Nov 2020
Latest update: 6 November
Latest update for family and friends
On 31 October, the Government announced a national lockdown from 12pm on Wednesday 4 November until early December. This meant that we would be unable accept visitors, unless under exceptional circumstances such as end-of-life.
The new guidance to “Support Safe Care Home Visits” was published mid-afternoon on 5 November. We are pleased that this will allow some visiting to take place as that is something OSJCT feels is vital, providing that it can be done in a safe manner.
Before visiting can begin under the new national lockdown, one of the key requirements of the new guidance is that every resident must have an individual risk assessment in place. With approximately 3,500 residents this is a significant undertaking and is one that we have immediately started.
We have also commissioned work to install dedicated visitor rooms in every one of our 68 homes. These rooms will contain a substantial screen between the resident and the visitor.
Be assured we are working as hard as is possible to put the right arrangements in place for the safety and well-being of our residents, their loved ones and our colleagues. We will update again as soon as possible.
The Department of Public Health and Social Care can put further restrictions in place on a regional basis and we will continue to provide localised information on our Regional Update page.