Care homes readying for vaccination campaign
ASCOMMUNALwelfarecharitieswait anxiously on news on when their care home staff and residents will receive Covid vaccinations, Jewish Care has revealed details of its first employee to be vaccinated.
Mira Stamatova, registered manager at the charity’s Otto Schiff home in Golders Green, was due to receive her first vaccine dose on Wednesday evening.
She has spoken out in support of Jewish Care’s drive to ensure staff, residents, tenants and their relatives get vaccinated as soon as the opportunity arises.
“This is, by far, a better alternative than being exposed to the virus, which has the potential to have devastating effects,” she said. “We will be encouraging everyone who works with us and has a loved one in our care to get the vaccine.”
The campaign is designed to “answer any questions and bust myths around the vaccine”.
A webinar with a number of healthcare professionals will be held for Jewish Care staff next week and employees will also receive letters with information on how to book themselves into their nearest vaccination hub.
Chief executive Daniel CarmelBrown said: “We are hopeful that this vaccine is a sign that things will begin to return to some kind of normality next year. But we need the take up of the vaccine to be high in order to be able to do this.”
As the national roll-out began this week, the CEO of The Fed in Manchester, Mark Cunningham, told the JC: “There is a disconnection between what is announced on the morning news and the reality on the ground.
“In terms of the vaccine, we have been in discussion with the CCG [Clinical Commissioning Group] and council for almost two weeks looking at the logistics. We have now received consent forms for both staff and residents.”
On Wednesday, Mr Cunningham reported that vaccination of staff would start early next week, via a local hub. There was no news on vaccinations for residents at the charity’s Heathlands complex.
“The operational logistics are huge. Including staff and residents, we have 500-plus people on one site,” he pointed out.
It was likely that residents would be vaccinated at Heathlands, as nursing staff hadreceivedthenecessarytraining.
He added that the charity did not yet have access to the lateral flow tests “which would facilitate easier visiting”.
In the capital, Nightingale Hammerson CEO Helen Simmons said its NightingalehomeinClaphamhadreceivedan “open invitation” from South-West London CCG for staff to book appointments with Croydon and St George’s hospitals for vaccinations.
“The CCG is suggesting that residents may not receive the vaccine until January, due to the problem of transporting it stably. However, we are in discussions withourGPservicetoseeif wecanspeed this up.
“We hope that many of our staff will have had their first dose by the end of the year and that lateral flow testing for visitors will be introduced soon.”
At Donisthorpe Hall in Leeds, care home manager Nicky Murphy looked forward“to rolling out the vaccine programme to residents and care staff as soon as possible”.
In addition, the home had recently reinstated “window visits”, a move welcomed by residents and their relatives.
BackinManchester,MrCunningham highlighted another key challenge facing care providers, explaining: “This week we had our 270th member of staff unavailable for work due to a Covidrelated issue. We have a workforce of about 350. The operational challenges are massive.”
We want to answer any questions and bust myths about vaccine’