Infection Prevention and Control Measures

All Mowlam Homes have comprehensive COVID-19 contingency plans in place and an integral part of these plans are our enhanced infection prevention and control measures. These plans are reviewed by our senior clinical management team and our homes are in frequent communication with the Health Service Executive (HSE), Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and residents’ GPs.

Each home has established written resources, procedures, and policies to guide staff who also receive regular updates from public health experts, including the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

Our residents are central to The Mowlam Way and we make certain that our residents and their families are consulted with to ensure they are well informed, involved and supported in these infection prevention and control measures. We always welcome feedback, and in each home there is ongoing regular communication with our residents and their families and the provision of suitable advisory notices and signs which have been posted throughout our homes.

Each home has completed a COVID-19 Risk Assessment, and all have suitable risk reduction measures in place. These measures include all staff receiving relevant updated infection prevention and control training. There are frequent cleaning and hand hygiene audits, and all teams self-monitoring their own health and have their temperature monitored twice daily. In addition, we have implemented a robust Visitor’s Protocol to safely support the easing of visiting restrictions and facilitate safe visits in our homes again.

All our teams have suitable access to sufficient and appropriate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) and continuously practice and review pertinent PPE use. Each home has reviewed and redoubled their cleaning practices to make sure they have the right staff available at the right time with the right skills necessary. There are suitable hand-washing facilities and ample supply of antimicrobial hand-rub dispensers provided throughout each home. All homes have enhanced additional cleaning and disinfectant resources deployed including stringent frequent touch surface cleaning schedules. Wherever possible, we have endeavoured to segregate sections of each home and establish separate staff teams so to reduce the potential for virus transmission and cross contamination within the home.

As part of our clinical governance, all current infection prevention and control measures are regularly reviewed and audited in each home to ensure their effectiveness. Our staff teams continue to be ever vigilant and proactively work to support our residents and their families to stay safe in their homes during these challenging times.