The safety and wellbeing of our residents and staff is always the highest priority at The Dower House

With that in mind, the team has been working hard to prepare for the potential impact of a wider outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) across the UK.

With that in mind, the team has been working hard to prepare for the potential impact of a wider outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) across the UK. Updates to this document will be made to the top of the statement, the most recent first.

Update (August 2021)

Whilst we await the news on the releasing of lockdown conditions across the country, we have reviewed our current visiting policy, home risk assessment and the facilities and resources available in our home at this time to support these. We are now in a position to make several amendments to visits to our home to try and increase the availability of visiting times for our residents and their families and friends.

These visits continue to be subject to the home remaining free of the Covid Virus or any other infection which would require us to close the door to visitors. To date, we have maintained a Covid free environment and we endeavour to sustain this with your help. We will continue to maintain the very high levels of cleanliness our residents and staff have become accustomed to and ask that all visitors take heed of these guidelines.

These are in place to ensure the safety and welfare of all who live, work, and visit The Dower House. For this reason, if any visitor does not adhere to these guidelines, they will be asked to leave immediately.

General guidance for all visitors.

1. Since Monday 21st June 2021 we have been able to support up to ten visits on the premises during the day if the following guidelines are followed.
2. ALL visitors to the home must complete an LFD test (30-minute testing kit) on the same day as the visit and BEFORE they arrive for their visit. This will reduce the need for us to provide staff to support with this testing and therefore increase the capacity of visits.
3. We can provide supplies of LFD test kits for regular visitors and they are also available for any other visitors at https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests
4. If visitors have not completed an LFD test on arrival, we will not have the capacity to support these being done on site and so the visitors will be turned away.
5. All test results must be forwarded to testing@thedowerhousewinchester.co.uk so that we have a record of these as required by national guidelines.
6. If EVERY visitor has completed these tests, we are not only able to increase the visiting capacity to the home to ten visits per day, we are also able to facilitate visits away from the home for residents to go out for visits with their family or friends.
7. Every visitor will continue to have to complete a questionnaire- including recording their temperature- prior to commencing their visit, whether inside, outside or taking a resident out.
8. It is not a condition of visiting that the visitor or resident should have been vaccinated against Covid 19. However, it is strongly recommended that all visitors and residents take the opportunity to be vaccinated when they are invited to do so through the national program.
9. All visits within the home will continue to take place in either the small visiting room inside the home (maximum 2 visitors at any time) or in our visiting Pod with a screen where up to 4 visitors from no more than 3 different households will be able to visit. Any of these visits can also be held in an allocated outside area which staff will direct visitors and residents to, or residents and their visitor can walk in the grounds of the home. Each designated visiting area will have its own guidelines for use as shown below.
10. Visitors and residents must keep physical contact to a minimum- they may wish to hold hands but should bear in mind that any contact increases the risk of the transmission of the virus. There must be no close contact such as hugging.
11. For visits outdoors - on patio areas around the home and in the grounds of the home- visitors are not required to wear masks but must adhere to social distancing and hand hygiene guidelines and avoid contact with residents other than the one they are visiting.
12. All visits are allocated for 45 minutes, and staff will support visitors and residents to adhere to these times. This is necessary so that we can monitor the number of people in the home at any one time in line with national guidelines.
13. When visitors exit the visiting area, they must go directly to their car/leave the grounds of the home. This will reduce the risk of multiple visitors being on site at any one time.
14. A planned fire alarm test takes place at 1pm every Thursday. If the fire alarm should go off when you are visiting outside of this time, then please stay in the room with your relative and a member of staff will advise you on any actions required. Under these exceptional circumstances we would ask that visitors close the patio door, and the window are closed and wait for staff to advise them.

Visiting in our Visitors Pod (Room 15) or area outside this Pod.

1. Visitors to this room will not be required to wear masks if the screen in the room remains in place.
   
2. If there are no more than 2 visitors to this room then the screen can be removed but all visitors must wear a mask – in line with current national guidance that all visitors coming into a care home must wear a mask.
   
3. All visiting slots for these visits will be booked for on the half hour at 11.30, 1.30, 2.30, 3.30 and 4.30pm.
   

Indoor visiting room

1. Visitors to this room will be required to always wear a mask in line with current national guidance for visitors into care homes.
   
2. All visiting slots for these visits will be booked on the hour for 11,1,2,3 and 4pm.
   

Visits away from the home

1. Any resident can leave the home for an outdoor visit with their visitors at any time from Monday 13th June 2021, if the visit is booked with staff in advance. This includes to local shopping areas or eateries, or family member’s gardens. Wherever possible residents should remain outdoors using outdoor seated areas for meeting.
   
2. These visits do not need to be at an allocated time slot and do not have any time limit, but visitors must be LFD tested. Please ensure we have some idea of the time of a time for resident’s return.
   
3. Please be always mindful on visits away from the home of national guidance on social distancing, mask wearing and infection control precautions.
   
4. All residents and visitors must be wearing a mask when travelling in a car and have the car well ventilated as per national guidelines.
   

Visits on a resident’s own patio area.

1. All residents who have a patio area from their room can also have visitors to this area of the home, but these visits must also be booked in one of the available time slots and in inclement weather visitors can then resort to the inside alternative for that time.
   
2. Visitors on the patio areas do not need to wear a mask but social distancing must be maintained.
   

Booking visits

1. Each resident will be able to book visits and outings when they wish but, in line with national guidance, no ad hoc visits can be supported.
   
2. A nominated family member or the resident should coordinate visits and contact the admin office on 01962 882848 between the hours of 10:30 and 16:30 to book any available slots for visiting.
   
3. Each resident will have a maximum of three visits per week.
   
4. In addition, any outings for residents can be arranged in the same way i.e., booked 24 hours in advance, coordinated by the nominated person. The return time should be advised on collecting the resident for the outing.
   

Cleaning

Following a Pod or internal visit the person supporting visits will clean every surface on both the visitor’s side and the resident’s side of the room with appropriate cleaning materials. The room will be cleaned using a fogging device at the end of the last visit of the day. National guidance states we must continue with high levels of infection control measures in the home, and therefore visits have to occur at nominated times.

Infection control concerns and actions.

1. If there is any concern about a risk of infection within the room then Matron or the Sister-in-Charge must be informed immediately, and appropriate actions will be taken to ensure the safety and welfare of residents, visitors and staff. This may mean closing the room to visits until suitable cleaning or infection control procedures can be followed.
   
2. It is important to reiterate that should there be any outbreak of infection or risk of infection in the home all visits will cease until appropriate support and guidance has been sought.
   

With the support of all residents, visitors and staff in following these guidelines, we look forward to being able to facilitate more visits and outings for our residents. This will help to improve and support their general health and wellbeing as we move towards a more open visiting plan.

Please remember staff are working hard to ensure we all adhere to these guidelines and ensure the safety and welfare of everyone who lives and works at our home. If you have any concerns or comments about these guidelines, then please direct them to Matron or the General Manager so that we can consider these, and any amendments required to support all our residents and their families.

Update (July 2021)

Whilst we await the news on the releasing of lockdown conditions across the country, we have reviewed our current visiting policy, home risk assessment and the facilities and resources available in our home at this time to support these. We are now in a position to make several amendments to visits to our home to try and increase the availability of visiting times for our residents and their families and friends.

These visits continue to be subject to the home remaining free of the Covid Virus or any other infection which would require us to close the door to visitors. To date, we have maintained a Covid free environment and we endeavour to sustain this with your help. We will continue to maintain the very high levels of cleanliness our residents and staff have become accustomed to and ask that all visitors take heed of these guidelines.

These are in place to ensure the safety and welfare of all who live, work, and visit The Dower House. For this reason, if any visitor does not adhere to these guidelines, they will be asked to leave immediately.

General guidance for all visitors

1. From Monday 21st June 2021 we will be able to support up to ten visits on the premises during the day if the following guidelines are followed.
   
2. ALL visitors to the home must complete an LFD test (30-minute testing kit) on the same day as the visit and BEFORE they arrive for their visit. This will reduce the need for us to provide staff to support with this testing and therefore increase the capacity of visits.
   
3. We can provide supplies of LFD test kits for regular visitors and they are also available for any other visitors at https://www.winchester.gov.uk/get-help/community-testing
   
4. If visitors have not completed an LFD test on arrival, we will not have the capacity to support these being done on site and so the visitors will be turned away.
   
5. All test results must be forwarded to testing@thedowerhousewinchester.co.uk so that we have a record of these as required by national guidelines.
   
6. If EVERY visitor has completed these tests, we are not only able to increase the visiting capacity to the home to ten visits per day, we are also able to facilitate visits away from the home for residents to go out for visits with their family or friends.
   
7. Every visitor will continue to have to complete a questionnaire- including recording their temperature- prior to commencing their visit, whether inside, outside or taking a resident out.
   
8. It is not a condition of visiting that the visitor or resident should have been vaccinated against Covid 19. However, it is strongly recommended that all visitors and residents take the opportunity to be vaccinated when they are invited to do so through the national programme.
   
9. All visits within the home will continue to take place in either the small visiting room inside the home (maximum 2 visitors at any time) or in our visiting Pod with a screen where up to 4 visitors from no more than 3 different households will be able to visit. Any of these visits can also be held in an allocated outside area which staff will direct visitors and residents to, or residents and their visitor can walk in the grounds of the home. Each designated visiting area will have its own guidelines for use as shown below.
   
10. Visitors and residents must keep physical contact to a minimum- they may wish to hold hands but should bear in mind that any contact increases the risk of the transmission of the virus. There must be no close contact such as hugging.
    
11. For visits outdoors - on patio areas around the home and in the grounds of the home- visitors are not required to wear masks but must adhere to social distancing and hand hygiene guidelines and avoid contact with residents other than the one they are visiting.
    
12. All visits are allocated for 45 minutes, and staff will support visitors and residents to adhere to these times. This is necessary so that we can monitor the number of people in the home at any one time in line with national guidelines.
    
13. When visitors exit the visiting area, they must go directly to their car/leave the grounds of the home. This will reduce the risk of multiple visitors being on site at any one time.
    
14. A planned fire alarm test takes place at 1pm every Thursday. If the fire alarm should go off when you are visiting outside of this time, then please stay in the room with your relative and a member of staff will advise you on any actions required. Under these exceptional circumstances we would ask that visitors close the patio door, and the window are closed and wait for staff to advise them.

Visiting in our Visitors Pod (Room 15) or area outside this Pod

1. Visitors to this room will not be required to wear masks if the screen in the room remains in place.
   
2. If there are no more than 2 visitors to this room then the screen can be removed but all visitors must wear a mask – in line with current national guidance that all visitors coming into a care home must wear a mask.
   
3. All visiting slots for these visits will be booked for on the half hour at 11.30, 1.30, 2.30, 3.30 and 4.30pm.

Indoor visiting room

1. Visitors to this room will be required to always wear a mask in line with current national guidance for visitors into care homes.
   
2. All visiting slots for these visits will be booked on the hour for 11,1,2,3 and 4pm.

Visits away from the home

1. Any resident can leave the home for an outdoor visit with their visitors at any time from Monday 13th June 2021, if the visit is booked with staff in advance. This includes to local shopping areas or eateries, or family member’s gardens. Wherever possible residents should remain outdoors using outdoor seated areas for meeting.
   
2. These visits do not need to be at an allocated time slot and do not have any time limit, but visitors must be LFD tested. Please ensure we have some idea of the time of a time for resident’s return.
   
3. Please be always mindful on visits away from the home of national guidance on social distancing, mask wearing and infection control precautions.
   
4. All residents and visitors must be wearing a mask when travelling in a car and have the car well ventilated as per national guidelines.

Visits on a resident’s own patio area

1. All residents who have a patio area from their room can also have visitors to this area of the home, but these visits must also be booked in one of the available time slots and in inclement weather visitors can then resort to the inside alternative for that time.
   
2. Visitors on the patio areas do not need to wear a mask but social distancing must be maintained.

Booking visits

1. Each resident will be able to book visits and outings when they wish but, in line with national guidance, no ad hoc visits can be supported.
   
2. A nominated family member or the resident should coordinate visits and contact the admin office on 01962 882848 between the hours of 10:30 and 16:30 to book any available slots for visiting.
   
3. Visits can also be booked on the day if there are any vacant slots. This can be requested by ringing on the day of the visit before 11:00hrs to see if there are any available slots for visiting. We cannot guarantee any availability for these visits and preference will always be given to residents who have not already got a planned booked visit that week.

Cleaning

Following a Pod or internal visit the person supporting visits will clean every surface on both the visitor’s side and the resident’s side of the room with appropriate cleaning materials. The room will be cleaned using a fogging device at the end of the last visit of the day. National guidance states we must continue with high levels of infection control measures in the home, and therefore visits have to occur at nominated times.

Infection control concerns and actions

1. If there is any concern about a risk of infection within the room then Matron or the Sister-in-Charge must be informed immediately, and appropriate actions will be taken to ensure the safety and welfare of residents, visitors and staff. This may mean closing the room to visits until suitable cleaning or infection control procedures can be followed.
   
2. It is important to reiterate that should there be any outbreak of infection or risk of infection in the home all visits will cease until appropriate support and guidance has been sought.
   

With the support of all residents, visitors and staff in following these guidelines, we look forward to being able to facilitate more visits and outings for our residents. This will help to improve and support their general health and wellbeing as we move towards a more open visiting plan.

Please remember staff are working hard to ensure we all adhere to these guidelines and ensure the safety and welfare of everyone who lives and works at our home. If you have any concerns or comments about these guidelines, then please direct them to Matron or the General Manager so that we can consider these, and any amendments required to support all our residents and their families.

Update (February 2021)

Throughout this pandemic, The Dower House has adapted working practises to accommodate all national and local advice and guidance, in order to ensure the safety and welfare of all who live, work and visit our home.

Following a thorough risk assessment, along with a review of the facilities and processes to support visits, it is with great pleasure that we will be reopening for restricted visits with effect from 1st February 2021.

Updated guidelines have been developed which are in line with national and local guidelines which state:

“Visitor numbers should be limited to a single constant visitor where possible, with an absolute maximum of two constant visitors per resident. This, for example, means the same family member visiting each time to limit the number of different individuals coming into contact. This is in order to limit the number of different visitors to the care home and/or to the individual, and the consequent risk of disease transmission from multiple different routes.”

Please ensure you refer to the full guidelines before booking a visit or attending a booked visit.

Some key points to be aware of are as follows:

• Residents are able to have one weekly visit lasting up to 40 minutes.
  
• Residents have been asked to nominate two people with whom they wish to have visits.
  
• Visits will only be arranged for people on this list.
  
• Visits will be booked on a first-come, first-served basis.
  
• All visits must be booked through reception by calling 01962 882848 between 10.30 am and 4.30 pm.
  
• Visiting slots will be 11:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00 hrs.
  
• All visits will take place in a dedicated room which can be accessed from outside for visitors and within the home for residents.
  
• There will be no access to other areas of the home for any visitors during these planned visits.
  
• All visitors will be required to answer a short questionnaire and have their temperature checked before the visit.
  
• Unsatisfactory responses to the questionnaire will result in your visit being declined.
  
• All visitors must comply with The Dower House hygiene protocols and wear a mask at all times.
  
• Please do not bring unnecessary items with you - this includes handbags.
  
• Visitors must maintain the appropriate social distance at all times and must remain on the visitor’s side of the screens during the visit.
  
• Visitors are respectfully asked to adhere to time limits in order for the area to be cleaned before the next visit.
  
• If you arrive early for your allocated visit, please wait in your vehicle.
  
• We also ask you not to attend a booked visit if you feel unwell or have any COVID-19 symptoms.

It is with the greatest of respect and concern for the wellbeing of our residents and staff that you are asked to comply with our guidelines.

You can download the full guidelines here and the visitor’s questionnaire here.

If you have any questions about the guidelines or are in any doubt as to whether you should attend for a pre-booked visit, please contact the office on 01962 882848.

Update (December 2020)

Following the recent announcement that sees Hampshire move to Tier 4 restrictions from Boxing Day, it is with much sadness that we advise all non-essential visits to The Dower House will, once again, cease with effect from Boxing Day.

We understand the frustrations and anxieties this will cause for everyone. However, we must maintain the high level of vigilance against the virus which has kept our home infection clear to date.

We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation both locally and nationally, and keep you updated through our weekly newsletter, or more often by email if necessary.

Update (November 2020)

Throughout this pandemic The Dower House has adapted working practises to accommodate all national and local advice and guidance, in order to ensure the safety and welfare of all who live, work and visit our home.

Following a thorough risk assessment, along with a review of the facilities and processes to support much longed-for visits, it is with great pleasure that we will be reopening for restricted visits with effect from 23rd November 2020.

Full guidelines have been developed which are in line with national and local guidelines which state,

“Visitor numbers should be limited to a single constant visitor where possible, with an absolute maximum of two constant visitors per resident. This, for example, means the same family member visiting each time to limit the number of different individuals coming into contact. This is in order to limit the number of different visitors to the care home and/or to the individual, and the consequent risk of disease transmission from multiple different routes.”

Please ensure you refer to the full guidelines before booking a visit or attending a booked visit.

Some key points to be aware of are as follows:

• Residents are able to have one weekly visit lasting up to 40 minutes.
• Residents will be asked to nominate two people with whom they wish to have visits. Visits will only be arranged for people on this list.
• Visits will be booked on a first come, first served basis.
• All visits must be booked through reception by calling 01962 882848 between 10.30am and 4.30 pm.
• All visits will take place in a dedicated room which can be accessed from outside for visitors and within the home for residents.
• There will be no access to other areas of the home for any visitors during these planned visits.
• All visitors will be required to answer a short questionnaire and have their temperature checked before the visit.
• Unsatisfactory responses to the questionnaire will result in your visit being declined.
• All visitors must comply with The Dower House hygiene protocols and wear a mask at all times.
• Visitors must maintain the appropriate social distance at all times and must remain on the visitors side of the screens during the visit.
• Visitors are respectfully asked to adhere to time limits in order for the area to be cleaned before the next visit.
• If you arrive early for your allocated visit, please wait in your vehicle.
  

We also ask you not to attend for a booked visit if you feel unwell or have any COVID-19 symptoms.

It is with the greatest of respect and concern for the wellbeing of our residents and staff that you are asked to comply with our guidelines.

You can download the full guidelines here and the visitors questionnaire here.

If you have any questions about the guidelines, or are in any doubt as to whether you should attend for a pre-booked visit, please contact the office on 01962 882848.

Update (September 2020)

It is with regret that we have had to take the decision to stop all non-essential visits to our home for the foreseeable future. Local and national guidance points us to ever increasing levels of infection and the risks associated with this. This means we are no longer able to offer outside visits and all our residents have been made aware of this.

We have not taken this decision lightly and understand the frustrations and anxieties this will cause for everyone. However we must maintain the high level of vigilance against the virus which has kept our home infection clear to date.

We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation both locally and nationally, and keep you updated through our weekly newsletter, or more often by email if necessary.

We hope that you will understand the reasons for this decision and join us in supporting residents and staff in our home to make the most of the current situation. We are planning to increase the general level of activity in the home to offer more company and support to our residents over the next few weeks, including the support of our Wellbeing Coordinator Lisa.

COVID19 Update (August 2020)

Throughout this pandemic The Dower House has adapted working practices to accommodate all national and local advice and guidance, in order to ensure the safety and welfare of all who live, work and visit our home.

We are pleased to have remained free of the Covid virus throughout the pandemic and are taking all the necessary precautions to ensure our high hygiene standards continue and allow us to maintain this record.

In line with national guidance, all new residents being welcomed to our home are required to remain in isolation for the initial two weeks of their stay.

Social distancing guidance is being applied in all areas throughout the home, unless it prevents the correct standard of care being provided. In these instances, full personal protective equipment is available for use.

Our communal dining room remains closed for use at this time. This is under review with plans to reopen this, hopefully, by the end of September.

All residents and staff are being swabbed in line with national guidance to monitor any possible source of infection into our home.

Cleaning practices remain a very high priority in our day. All surfaces which are frequently used are cleaned several times per day as required.

Infection Control themed inspection

On Friday 21st August 2020 we welcomed the Care Quality Commission to our home for an Infection Control themed inspection.

The Dower House was one of only 300 homes in England to support this inspection, the purpose of which was to review and observe good practice in the management of infection control in our home and to understand what measures are in place to support a possible second wave of the Covid Virus.

This was a very successful visit and we hope to share the results of the inspection with our residents and their families very soon.

Visiting residents of The Dower House

All residents have the opportunity to receive visitors to an allocated area of our garden or to have a ‘window visit’ at the front of the home.

Social distancing guidance is followed during these visits which have proved hugely popular with our residents and families.

To book a visit please call the administration team between 9:30am and 4.30pm on weekdays.

We continue to support visits into our home in exceptional circumstances such as for end of life care and staff will be available at all times to support these visits.

With whole home swab testing of staff and residents in place, we hope to be able to invite limited numbers of visitors to our home, by appointment, by the end of September 2020.

Keeping in touch with residents

We continue to encourage you to contact friends or relatives who live at The Dower House by phone, Skype, WhatsApp or FaceTime and arrangements are in place to facilitate this.

You can call residents on their direct number or use the office number. Please call the office if you need assistance.

If you have any questions about contacting friends or relatives residing at The Dower House, please call the office on 01962 882848 and a member of staff will be happy to help.

UPDATED 25th March 2020

As the situation has developed, we have made further changes to working arrangements at The Dower House to ensure we maintain a high standard of care whilst protecting the wellbeing of residents and staff.

1. All visits to The Dower House have been suspended until further notice. This includes visits to residents by friends or family and all visiting entertainment.
2. You are encouraged to contact residents by phone, Skype, WhatsApp or FaceTime. Arrangements are in place to facilitate this. You can call residents on their direct number or use the office number. Please call the office if you need assistance.
3. Social distancing guidance is being applied in all areas throughout the home, unless it prevents the correct standard of care being provided.
4. Matron is currently staying on-site as are some members of staff.
5. Staff are subject to temperature checks on arrival at work and anyone displaying symptoms of the virus is following self-isolation guidelines at home.
6. Lunch is now being served to individual rooms. The dining room is closed at lunchtime.
7. Hygiene standards are being maintained stringently throughout the home and in individual rooms.
   

If you have any questions about contacting friends or relatives residing at The Dower House, please call the office on 01962 882848 and a member of staff will be happy to help.

INITIAL RESPONSE 11th March 2020

It has been made very clear by health authorities including the NHS and the UK Chief Medical Officer, that this virus poses an increased risk to older people or those with pre-existing medical conditions. In light of this, we are increasing the precautionary measures to ensure that both residents and staff are as safe as we can make them.

This page sets out:

• What we have done to prepare for COVID-19
• Information regarding visiting The Dower House
• How you can help reduce the spread of COVID-19
• Training and public information

Whilst there have not yet been any instances of COVID-19 linked to The Dower House, it is important that we keep you informed of the additional precautionary measures in order to reassure our residents and their friends and families. This is particularly important considering the increasing challenges facing the authorities with regards to identifying, monitoring and containing the spread of the virus.

How has The Dower House prepared for COVID-19?

After the health authorities alerted us to the risk of COVID-19, The Dower House management team took prompt action to ensure that The Dower House is well stocked with essential hygiene products including hand sanitisers, hand wash and appropriate medical supplies. We have worked closely with our suppliers to maintain stock levels.

This means that The Dower House is currently adequately stocked and when visiting friends or relatives you are encouraged to ensure stringent hand hygiene and utilise the products provided.

Staff are available to assist if you need any help.

As has been widely reported, good hand hygiene is THE most important weapon in our fight against the spread of COVID-19.

Visiting The Dower House

At the time of writing, we are in the ‘delay’ phase of the outbreak response. In light of this, we have taken the decision to minimise unnecessary visits to The Dower House.

If you are a friend or family member of a resident, you are politely asked NOT to visit if you are experiencing a high temperature, have a cough or shortness of breath.

It is also important that you do not visit The Dower House if you have visited any of the category 1 or 2 countries identified by Public Health England as COVID-19 hotspots.

You can find a full list of those countries and ‘at risk’ groups here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Any unnecessary visits to The Dower House are being discouraged.

The Dower House is proud of its’ place in the local community, and our rich programme of activities involving visiting speakers and activity leaders. Following current guidelines, we are asking all visiting speakers and activity leaders to follow all necessary infection control guidelines before visiting our home. This will ensure our residents can continue to enjoy these activities as safely as possible. We may at a later date decide to temporarily suspend such activity if we feel it poses an unnecessary infection risk to residents.

It is important that you understand what you can do to limit the exposure of your elderly friends and relatives to this illness.

How you can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 (source: Public Health England)

1. If you have been in contact with someone with coronavirus or have returned from an affected area identified by the Chief Medical Officer as high risk and you are feeling unwell with a cough, difficulty breathing or fever, stay at home and use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service or call NHS 111.
2. Wash your hands more often than usual, for 20 seconds using soap and hot water, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose, or after being in public areas where other people are doing so. Use hand sanitiser if that’s all you have access to.
3. To reduce the spread of germs when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, or your sleeve (not your hands) if you don’t have a tissue, and throw the tissue away immediately. Then wash your hands or use a hand sanitising gel.
4. Clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces using your regular cleaning products to reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people.

Training and public information at The Dower House

Public information notices have been displayed around The Dower House for a number of weeks regarding the risk of the spread of COVID-19 and the steps we must all take to minimise this.

We cannot stress enough how vital thorough hand washing is, not just around The Dower House but throughout your day to day activities.

To further support that, and as part of ongoing infection control measures at The Dower House, all staff will be required to attend additional infection control training sessions which will include handwashing training sessions. This will help us to know that we are doing everything we can to minimise the risk of virus transfer in The Dower House.

For the latest information on COVID-19 and how to minimise your risk of infection please go to the following websites:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

If you have any other questions regarding our preparedness for COVID-19 please do not hesitate to speak to a member of The Dower House staff who will be happy to answer your questions. Call 01962 882848.