Caring about Dementia Care

On Monday morning a member of staff tested positive when they were tested with the daily Lateral Flow Test.  They were immediately sent home with a confirmatory PCR Test, that subsequently confirmed the positive result.   It was what we had feared for the last 10 months; our first positive test.  The staff member is asymptomatic and took no risks, she did everything right.  She feels dreadful, when she has done nothing wrong, but being a carer by nature means that her thoughts are of the residents and other staff. We had planned for this, the next steps have been ingrained for months.  We were ready.  Enhanced Infection Protection Control protocols were implemented, residents were quarantined, in their rooms or in the public areas for those who would not understand the restrictions.  We started testing daily.    All residents were tested.  Alongside that we reassured residents and staff and communicated with families.  Health Protection team were notified. It is now Friday, all of the

 Our residents had a wonderful Christmas.  We would have loved the home to be full of visitors but sadly that was not to be. On 22nd December I received a call to put all staff on standby for vaccinations to take place on either 23rd or 24th December.  Sadly these did not transpire, but with the news about the Oxford vaccine I am hopeful that our residents and staff will be first in line from next week. However, we did get a Christmas message from the Department of Health to advise that Lateral Flow Tests should be performed on all staff twice a week in addition to the weekly PCR tests.  This email was received late on 23rd December.   This is an enormous logistical challenge, but of course we support anything that can be done to minimise the risk of an outbreak coming into the home.  Testing is key to this,  however, the administration that is required alongside this in terms of recording results has not been thought out.  To explain I have made this video.   Yesterday the Department