Upton Grey Close Care Home

We found the following examples of good practice.

● People were supported to keep in touch with their family and friends and alternative forms of maintaining social contact were being used. For example, people were supported to use technology such as tablets to have video calls with their family. People were supported to walk to their families houses so that they might wave at their family members and 'drive-bys' were used for the same purpose.

● Socially distanced visits by family and friends, to the home, were well organised and planned to reduce risk and avoid the spread of infection.

● Information was readily available on arrival at the home to ensure that visitors followed infection control protocols.

● All visitors were screened for signs of infection on arrival and all staff and people using the service were assessed twice daily for a raised temperature. This helped staff to act to keep those who might be symptomatic of COVID 19 from those who were not.

● Staff had thought about innovative ways to support people to understand the symptoms of COVID 19. For example, people had been involved in taste and smell experiments to understand how these senses might be affected by COVID 19.

● Some arrangements were in place so staff could appropriately socially distance during breaks, handovers and meetings. Staff supported people to understand and follow social distancing guidance through regular redirection and advice although this was an ongoing challenge. Practical examples had been used to support this process, for example, people were supported to make socially distanced queues for the homes tuck shop and helped to understand the reasons why this was important.

● Social stories were being used to support people to understand the impact of COVID 19 and the risks it presented. Staff were currently creating a social story about the new lock down procedures and social bubbles. Social stories are used to illustrate certain situations and problems and how people might deal with them.

● All staff in high risk groups had been risk assessed, and adjustments made to how they were deployed.

● Staff had received training in infection control and COVID 19. They had also been trained in the correct way to put on and take off personal protective equipment. Their compliance with this was regularly assessed by the services infection control lead. People using the service had also received information about this. One person demonstrated to us how they washed their hands and they were also wearing a mask. Staff told us they tried to make tasks, such as regular handwashing, fun for people but doing this with them and singing songs to help them understand how long the handwashing needed to take to be effective.

● The provider had ensured that 'whole home testing' had been implemented. Staff were tested weekly and people monthly. Staff had implemented more robust infection control measures including isolation to care for people with symptoms to avoid the virus spreading to other people and staff members.

● Staff have adapted the way in which shopping was ordered and the types of food provided. For example, whilst biscuits remained a favourite of people using the service, single wrap options have been ordered instead to help prevent cross contamination.

● The provider encouraged people to talk about any concerns they have or the things they found difficult. For example, we saw that at monthly house meetings, people discussed issues such as isolation and what it meant, the national slogan, 'hands face and space', the importance of cleaning and what was going to happen at Christmas.

● Cleaning schedules had been implemented to clean a number of high touch areas such as door handles, remote controls and light switches, three times a day.

● The provider ensured that current guidance was shared in a timely and accessible way with staff.

● Contingency plans were in place to manage ongoing or future outbreaks effectively.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found