St Aidan Lodge Residential Care Home

We found the following examples of good practice.

Measures were in place to prevent visitors from catching and spreading infection. The provider had created a welcoming and homely visiting pod for relatives. The home deep cleaned the pod after each visit.

Professional visitors were robustly screened for COVID-19. Screening included temperature checks, completion of a health declaration, and hand sanitisation in a separate allocated washroom.

The home encouraged telephone and video contact wherever possible. The provider had purchased a computer on wheels with a very large screen. This provided easily accessible and good quality video contact for people and their relatives.

The provider had created a separate wing to accommodate anyone who was being isolated during the pandemic. The wing had its own entrance and fire exit, and was separated from the main building with a keycode system. When in use, designated staff were allocated to work on this wing only.

The home had adequate supplies of PPE. Fully stocked PPE stations were located throughout the home. Laminated signage was on the walls to remind staff how to put on, take off and dispose of PPE safely.

Staff had completed infection prevention and control (IPC) training. All staff were observed to be wearing appropriate PPE and were bare below the elbow to assist with good hand hygiene. The registered manager carried out 'spot checks' to ensure staff complied with best practice guidance.

The home was clean and tidy throughout, and had been well maintained during the pandemic. A thorough cleaning schedule was in place which included additional cleaning of frequently touched areas. The provider had purchased an electrostatic sprayer for deep cleaning.

The provider had up to date IPC policies and procedures in place. The provider carried out regular IPC audits and offered good support to the registered manager.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found