Live In Care – The Safest Coronavirus Care
When the Coronavirus crisis first hit the UK in 2020, the greatest fear was that it would overwhelm the NHS and that hospitals would face immediate collapse; this was partly saved by the introduction of nightingale hospitals, which took some of the strain off the care system.
We at Live In Care have worked tirelessly to ensure all our live-in carers and clients remain as safe as possible, from regular weekly testing and PPE being available at all times to booking our carers into priority vaccination appointments.
Even though restrictions were stepped down on the 19th of July in England and again on the 16th of August 2021, we still consider the risk of COVID a serious risk to our clients and carers.
Our main goal throughout the coronavirus epidemic has always been to ensure that all of our clients, staff and carers remain as safe as possible. These are unprecedented times, and we’re doing our utmost to ensure that the guidance and procedures we put in place follow the latest Government and NHS advice. This includes adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as aprons, gloves, hand gel and face masks, which we have been supplying to our carers all over the country.
The virus that causes COVID-19 infects people of all ages. However, evidence to date suggests that two groups of people are at a higher risk of getting severe COVID-19 disease.
- These are older people (that is, people over 70 years old)
- Those with underlying medical conditions (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer).
With the unsettling times that we find ourselves in, which looks like the ‘new norm’, we appreciate that many of you have questions about your or a loved one’s care or even what we are asking our carers to do. We want to be completely transparent with you so that you can feel reassured and safe in the knowledge that you’re being looked after properly.
Please contact us if you are worried about the impact that Covid 19 may have on your loved ones’ care; we will be happy to help.
We will continue to provide peace of mind for our clients and carers through several crucial actions during this period:
- We still offer short-term live-in care, but we have extended our assignment length to minimise the number of changeovers needed. Continuous single-carer support is now available for up to 12 weeks.
- We regularly brief our carers on the situation, following health, medical, and Government advice, including their key worker status and enhanced cleaning and sanitisation routines to help support clients in their own homes.
- We are following government guidelines on testing. If our carers or the clients they are supporting show signs of symptoms, we will advise them on priority testing and guide them through the process and appropriate actions required.
- We will ensure the carers have access to the required PPE to carry out their duties safely.
- All of our assessors are still carrying out assessments on a one-to-one basis with PPE in place (if required) and the reassurance that they take, for instance, covid tests (lateral flow tests) prior to entering a hospital or care home setting.
Our actions are based on the Government’s official Coronavirus advice and the NHS’s official advice.
We will continue to review and follow homecare industry advice and best practices in all circumstances.
If you think you have coronavirus, you can get a free NHS test today to confirm.
Anyone who has symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) can get a free test to check if they have the virus. Some people without symptoms can have the test too. This test is called the “antigen” or “swab” test.
There is another type of test (antibody test) that checks if you’ve already had the virus. This test is not widely available yet. You can find out about antibody testing on GOV.UK.
We are continually monitoring the situation and will update any new developments here as they occur.
NHS Test and Trace
The NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app is no longer working (March 2023), but it played a major role in the coronavirus testing and contact tracing programmes in England and Wales.
Leaving contact details when visiting businesses and venues
Businesses and organisations were asked to collect the contact details of their visitors. The records helped NHS Test and Trace to reach anyone who may have potentially been in contact with a positive coronavirus case. Businesses will collect the names and contact numbers of customers and visitors and the date and time of the visit. This information will be stored for 21 days and then safely deleted – This guidance was withdrawn on 24 February 2022