Changes to IPC guidance

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has updated guidance relating to infection, prevention and control (IPC) in care settings.

The revised guidance included:

• Staff or service users with a positive COVID-19 test result

– People who test positive for COVID-19 can return to their usual activities after five days if they feel well and no longer have a high temperature. Testing is no longer required for individuals to return to normal before 10 days following a positive test.

• Outbreaks in care homes – Only the first five residents with symptoms of a respiratory infection will be asked to take an LFD test to identify if there is an outbreak of COVID-19. This is in addition to ongoing testing for symptomatic individuals eligible for COVID-19 treatments. Removal of PCR and wholehome testing.

• Visiting arrangements in care homes – Updated to insight, data and quality assurance – including personlevel data collections and new Care Quality Commission assessments.

Responding to the announcement, Professor Vic Rayner OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the National Care Forum, said, ‘The People at the Heart of Care reforms are in tatters. Yet again the Government has repackaged and reduced existing promises of support and funding, only to announce them as if they are new. It has now been 16 months since People at the Heart of Care was first published and so far, nothing substantial has been delivered in that time apart from delays and very significant reductions in the ambition of the reforms.’

Athena Care Homes

A family-run care home company has appointed a new Finance Director to lead it through a period of planned growth and beyond. Ben Wright joined Athena Care Homes, based in East Anglia, at the start of 2023 and has already launched a number of tender processes.

Hica

HICA Group, which cares for over 1,800 people, has appointed new managers at homes across Yorkshire as it pushes ahead on expansion plans. Specialist dementia home Albermarle, in Hull, has appointed Jessica Costa as Manager. Kerry Moss is now the Manager of Elm Tree Court.

McCarthy Stone

be explicit that there should not be any restrictions on visits out for individuals who are not symptomatic or who have not tested positive in any circumstance.

• Admission of care home residents – Those being admitted from hospital will take an LFD test within 48 hours before discharge. No requirement for PCR tests. Admissions from the community are no longer advised to test.

McCarthy Stone, a leading developer and manager of retirement communities, has appointed Shane Paull as its new Chief Operating Officer. Shane brings a wealth of experience to the role having worked at the business for the past 23 years. Shane will be responsible for McCarthy Stone’s strategic development functions, including land, planning, build, construction and health and safety, as well as group sales and marketing.

Untold Living

Later living developer and operator Untold Living has appointed former charity leader Amy Herbert as Director of Operations as the company targets new sites for acquisition and development. Herbert, the former Director of Nursing Homes at the St Monica Trust, will oversee the management and operation of Untold Living’s growing pipeline of retirement communities across the UK.