New testing & isolation plans to protect Fife care home residents

Care homes in Fife are to be subject to a range of new steps in a bid to protect residents from coronavirus.

Anyone admitted from their own home will be tested prior to moving in or as soon as they arrive - and they must be isolated for 14 days in line national guidance.

Mobile testing teams will carry out additional tests on residents and staff.

And if there are any cases of COVID-19 in care homes, all residents and staff will be tested whether or not they have symptoms.

Fife has had 38 deaths in care homes, and today it was confirmed 14 elderly people had lost their lives in Methven home, Kirkcaldy.

Six died after contracting the virus, with a further eight deaths which, due to a lack of testing, were presumed to have been a result of COVID-19.

A new multi-agency team has been set up in a bid to try to contain the threat to care homes.

Fife Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Fife Public Health have set up a Care Home Oversight Group.

It includes public health, health and social care, primary care, Scottish Care and the Care Inspectorate, and will oversee the provision of additional resources, guidance and assurance- and support for te prevention and management of outbreaks.

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/health/coronavirus/fife-care-home-boss-reveals-awful-human-toll-coronavirus-2843397

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/health/coronavirus/fife-care-home-boss-reveals-awful-human-toll-coronavirus-2843397

In a joint statement, Nicky Connor director of Fife Health and Social Care Partnership and Dona Milne Director of Public Health, NHS Fife said: “The health and wellbeing of residents and staff in care homes in Fife is a high priority.

“We want to thank care home staff for continuing to provide excellent care with dedication and commitment at this difficult time.

“We also wish to thank everyone who has volunteered or been redeployed to work in care homes and provide vital backup to care home staff.”

The new action plan will come under the remit of the new group.

The Health and Social Care Partnership’s district nursing team will visit care homes as part of their clinical duties and also assess needs such as additional PPE, staffing and understanding infection control.

People admitted to a care home from a hospital setting are already being tested, and sample testing will also begin in care homes where there are no cases of Covid-19.

The role of the Care Inspectorate remains unchanged – it has the responsibility to regulate care services in Scotland to make sure that they meet the right standards and will form part of the Oversight Group.

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Allan Crow, Editor, Fife Free Press