CLEANING & HYGIENE
A Care Home Problem – Revisited
Now that visitors are allowed back into care homes, what extra measures need to be considered as far as cleaning and hygiene are concerned? Essity’s Liam Mynes explores the health risks posed by care home visitors and considers how to address them.
Visitors are at last allowed back into care homes – and this spells good news for residents, as well as their friends and relatives.
Family visits are vitally important to the wellbeing of residents and an integral part of care home life. Yet for the past two years, visits from friends and relations have been either subject to stringent restrictions or prohibited altogether.
But everything changed in February 2022 when the government decreed that all visitors should be made welcome once again. Updated guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care asks homes to facilitate visits and to ensure that these can be carried out in a risk-managed way.
The wearing of personal protective equipment is recommended for anyone entering a home, though gloves are no longer required since physical contact such as hand- holding is deemed important for the residents’ wellbeing. And visiting rooms should be as well ventilated as possible without being too cold to be comfortable.
However, unrestricted visits coupled with close personal contact are not without their risks. Visitors could be harbouring an infection or virus – even Covid-19 - during the global pandemic.
They will be sharing the residents’ personal space, breathing the same air and touching the same surfaces and objects. They might be called upon to assist their loved-one when eating and drinking, or be asked to pass them a magazine or book to read.
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There’s also the issue that people living in care homes are typically more vulnerable to severe illness, particularly during a pandemic. It is therefore vitally important to keep Covid-19 and other visitor-borne illnesses out of care homes. But with increasing numbers of people entering the premises, how can this be achieved?
The Care Quality Commission claims that visits can be managed much more safely where a booking system is put in place to stagger visitor numbers.
The CQC adds that all visitors should wear masks and be screened for Covid-19 before being allowed to enter. They should avoid unnecessary contact with other residents and care home staff, and facilities should be put in place to allow them to wash their hands for 20 seconds or use a hand sanitiser upon entering and leaving the home.
This latter recommendation requires a change of behaviour on the part of visitors. Anyone popping in to see Mum for a quick care home visit may not automatically think to wash their hands on arrival and before leaving. So, it is important to put in place signage and guidance to encourage good hand hygiene among visitors.
Some care home residents have access to their own private toilet facilities. Where this is the case, signs should be placed on the door to remind visitors to wash their hands when they arrive and before they leave. There should also be prominent hand
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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