Safe Garden Visits

In an exciting move for both care home residents and their families and friends, Avery Healthcare has announced a way forward to bring everyone together again after the recent enforced separation. It’s a ray of sunshine for those desperate to see their loved ones.

Mass testing throughout the Avery homes is drawing very encouraging results with a high percentage of their staff, residents and homes now testing negative. This effective management of the coronavirus is restoring confidence of how safe a well-run care home can be, and is now leading Avery to be able to resume visits from residents’ relatives, to be held in the gardens of each home.  The homes will proactively contact families direct to arrange visiting times to avoid being overwhelmed by the likely demand.

A thorough and detailed protocol to these visits ensures the safety and well-being for all, and once again brings families together for the first time in nearly three months. The visiting process by its nature has to be strictly applied, to avoid any risk of cross-contamination, and will be by appointment only, enabling control over numbers and the ability to sanitise meeting areas before and after every visit.

To provide the reassurance that everyone will seek, stringent checks will be made prior to any visit, and any symptomatic signs from either the resident or the visitor will mean it will be unsafe for the visit to take place. The Home Manager’s decision on any visit on any day will have to be respected, as they hold the weight of responsibility for the safety of all concerned.

Avery is also taking a positive view that the Government will in the near future issue guidance on visits inside of care homes, and is already in advanced planning and evaluation of sector-leading sanitisation and virus testing to ensure that this can be delivered throughout its homes, safely, and as soon as authorisation is given.