R M P Care - 20 Oulton Road

We found the following examples of good practice.

● Staff at the service had been nominated for awards within the sector for their commitment and hard work during the pandemic. Staff felt valued and their contribution had been recognised and rewarded in a variety of ways by the registered manager and provider.

● The service had robust contingency plans in place which included training contingency staff to a nationally recognised standard, in case they should be required in the event of an infection outbreak.

● Creative ways to keep people occupied had been implemented. For example; one person had been supported to host a virtual bingo night for their friends and another person had virtual date nights, enabling valuable contact with their partner. Staff also arranged a weekly cook along session which enabled people in the service and in other households to get together virtually, participating in cooking and trying new foods.

● People were supported to maintain contact with their family and friends in a variety of ways including socially distanced doorstep visits, internet 'get togethers' and video calls. This had a positive impact on people's wellbeing.

● The service used technology to implement new policies and procedures relating to infection prevention and control that also limited the need for physical visits into the service by external parties. For example, electronic tablets were purchased so staff could complete audits and touch point cleaning schedules online and these could then be checked and verified by the registered manager and provider to allow oversight and increased governance.

● Feedback was continually sought from family carers about how the service was supporting people during the pandemic, in order to gather people's views, identify any areas for improvement and make changes when required. We saw continually positive feedback had been received about how staff had supported people during the pandemic, going above and beyond to ensure people could continue to enjoy and participate in everyday life despite their usual routines being disrupted.

● The provider had introduced a new mandatory training module specific to COVID-19 and how to manage infection prevention and control practices, personal protective equipment (PPE) and keep people safe. Existing training modules had been reviewed and updated, for example; to include updated hand washing guidance.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found