Coronavirus: a message to our clients
Amidst the turmoil and anxiety surrounding COVID-19, we would like to reassure all of our clients that we are here to answer your questions and to provide the best possible care for your loved ones. However, in light of such an unprecedented situation, we have had to make some difficult decisions.
In order to protect our care team and the crucial services they provide to so many people, we will now be unable to provide standard care to anyone who has – or is suspected of having – COVID-19. As the government has outlined, if any individual being cared for shows symptoms of COVID-19, personal protective equipment (PPE) should be used for any activities involving personal contact. They also state that new PPE should be used for each episode of care. Unfortunately, we simply do not have enough of this equipment nor have we received any assurances of future supplies due to a national shortage of it. Furthermore, it would be impossible to guarantee that we could prevent the spread of COVID-19 from an infected client to another and potentially even more vulnerable one.
We therefore strongly urge everyone to have a contingency plan in place so that replacement care can be quickly and efficiently sorted out should it come to that. If you have no one to turn to, please visit gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable to register for the support that you need. There are further suggestions for contingency planning here.
In the meantime, we will be looking at options to see if we can set up a special team with designated carers who would cover limited calls to clients who present with coronavirus symptoms. We will immediately inform you if this is something we are able to do.
We are also closely following the developments of antibody tests which could detect whether an individual has had coronavirus – and therefore the antibodies to prevent reinfection. According to an article published by itv.com, the “Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation stated that this would be ‘very important’ as it would allow health care workers to be tested to see if they are immune to coronavirus… allowing them to work with those who are infected.”
We are hopeful that things soon change for the better and from all of us at The Private Care Company, we wish you and your loved ones well.