VILLAGERS STAFF DONATE WHO WE ARE LIVING AT WHITELEY GET INVOLVED The Whiteley Homes Trust FUNDRAISING NEWS JOB VACANCIES Covid-19 Update 18th June 2021 Changes to visiting arrangements from 21st June, 2021 The Government recently announced a change to its guidance to care providers on visiting in care homes and on overnight stays for residents, which will take effect from 21st June. As always, the safety of our residents is our principal concern, and we continue to be committed to doing all we can to facilitate safe visiting that adheres to the Governments’ guidelines at all times. Further details on these changes and how to book a visit to one of our homes can be found here. We ask all those visiting residents in our care homes to familiarise themselves with our Responsible Visitors Code, thank you in advance for your support and cooperation. We look forward to welcoming you to Whiteley Village. 17th May Changes to visiting arrangements from 17th May, 2021 Following the recent relaxation of Government guidance (17 May 2021), we’re delighted to confirm the following changes to visiting arrangements for those living in our care homes: Indoor visiting Residents can now nominate up to five named visitors who will be able to enter our care homes for regular visits. The five visitors excludes babies and preschool-aged children (as long as this does not breach national restrictions on indoor gatherings). Garden visiting The updated guidance also means we can now welcome up to five visitors (from any number of households) for a visit with a care home resident in one of our gardens. Although this number will include children who count towards the total, there is now no restriction on the ages of children visiting. Further details on our visiting arrangements and how to book a visit can be found here and we ask all those visiting residents in our care homes to familiarise themselves with our Responsible Visitors Code. We look forward to welcoming you to Whiteley Village. 9th April Changes to visiting from 12th April, 2021 The Government recently updated their guidance to care providers on visiting in care homes and we are pleased to be able to confirm that from Monday, 12th April 2021 we are able to provide visits by appointment only for two consistent named visitors for a maximum of two hours. Further details on visiting arrangements and how to book a visit can be found here and we ask all those visiting residents in our care homes to familiarise themselves with our Responsible Visitors Code. We look forward to welcoming you to Whiteley Village. 5th March Changes to visiting from 8th March, 2021 The Government has just issued new guidance to care providers on visiting in care homes. We can now confirm that from Monday, 8th March 2021 we are able to provide visits by appointment only for one consistent visitor for a maximum of two hours. Further details on visiting arrangements, how visits can be booked, and a copy of our Responsible Visitors Code can be found here. 6th January Update for those wishing to visit residents living in our care homes Following the recent and significant upsurge in Covid cases and the discovery of a faster spreading variant, England entered a third lockdown on 6th January, and the Government guidance has now changed relating to visiting in care homes. (The national lockdown is due to be reviewed in mid-February and so we will inform visitors about any further changes to our policies at that point if necessary.) We appreciate how important face to face visiting is to the health and wellbeing of our residents and their friends and families, and how distressing separation is for everyone. The safety of our residents is our chief concern however, so we will continue to do all we can to facilitate safe visiting that adheres to the latest Government’s guidelines at all times. The current guidance states that indoor visits are not permitted even with a negative Covid-19 test, and so we are only able to offer window visits and visits in specially Covid-secure areas in our café where visitors will need to sit socially distanced outside under the awning. We are also able to offer a small number of garden visits, weather permitting. Please contact the relevant care home manager for further details about the specific arrangements for your relative’s home. Only a maximum of two people (over 13 years of age, unless agreed by the registered manager) can visit and visits are by appointment only for a maximum of 30 minutes. Please note that your time slot cannot be extended if you arrive late as it is very cold and this will need to be the maximum any resident is exposed to the cold weather, as well as the time we require to sanitise between appointments. If you would like to book a visit, please contact Reception on 01932 842360 as they are managing the process to ensure it remains fair to all our residents. In addition to the visits, we are also still supporting Facebook or WhatsApp calls via our Facebook Portals or Facetime calls through our iPads. If this communication works best for you just let us know and we can help to organise a call for you. Please note that all non-essential visiting will need to be suspended in the event of any suspected or known case of COVID-19 within our care home. Responsible Visitor Code All visitors should: Book visits in advance for a specific day and time. Check in with the care home on the day of the visit, to ensure the situation in the service has not changed. Be free of any COVID-19 symptoms on the day of your visit. Comply with the infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, including mandatory hand hygiene, the use of PPE as required and social distancing requirements, such as remaining in the designated visiting area. Ensure that any gifts brought to give to the individual you are visiting can be sanitised, in line with relevant infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance. Wherever possible, visitors should try to walk or travel by car and avoid public transport when visiting the home, in line with the latest government advice on essential travel during COVID-19. 6 November 2020 Visiting to resume at Whiteley following change in Government guidelines The Government have now issued new guidelines to care providers on visiting in care homes. Our care team leadership are currently examining these together with our local authority partners, but for now we are pleased to confirm that from Monday, 9th November 2020 we are able to provide visits to those living in the Eliza Palmer Hub and Ingram House by appointment only for a maximum of 30 minutes. Further details about visiting in our care homes is available here We appreciate how important face to face visiting is to the health and wellbeing of our residents and their friends and families, and how distressing separation is for everyone. The safety of our residents is our chief concern, however we want to reassure all our visitors that we are, and will continue to do all we can to facilitate safe visiting that adheres to the Government’s guidelines at all times. We are grateful to all our visitors for their continued patience and cooperation at this unprecedented time. 16 October 2020 Whiteley responds to upgrade of local Covid risk assessment The Government’s announcement that our local borough of Elmbridge will be moving into the Tier Two, High Risk Level means that we are required to cease all visiting arrangements to our care facilities as of 00.01 Saturday, 17 October. We know this will have an enormously detrimental effect upon our residential care services, but it is vital we follow the new restrictions to help protect our most vulnerable residents and help drive down local infection rates. The Eliza Palmer Hub and Ingram House: Our care homes will be closed to all external visitors other than in exceptional circumstances, such as end of life care. All visits must be pre-agreed with the relevant home manager. Huntley House extra care facility: We ask that all visits are restricted to those of the most exceptional circumstances and should be pre-agreed with the manager. Cottages: For those residents living independently in our cottages, in line with Government guidance, social contact is now restricted to one household or support bubbles. A support bubble is a close support network between a household with only one adult in the home and one other household of any size. The ‘Rule of Six’ remains for outdoors which means residents can continue to mix with people outdoors but must not meet in a group of more than six and will need to follow social distancing rules. We would strongly urge all those coming to Whiteley for essential visits to continue to follow the Government guidance to help support all our efforts to protect everyone living and working at the Village. We refer all our visitors to our Responsible Visitor Codes outlined below. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support. Further information can be found on at GOV.UK 29 July 2020 Whiteley publishes new Visitors’ Code In response to the Government’s updated advice to care providers on visiting arrangements (22 July), The Whiteley Homes Trust has launched a new Responsible Visitors’ Code and revised its information for all those planning to visit family and friends living in Whiteley Village. Visitors are asked to read the Code in advance, as well as the specific information provided for the location they are planning to visit: Information for those planning to visit family and friends living in our care or extra care facilities: (The Eliza Palmer Hub; Ingram House or Huntley House) Information for those planning to visit family and friends living in one of our cottages Due to their age, all Whiteley residents, but especially those living in the Trust’s care settings are at a higher risk of catching COVID-19 and of experiencing worse health outcomes if they do, so many are continuing to shield. The Trust’s visiting policies are based on the circumstances of the individual setting (Care Home; Extra Care; Cottages), on the needs of the residents living there and if they are looked after or living independently, as well as on external factors such as the COVID-19 situation in Whiteley Village itself and on transmission rates in the wider community. Visitors are advised that arrangements may be subject to change, possibly at short notice, given the uncertainties about a potential second wave of infection in the UK. The Trust will continue to provide updates on its website, social media and in the Whiteley News Bulletin, (which includes a weekly update on the COVID-19 situation in the Village). The information for all other members of the public remains unchanged, and they are respectfully asked to avoid visiting Whiteley Village until further notice. Thank you to all our visitors for their cooperation and support in helping us keep Whiteley Village safe. 18th March 2020 Covid-19 Bulletin to Residents Here is the latest Bulletin which has been issued to our residents today on our response to Coronavirus: 18 March Coronavirus Resident’s Update Notice for those planning to visit friends and relatives living in our care facilities Please note from Saturday, 21st March and until further notice, there will be no visiting to those living in Ingram House or the Eliza Palmer Hub. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support in helping us protect our most vulnerable residents. 16 March 2020 Information for non-essential visitors (i.e. not volunteers or relatives) During this public health emergency, please help us protect all our residents and staff by not visiting Whiteley Village until further notice, unless your visit is essential and pre-approved. Please contact our Reception on 01932 842360 if you have any queries. Please note that all our facilities are now closed to members of the public, and are only for use by residents and staff. This includes the Clubhouse, the Lantern Café, the Therapy Pool, Village Shop and Village Post Office. Regretfully we have now had to cancel all external events for the following month, and will review this on a rolling basis every 4 weeks depending on official advice. If you have any queries please contact our events team (link to contact page) Thank you for your understanding at this difficult time. 13th March 2020 COVID-19: Statement from The Whiteley Homes Trust The Trust is very well prepared to respond to COVID-19 and we have extensive plans in place to protect our residents and staff which we are reviewing daily. We are carefully monitoring advice from Public Health England and are in close contact with other major care providers and our NHS partners to ensure our plans are as up to date as possible. The safety of our residents and staff is our highest priority and given our Village has such a large number of those in the higher risk group, the Trust has decided to put extra measures in place from Monday 16th March. We have cancelled all external events booked at Whiteley for the following month and will keep this under review. We have sent a detailed Bulletin to all our residents explaining what we are doing to help minimise the possibility of Coronavirus coming to Whiteley and measures they can take to help avoid catching or spreading it. Information for friends and family members of Whiteley Residents Please DO NOT visit Whiteley Village if you have a new persistent cough or a high temperature, or have come into contact with anyone who has, or is suspected of having, COVID-19. We are advising all residents living independently in the Village to consider who, and how many visitors they have, and have advised those who have serious health conditions to be extra cautious and avoid large groups and crowds. Restricted access to Ingram House and the Eliza Palmer Hub From Monday (16th March) we will be restricting the number of friends and family members visiting relatives in our care facilities. We have not taken this decision lightly and although we understand it may cause some anxiety, we hope our visitors will understand it is a necessary step in the circumstances. Until further notice, we will be increasing our screening and infection control practices and so there will be no free access to Ingram House or the Eliza Palmer Hub for staff and visitors. We are asking all visitors to please consider: Can you postpone your visit? Please try to keep the number of visits to an absolute minimum No more than two visitors are permitted at any one time other than by exception and only if pre-agreed Children should not enter care areas other than by exception and only if pre-agreed Please hold visits away from communal spaces and in the resident’s room All visitors wishing to access Ingram House, or the Hub should first sign in at the Eliza Palmer Hub Reception which will be staffed from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm seven days a week. At Reception all those wishing to enter any care areas will asked to undertake a temperature check, complete a screening questionnaire, wash their hands and apply hand sanitiser and will then be issued with an apron. On arrival in the care area, visitors will be asked to sign in and on leaving, sign out. This is a developing situation and we will continue to monitor it carefully. If the advice from Public Health England changes, we may need to introduce further restrictions. As advised by the Government, the Trust is keen to balance the needs of safeguarding our residents with the impact of social isolation. We will therefore not take these decisions lightly as we fully appreciate the potential impact they may have especially on our most vulnerable or housebound residents and will always seek to make the right decisions at the right time in the best interests of the majority. 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