Covid19

In the Government guidance to social care workers, published 13th March 2020, they recognize “The provision of care and support in people’s home is a high priority service, in that most care and support cannot be deferred to another day without putting individuals at risk of harm. It is therefore vital that these services are prioritized.”

At the time of updating this page (October 2020), we have not had to cancel any care for our clients.

We would like to assure our clients, current and future, of the steps we have taken, and contingency plans we have in place to ensure the safe and effective delivery of our services throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

All staff is trained on Infection control and the newly added training of COVID 19.

All staff has personal protective equipment: uniforms (that can go on high-temperature washes), gloves, aprons, face shields, and surgical masks (where required).

We have been communicating with our team, where necessary on a daily basis, to update them on changes to government legislation, our systems, and processes to ensure the continued safe delivery of care.

Any staff member, or member of their household, who has a cough or temperature will be tested, and remain off work until such a time it is safe for them to return. In addition, we will look after our team by providing them with food and essential supplies where needed, whilst maintaining safe distances.

We are currently confident of our staffing capacity and have the capacity to take on new clients and/or increase care packages for our existing clients as required.

We have written to all clients, asking how they can support our efforts e.g. allowing carers to prioritize hand washing immediately upon arrival and not to receive visitors whilst our carers are present to reduce risks.

In addition, we are offering alternative care arrangements. For example, shopping deliveries and meal deliveries. Should you wish to discuss alternative and flexible arrangements for the care we would be happy to have these conversations.

We have provided guidance to our team on boosting their immune systems and have issued free vitamin D tablets to our entire team.

We have changed our office working hours to 9:30 am to 5 pm, 7 days a week. The on-call phone number will still be available after 5 pm.

We have created working “cells”, where there is a small group of Carelife carers working with a small group of clients, to minimize the risk of exposure to all.

All carers have been supplied with “face shields” to wear over and above the government’s recommendation for personal protective equipment.

We have not had the need to do this yet, however, we are ready if needs be to provide care to those testing positive with COVID-19. We will implement a “ring-fence” process where the carers providing support will not provide support to any other client to eliminate any spread.

We are here to help and keen to support anyone wishing to remain at home to do so safely. We will happily support people recovering from COVID-19 following a hospital stay, to convalescence and provide reassurance and comfort whilst individuals regain their confidence, especially after a prolonged hospital stay.

We understand there are many family carers, and if there is anything, we can do to support you all, we would be happy to do this.