Peterborough care home to build 'meeting pods' to allow residents to safely meet family

Residents had been able to safely meet relatives and friends outside in the garden at the Eagle Wood home, run by PJ Care.

But as winter approaches, it will be too cold for the meetings to go on outdoors, so the new, shed like structures will be installed, making crucial meetings possible.

Chariman of PJ Care, Neil Russell said: "We’ll shortly be taking delivery of new ‘visitor pods’ which will allow residents to meet their families in a Covid-safe environment. It’s too cold now for socially-distanced meetings to take place in the gardens and these pods have a glass screen, intercoms so both parties can hear each other clearly, and they’ll be insulated, comfortable and easy to sanitise between visits.

"As we enter the second lockdown, we feel confident in our abilities to look after our residents and support our staff. The last six months have taught us to trust ourselves. We found that throughout, we were always ahead of whatever official advice and information came to us. We understand our residents, we are confident in our procedures and protocols and we are best placed to make decisions that impact on their care and safety.”

The pandemic has caused problems throughout the year at Eagle Wood - but the staff have worked hard the ensure residents get the best possible care.

Neil said; " “The Covid pandemic affected PJ Care in a number of ways, but most striking was its impact on our staff numbers.

"Because of precautionary self-isolation, we had up to 30% of our 250 staff off at any one time. Our care and housekeeping teams were particularly affected and we, no doubt like many care providers, had to implement an immediate recruitment programme.

"What we learned from this was that even in times of crisis, when we needed to maintain care for the most vulnerable client group, recruiting to our values was still key. We were not afraid to turn down people with the right experience but who didn’t fit with our values of care, compassion and commitment. We took on many who’d only been informal carers but who had the approach we were looking for, so new recruits included a financial director, a magician, a hairdresser, a personal trainer and a taxi driver. Some of these people have stayed with us which shows we chose them well.

"We established daily meetings during the initial weeks of the pandemic and the board continues to consult with the senior team every morning. It means we can make quick decisions, get feedback on outcomes and make any necessary changes. Those meetings now happen virtually as our central office staff and senior management team have moved to work from home.

"Staff have been wearing full PPE since March so we’ve focused more on our care for them. We provide a minibus to bring them to work so they can avoid using public transport and everyone is given a clean uniform when they arrive. These measures help to minimise the chance of infection being brought in from outside. Small treats and messages from the chairman also help them to know their efforts are valued.

"We’ve also recruited a dedicated Covid tester so a member of the care staff isn’t taken off the floor to carry out the statutory tests for residents and staff.

"Keeping our residents entertained has been a challenge. Our client group is relatively young and they enjoy being out in the community, going shopping etc. We created a bespoke online show in which myself and co-host Steve Walls, took their requests for songs. The personal element was something everyone loved and we continue to run the show now. We’ve offered new activities such as a cookery group, created online accounts to allow residents to enjoy shopping and we maximised the use of outside space by creating gardens on the balconies."