Tamara House

We found the following examples of good practice.

There had been an outbreak of COVID-19 at the service. During this time the manager had communicated with people, staff and families regularly to ensure everyone understood the measures put in place to help keep people safe.

Management, activity and administrative staff provided care to ensure there were enough staff on duty to cover for absences, due to staff having to self-isolate. Care staff also covered extra shifts and as a result agency staff had not been used. The provider paid staff double time when working during the outbreak in recognition of their commitment to supporting the service throughout this difficult period, which had coincided with the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) was available to all staff and visitors. Visiting was taking place according to current government guidance.

Staff and people living at the service were regularly tested for COVID-19 and the service was meeting the requirement to ensure non-exempt staff and visiting professionals were vaccinated against COVID-19.

We spoke with three relatives about the visiting arrangements and staffing levels. Comments included, "The days I am able to visit vary each week and often I ask to visit at short notice, but they always accommodate a time that suits me. I have never been refused a visit and on one occasion I only gave 15 minutes notice of my request to visit", "I visit every day and staff keep me informed if they are any changes to {person's] health", "There always seems to be enough staff, I have no concerns about staffing levels."

A few days before our visit NHS commissioners had carried out a check of the home's infection control procedures and had not found any concerns. A recommendation from that visit, to provide wall mounted alcohol-based hand rub pumps in the stairway for staff to use after touching door and keypad, had been actioned.

Additional cleaning protocols were in place to ensure all high touch points were regularly sanitised. A recommendation made at a previous inspection about cleaning staff working at weekends had been actioned. There were now cleaning shifts for six hours on both Saturday and Sunday.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found