We want to ensure that we are communicating the most relevant and up-to-date information to both our clients’ and to our staff. Prior to receiving the official guidance from government and public health England we had already taken several steps.
- We have been in regular contact with our caregivers providing updates on the virus
- We have provided specific additional training to the caregivers
- We emailed everyone stressing the importance of Hand Hygiene and Infection Control
- We have provided additional protective equipment and hand sanitiser
- We have required our caregivers to self-isolate and inform us if they have symptoms or have had exposure to anyone with symptoms
As mentioned above we brought all of our caregivers into the office to receive specific additional training on Covid-19 and Hand Hygiene.
Visiting Angels have always had robust infection control measure in place, and this coupled with the additional guidance we have provided our caregivers means that they will continue to adhere to our meticulous standards of hygiene and cleanliness when delivering care and support.
We are regularly communicating to the team with the latest expert advice and guidance using the most relevant sources of information such as the NHS and Public Health England. This has led to continuous promotion of good hygiene across all our working practices and to build an awareness of what steps to take if a staff member or a client is experiencing any symptoms.
So, we at Visiting Angels will be continuing to work to deliver vital care and support in the community, providing the service that society needs.
Guidance from the government recommends that some of our clients self-isolate. I am sure you will appreciate that this means that certain activities are no longer possible.
We have reviewed all clients and their visits to ensure that essential visits are prioritised. We also may have to send a caregiver who is not the regular caregiver and the times and durations of some visits may need to be altered.
We understand that much of the media coverage around Covid-19 has been quite worrying for our clients and their families. We should remember that whilst the consequences of the virus for the elderly with underlying health conditions are severe, the chances of our clients contracting the virus are actually relatively low. Many of our clients don’t meet many people because they are not as active in the community. The limits placed on social gatherings in wider society mean that our caregivers are also less likely to contract the virus. This coupled with our already rigorous hand hygiene and infection control systems should ensure that everyone remains as safe as possible. Being Carer-centric, we also set out to really look after our caregivers and as a result they are all paid sick pay during absence. This along with our training on self-isolation is designed to ensure that caregivers do not feel pressure to do anything other than self-isolate when needed.
These are challenging times for society and the service that we provide is an essential service for our community. We are taking every possible step to ensure that we keep our clients, their families and our staff as safe as possible. We are also trying to increase our capacity to provide the additional help that society needs right now.