The Cottage

We found the following examples of good practice.

● The registered manager and senior staff had taken a proactive approach towards risk management during the pandemic. Risks of infection had been carefully assessed and balanced against the risk of isolation to people's wellbeing. Advice from local infection prevention teams had been sought to ensure people were protected from the risk of infection while being supported to maintain their wellbeing.

● Creative approaches had been developed to support people's daily living activities that may otherwise have been curtailed by social restrictions. This included a temporary shop being set up at the provider's office, so people could make their own purchases with minimal risk. Staff had also developed virtual events, including a pub quiz night and cook along evenings where people were supported to make meals and try new foods.

● Enhanced monitoring had been introduced to ensure oversight of increased cleaning and infection control practices. IT systems had been developed to enable remote monitoring of touch point cleaning so that assurance visits to the home were not required. This reduced the risk of infection.

● Contingency plans were in place should there an outbreak, which offered staff clear guidance about the action they should take. The registered manager, with support from the deputy manager had developed strategic plans to manage the risk of cross infection and reduce the potential risk to people. Easy read information had also been developed to support people's understanding of social distancing and the necessary changes to daily life.

● People had been supported proactively by staff to maintain contact with their families and friends. This included video calling, outside visits as well as sharing photographs of social activities on a closed Facebook group and via emails. Feedback from relatives as well as professionals had also been encouraged to support people to offer their views on the service using links in emails and through social media.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found