CARE AT HOME GROUP

These are unprecedented times for our industry, our country and the world, as we face the challenge of a global pandemic in the form of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

Our priority has always been the welfare of our Employees and our Customers and as such we are continuously monitoring the situation as it develops and are taking guidance from official agencies and local councils to both inform and act on the latest scientific and clinical advice.

We are posting the following information to offer you and your loved one’s reassurance about the things we are doing to keep our Employees and our Customers as safe as we can.

This COVID-19 virus is most contagious when the first symptoms show and for two or three days afterwards, so it’s important that we all NHS guidelines in order to protect ourselves and our customers.

Although people of all ages can get Coronavirus, those who are elderly or have pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease are at higher risk of becoming severely ill if they contract the infection. Since these categories will include many of our customers, we have instructed all employees to observe the following policy at all times, whether they are at work or not. If we all do so, all of the time, we have the very best chance of not catching the infection.

• Stay at home for 7 days if you have either:
  • a high temperature (over 37.8 degrees)
  • a new, continuous cough (this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly.)

• Hands and wrists should be washed frequently following the instructions we have provided and also shown in this friendly two-minute video. Do so frequently, as often as you can, but certainly it must be the first thing you do every time you arrive at a customer’s home and the last thing you do when you leave. This is singularly the best way to avoid contamination and to prevent the spread of infection. Alcohol gels do not replace the washing of hands and should only be used in conjunction with and not instead of washing.
• Always and without exception, wear disposable gloves and a plastic apron every time you visit a customer. Doing this is perhaps the biggest single thing we can all do apart from hand washing to reduce the risk of infection. Also, don’t forget to bag and bin all used protective equipment. The wearing of a face mask is advisable but not mandatory.
• Stop shaking hands with anyone, anywhere, whether at work or not.
• Avoid hugging and kissing anyone apart from your immediate family.
• Please wash your uniform frequently. This again will reduce the chance of cross infection.

Information for our Customers

As an experienced home care provider, we are well versed in putting in place contingency arrangements.  We have had to do so in previous years to combat unseasonable weather, transport difficulties flu epidemics and the disruptions this can cause in our staffing levels and inaccessibility to areas badly affected.

We may however, need to enact our normal contingency arrangements for care delivery and this means that we may be required to reorganise our available staff from their normal routines to redirect care on a priority needs basis.  This means that we may have to;

• Alter the time of your care so that the most critical medical care services are met first for those without any support networks and who are wholly dependent on the care that we provide.
• Make a temporary change to your regular care worker.
• Make arrangements with you to combine some care calls we normally provide to you, depending on your particular circumstances.
• Contact you, or your family to make specific arrangements to support us to meet your care needs.
• Use extra safety equipment and precautions if you should be unfortunate enough to contract the virus.

We will be monitoring the situation daily and we will remain in contact with you to keep you informed of any updates or changes to the current situation and any additional actions that we may need to take.  Our primary concern is making sure that your care is delivered safely.  We hope that you will understand that where changes are required to maintain safety, we will be making these decisions with you in mind and in line with the very best advice.

Thank you for your continuing to trust us with your care. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call your local branch and ask to speak to the manager or to email us at care@careathomegroup.com

Karl Jacobie

CEO- Care At Home Group