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Caring for people in communities - plea for crucial contact to be kept to one person only
Published: Wednesday, 25 March 2020
Health and Social Care leaders in Lanarkshire have urged people to take a single-person approach
Health and Social Care leaders in Lanarkshire have urged people to take a single-person approach when caring for vulnerable friends and relatives. Both Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership continue to work towards ensuring that all hospital patients whose discharge has been delayed are able to leave hospital as soon as they are medically fit to do so.
This move is designed to minimise their potential exposure to Coronaviris (COVID-19). It will also contribute towards creating vital extra capacity to help NHS Lanarkshire accommodate people requiring intensive care treatment.
Val de Souza, chief officer, South Lanarkshire Health & Social Care Partnership, again highlighted the current pressures on Care at Home services and underlined how members of the public can assist. She said: “COVID-19 is presenting Care at Home services in the area with increasingly significant capacity challenges. We’re asking families and carers of those currently in receipt of home care to help where possible and in line with national guidance. "It's crucially important that if someone can help then contact is kept to a minimum and just one person provides this help to cut down the chances of transmission. Again, we know this is a difficult situation but common sense and national guidance must be used at all times.”
On Monday evening the Scottish Government announced an effective ‘lockdown’ in a bid to flatten the curve of Covid-19 spread and protect the NHS. The only permissible reasons for people to leave their home are shopping for basic necessities, taking exercise once a day and travelling to essential work that cannot be done at home. The First Minister also confirmed medical reasons or caring for a vulnerable person was a permissible reason to leave home.
People who are not currently at work or are at home are being asked to help where they can to enable those without support to be prioritised.
Ross McGuffie, chief officer, Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire, added: “We are prioritising Care at Home services for the most vulnerable on their discharge from hospital and those with existing packages of care.
“We have already had a great response from the many people who have agreed to provide support to family members or loved ones. “However, we are still asking people across Lanarkshire to be mindful that you may now be contacted by our staff and asked to help care for a family member or friend if possible. If you are approached I would urge you to think about how you can help using a common sense approach, following national guidance and ensuring only one person visits the person to help with care needs. “
How you can help
A simple to follow checklist has been developed to ensure people can safely help loved ones:
• DO make sure you are well before lending assistance, especially to an older person.
• DO self-isolate if you are experiencing any symptoms of Coronavirus Covid-19 and look after yourself.
• DO consider others in your family or neighbourhood network who could offer help if you are self-isolating.
• DO phone a member of your care team immediately if you or a family member is in receipt of Care at Home Services and have symptoms. This will allow us to take steps protect the health of our workforce, and help reduce the potential spread of the virus to other service users.
• DO self-isolate if you are experiencing any symptoms of Coronavirus Covid-19 and look after yourself.
• DO consider others in your family or neighbourhood network who could offer help if you are self-isolating.
• DO phone a member of your care team immediately if you or a family member is in receipt of Care at Home Services and have symptoms. This will allow us to take steps protect the health of our workforce, and help reduce the potential spread of the virus to other service users.
If you or anyone in your household has a high temperature or a new and continuous cough – even if it’s mild everyone in your household must stay at home for 14 days and keep away from others. Do not go to your GP, hospital or pharmacy. Go to www.nhsinform.scot to check your symptoms and follow the specialist medical advice.
Only call NHS 24 (111) if you can’t get online or your symptoms worsen.
Family, friends and carers are being asked to help until current pressures recede care packages can be reassessed. Where circumstances seriously change before a care package is reassessed, service users or carers are asked to contact a member of their care team.
We are prioritising patient safety by discharging patients as soon as they are medically fit to leave hospital in order to minimise the potential of them having any exposure to the virus in hospital. This is being done with all patients’ safety in mind to ensure their rehabilitation is continued in their home or a familiar setting. Assessments of need may be completed in the community in an interim placement within a nursing or residential care home as well as at home.
More information on COVID-19 can be found at: https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/novel-corona-virus-covid-19/
