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Coronavirus Update

Face Masks

15th April 2021

IMPORTANT CORONAVIRUS UPDATE FOR VISITORS TO BIRTLEY HOUSE

Spring has truly arrived at Birtley House! This season always puts a smile on our faces but also gives us time to truly reflect on how far we have come over the last few months. Further to our previous blogs and online communications with you all, we wanted to assure you that we continue to review the situation daily, considering all new information and making changes where necessary risk assessing all accordingly.

Since June 2020, we have been enabling visits from residents family members, and loved ones, and up to this point now we have facilitated close to 300 visits. Sadly, however, we cannot continue with our Day-Club service and it seems this will continue for the foreseeable. We will of course keep you updated on the progress of our Day Club and any changes that occur.

Positively, since the winter months, we identified new safe areas within the house and have built protective screens accordingly. This has allowed us to continue with our way of life here at Birtley as normal as possible.

New Resident Admissions

We are pleased to be able to continue admitting new residents safely. Upon admission, however, there is a 14-day isolation policy. This policy is of course in place to protect both our residents and our staff. For more information on our isolation policy, please contact one of our team who will be more than happy to discuss this with you.

Adapting to the New Normal

We have adapted very well to the new way of life at Birtley, and although some things are restricted or otherwise, we are fortunate to have a lot of space in the house where we can continue our activities and small social gatherings at every opportunity and provide holistically meaningful support to our residents and staff.

We have fully embraced technology over the last year and other creative ways of enabling our residents to keep in contact with their families, via Zoom, FaceTime, or other similar means. If families can provide a suitable tablet or device, we would be most appreciative as we have a limited number of our own devices. These have been a real lifesaver throughout the past year for our residents enabling them to stay in touch with their families.

We have been vaccinated!

Our primary concern at Birtley House and Mews is the welfare of our residents and staff and the reduction of the risk of contraction and spread of Coronavirus. Testing continues twice weekly for staff members at the moment and residents are tested every 28 days at present.

Most importantly, and most excitingly for us, all our residents have now been vaccinated! This gives us not only reassurance but also light at the end of the tunnel going into the spring and the summer and onwards throughout 2021. Many  of our staff have been fortunate to access the vaccine giving us a real boost around the home. We feel we are in a much stronger position going forward into the summer months as the COVID-19 roadmap unravels.

In other related matters, in the event of staff shortage, we have also successfully recruited extra staff, to ensure we are ready should a more serious situation present itself within the home. Other jobs do frequently continue to pop up, therefore, please head to our care home job opportunities page for more information.

We thank you for your continued understanding to date and we very much appreciate all the support we have received from family members and residents.

Sylwia Indycka, Registered Manager