and practice. Any concerns picked up through these checks were acted on without delay.

● The infection prevention and control policy was up to date. People and staff had risk assessments in place to identify their individual risks associated with COVID-19. This meant protective measures could be put in place to keep people and staff safe.

● People were admitted to the service safely following government guidance. This kept everyone safe and reduced the risk of infection spread.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found