Our Approach to Covid-19

Respectful Care is a leading home care provider with highly trained staff who are tackling the pandemic head-on. We pride ourselves in our approach, prioritising safe practice under CQC’s charter and our very own policies.

It is only natural that Respectful Care’s community are asking how we are dealing with COVID-19. We want to reassure our staff, clients, and families that preventing the spread of COVID-19 is our number one priority while fulfilling our standard of care without changing too much of our client’s routines.

We are still able to support new customers if you or a loved one needs care. Please contact our friendly office team today to discuss your care needs and our current capacity.

If you do decide to choose us as your care provider following your initial telephone conversation, your local manager will be in touch to discuss your care in more detail.

As a result of the outbreak of Coronavirus in the UK, it is now our main goal to ensure that all our customers and staff remain as safe as possible.

Infection control measures are actioned to ensure the well-being and health, of both our clients and our staff, takes precedence over any other activity at Respectful Care. Infection control precautions are part of the carer's daily routine which is trained in the induction process and throughout their employment.

These precautions include the use of gloves and aprons supplied by Respectful Care, good personal hygiene awareness and methods as well as washing hands before and after any tasks that require them to do so. This has always been our practice, regardless of the outbreak. The Department of Health has confirmed the best mitigation of the virus is washing hands thoroughly with hot water and soap, again, an action staff already undertake.

To restrict the risk even further, we are providing the following additional protective gear:

• Hand sanitiser (for additional cleansing between hand washes)
• Face masks/visors (if the client requests it under agreed circumstances)

We appreciate that many of you have questions about yours or your loved one’s care. We are asking that all our carers are being extra vigilant when visiting our clients. If a report is made to the management team of a client’s physical well-being, the known Coronavirus symptoms are taken into consideration and a prompt call to 111 will be made to ensure our clients are kept safe.

If a carer is showing symptoms, they are also advised to do the same, with appropriate quarantine guidelines put in place. If you are unfamiliar with the guidelines, please see below from the GOV website:

• If you have symptoms of Coronavirus, you’ll need to self-isolate for 7 days.

• If you do not have a high temperature, you do not need to self-isolate
• If you still have a high temperature, keep self-isolating until your temperature returns to normal
• You do not need to self-isolate if you just have a cough after 7 days. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.

• If you live with someone who has symptoms, you’ll need to self-isolate for 14 days from the day their symptoms started. This is because it can take 14 days for symptoms to appear.
• If more than 1 person at home has symptoms, self-isolate, for 14 days from the day the first person started having symptoms.
• If you get symptoms, self-isolate for 7 days from when your symptoms start, even if it means you’re self-isolating for longer than 14 days.
• If you do not get symptoms, you can stop self-isolating after 14 days.

As we are all aware the numbers of Coronavirus outbreak in the UK remain low, however, due to the vulnerability and underlying health conditions of our clients we have no other option but to take measures to mitigate staff and clients from being infected.

Our main measure is to cancel all training to reduce cross-infection of staff, this is for your own safety as well as the clients. Once we know the current situation is stabilising all training will be reinstated. All mandatory training will be completed via online training courses/booklets and a feedback session with our Training Manager. This, however, does not apply to the Moving and Handling practical. This will be completed during the new staff member’s shadowing shifts, led by their allocated mentor.

We have set up a unit downstairs, whereby staff can collect paperwork and PPE without entering the office, as we will be using the office staff as a safety net for servicing calls should a big outbreak occur. We are distributing PPE to staff according to the number of calls they have per week. Our district mentors are also keeping bulks of PPE in their cars to drop off to carers as and when.

Other measures have also taken place within the company, for example, cancelling an area meeting and isolated interviews.

Due to temporarily eliminating the office ‘drop-in’ option, we urge staff to ring the office, as we are fully committed to ensuring our support network is not affected. Our management team will also be making regular calls to carers to reassure them that they are fully supported throughout these difficult times.

The above measures are based on the final discretion of the franchise and the government guidelines. This reaffirms that we are acting proactively and purely in the best interest of the clients we support, to prevent and mitigate the risk of infection at an early stage.

If you have any queries regarding the coronavirus, please do not hesitate to telephone 111 which has a dedicated guidance and support line on the topic in question.