COVID Response

Download the COVID Admissions PDF here.

(11th August 2020)

Due to the current situation with the Coronavirus most of our corporate offices around the country are unmanned.

Our staff are working remotely during office hours and doing all they can to support our operational services around the country at this difficult time.

This means that the quickest and easiest way to communicate with us is via email. If you have a general query then please email: hello@ambient.org.uk or use our contact form on this website.

If you do wish to talk to us then calls are being re-routed and diverted to our corporate support teams on our Head Office number: 020 8502 3933

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patience.

(4 June 2020)

Tips for Keeping in Touch

You want your relatives and friends to be safe and well cared for during this pandemic and to help prevent risk of infection to them and others, including care staff. Staying away doesn’t have to mean losing contact. The Relatives and Residents Association have drawn together to create some tips for how families can continue to remain in touch with loved ones.

Use the following links to find out more:

http://www.relres.org/keep-in-touch/

https://www.relres.org/helpline/coronavirus/

Ambient Support fully endorse the joint statement from the Relatives & Residents Association and the National Care Forum, endorsed by the Care Provider Alliance, the Care Quality Commission and Skills for Care. Which sets out shared expectations and good practice relating to the importance of clear, open, transparent and regular communications during the COVID-19 crisis between care providers* and the families** of their residents.

Download the full statement here.

As such Ambient Support continues to commit to:

1. Keep family members informed about their own relatives Covid-19 status (suspected or confirmed)

2. Being as open and transparent as possible with family members about the situation in any of our services.

We have kept in touch with family members to update them as to the status of our services in respect of the virus and have provided assurances about the actions we continue to take to minimise risk to those that we support.

Our management teams are in regular contact with family members and are doing their utmost to facilitate regular contact between those we support, and their loved ones, be that via telephone, video conferencing, apps or distanced interactions.

We are ensuring that our social media pages are used as a way of keeping people connected and up to date with the daily life in our services and where appropriate (with consent) video messages.

We acknowledge that we all have a part to play in helping achieve honest and effective communications at this difficult time and would also draw to the attention of family members the asks from us as, originally articulated in the joint statement. Namely that family members:

• Ensure we have their up-do-date contact details

• Inform us promptly of any changes to these contact details

• Agree where possible that a ‘lead contact’ be established in a family, particularly when that family is large or indeed divided, (so there may be need for two lead contacts).

• Letting our services know of your preferred communication method and any other specifics on how best we might contact you.

• Recognise that this is a stressful and anxious time for families, those we support and our Ambient staff teams and that everyone is doing their very best in an unknown and difficult situation.

We will continue to work in the best interest of those that we support and our staff to minimise any risks to them and will always work towards following the latest guidance and best practice in a way that makes sense within our services.

We are open to feedback and suggestions on how we can all continue to work together to keep family members informed and those we support safe and well. If you wish to provide us with any feedback and suggestions on how we might can work together please email us at: hello@ambient.org.uk or use the Contact Us form on this website.

(4 June 2020)

Care Homes

In line with Government guidance, our care and support services across the country are working on their dynamic risk assessments to ensure that guidelines permitting visits between family members and those we support are adhered to and can go ahead safely in our Care Home services.

Allowing visits is a complex issue and requires us to carry out full Health & Safety, risk and feasibility assessments and is dependent on the type of service we operate, the environment we are operating in, the accessibility to suitable space, client group and staff resources.

As the pandemic situation is dynamic and ever changing we will always work within the latest guidance and advice that is provided to us by both the Government and local public health teams. This means that as guidance changes we are constantly required to reassess our response to allowing visits to services.

This means that for the latest visitor information for a specific Care Home that your family member or loved one is resident in  you will need to contact the Ambient Management team at the service directly. However in summary the Guidance for Care Home visits states that:

• Every care home resident can nominate up to 5 named visitors who will be able to enter the care home for regular visits (and will be able to visit together or separately as preferred)
• Residents with higher care needs can choose to nominate an essential care giver who may visit the home to attend to essential care needs
• The 5 named visitors may include an essential care giver (where they have one) but excludes babies and preschool-aged children (as long as this does not breach national restrictions on indoor gatherings)
• To reduce the risk of infection residents can have no more than 2 visitors at a time or over the course of one day (essential care givers are exempt from this daily limit). The named visitors should be tested using rapid lateral flow tests in line with the testing regime detailed below, should wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), maintain social distancing and follow all other infection prevention and control measures (which the care home will guide them on) during visits. Named visitors and residents are advised to keep physical contact to a minimum (excluding essential care givers). Visitors and residents may wish to hold hands, but should bear in mind that any physical contact increases the risk of transmission. For this reason, there should not be close physical contact, such as hugging
• Residents with higher care needs can also choose to nominate an essential care giver. As set out above, essential care givers are included in the total of 5 named visitors but excluded from the 2 person limit per visit or per day
• Any children visiting (apart from babies and preschool-aged children) should also be counted towards the maximum number allowed for the visit. National restrictions on indoor gatherings must be followed. Find out more about what you can and cannot do

To support effective infection prevention and control in care homes, named visitors:

• Should be tested using rapid lateral flow tests in line with their testing regime detailed below and produce a negative COVID test prior to their visit
• Should wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), maintain social distancing and follow all other infection prevention and control measures (which the care home will guide them on) during visits
• Care homes can also continue to offer visits to other friends or family members through arrangements such as outdoor visiting, rooms with substantial screens, visiting pods, or from behind windows

The latest summary from Government on visiting Care Homes for visitors can be found on the following link: Summary of guidance for visitors – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Supported Living

We will do our best to accommodate visits from loved ones in line with national COVID restrictions. We may be able to accommodate visits within a service, in an outdoor space, or facilitate meetings externally of a service e.g. at a local park.  Some overnight stays away from a Supported Living service may now be possible however, this will be risk assessed on a case-by-case basis with particular reference to each person’s capability to Government Guidance.

Please contact local Ambient support teams at the service you are connected with if you have any questions or queries.

The latest guidance on Visits for Supported Living can be found on the following link: COVID-19: guidance for supported living – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

(27 May 2021)

Ambient Support is committed to ensuring that we protect the health, safety and wellbeing of both the people the we support and our staff teams.

This means that across our services and offices Ambient staff are following the latest Government and Public Health England (PHE) Guidance to work in ways that ensure we minimise any risks to those we support and our staff during this crisis.

Offices
Our corporate and regional offices are currently closed to visitors and only essential staff access visits are taking place.  Our corporate staff teams have been provided with the equipment and resources which enable them to work from home.

Operational Services
Each of our operational services have a fully site specific COVID 19 Risk Assessment in place.  If you wish to find out more about the specific operating practices at a site or service that a relative or loved one is resident at or receiving support from, then please send an email for the attention of our Health & Safety Manager to: hello@ambient.org.uk. We will endeavour to get back to you as quickly as possible.

(8 June 2020)

Download the Ambient Support Protocol for Contractors document.