Insight


The post-Covid future of care homes


Dr. Natalie-Jane Macdonald, chief executive of care provider Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare, shares her thoughts on some of the long-term changes to the sector prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic


Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, many in our sector were not wholly prepared for the challenges it would present – to the health of residents, team members, and to businesses as a whole. The steep learning curve that followed has seen the sector adapt rapidly in a number of ways – in supply chain management, recruitment and training, design in the built environment, and the use of technology within the sector, to name a few – and all of us must continue to evolve. The past few months have been about


protecting our team members and residents first and foremost, but they have also been about adapting our


operations so we can learn to live comfortably with the ongoing risk posed by potential future pandemics. We must continue to offer a high-quality service, filled with rich and valued experiences for those who make their home with us.


Awareness of risk Prior to the pandemic, all good care homes had strong infection control procedures in place to safeguard against the risks posed by a variety of viruses and diseases, including winter flu. However, safeguarding against something like Covid-19 calls for additional measures. Now that health and social care


professionals, and the public alike, have a greater understanding of how these kinds of viruses are transmitted, our general operations management will likely be permanently altered in order to control access to care homes in a safer way, with a heightened awareness of the ongoing risk that pandemics can pose to the sector.


Supply chain risk management improvements A particular area of focus since the beginning of this pandemic has been enhancing our supply chain risk management. At Sunrise and Gracewell, stocks of enhanced PPE through our normal supply chains were put under pressure, as the NHS cleared the shelves for their own requirements. Our procurement team had to work


rapidly to forge links with alternative suppliers, in order to keep our residents, our team members, and our business safe. Within 24 hours we were able to secure ongoing supplies and deploy them at speed to our homes both in the UK and the US. We now have supply hubs within each region, which hold reserve stock with at least a month’s worth of supplies. Supplies of PPE are not only needed


It is imperative that care homes have the reliable and robust technological infrastructure necessary to allow for digital communication


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within care home environments. To minimise the risk of infection coming in, it is also important that staff can access a supply of PPE that they can take home with them. At Sunrise and Gracewell, like many other care homes, we have gone one step further to provide a minibus service that takes our care staff to and from work, avoiding the additional risk present on public transport. The reputation of our procurement


team among other team members has undoubtedly been transformed – without the work of these silent heroes we would not have been able to get through this difficult time, and it is with great pleasure that we have been able to increase the size of this team to support


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com• August 2020


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