Covid-19 and Care homes: Lockdown 2 (Thursday Meeting)

Share your thoughts, experiences and what changes you’d like to see with care homes as we enter winter.

Do you have a relative or friend living in a care home? Do you have any worries or concerns?

Throughout the first national lockdown, Healthwatch Greenwich spoke to friends and relatives about their experiences with care homes, and keeping in touch with their loved ones.  Relatives told us:

• They felt ‘left in the dark’ about how care homes were coping, and how they were responding to the pandemic
• Regular relative meetings held by care homes had stopped
• It was difficult to contact loved ones via technological means

Following this, we held a meeting with Care Home Managers and Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) to share this feedback. As a result:

• RBG supported care homes with restarting regular relative meetings and instructed all care homes to inform all relatives when and how scheduled visiting would take place
• RBG provided homes with iPads and Smart TVs, and contacted all care homes to find out what technological support they needed to aid communication between residents and visitors

In light of the Government’s announcement of a second national lockdown, Healthwatch Greenwich will be holding two virtual meetings to hear your thoughts, experiences and what changes you’d like to see with care homes as we enter winter.

If you cannot attend this meeting, see if you can join our other Care Homes meeting on Tuesday 8 December 2020 at 10:30am.