Heaton House turns summerhouse into visitor centre to keep relatives in touch during Lockdown 2.0
A local Worthing care home has come up with a creative solution to ensure residents can still have safe visits from loved ones during lockdown. Heaton House, a CQC Outstanding rated care home in Reigate Road, has turned its summerhouse into an outdoor visitor centre which facilitates safe visits whatever the weather!
The home was already hosting outdoor Covid-safe visits in the summerhouse and virtual visits via its laptops and iPads. This was fine when the weather suited, but as the seasons changed and the temperatures dropped, a new solution needed to be found.
Registered owner, Sally Neil-Smith said, “It’s vital that we can offer visits to everyone who wants to come during this new lockdown period. So we have been prepared to do whatever we can. I can’t praise my team enough for all the extra miles they have gone! For visitors who are happy to come inside the home, we now have a designated visitor area in the home where the visitor is separated from the resident by an extra large clear screen. We have also purchased comfy headphones and microphones so that any hearing difficulties can also be overcome.
When a relative wanted to visit but not come in the home we thought, ‘why not use the summerhouse?’ So we also bought a portable clear screen for use in the summerhouse and a heating unit and now visitors don’t even have to come inside the home when visiting. All visits are pre-booked in advance and the visitor can be let in through the side gate at the agreed time to find their loved one already inside our heated summerhouse behind the clear screen. The visitors love it and we are really pleased that it’s been such a hit.”
‘Keeping in touch with elderly loved ones is so important in normal times, and this has only increased with the new lockdown. We felt we had to do what we could to make sure all types of visits could go ahead’.
To find out more about Heaton House, visit https://heaton-house.net/ or call 01903 700251 and speak to Sue the Registered Manager or Sally Registered Provider/Manager. If they are not available when you call the carer-team will be able to help and Sue or Sally will call you back.
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