St Francis Residential Care Home

• The provider followed safe infection prevention and control practices and procedures to ensure people, staff and visitors' safety and that they were protected from the risk of infection. • The service had systems in place to check staff and visitors' temperatures and they provided them with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), before they were allowed into the care home. • The provider had implemented suitable visiting arrangements to ensure people could receive visits safely. Relatives visiting people accessed the safe pod with a glass screen and speaker system specifically built for them to interact with people safely. The access to this pod was outside the care home which helped to reduce the risk of spread of infection. Where relatives were unable to visit people, staff supported them to stay in touch with people via video calls. • People, staff and visitors were supported to follow the government's guidance on wearing PPE and social distancing. • The premises were cleaned and disinfected frequently to help prevent the spread of infection. Hygiene stations were installed throughout the service that were adequately stocked with hand sanitisers and PPE. • The provider followed the government's guidance on carrying out COVID-19 testing and made suitable arrangements to test people, staff and visitors. • All staff received sufficient training and support to prevent and control the spread of infection. Staff only worked on assigned floors thereby minimising the risk of cross infection. Staff wellbeing was supported if they became unwell and when they returned to work. • The registered manager was well supported by the provider and their clinical lead. They also sought support and advice from external agencies including the Clinical Commissioning Group, the local authority, Public Health England, District and Palliative nurses, and local health teams to help keep people and staff safe.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found