What's it like to live and work in a care home during Covid 19?
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Summary of the report What's it like to live and work in a care home during Covid 19? published by Healthwatch Dorset Jul 2020:
Healthwatch Dorset explored the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on local care homes, including residents, their families and the staff supporting them. Care home managers and staff from across Dorset were invited to share their experiences via an online focus group and telephone interviews in June 2020.
Main themes that emerged are as follows:
● Difficulty accessing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during March/April – costs went up and promised PPE wasn’t delivered.
● Testing for COVID-19 has been really challenging - including void results being returned meaning repeat testing.
● Care homes adapted new ways of engaging with residents and their families and friends by using Skype and Zoom, Facebook, weekly news by email, and ‘virtual’ concerts.
● Care home managers felt that interaction with health professionals has improved; facetime with GPs works really well. However, it has been an ongoing battle to ensure that residents who went into hospital were tested for COVID-19 before being discharged back to the home.
● Overwhelming support from the local community and their staff has really helped, and care home staff have really pulled together to keep their residents safe.
No recommendations were made in the report.