CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 Update

Our latest update on our response to the Coronavirus COVID-10

We continue to operate as usual because our customers require essential care and we are committed to meeting their ongoing needs. We are accepting new enquiries for care and support because it's important to us that people can access the care and support they need. You may know someone who now  needs support with shopping or other things. Call us and we'll help where we can.

We're actively recruiting to ensure we maintain healthy staffing levels. We have a robust business continuity plan in place and have always been well prepared for challenging times.

We provide essential support services to our customers. Our responsibility is to ensure our Care Professionals stay fit and well so that we can continue to provide an excellent service to our customer and to ensure that as far as practicable, we are taking measures to keep our team and customer safe from transmission of the infection.  Therefore we are taking our response to the virus very seriously.

Public Health England have issued specific guidance to social care providers in homescare settings. We are following this guidance precisely and are keeping abreast of daily updates as they become available on the Public Health England blog.

Here are some things you can do to help keep yourself and others visiting your home safe from viruses.

• Wash your hands often - with soap and water, or use alcohol sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol if handwashing facilities are not available - this is particularly important after taking public transport.
• Wash your hand towels on a hot wash regularly. If you would like your Care Assistants to do this for you, please call us at the office and we can ensure that this is noted on your care plan.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in a bin.

Catch It, Bin It, Kill It

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
• if you are worried about your symptoms or those of a family member or colleague, please call NHS 111. People should not go to their GP or other healthcare environment.

Should our Care Professionals be wearing facemasks?

If customer and/or their family member are not displaying any symptoms of COVID-19, Public Health England tell us that there is no need for customers or members of our team to wear facemasks.

If a customer or someone who lives with them is presenting with symptoms of COVID-19, we have additional PPE to wear and this includes facemasks, we may ask our customers to wear these also during our visit, in these circumstances.

This is the up to date guidance provided by Public Health England and will continue to keep up to date with this guidance. You can read this guidance here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-residential-care-supported-living-and-home-care-guidance/covid-19-guidance-on-home-care-provision

Our standard infection control procedures are robust. We ensure that every member of our team is provided with training on Infection Prevention and Control when they join our team and they have a refresher every year. All staff are given practical training on effective hand washing and we hold a healthy stock of personal protective equipment (PPE).

All staff have access to our Infection Prevention and Control policy via an app on their mobile phones, called the Bluebird Care Staff App. Regular training update and videos are also being shared with our team, to keep infection control at the forefront of our minds.  

We have provided our team with additional Infection Prevention Kits more for reassurance than anything because nothing really replaces the most effective measures, which are already well embedded in our practice such as effective hand washing, gloves and aprons.

The additional kit we have provided our Care Professionals with includes:

• Antibacterial hand wash
• Antibacterial surface wipes or a bottle of antibacterial spray
• Kitchen roll for hand drying
• Hand sanitiser spray (not to be used as a replacement for hand washing but as an additional measure)

If you have any questions, please contact our office on 0113 2589677 or email us as leedsnorth@bluebirdcare.co.uk.

Stay Safe