Yarnton Residential and Nursing Home

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 several designated areas for donning and doffing PPE. There was signage all around the service on donning and doffing PPE and handwashing. We observed staff putting on and taking off PPE as per guidelines.

Several visitation adjustments had been introduced including a visiting pod which had been created to safely facilitate relatives' visits on a pre-booking basis.

The registered manager had maximised on the essential care giver role. Families and friends had been encouraged to be essential care givers earlier on during the pandemic. This allowed them continued visitation despite the restrictions. Out of the 54 people in the home, 41 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 which included their temperatures taken at the time. 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.

An additional cleaning schedule 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