Care home staff are doing a great job

I was truly saddened to read the article about The Limes Care Home.

Irrespective of the findings of the commission there are in that home some of the most caring, kind and dedicated staff.

An article such as that giving the findings of the Quality Care Commission at a time when the staff have truly given of their very best I find to be in really poor taste.

The staff will already know of the findings. But it has to be remembered that each and every member of staff despite poor pay, too few staff, and a pay cut during the Covid-19 pandemic has worked not only as carers but as friend, relative, wife, husband and every combination of these to give their people the very, very best that they can do.

To enter the building day in, night out to do this job takes a very special person.

All that the article has done is to demoralise further the staff that work there.

I was a frequent visitor there before the pandemic and a volunteer gardener. Of course there were events and occurrences that I was not always happy about.

But ultimately, whether in mask or not, the carers may well have made the judgement that to wear a mask would be to the detriment of the spiritual and emotional well-being of the residents, many of who have severe dementia, and already feel lonely and isolated

I am led to believe that the number of cases of Covid-19 in the Limes was low. Surely that is down to the vigilance of the staff. The food is excellent, home cooked and nutritious. What more do you want them to do?

Lets please congratulate them for a job well done. Yes, do a wee bit better if you can, but thank you for doing a job that most of us would not willingly undertake. And thank them for being there for these most vulnerable of people and for having the staying power through these long months, despite having families themselves.

If there is any responsibility it lies with the senior management and owners of the home, not the on-floor workers.

Mary Kelly