Update from Sarah Clarke-Kuehn, Group Director – Sanctuary Care, 23 December 2020

As of Saturday (19 December), the national government announced further local tier restrictions, ranging from ‘Tier 1: Medium Alert’ to ‘Tier 4: Stay at Home’, and while our overall visiting strategy and guidance has not changed, local authority restrictions will naturally have an impact.

With this in mind, we welcome you to contact your home’s manager in the first instance to find out what visiting guidance applies to your local care home. However to support our loved ones, please find brief visiting guidance for each tier below.

Please be assured our priority continues to be preventing the spread of Covid-19 and maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our residents, their visitors and our staff. At all times, we continue to take direction from the local Public Health Inspector regarding the ‘R’ rate in every area and monitor this ourselves very carefully. We will also constantly review our visiting guidance and details below may change instantly, as and when required.

Finally, all our teams continue to deliver high-quality care with sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and take part in a weekly re-testing cycle, while starting the vaccination process at their local hospitals.

Visiting guidance for English care homes: 

If your home is in a Tier 1 area:

• On-site Lateral Flow Testing will be carried out prior to visiting your loved one
• All visits will be carried out in an outdoor heated visiting pod or designated visiting room, with no screens in place
• Two visitors are welcomed to visit at a time and they may be from different households
• Visiting may take place from differing family members, but only two loved ones can visit at a time
• Visiting is not permitted if families live in or have travelled through a Tier 4, Tier 3 or Tier 2 area in the last 14 days
• Face masks or coverings must be worn for the duration of the visit and until you have left the home
• As always, two-metre social distancing must be observed throughout the entire visit with your loved one.

If your home is in a Tier 2 area:

• Unfortunately, we are not permitted to carry out any Lateral Flow Testing
• All visits will be carried out with screens in place or window visits, where the window will be open enough to facilitate a conversation
• Two visitors are welcomed to visit at a time and they may be from different households
• Visiting may take place from differing family members, but only two loved ones can visit at a time
• Visiting is not permitted if families live in or have travelled through a Tier 4 or Tier 3 area in the last 14 days
• Face masks or coverings must be worn for the duration of the visit and until you have left the home
• As always, two-metre social distancing must be observed throughout the entire visit with your loved one.

If your home is in a Tier 3 area:

• Unfortunately, we are not permitted to carry out any Lateral Flow Testing
• All visits will be carried out with screens in place or window visits, where the window will be slightly open
• Visiting is not permitted if families live in or have travelled through a Tier 4 in the last 14 days
• Two visitors are welcomed to visit at a time and they may be from different households
• Two designated family visitors will be nominated and will remain the only parties who are welcomed to visit the home while the local area remains in Tier 3
• Face masks or coverings must be worn for the duration of the visit and until you have left the home
• As always, two-metre social distancing must be observed throughout the entire visit with your loved one.

If your home is in a Tier 4 area:

• Unfortunately, we are not permitted to carry out any Lateral Flow Testing
• All visits will be carried out with screens in place or window visits, where the window is closed at all times
• Two visitors are welcomed to visit but must be from the same household
• Two designated family visitors will be nominated and will remain the only parties who are welcomed to visit the home while the local area remains in Tier 4
• Face masks or coverings must be worn for the duration of the visit and until you have left the home
• As always, two-metre social distancing must be observed throughout the entire visit with your loved one.

 Sarah Clarke-Kuehn, Group Director Sanctuary Care