Coronavirus - COVID-19 - What are Persona doing?

Update 17/08/22

Whilst many restrictions in relation to covid-19 are no longer in place for the general public, there are a number of measures we have kept in place to ensure safe practice for both our staff and the people we support. These include:

2 weekly testing for staff: where staff test positive they continue to isolate until 2 negative test results are achieved
Risk assesment based approach for staff who are close contacts with someone who has tested positive for covid-19
Temperature checks for both staff and the people we support
Visitors to service would be asked to complete a test and temperature check on arrival

There maybe some additional measures within specific services that may be required and these would be discussed with the relevant people at the time.

Updated 19/07/21

As Step 4 of the government’s roadmap out of covid commences today, there are several changes that have come into force for the wider public. At Persona we will be continuing with our current arrangements for reducing the spread of Covid-19 and protecting the customers that we support, this includes the continued use of face masks and social distancing where possible.

Updated 15/04/21

Free lateral flow testing kits are now available.

You can only use this service if:

you do not have coronavirus symptoms
you live in England
you’re 18 or older
you have not been told to self-isolate
you cannot get tests from your work, school, college, or university (ask them for rapid lateral flow tests)

Full information https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests

Updated 09/04/21

In line with government guidelines, we will be accepting two dedicated visitors per customer in our Short Stay services from Monday 12th March. Please contact Elmhurst or Spurr House directly for more details and to arrange this. Pod visits will also continue.

Update 25/03/21

In line with the governments roapmap out of Covid, we are currently working with our teams to identify the impact of this on the delivery of our services. Our services remain open and whilst we understand that some people have not felt able to get out and about as restrictions ease a little and vaccinations continue to progress we look forward to seeing more of the people we support choosing to return back to our services soon.

As the ability to do more outdoor and indoor community activities occurs, we will ensure that we have robust risk assessments in place that mitigate risks as much as practically possible. We’ll also be continuing with our enhanced infection control measures including wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) including face masks, providing Covid secure environments and ensuring that we encourage social distancing. It’s great to see so many people progressing on their vaccination journey but we understand that this in itself doesn’t prevent individuals from catching or passing on Covid. We’re adapting the way we work and the way we provide support so that we can continue to do so despite the fact that Covid remains in our society.

Just because we can do certain things doesn’t mean we have to and some people may choose not to at this stage. We recognise that for both our staff and the people we support that some individuals may be excited about the roadmap and looking forward to restrictions easing. For others they may be apprehensive and not as keen to get out and about more in line with the government’s roadmap. Individuals will need to make informed choices based on the information available and we will embrace our caring, adaptable and respectful values to understand individuals’ situations and to progress at your pace.

If you have any specific queries about your support, please contact the team who support you for further information

Updated 05/01/21

Following the latest government guidelines in relation to the lockdown, we need to revert back to an approach that only allows visits for the customers we support in exceptional circumstances with immediate effect. This means that all visits (including garden visits) to Elmhurst, Spurr House, Woodbury and our Supported Living Service will not be possible at this time.

We understand how beneficial these visits have been for both our customers, their family and friends and we will reintroduce visiting as soon as we get advice that it is appropriate to do so.

For more information, visit the government website here.

Updated 21/10/20

As Bury (as part of Greater Manchester) moves into Tier 3 – Very High Restrictions we continue to have a number of measures in place to ensure that our staff and customers remain safe and we do all we can to support the efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

At this time:

Unfortunately we are unable to offer visiting within our short stay services (Elmhurst, Spurr and Woodbury) unless for exceptional circumstances and we appreciate your understanding of this
Garden visits are also not possible at this time.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks continue to be worn at all times by our staff in line with the government guidelines.

If you would like any further information please contact a member of our teams who will be able to help.

Updated 31/7/20

Following the latest government guidelines in relation to the North West local lockdown, we need to revert back to an approach that only allows visits for the customers we support in exceptional circumstances with immediate effect. This means that all visits (including garden visits) to Elmhurst, Spurr House, Woodbury and our Supported Living Service will not be possible at this time.

We understand how beneficial these visits have been for both our customers, their family and friends and we will review this decision on a weekly basis and reintroduce visiting as soon as we get advice that it is appropriate to do so.

For more information, visit the government website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/north-west-of-england-local-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do

Updated 16/07/20

As the country starts to ease out of lockdown in relation to the coronavirus pandemic we wanted to update you in relation to a number of steps we are taking to move our services into the new normal. We continue to adopt the government guidance and ensure we are keeping our customers and staff safe whilst continuing to do our bit to reduce the spread of the coronavirus within our services and across the community.

The message about reducing the spread of the virus is about having clear processes in place in relation to preventing and containing infections. This has always been a focus for us and continues to be our upmost priority during the coronavirus outbreak. All of our teams have adequate stock of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and we have clear protocols in place about wearing these in order to protect staff and others.

Our organisation is all about our people – staff and customers - and supporting them to live their best life. This hasn’t stopped due to the coronavirus. Our staff have been truly amazing and our values are shining through. At the start of the pandemic we took a number of steps that changed the way some of our services were delivered and we had to think creatively and adapt to the situation to ensure we continued to achieve positive outcomes for customers. As we move into this new normal, we continue to keep some of these new ways of working as well as planning to build back better. These include:

Opening our short stay services (Elmhurst, Spurr House and Woodbury) to visitors. We know it has been difficult for customers and families to not see their loved ones in person during this time, so we have developed a clear visiting protocol to reintroduce this into people’s lives. Customers continue to also be supported to remain in contact with their friends and family using technology such as skype, face time and social media.
Enabling our Supported Living customers to maintain contact with their friends and family through appropriate visiting arrangements and digital means.
Enhanced infection control arrangements remain in place across services.
Where staff are able to work from home we have continued to do this, ensuring that staff have the right equipment to be able to do their role effectively and to do our part to support social distancing and reduce the risk of passing any infection on to customers or other staff members.
Our Head Office has reopened to a small number of staff who are unable to do their role from home and we have put a number of measures in place to ensure the environment is covid-secure.

We continue to take steps to limit the number of staff who work across some of our services and ensure that they remain in one base as much as this is practically possible.
Where staff have been self-isolating or shielding they receive regular telephone contact to make sure they are ok and to check on their wellbeing and are being supported to return to work with a risk assessment in place.
Our Day Services have started to open up bases to provide respite for families and carers where a need has been identified and for customers to receive face to face support in smaller groups. We have a number of covid secure measures in place in these settings to protect staff and customers and to maintain social distancing. We also continue to provide welfare calls and drop-ins depending on the specific needs of customers and families.
We have developed a virtual Activity HUB which is available via our website, which brings a number of activities into our customers own homes to support customers to remain active and to socialise remotely.
Staff continue to adapt and change their rotas and shifts to work around their colleagues and their caring responsibilities at home in order to continue to provide support to our customers.

Our Short Stay Teams continue to support hospitals to discharge anyone fit enough to do so into a safe and supportive environment.
Staff and customers have been singing songs and sharing daily jokes via social media in order to lift each other spirits and remain positive.
Our catering partner, Cuppaccino's, continue to work with us to provide home cooked meals to customers in their own homes while they are self-isolating and to deliver themed afternoon teas on special occasions.
Our Supported Living service have started to support customers to get out and about in the community whilst maintaining social distancing and wearing face coverings where it is possible to do so.
Our staff wellbeing sessions have now moved to a virtual format, enabling staff to access a free weekly session aimed and maintaining good mental wellbeing.

Our Wellbeing resource hub has been expanded to include a wider range of support options to enable our staff teams to access tools designed to help them stay well and to thrive.
We’ve developed a range of easy read information for our customers to help explain some of the changes that have occurred.
We’ve engaged in all available testing initiatives including Whole Home Testing, Repeat Testing and a GM antibody testing pilot to ensure that we take every step we can to identify people who have coronavirus at an early stage in order to limit the spread of the virus.
We’ve used the principles of the Adult Social Care Risk Reduction Framework to establish our own approach to Protecting our Employees, with specific emphasis on managing risks for those groups at highest risk.

What has been great to see is that everyone continuing to pull together; our staff, customers, carers and the community, during these strange times. By working together we are getting through this, it might get harder before it gets better, but let’s take each day at a time and remember to help each other and be kind.

If you’d like to know more on a regular basis about what our services are doing to support customers to live their best life and to support the wellbeing of both customers and staff, take a look at our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube by clicking on the links.

All of our services are contactable on their usual telephone lines if you wish to contact any of the teams.

For full guidance and information about the coronavirus please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance or visit the NHS website here.

Previous statement from Persona at the start of the Lockdown.

General Information

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has a COVID-19 pandemic information page which you can access here and the Government advice can be found here.

Carers

CarersUK have added some advice to carers on their website - click here to visit it.

From June 2020 Bury Carers' Hub is providing support locally, delivered by n-compass. Read their information leaflet herefor contact details, or call them on 0300 303 0207.

Alzheimer's Society have set up a support line if you or someone you care for are worried about coronavirus and need support and advice, call them on:

0333 150 3456

They have also created advice and practical tips to help you through this time, please click on the links to exercises and activities that you can do with your loved ones.

For anything else please visit their website for the most up to date information and advice.

Christmas and New Year support from CarersUK:

Please make sure to take a look at the coronavirus guidance pages and get in touch with our advice team if needed.
Carers UK’s Helplinewill be available as normal from Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0808 808 7777, including Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to offer advice and information to carers.
Carers UK’s online Forum will be available throughout the holiday period, if you want support or to talk to other carers.
A number of online ‘Me Time’ wellbeing sessions are being run for carers throughout the Holiday period. Find out more here.
New research has been released about how carers are feeling about Christmas. Read the full report here.

New Decision Guide for Carers of People with Dementia and COVID-19

This document was developed with families of loved ones who have dementia, is funded by an Economic and Social Research Council COVID-19 grant and supported by end of life care charity Marie Curie, Alzheimer’s Society and Dementia UK. It is a free downloadable document that helps carers work through situations, medical and legal jargon so they can make informed decisions quickly under stressful circumstances.

This includes do not resuscitate orders, legal issues like power of attorney, and ensuring that health and social care professionals understand what is important to the person they are caring for when that patient’s loved ones can’t be by their side. Click here to access the guide.

One Community Bury have produced a printable PDF with advice for carers - click here to read it.

If you need to talk to someone about how you're feeling, you can ring Pennine Care's 27/7 mental health helpline on 0333 200 4339 or visit their websitehere for other organisations to contact.

Community Hubs & Updates

Five Community Hubs are being set up across Bury to support people most in need of help and support. Click hereto read about the hubs which can be accessed by telephone on 0161 253 5353.

You can stay up to date with local information on each of these websites (click to access each one):

One Community Bury, Bury Directory, Bury Council, Bury VCFA

Health and Wellbeing

There are lots of resources available at the moment to keep well, including activities, things to try & helpful contacts.

Take a look at some of the ones that we have become aware of here, by clicking on the image.

We will continue to add more as we find them, so keep coming back to see what is new.

Click on the image below for advice & help if home isn't always a safe place for you.