A Waltham Abbey care home’s Covid-19 safety measures have passed an inspection by the national care watchdog.
Tallis House was visited by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors at the start of the year as part of the organisation's response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus.
The Runwood Homes care home was previously rated ‘requires improvement’ overall by CQC in a report published in 2019.
Commission inspectors reviewed the home in Neal Court and deemed its Infection Prevention and Control practices ‘safe’.
Inspectors reported management were following the Government's guidance on whole home testing for people and staff, including rapid testing and weekly testing for staff.
Staff were said to have received the proper pandemic and PPE training.
New admissions were tested for Covid-19 and on admission were supported to isolate.
Inspectors praised the set up of communal spaces which had been adapted to encourage social distancing, with clear guidance and signage around the service to help prompt staff to “safely work whilst minimising the risk of spreading infection”.
Inspectors wrote: “Good infection prevention control practices had been implemented such as increased cleaning and the addition of PPE stations and hand sanitisers around the service.
“People's well-being was supported by video and telephone calls to relatives and staff continued to engage in activities with people of their choice.”
Gavin O’Hare-Connolly, chief operating officer for Runwood Homes, said: “‘The diligence and dedication of our colleagues across Runwood Homes has been excellent and as a company we continue to be at the forefront to ensure very high standards of Infection Prevention and Control are embedded within our homes.
“The manager and her entire team at Tallis House continue to go above and beyond to ensure the wellbeing of those who work with us and those who live with us, are both safe and afforded the very high quality of care we expect.
“We thank the Care Quality Commission for their very positive endorsement of this hard work.
“We are very excited about the return of visitors to our homes as we welcome friends and families back to see their loved ones through this unprecedented time, and have no doubt this will be a time of great celebration to reunite our residents with their nominated loved one.”
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