Infection control


control measures, and Standex organised webinars that looked at how to ensure they were evidencing that infection control care plans were robust. While we had these in place already,


following universal precautions for infection control, we were also able to quickly adapt and suggest creating Covid-specific care plans to ensure they had a robust plan of action in place for detection, action required and evidencing the support required and given to those who had Covid. I also wanted to look at the challenges


faced for service users with conditions such as dementia, learning disabilities, autism and so on. The sudden change in appearance of familiar staff now covered from head to toe in PPE, wearing masks that hide most of the face - therefore limiting communication and expression - would have been alien and very frightening to service users who may not have a full understanding of what was happening. So, while strict infection control


practices had to be in place, with that comes a whole range of other issues for many service users. Service users vulnerable to feelings of isolation were now required to stay in their rooms and have minimal human contact. This required services to get creative!


Some put transparent shields in front of their doors to reduce the feelings of being shut away. Individuals who may be very routine-


based suddenly had to have their daily lives changed quite dramatically to ensure control of infection. Many homes were able to adapt activities that the service user would normally have done outside to the confines of their bedrooms. In some cases, this maintained as much normality as possible. However, some activities simply had to stop.


How could Standex have done things differently? The team at Standex is close and loyal, and has worked together for many years. It is, without wanting to sound too cliched, like a family. We all rose to the challenges the pandemic faced us with, personally and professionally. Fortunately, we were able to work from home and master the art of the Zoom call! Once we had got our ducks in a row,


we shot into action, making the most of the quieter time while our customers and potential customers adapted to their


38


It became clear that, as many service users fell ill at once and staff numbers were reduced due to sickness, the situation became magnified and, in turn, the Covid pandemic was a far greater challenge than ever experienced


new ways of working and focused on protecting their service users and staff. We were able to implement swiftly


such functioning as Family Share, Covid checklist functions, pre-set text capabilities for extra care planning, temperature reports, vaccination logs etc. to ensure that we could provide a system that was able to adapt to changing requirements. We were able to plan a full and robust development schedule taking us well into 2021. Customers continued to come on


board, and we want to give them huge shout out for having faith and adopting ePlan, which could have been a daunting change for staff at an already high time of stress. Yet instead there was a series of smooth and successful transitions from paper to electronic care planning. From my perspective as the nurse


advisor for Standex, and from listening to customers, it would have been beneficial to be able to update ePlan with all the latest government guidelines such as isolation periods, family visiting, the latest symptom alerts etc. However, as guidance was changing


very frequently, it would have been difficult to do this in reality. I feel we did the best we could in terms of implementing many other functions to evidence the care and support given, and to continue to provide telephone assistance and support on infection control and the latest best practice guidance. Overall, the customers I have spoken to


are proud of their staff and service users, and how they coped and stepped up to the challenge. They are tremendously proud of their service users and how they have adapted to their changing environments, the risk of becoming poorly, coping with being poorly, and also missing out on activities and normal life. Staff have gone above and beyond


for the service users within their care, keeping them safe in what has been


Lucy Caldwell


Lucy Caldwell qualified as an registered nurse in 2001 at King’s College London and her background is adult general medical nursing. Lucy has been working at Standex Systems, which provides digital care planning to a range of care services across the UK, for over 15 years. She provides guidance on the development of ePlan to ensure it is up to date with evidence- based tools and in line with current legislation. She trains care providers on the use of ePlan and provides ongoing customer support. Lucy remains a practising nurse.


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com • December 2021


the most challenging of times. As one customer said: “Everyone has found this pandemic hard but staff have had to work through it all with dry skin, sore hands and sore faces from washing our hands and wearing our masks. “When guidelines have said we can


see our family we have still chosen not to so we can protect our service users. Working with our staff team has made this bearable and the support the staff have all shown each other has been amazing”. We want to thank all our care services


from the bottom of our hearts for their dedication and hard work to look after loved ones at one of the most difficult times we have ever faced.


TCHE


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