This Is A Holding Page For The Document Care Homes Strategy For Infection Prevention & Control Of Covid-19 Based On Clear Delineation Of Risk Zones.

This strategy which went online on 18th April, incorporated as much current UK government guidance as possible, while remaining both consistent and pragmatic. On 15th May, we undertook a mapping of current guidance on infection prevention and control in care homes from the UK Government and Public Health England in order to understand the strengths and gaps, and to show how it relates to our strategy and the rationale for where it differs. We gave some background to this mapping exercise in a blog post on 15th May, and also followed up on this with another blog post on 12th June that discussed more around the issues of asymptomatic transmission in relation to current guidance. Then on 13th July, we finished a more in-depth research document on Gaps in UK Government Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) Guidance for Care Homes and What Was Known When on Asymptomatic and Pre-symptomatic Transmission of COVID-19 – this included a national and international timeline to set out what exactly was discussed when by the UK government, compared to what was known internationally and when.

Our care homes strategy is based around some fundamental aspects of what we believe needs to happen to make care homes safer environments:

1. Understanding that asymptomatic / pre-symptomatic transmission is a major contributor to the spread of Covid-19 in care homes, where the source of this transmission comes from outside (mostly via staff, but also visitors). Note that we have carried out an evidence review of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, as well as an evidence review of airborne transmission and the effectiveness of masks.
2. Clear delineation of zones of risk for the entire building, differentiating between contaminated & clean, which is reinforced through staff allocation & rotation.
3. Hand disinfection for all points between risk zones (even where gloves remain on).

It also attempts to add some more pragmatic detail for certain elements – for example, how to practically re-purpose PPE using chlorine, and how to make chlorine dilutions. More recently (October & November 2020) we have also added some supporting documents that are linked to within the strategy: a ventilation decision tool to help managers make decisions about ventilation of communal spaces, a more in-depth explanation of non-chlorine disinfectants, and a review of good practices in working with people with disabilities.

The document is meant as a practical aid for care home managers to be able to implement effective infection control in their particular context. It is acknowledged that there will be a whole range of different types and set-ups of care home depending on the level of care required (e.g. nursing, care, sheltered housing), where each which will need a context-based response. However, the idea here is for managers to be able to use/adapt this document for their own context.