Newsletter: Updated visiting rules

We’ve had a tough week at Palms Row with Covid-19 striking Westbourne and unfortunately meaning that once again we’ve had to close our doors to all but essential carers in order to deal with the outbreak swiftly and keep our residents and staff as safe as possible.

We understand how hard it is not to be able to see family members up close and have been doing everything we can throughout the pandemic to keep our residents’ spirits up and ensure life remains as normal as possible through a range of activities.

At Northfield, we’ve been a bit more fortunate and have been able to continue welcoming visitors using our pods (see picture from when we launched those!) and even indoors in some circumstances.

Now, with the government’s latest announcement that care home restrictions are to be eased from Monday, it looks like we might be able to start opening up even further as soon as our homes are Covid-free. While, we can’t wait to see many more families and friends of our residents, we must still be cautious.

If you do have any symptoms of Covid, we would request that you don't come to visit. We also ask that you continue to observe any rules or requirements our staff may request. We will continue to put the safety of our residents, staff and visitors first.

This week, our residents have been busy making dreamcatchers from paper plates and dolls from wooden spoons and we’re all looking forward to the return of bingo next week.

We have also been pleased to nominate two of our wonderful staff members for the Support Social Care Heroes January Award:

• Nicola Merriman is our nominated social care hero for January from Northfield. Throughout the pandemic she simply has not stopped. Working tirelessly to maintain high standards with infection control in addition to her usual duties. Nic can also always be relied upon to go above and beyond what is expected - leading activities, hairdressing, running nail bars, the list is endless and we love her energy and enthusiasm.

• Shelby Mansell is our nominee from Westbourne House. Always friendly and upbeat, Shelby brings a positive attitude to every aspect of her work and is never too busy to support and develop new staff members. She is dedicated to ensuring continuity of care for residents and flexible to meet the needs of the home, supporting nurses and agency staff and always lending a helping hand.

Our team and residents appreciate you both so much and everything you do. Thank you Nic and Shelby and best of luck!

Newsletter

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