Meadowbrook House

We found the following examples of good practice.

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

The registered manager had worked closely with external healthcare professionals to enable people to have access to the appropriate health care and equipment, for example oxygen if needed. There were regular calls with the local authority to report people's daily observation results, such as oxygen levels. This meant, for people who were unwell with Covid, the right care could be provided in a timely manner.

The service had sufficient supplies of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and this was available throughout the service. Signage was in place throughout the service regarding the requirement for wearing PPE. Additional signage identified the PPE to be worn when a person was assessed as being at higher risk of infection. Staff put on and took off their uniforms in a designated room. This helped to reduce the risk of infection because staff did not enter areas of the home, where people lived, until appropriate infection control measures were in place.

The service was clean, hygienic and uncluttered in appearance. Effective cleaning routines had been put in place to ensure infection control risks were minimised and people were kept safe. There were supplies of anti-bacterial wipes for staff to use to clean surfaces and bathrooms, after each use, in addition to the increased cleaning routines. There were posters around the service to prompt and remind staff about the infection control procedures in place. All high contact areas were cleaned regularly throughout the day and night staff also had a cleaning rota.

The design of the service had enabled staff to work in two teams. One team to work with Covid positive people and another team to work with Covid negative people, to prevent the risk of the virus spreading to others.

Procedures were in place regarding self-isolation for people and staff if they showed symptoms of Covid, or who were admitted to the service from the community or other health care provision. The admission procedure had been reviewed and developed to reduce the risk of infection from Covid. Specific Covid policies had also been developed to provide guidance for staff about how to respond to the pandemic and the outbreak. These policies were kept under continuous review as changes to government guidance was published.

Due to the current national lock-down, visiting had been restricted. However, as of 8 March 2021 these restrictions had changed. The service had prepared for the new guidance which included one designated visitor per person. Friends and families were provided with information on the new restrictions. Where visiting was permitted inside the service for compassionate reasons, for example, for people receiving end of life care, suitable infection control procedures were in place. Visitors were screened for Covid prior to entering the service. Visitors were required to wear masks and PPE.

The service was in the process of setting up a separate lounge area to enable visitors to meet people safely. People were supported to speak with their friends and family using IT and the telephone as necessary.

Appropriate testing procedures for Covid had been implemented for all staff and people who used the service following national guidance regarding the frequency and type of testing. Arrangements had been made to enable people and staff to access the vaccine.

Infection control policies and procedures had been updated in line with the national guidance relating to Covid. Staff had completed online infection prevention and control and Covid-19 training. Additional PPE had been provided for staff, such as visors, to use during the outbreak. The service had maintained good stocks of PPE and the registered manager worked with care and domestic staff teams to ensure infection prevention and control measures were followed.

The registered manager had been well supported by staff within the service and support from the company's management team. Cornwallis Care, the company that own Meadowbrook House, has their own agency staff to support their service and provide additional staff. They had been allocated to specifically work at this service, to reduce the risk of cross infection.

The registered manager had completed risk assessments regarding the environment and risks to staff and people who used the service. The registered manager was aware of staff members who were at increased risk from Covid and a plan had been agreed with staff should there be another outbreak in the service.

The provider had a detailed contingency plan to manage any further outbreak of Covid.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found