We want to assure you that we are aware of the impact the lockdowns and restrictions will have had on everyone. These impacts have disrupted many families and the loss of contact has been difficult for everyone.
At Elysium Healthcare we understand that the measures we must adhere to can be difficult. To help reduce the number of COVID positive cases we continue to follow government and NHS guidance to keep communities safe.
Visiting
Across our services visiting guidance has been updated to reflect the upcoming changes for care homes in England, announced by HM Government from 12th April 2021. NHS England have also revised their visiting guidance for hospitals which is now reflected in the guidance.
Key changes include:
- Care home residents now have two named visitors
- Hospital visiting guidance has been revised and now states that visiting is limited to one close family contact. For children and young people (under 18) this includes both parents/guardians where the family bubble can be maintained
- For agreed end of life care planned visits, the hospital visiting guidance now includes an expectation that LFD testing is undertaken at site before each visit
You can read in full the government’s summary of guidance for visitors in England, published on 6th April 2021 along with guidance for Wales by clicking on the links below:
Visiting Guidance NHS England Visiting Guidance & Specific Care Home Guidance for England
Visiting Guidance Hospital Visiting in Wales & Visiting Care Homes in Wales
The health, safety and wellbeing of our service users, communities and staff remain the priority. To ensure the prevention of infection and transmission we will continue to follow the latest NHS and government guidance.
We appreciate your support and understanding as we continue to prioritise the safety of your loved one, their families and the staff who support them.
Leave
Visiting on leave is part of the care pathway for most patients in the progress of their pathway. However, the impact of lockdowns and restrictions has sadly impacted service user leave, but limited access to leave, when approved, for recreation or exercise is still available.
During this time, we encourage where possible, family, friends and carers find other ways of keeping in touch with loved ones, like phone and video calls. These will be supported by the service where clinically appropriate.
Isolating individuals with symptoms
In the event that an individual is displaying symptoms that indicate COVID-19, we will implement isolation of that individual in our care. Where this is the case, individuals will be in contact with staff regularly but kept separate from the other patients, residents, or service users. The reasons, requirements and actions will be fully explained to your loved one and a care plan implemented to ensure the safety and wellbeing of that individual and prevent the spread of infection.
In the case we need to declare an outbreak the service will have to stop all visiting and leave, as required by the government.
We will make sure that the physical health and wellbeing of each patient, resident or service user is central to the delivery of their care.
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Once again thank you for your patience and we look forward to seeing you all again very soon.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or concerns you can speak directly with the Registered Manager of the service or e-mail them at FamilyandCarerenquiries@elysiumhealthcare.co.uk
Elysium Healthcare will update this web page weekly to keep you informed with the current situation. Further information can be found at the links below:
The Government have published the latest information on COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
The Welsh Government have published the latest information on COVID-19:
https://gov.wales/alert-level-4
Mencap have produced their latest guidance here in Easy Read:
SignHealth produce a two-minute daily update in British Sign Language about COVID 19 here:
