The Pines Residential Care Home

We found the following examples of good practice.

The home had recently experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 with some people and staff testing positive for COVID-19. Staff had followed national and local guidance during the outbreak to mitigate the risk of the spread of infection, working closely with the Wirral Infection Control Team.

Wirral Infection Control team visited the service on the 11 January 2022, with no concerns about infection control or COVID-19 management. At this visit, we found the same. There were robust policies and procedures in place and the manager, and the staff team had worked hard to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 within the home.

Excellent provisions were in place to ensure visitors were safe to see their loved ones. There were easy to read posters on the front entrance of the home politely advising visitors not to visit if they were experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms. Information on the symptoms to spot and other information about social distancing and visitation were clearly displayed.

All visits to the home were pre-booked via an online app that required visitors to answer screening questions regarding COVID-19. Visitors had their temperature checked by staff they visited, were required to show a negative lateral flow test and evidence that they were vaccinated against COVID-19. There was a dedicated visiting pod with its own separate entrance/exit so that visitors did not need to physically enter the home.

Staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure people were protected as much as possible from the risk of cross infection. There was a sufficient PPE in stock. PPE and hand sanitising gel was located throughout the home.

Staff had received training in infection control and how to put on and take off PPE safely. Cleaning was being managed throughout the home in accordance with government guidelines and the home was clean and hygienic on the day we visited.

All staff and people living at the service took part in a regular programme of testing for COVID-19 and the manager had clear oversight of this process. All staff and residents were supported to access COVID-19 vaccinations. All staff were vaccinated in accordance with legal requirements.

There were regular checks in place to ensure that infection control standards were maintained.

The manager told us the provider was supportive and accessible for help and support if they needed it and

had been in regular contact throughout the pandemic.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found