Summer 2020 - a garden concert with social distancing, held outside in the garden and marquee

Coronavirus Update

Last update – August 2022
 
Since the start of the pandemic, our priority has been to ensure the safety and well being of everyone at The Old Vicarage, and to reduce the occurrence of Covid within our home whilst maintaining as normal a life as possible. 

It has been truly wonderful to have had the support of our staff, residents and their families as we have navigated this ‘new normal’ together. This has not been without its challenges, but we are delighted that in the main, and thanks to some ingenuity and creative thinking, we have been able to continue our full and varied activities programme, welcome visitors to the home and enable our residents to enjoy precious times out and about with their families and friends. 
 
We have recently been able to significantly reduce the number of restrictions in relation to visiting, but we remain vigilant and fully understand that Covid remains a risk, particularly to those with underlying conditions.

The following are brief explanations of some of our safety procedures still in place:

New Admissions

We are pleased to be able to welcome new residents to The Old Vicarage for both long term residential care and shorter-term respite and holiday breaks. To keep everyone safe we are following current government guidance with regard to new resident admissions.  This requires all residents admitted from the community to undertake a coronavirus test 72 hours before their admission to the home and another test is taken on the day of admission.  Residents arriving from their own home are able to join in with normal life and mix with other residents on the first day in the home, providing they have a negative Covid test result.
New admissions coming from hospital, or another care facility are tested within 48 hours of their discharge by NHS staff, and then again by our staff on arrival at the home.  If a new resident is being discharged from a hospital during an active outbreak of Covid, the person will need to isolate in their room for 6 days. During an isolation period, they will be able to access the gardens and have one designated visitor.  We will then test again on day 5 and day 6, if both tests are negative the person will be able to join in with normal life at The Old Vicarage including meals in the dining room, activities and social events within the home.  For this reason, we recommend those that would like to be a part of our social scene, come for a stay of at least 2 weeks.

                                                          Residents and staff at a concert in the garden                                                                         

Visiting the Home

We have plenty of options for family and friends to come and visit their loved ones. The choice of visit depends on where the resident and their visitor would prefer their visit to take place, see below for details:

Firstly, a couple of golden visiting rules:

• All visits and trips out must be pre-booked.
• Visitors are asked to read and abide by the home’s visiting policy for the type of visit they are undertaking. This is to keep all residents, staff and visitors safe.
  

Indoor Visiting

An unlimited number of family or friends can visit each resident indoors. Visitors can come separately or together with no more than 2 visitors at a time. Indoor visitors are asked to take a covid test, answer some screening questions and have a temperature check before entering.  During the visit the visitor is required to wear a mask provided by the home. You do not have to be vaccinated to visit the home, but we strongly recommend it.   We ask that only children aged 11 plus and babies in arms come into the building.

Indoor COVID-Safe Visiting Room

We have a purpose built, comfortable and cosy indoor visiting room. Residents can have any number of family and friends (including children) to visit and everyone is kept safe from infection by a glass screen. No PPE facemasks are required, and visitors do not have to be tested before they visit. There is a sound system to enable clear communication and with no having to wear a mask, this is a great way to visit someone who finds it difficult to hear.

See our short video of our cosy visiting room which stayed open for visiting friends and family all throughout the winter lockdown.

Garden visiting

We have a number of areas for residents and their visitors to sit and enjoy the tranquil Old Vicarage gardens. During the summer months we have a number of covered outdoor areas – marquees, gazebos and arbours so you can continue with you visit, whatever the weather!
 
We ask all of our garden visitors to take a simple LFD test before their visit, this means that you can sit at a social distance and enjoy an afternoon tea together without needing to wear a mask.

Trips out

Residents are able to go for trips out and about on their own or with staff, friends or family. Residents can visit family and friends at their homes without having to isolate on their return. They can even stay overnight if they wish to.  

We do ask that anyone accompanying a resident on a trip out, does an LFD test beforehand and wears a mask if travelling all together in a car.

To see our full visiting policy please click here.

If you have any questions about visiting, admissions or infection prevention procedures,
please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.