Dear All

Firstly, I would like to say a big thankyou to all friends and relatives that have been so patient and understanding whilst we have been in outbreak. Closing the home is not necessarily a decision that we would like to make, however must be made in order to maintain the safety of our residents and staff.

I am pleased to say that we are now out of outbreak and can begin to accept visitors again on Monday 20^th December.

Due to the new variant Omicron, it has brought about some changes that unfortunately do effect visiting. I have listed below a summary of those changes

• There is now a reduction in the number of visitors each care home resident can receive. This has been reduced to three. The three do not include essential care givers and preschool age children. Each family will need to nominate three visitors that the care home resident can receive. The three nominated visitors will need to remain the same (except for exceptional change in circumstance) until restrictions are lifted and/or a change to government guidance.

• Visits will still need to be pre-arranged in advance, however there will be no limit in the duration of your visit.

• Visits can take place in a room that is most comfortable for the resident, which may be their own room. No visits will be allowed to take place in the communal lounge.

• All visits will need to be supported by good infection control, such as hand hygiene and the wearing of PPE, such as face masks. There will be no restriction on physical contact.

• As before, a negative LFT test will need to be taken on the day of the visit and evidence shown to staff when arriving. Visitors are encouraged not to visit if feeling unwell, even if the LFT test is negative.

• End of life visits will continue to be supported, without restrictions on the number of people and regardless of the status of the care home.

• Exceptional arrangements for visiting a care home when they are in outbreak can be arranged. The home will need to be informed of the visit prior to coming. Visits will only be facilitated in areas that are well ventilated and suitable screening is in place. During outbreak, we will continue to support virtual visit arrangements.

Out of Care Home Visits

• Residents should avoid visiting people they do not spend time with regularly.

• Avoid visits that involve mixing with large numbers of people indoors

• Residents are advised to have a Covid-19 booster before taking part in visits out of the care home if eligible, unless exempt.

• Friends and relatives that the resident is visiting are asked to take regular LFT testing, and receive a negative result on the day of the visit.

• Residents will not be required to isolate after a visit out of the home, provided they have received both vaccinations or are exempt. If a resident is not fully vaccinated, they will be required to isolate for 14 days after a visit out.

• 14 days isolation will be required following an emergency hospital stay, positive test result or out of care home visit considered high risk, such as large gatherings and meeting with people that they would not normally meet.

• Residents that do go outside the care home to visit loved ones etc, who have had two doses of the vaccine or are exempt, will be required to undertake an LFT test every other day for 14 days. Residents that have not received both doses of the vaccine, will be required to isolate for 14 days following any visit outside of the care home. This level of testing is to mitigate the risk that they may transmit the virus to their fellow residents by bringing the new variant into the home.

Once again, many thanks for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Sam Martin

Manager

NOTE:- On a personal note, could I take this opportunity to mention that we have a member of staff who is severely allergic to lilies. Having only a few seconds contact with them can cause severe breathing difficulties. Could I possibly ask that friends and relatives refrain from bringing these into the home. All other flowers are perfectly alright.

Thankyou again

Sam

From all of us at Somerville house, we would like to begin by thanking everyone for their patience during this difficult time. The decision to place restrictions on visiting the home was not an easy one, however it was an essential one to enable us to protect our staff and residents from the threat of coronavirus.

As the government begins to ease lock-down, we have been considering ways in which we could re-open the home to visitors. With the threat of transmission still very much a reality, we are considering the following

• All visits will be strictly by appointment only. We will contact you to arrange a convenient time to come in. It is important that all visitors keep to their allocated times including length of visit. You will receive an e-mail with your appointment date and time. To enable us to control visits and maximise safety, you will need to produce the e-mail when you visit. Staff will be instructed to turn visitors away without this confirmation of visit. Visits can only be arranged by the manager and can not be changed unless it is confirmed by the manager.
• There will be a restriction of only two visits per day. By this we mean two different residents per day can receive only ONE visitor each per day. We will issue ONE morning visit and ONE afternoon visit. This will enable us to clean between visits and maintain infection control.
• Visitors will be required to complete a short COVID questionnaire upon arrival. Visits can be cancelled if criteria is not met. Visitors will need to have their temperature taken on arrival and recorded. Any temperature that is >37.8 deg C or above will result in your visit being cancelled and a recommendation to follow the self isolation guidelines. Visitors will be required to wear the necessary PPE. This will be provided to you when you arrive.
• We are sourcing screens that we can use in the garden to ensure safe visiting, especially when the weather is nice.
• We are also sourcing social distancing screens to be used indoors should garden visits not be appropriate.

We will continue to monitor our staff and service users. Should any begin to show symptoms. We will have no other option but to re-introduce total lock-down.

We have maintained a COVID free status throughout the pandemic and I am sure you would agree that we wish that to continue. I hope that by working together we can all ensure that it does.

Should you have any further questions with regard to the introduction of visits, please do not hesitate to contact me.

When the time is right and we are ready to introduce the new visiting policy, we will be in touch to arrange a date and time. We will work our way around the care home to ensure everybody receives a visit.

Once again, many thanks for your patience and understanding from all the team at Somerville House.

JUST TO BE CLEAR

1. WE WILL CONTACT YOU TO ARRANGE A VISIT, SO PLEASE BE PATIENT – WE WILL GET TO YOU
2. VISITS ARE BY STRICTLY PRE-ARRANGED APPOINTMENT.
3. WHEN YOU ARRIVE, PLEASE WAIT TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY A MEMBER OF STAFF.

To help us ensure that you are able to talk to your loved ones here at Somerville House we are respectfully asking that you try to phone in after 2.00pm. This is a much less busy time of the day for staff and will greatly assist them in seamlessly transferring your call / the phone to your relative.

In addition, you are welcome to send an email to us, we will then either print it out or read it out to your relative.

We can also email pictures to you if we have your email address.

Do please let us have any appropriate contact email addresses in order that we can keep as many people up to date and informed as possible.

Thank you for your cooperation during these challenging times.

If you would like to offer your services to help our 29 residents at Somerville House, please contact Sam below.

We need to make sure we have enough staff to provide a safe level of care as this crisis develops.

If you find yourself available, we can find work for carers, domestics and kitchen staff.

Whilst staffing levels are OK at the moment the need to cover on a 24/7 basis will become increasingly difficult.

We ask you to contact us and let us know what you are prepared to do and when you could make yourself available, we will then call on you as our need arises.

Thank you in advance of your support during this difficult time.

You can contact us here:

Telephone:  01884 820811 (ask for Sam)

Email:            sammartin@graysar-associates.co.uk

Dear Family and friends

Re: Mothering Sunday 23^rd March 2020

Due to the restrictions placed on visitors to Somerville House we want to reassure you that any deliveries for your family of flowers and gifts can be collected by staff at the front door. In addition, if you would like to speak to your family member please feel free to call any time after 10.00am and please try to avoid lunch time 12.00 – 13.30.

This will avoid any frustration and disappointment on this day and give staff chance to handle your call as we may experience a particularly high number of calls for Mothering Sunday.

In the meantime, if you have any concerns or questions please do contact us:

Telephone: 01884 820811

E mail info@graysar-associates.co.uk