Framland

We found the following examples of good practice: The provider had sufficient stock of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) which complied with the quality standards.

Staff participated in various training sessions around infection control and using PPE. Staff's competency around infection control and PPE was checked regularly to prevent staff complacency. There were designated areas for donning and doffing PPE. There was signage all around the service on donning and doffing PPE and handwashing. We observed staff wearing PPE as per guidelines.

The home had not had any Covid-19 outbreaks since the start of the pandemic. The registered manager told us this had been mainly due to a strict screening process, effective communication and an established team of staff. The home solely relied on their own staff and had a pool of bank staff.

Several visitation adjustments had been introduced including end of life, essential care givers, window, garden and drive through visits which were safely facilitated for relatives on a pre-booking basis.

The registered manager had embraced the essential care giver role and welcomed it as a partnership in care. Families and friends had been encouraged to be essential care givers and this had allowed them continued visitation despite the government restrictions. Out of the 19 people in the home, seven had families with essential care giver status.

On arrival to the service, infection control procedures were explained to visitors and a declaration form needed to be completed. We saw visitors were provided and required to wear the appropriate PPE in line with government guidelines. Healthcare professionals and tradesmen were asked to evidence their vaccination status before entry.

The provider had robust systems to ensure safe admissions, including only allowing new admissions after a confirmed negative result of the Covid-19 test. The provider had also assessed the environment, with consideration given where to allocate people should they need to isolate.

Additional cleaning schedules had been introduced to ensure robust measures to reduce infection risks, including additional tasks such as cleaning of any regular touchpoint surfaces.

The provider participated in the Covid-19 regular testing programme for both people and staff.

Impact assessments to ensure appropriate support for staff had been carried out, these included individual

health conditions and personal circumstances. Staff had access to dedicated counselling and advice if they been affected directly or indirectly by Covid-19.

Additional, regular communication took place. This included updates for people and their relatives to share the current 'Covid-19 status' of the service and any changes to the visiting policy.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found