Search Menu Visiting Vaccination Testing Admissions & Shielding Latest Announcements Healthcare Professionals Covid-19 Updates Click here to view an accessible version of this page This page is regularly updated to include our latest response to visiting, Lateral Flow Testing, the Covid-19 vaccination rollout, our latest announcements, updated Q&A and our Infection Control Assured Promise. See our latest announcements and Q&A sections below and please contact your Home Manager if you have any further questions. At Caring Homes we're doing everything we can to keep our residents, their families and our colleagues safe. Following the most recent changes in Government guidance we continue to ensure our own guidance aligns to the same. Where we believe national guidance is subjective or not robust to maintain the safety and wellbeing of our staff and residents, we will add protocols to national guidance to help to quell the impact of Covid-19. The vaccines are being rolled out across the UK and have taken place in many of our Homes for residents and colleagues. However, the rate of Covid-19 community transmission still needs to be carefully managed. At Caring Homes we are ensuring that all the necessary and appropriate precautions are in place, to protect both our residents and our colleagues. Our Infection Control Assured promise reflects this and our standards are set by our care services and quality control teams in line with Government advice and tested in our Homes to give all our customers, residents and colleagues peace of mind at this time, and all the time. Latest guidance reviews the need for isolation for non-Hospital admissions The Government has announced that admissions are of less risk if a person has been appropriately vaccinated and the person is being admitted from their own Home and not from another Care Home or Hospital setting. Residents may be admitted to a care home from the community without needing to complete a 14-day self-isolation period, if they satisfy the requirements. Please ask for details. 5th October 2021 Visiting We are delighted to be welcoming more visitors into our Homes for internal visits and have policies in place for this that acknowledge the latest Government guidance in England, Scotland and Jersey. We are also now able to support our residents to be taken out of the Home by their nominated visitors. Please discuss our policy details with your Home Manager. Our visiting guidance remains necessarily cautious and we will monitor the situation as we increase visits and trips out. Our key points include: There is no limit to the number of nominated visitors each resident can have. Only two people may visit at any one time. We will supply PPE to be worn by visitors. The nominated visitors will undergo LFD testing when they visit the Home. For more information on LFD testing please click here to watch video. Residents can go on trips out of the Home without any isolation period on their return subject to some conditions and must be accompanied by a staff member or nominated visitor. All visits must be booked in advance. There are no set rules on how often nominated visitors can visit, or how long they can stay for. Please discuss with your Home Manager. We have to ensure everyone has a chance to have visitors so all visits and trips out must be booked in advance. Outdoor visits, window visits, visits using a screen and palliative care visits will also be continuing. Some homes may not be able to have visitors due to local health protection team guidance, but we hope that this will be for a very short time and for only a very small number of homes. We would like to thank you for the continued support, patience and understanding during this time. To view our latest guidance on visiting please click here. When can I visit my loved one? Please talk to your Home Manager to discuss nominated visitors and familiarise yourself with the guidance on this page. We are looking forward to welcoming you back into our Homes and have policies in place ready for this that acknowledge the latest Government guidance. How many visitors will be allowed for each resident? There is no limit to the number of nominated visitors each resident may have. Can children come to visit the care home and will they have to wear PPE? Visits with babies and very young children may take place with the agreement of the Home Manager. These children do not need to be counted as an additional visitor and any physical contact should be kept to a minimum. Will visitors be tested? The nominated visitors will undergo LFD testing when they visit and our health screening will also continue. We have already ensured we have LFD testing kits in place and that our colleagues have been trained in undertaking the procedure. If I am fully vaccinated, do I still have to wear PPE when I visit? The vaccination status of the visitor or the resident will make no difference to the use of PPE at this time. Despite the increase in uptake of the vaccination, for now, PPE will continue to need to be used. Again, we will review this as time progresses in line with any guidance from Government. What do we need to do when visits go ahead for my loved one who is shielding? We will need to put into place special measures for residents who are shielding. This may include ensuring the visit is just a window visit at the present time. How can I contact my relative at this time? There are a number of ways in which you can keep in contact with your loved one and in touch with life at our Homes – by telephone, Skype, email, Facebook and other social media outlets. We are supporting our Residents to view any messages you send over. How will you support resident’s wellbeing during this emergency period? We have designed our own unique wellbeing response to the virus with several projects and initiatives underway to support our residents’ wellbeing during this period of restricted visiting. Vaccination At Caring Homes we see the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccinations as key in the fight against the virus and are encouraging all our colleagues and residents to have the vaccine when it is made available to them unless there is a medical reason why they should not do so. Our vaccination statistics show that over 99% of residents and 88% of colleagues have had their first Covid-19 vaccination. We have also made progress with some of our residents and colleagues now having received a second vaccination. For those not yet vaccinated, there are a variety of reasons behind this including underlying conditions, needing to wait a period of time following a Covid-19 infection before being deemed safe to have the vaccination, and for some, a hesitancy around vaccination. We continue providing information from trusted sources in print, online and via our own videos and are actively promoting the vaccination amongst all colleagues and residents. If you have a few minutes please watch our Caring Homes Vaccination Update video where some of our team, including our Clinical Director Frank Cummins, explain why they consider having the vaccine to be essential. Watch vaccination update video Are Caring Homes teams being vaccinated against Covid-19? We see the current rollout of the Covid-19 vaccinations as key in the fight against the virus and the expectation is for all our staff to have the vaccination when it is available to them unless there is a medical reason why they should not do so. Guidance and letters have been issued to our teams about what to expect from the vaccination process and we are making sure to answer any questions and reassure on any concerns. When will my relative be vaccinated against Covid-19? The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines is currently taking place across the UK and care home residents are some of the first in the queue to receive the vaccine when it is available in their area. We have informed our residents and relatives of the vaccination process which we see as key in the fight against the virus. Exact timescales will vary from Home to Home so please speak to your Home Manager if you have any queries. If a possible new resident has received the first part of the vaccination, will the home be able to arrange the second part in the Home? Yes, of course. If the resident is still keeping contact with their GP and this is where they got the first part of the vaccination then they will get the second that way. If not the Home will pick it up and organise for them. This will be in the 12-week period now being rolled out by Government. If the Home I am moving into has already had the vaccination for residents how quickly will they be able to arrange for me to have the jabs? This will be as quickly as possible depending on the progress of the vaccination rollout in the area. Admissions & Shielding We are admitting new residents safely to our care homes and there is no longer any need to isolate for many. We are following the latest Government COVID-19 guidelines in relation to any period of isolation and to find out more about this please speak to your Home Manager. Where we believe that any period of isolation may cause a physical or psychological deterioration in a resident, we will consult with external professionals involved in the resident’s care and risk assess the isolation needed to minimise covid risk, taking consideration of all options to promote the residents safety and wellbeing. We also need you to be aware that: Any resident who tests positive for Covid-19 following admission will be asked to self-isolate Conditions vary depending on whether the new resident has moved from another care home, a hospital setting, their own home or another setting Every resident will continue to undergo regular testing for Covid-19 at the Home and regular oximeter and temperature checks regardless of the vaccination status in line with national guidance. What is your admissions policy at the moment? We want to assure you that the safety and wellbeing of our Residents and Colleagues is always our top priority. Is there health screening before admission? Although we continue in our endeavour to assist the NHS as much as possible, we do not believe that such assistance should be at the expense of the safety of our existing residents and colleagues. How can a resident self-isolate at your Home? Many of our Residents have en-suite rooms and can therefore elect to self-isolate in their rooms if they wish to and we are able to provide the essential contact if that is what they prefer. Many of our Homes now have a dedicated area, an Admissions Suite, to allow residents to isolate when they first arrive with us, or if they should wish to. In these areas social distancing can be strictly observed, without them having to stay in their room. Testing To support our visiting arrangements and ensure we are all kept safe during visits we have put in place a system of regular retesting in England and Scotland for both residents and our colleagues. The key aim of the regular testing is to continue to minimise the risk of infection and remain as vigilant as is possible to the transmission of the virus and maintain visits with loved ones when it is safe to do so. We continue to use Lateral Flow Testing in some of our Homes. At Caring Homes, we are frequently updating our policies and procedures in line with Government and Public Health advice and keeping our residents, relatives, and stakeholders fully informed. The latest changes are fully detailed in the Q&A and latest announcement sections on this page. Please speak to your Home Manager for further information. How are Caring Homes protecting Residents and Colleagues? Please be assured that Caring Homes is treating the Covid-19 pandemic extremely seriously and comprehensive contingency plans are in place for all of our Homes. How often will Caring Homes be retesting residents for the virus? At Caring Homes, the comfort and safety of our Residents is always our top priority and we will be retesting Residents monthly under a new Government pilot for a number of reasons. Although the test itself should not be painful, it can be uncomfortable. It can also be quite distressing for some Residents, particularly those who may be unable to understand the reasons for the test being undertaken. Latest Announcements Families and friends are reunited 2nd July 2021 Tracey Fletcher-Ray • Managing Director Families and friends are reunited 2nd July 2021 In line with Government policies, Caring Homes are delighted to be welcoming visitors into our homes to see their loved ones. There have been many reunions and it has been a privilege to be part of these special moments. Read more → Tracey Fletcher-Ray • Managing Director Latest visitor guidance 6th October 2021 Our policies and procedures continue to be based on Government guidance and Public Health advice which tends to change frequently. Our latest letter to all of our visitors outlines the important points. Read more → Coronavirus (Covid-19) Announcements Archive 30th April 2021 Here you can view all the Covid-19 announcements which we have made over the last 12 months and there is also a Useful Resources section if you are looking for more information on the key issues. Read more → Healthcare professionals During this unprecedented time, we have taken on-board the latest public health and Government advice to enable our care homes to continue admitting elderly and frail people safely from home and hospitals safely. We use the discharge to assess model (D2A) to provide the right support in the right way at the right time. We share our bed availability via the NHS Capacity Tracker and the information is updated daily. Read more Any questions? Call us free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Last year we helped over 5,000 families find the right care with free advice on anything from funding care to finding the right home and moving in. We can help with advice on paying for care and how funding works. We can check availability in all of our homes and send you the latest brochure. If you'd like to meet our Home Manager, we'll book an appointment at a time to suit you. 0808 169 8661 FREEPHONE Send us a message Caring Homes Head Office Bradbury House, 830 The Crescent Colchester Essex CO4 9YQ United Kingdom FAQs Gender Pay Gap Statement Accessibility Anti-Slavery Statement Privacy Policy Privacy Policy (Jersey) Care Homes by Town Care Homes by County © 2021 Caring Homes Enquire now 0808 169 8661