Barclay House

We found the following examples of good practice.

● The registered manager completed a 'business incident log'. This started several weeks prior to lockdown and noted significant updates, actions taken and decisions made as they occurred. It was often updated several times per week. This was a helpful chronology serving many purposes. One purpose was to understand and learn from decisions made to support infection control practices throughout the pandemic.

● A weekly summary of updates and important communications was collated and circulated by the provider to all managers. This ensured staff practice was in line with the latest guidance at all times. This helped reduce the risk of an outbreak of the virus in the service.

● The service actively engaged with a programme of regular testing as soon as it was available. Additionally, any new staff and any staff returning after an absence were required to take a Covid test. No-one was admitted to the service from hospital until their test result was confirmed.

● People using the service who were self isolating, for example if they had been discharged from hospital, took a Covid test several days before the end of the isolation period to confirm whether they had the virus. This reduced the risk of an outbreak in the service. A chart in the staff office monitored start and end dates for self-isolation periods, when tests were due and when the results were confirmed. This ensured effective monitoring of those who were most at risk of having the virus.

● A competition had been launched across all services to generate innovative ideas to improve infection control practice, along with a toolkit to support the development and testing out of ideas.

● From the beginning of the pandemic housekeeping staff shifted their duties to focus on enhanced cleaning in people's rooms and communal areas most used by people living in the service. Responsibility for enhanced cleaning in other areas such as reception and the office were handed to staff who worked in those areas. This meant all staff were involved in ensuring good infection control practice was maintained.

● Inhouse specialist staff such as psychologists and speech and language therapists undertook individual work with people to support them cope with and adapt to the lockdown restrictions. This included considering different communication methods and assistive technology when people found it difficult due to staff wearing masks all the time.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found