The safety of our treasured residents and team is our absolute priority. At present, our care home regulator, The Care Quality Commission, are continuing to monitor and engage with care providers to maintain standards and promote the delivery of best practice.
CARE QUALITY COMMISSION ASSESSMENT OF CARE DURING COVID-19
We are pleased to share the positive findings of their report published on 23rd July 2020 into the safety and effectiveness of care at Queen Elizabeth Park. The report inspected four aspects of infection control and was conducted by telephone interview:
• Safe Care and Treatment
• Staffing arrangements
• Protection from Abuse
• Assurance Processes, Monitoring and Risk Management
CONSISTENT AND EFFECTIVE INFECTION CONTROL AND PREVENTION
The report concluded that we are managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It noted that we had “implemented ordering of PPE prior to the national lockdown which enabled you to be well prepared.” A safe level of staff cover had been maintained throughout the pandemic.
New Covid-19 care plans had been developed for each resident covering “psychological wellbeing, dementia support, communication and infection control.” Additional activity staff had also been recruited “to ensure residents (including those nursed in bed) have access to things they enjoy and have more engagement time with staff.”
Residents have continued to access community healthcare support, due to the well-established links with the local GP, pharmacy and other healthcare professionals throughout the pandemic.
It highlighted that “you were very proud of your staffing team and that they had really stepped up to ensure people were kept safe… You felt this was down to the superb efforts of staff and management to support each other and ensuring people are kept motivated, stimulated and to be living in a happy environment.”
The report stated that:
• There were systems to assess and respond to risks regarding infection prevention and control, including those associated with COVID-19.
• Essential equipment, such as personal protective equipment, was available in sufficient quantities to help manage the impact of COVID-19.
• We had taken steps to ensure the environment was as effective as possible in containing an outbreak of COVID-19.
• There were enough suitably skilled staff to provide people with safe care in a respectful and dignified way during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• People were being safeguarded from abuse, harassment and discrimination.
• There were effective systems to monitor the overall quality and safety of care being provided at the service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can read the full report here.
