Does it depend on each care home when and how they come out of lockdown?
Thank you for your question. I know this is such a challenging area for care homes. There is no guidance from the Government on this at the moment although it is expected shortly. If you are QCS customer we have published a risk assessment and updated our policy to help with this. If you are not a QCS customer, the Care Provider Alliance has published protocol that you can read here. Deciding whether to ease lockdown in your home depends on many factors, the vulnerabilities of your service users, if your staff and residents have been tested, when your last case of COVID was, agreement from visitors to follow your procedures to keep the home safe and the support from staff to manage any changes. You will also need to assess local infection rates and carry out a risk assessment so you may find talking to your regional Public Health England team helpful. It may also help if you are a member of a local provider forum, to see what other local homes are doing. It is hard for residents and their relatives but making sure your home stays COVID free is equally important. I hope this helps.