News


Care UK installs infection control technology trio across 124-home fleet


Care UK has deployed fogging machines, air purifiers and thermal imaging cameras in all 124 of its homes to boost infection control as it battles to protect its residents from Covid-19. The Essex-based provider said the fogging


machines had proved especially useful during Christmas to help teams disinfect gifts and cards. The machines fill a large enclosed space like


a lounge or dining room with a fine dry fog that is able to disinfect the whole area and the things in it like furniture, flooring and even decorations. Team members in all of the homes have


been carefully trained to use the machines in line with the manufacturer’s instructions to maximise their sanitation impact and make sure that the fog does not inadvertently cause any problems for people’s health. Care UK said its governance team has made


it clear the fogging machines are a secondary line of defence after regular, carefully prescribed cleaning and sanitisation processes have been carried out. The air purifiers meanwhile are used in the


reception lobbies of care homes where there is the greatest number of movements of people and deliveries from outside. The purifiers blow negative ions out into the


surrounding environment that ‘charge’ particles like dust, pollen and viruses floating in the air which causes them to be attracted to surfaces like floors and desks. As they fall to these surfaces, there is less


chance of people breathing them in and they can be easily killed by cleaning of those surfaces that home teams have to complete under Care UK’s pandemic plan processes. The thermal imaging cameras meanwhile


CQC launches consultation


on five-year draft strategy The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has launched a formal consultation on a new five- year draft strategy that aims to enable more effective regulation. The document sets our four themes that


together determine the changes the CQC wants to make. by looking at how well health and care systems are working and how they are acting to reduce inequalities. The first theme is people and communities:


ensuring regulation is driven by people’s experiences and what they expect and need from health and care services. The second is smarter regulation: ensuring


assessments are more flexible and dynamic and being smarter with data so that visits are


more targeted, with a sharper focus on what the CQC needs to look at. The third is safety through learning:


ensuring all services have stronger safety cultures and learn lessons and taking action to protect people when lesson are not learnt. The fourth theme is accelerating


improvement: doing more to make improvement happen by targeting priority areas that need support the most. “The pandemic has forced health and


social care to think differently, and we are no exception. For CQC, it has accelerated the need for us to change. Our draft strategy has been developed to enable more effective regulation for the future and support services to keep people safe,” said the CQC. “We need to make changes to the way we


regulate so that it’s more relevant, working with health and care services to find solutions to problems and improve outcomes for everyone. We also want to be more flexible to help us manage risk and uncertainty,” it added. The CQC strategy consultation will close


on 4 March. The full strategy document can be read here: www.cqc.org.uk/strategy2021consultation


February 2021 • www.thecarehomeenvironment.com


Majesticare takes home Knight Frank


care design prize Majesticare’s Cavendish Park in Evesham has won the care home design award at the 2021 Knight Frank Luxury Care Home Guide Awards. The home’s interior design was


performed by Samantha Lord Interior Design, the architect is DWA and the contractor Seddon Construction. Knight Frank’s Luxury Care Home


Award 2021 was won by Sanders Senior Living’s Graysford Hall in Leicester while the Refurbishment & Renovation Award 2021 was given to Springfield Healthcare’s Chocolate Works Care Village in York.


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check that staff arriving at work and visitors do not have a fever before they enter the care homes. Situated by the main doorway with full


instructions on how to use them is shown in every doorway, they are able to pick out a person’s face, take their temperature and give a visual indication of whether or not they have a fever. Care UK said it continues to make sure its


homes have all the necessary PPE and disinfection and sanitising items. Since March, it added, the provider has spent almost £2m on such items. “We have been one of the few care home


providers to be able to say that our teams have had access to the necessary PPE since the pandemic first started. That, plus our stringent infection control measures have played a key part in helping to keep people safe,” said Care UK director Jon Bicknell. “Over the next few months, we will continue


to scan the market to see if there are any other new devices that can help us even further in our pledge to keep people living and working in our homes as safe as possible,” he added.


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