Covid-19 update – November 2020

To our friends, supporters, volunteers and suppliers,

Just as life was beginning to return to some sort of normality, we again find ourselves on the brink of another lockdown.

No doubt you will all have several questions around how this will impact on you and our residents here at Care for Veterans.

Below is a brief outline of some of the measures we will be taking to protect your loved one from the threat of Covid-19.

Staff

Our policies remain in line with Public Health England’s Guidelines.

All our healthcare and support staff are coming into work as normal, and all are following the guidelines around social distancing and strict hygiene to ensure the safety of themselves, their colleagues and our residents.

Office-based staff are now fully equipped to carry out their working day from home. Where a staff members job is not restricted by them working from home, the organisation will be advising them to work from home. This will help reduce the movement of people in and out of the service.

Visitors

It is with great sadness that we will be stopping visits from Thursday 5^th November 2020 until further notice.

Residents do have access to iPads and computers, so we strongly encourage relatives to utilise apps such as Skype and Facetime. Video calls really help to keep residents’ morale up during these difficult times.

Contractors

Only essential work will take place during lockdown. Contractors will have their temperature checked upon arrival and will read and sign our ‘Responsible Visitors Code’. Once this is complete, they will be asked to put on their PPE and will be taken to the area where we need them to undertake work.

Where possible, we will aim to keep contractors off the wings.

New Admissions

Care for Veterans remains open to new admissions, both respite and permanent. Any person requiring admission will be screened at the assessment stage and will need to have a recent negative Covid-19 test result.  If the admission is to proceed, they will be screened again in a triage area before going onto the wing. The screening will include a declaration and a physical assessment. This process will protect our staff, current residents and families. Unfortunately, no pre-admission tours are currently available, but there are many pictures on our website, and we are in the early stages of putting together a virtual tour. Anyone seeking rehabilitation and/or care should contact Pauline Jones on 01903 213458 or email pauline.jones@careforveterans.org.uk.

Fundraising

Whilst we appreciate that these are frightening and uncertain times for everyone, Care for Veterans must continue to provide the very best care and rehabilitation for our disabled veterans, and we can only do so with the kind and continued support of our donors. We receive no regular Government funding and have already had to cancel several fundraising events upon which we were relying for income to fund what we do. We kindly ask all those who support us to continue to do so and any donation, large or small, that you can give would be very much appreciated by all the veterans and staff at Care for Veterans. Please contact our Fundraising Dept on 01903 218444 or fundraising@careforveterans.org.uk if you can help, click here to view upcoming fundraising events, or you can donate by clicking the ‘donate’ button at the top of our website.

I would like to end by thanking all of you for your continued support and understanding during what has been a very difficult year.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Take care and stay safe.

Matthew Li

Registered Manager