The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on people providing and receiving social care. This new threat to our community has created a number of challenges to the delivery of service, keeping us busy and on our toes.
Here are some of the ways we have adapted in response to the threat of Covid– 19:
Contingency planning: We always hope for the best and plan for the worst, but keeping up to date with the latest information and guidance has been vital in helping us respond and adapt to this pandemic. We’ve been proactive and made some big decisions, always keeping the staff and client’s well-being at the center of everything we do.
Flexibility of service: We knew almost straight away that it wasn’t going to be business as usual. Covid- 19 has had a profound effect upon the world and everyone has had to get used to the ‘new normal.’ That has required our service to respond flexibly during this difficult time. We suspended accepting new packages and non-essential services during peak times; and allowed clients to electively suspend visits without penalty.
We reworked staff rotas to reduce the amount of people coming into contact with vulnerable service users and redeployed staff where there were needed most.
Providing additional PPE: Choosing the right personal protective equipment for a clinical task has always been a part of our staff training, however the pandemic has turned PPE into a everyday part of our wardrobe. With the whole world suddenly requiring these specially produced items of kit, meeting challenges in supply has been a mammoth undertaking for our non-clinical staff. Keeping the service’s in-house supply chain flowing as well as distributing and supplying masks; visors; aprons; gloves; alcohol Gel and other essential items to staff and service users has been an important part of keeping everyone safe.
Communication: It’s been a pretty scary time for everyone, and with all the changes and social distancing measures keeping us apart, there has never been a more important time for us to communicate. We’ve upped the frequency of our staff and client emails to let everybody know what we have been up to and our Clinical Lead Nurse has been on hand to offer emotional support of advice to anyone who needs it.
Future proofing: We know we haven’t seen the last of Covid – 19. We are so proud of the way our staff have met this challenge head on and adapted so well to new ways of working, however we are also aware that the ways in which this pandemic will continue to affect the world are difficult to predict. That’s why we are working hard to keep up to date with the latest information and provide training to help our service meet whatever challenges are yet to come.