A VERY quick response has seen 27 workers from Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership deployed to help support a care home in Lockerbie hit by the coronavirus.
The combination of NHS nurses and domestic staff, local authority social work staff and administrators and a volunteer was assembled to ensure that staff and residents at Dryfemount Care Home received the help and support they needed.
Graham Abrines is DGHSCP’s General Manager for Community Health and Social Care, and he said: “As we’ve seen elsewhere in this country and around the world, care homes and their residents are among the most vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19.
“When a number of residents and staff at Dryfemount tested positive for COVID-19, placing significant demands on the care home, Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership recognised this and moved very quickly to provide comprehensive support.
“This was carried out in close partnership with the Care Inspectorate, who have noted the speed and efficiency of what has been put in place.
“It has meant that the care home residents are receiving care and support, and it has provided backing and respite for Dryfemount staff who have been managing the situation.”
Staff deployed from NHS Dumfries and Galloway included three registered nurses, a cook, three domestic staff and four health care assistants.
From Dumfries and Galloway Council came two social work staff and seven day services staff.
They were joined by a carer, plus a volunteer from the third sector serving in a laundry role.
They have been integrated at Dryfemount, working alongside staff and senior management from the company which owns and manages the care home.
Mr Abrines said: “Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership is a public body which sees the NHS and Council working with the third and independent sector to deliver the vast majority of health and social care services in the region.
“Contingency planning within the Partnership from the start of this pandemic meant we have been able to redeploy our staff resources supported by a volunteer to where they are needed most to meet the challenges of COVID-19.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved in what has been an example of the partnership working at its best, and great collaboration with Dryfemount. This was always about ensuring the residents of Dryfemount received the care they needed, allowing them to remain fully supported within their home during a challenging time. Throughout this period, we have been in close contact with their families.
“Supporting the staff has also been key to what was always been intended as a short-term arrangement, expected to last at its fullest no more than seven to ten days. I’m pleased to say that a number of Dryfemount staff who were self-isolating have recovered and now returned to work, and anticipate that very shortly we’ll be in a position to scale down the support we have been providing.”
