STAFF at a Coventry nursing home have adjusted their shift patterns and ways of working to ensure residents are kept as safe and active as possible during the pandemic.
The average age of residents at the Eric Williams House home is 90 and many have been diagnosed with Dementia and various other underlying health conditions, putting them in the very high-risk Covid 19 group.
Despite the high number of residents, the team has risen to the challenge, utilising technology and the skill set of staff both new and old.
Using their hidden talents like sewing and singing, they have been creative in ways they never have before.
Staff have lots of skills prior to working in social care with one example being an employee who previously worked as a hairdresser so is now able to support residents to maintain their good looks.
Other creative ideas have been having singers in the garden and a new Facebook page for families to see what their relatives have been up to.
Residents are Face-timing loved ones for the first time all with the help of the staff team and ICT.
It is also business as usual for the short-term lounge which supports hospital discharges, freeing up beds in hospital.
The short-term lounge staff team has not only volunteered to work solely in this lounge, members have changed their rota to minimise the numbers of staff needing to be in there, making it safer for them and the short-term residents.
Coun Mal Mutton, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, said: “This is such a difficult and uncertain time for everyone, so it is fantastic see staff at Eric Williams House going to such lengths to look after not only their residents but also the residents’ families.”
Service manager April Ross added: “Eric Williams House has always been highly regarded so it is not a surprise that staff continue to deliver high standards of care during this difficult time.
“I have seen many heart-warming pictures that truly capture the essence of the care, more than words ever could.”
And registered manager Terri Hallinan said: “One of the things you will hear around Eric Williams House is ‘team work makes the dream work’.
“The team at Eric Williams House has always been so much more than a team, it’s a family and one which I am proud to be a part of.”
