INFECTION CONTROL & RESPONSE

COVID 19 POLICYDate Revised:

June 2020

Review Period:

ANNUALLY

Created: June 2020

THE BUNGALOW PARTNERSHIP

INFECTION CONTROL & RESPONSE

The Bungalow Partnership takes its responsibility very seriously regarding the safety and prevention of risk for its Trustees, Team Members, external partners, children, young people, and families accessing the service. We acknowledge that there are risks associated with the delivery of our work and are committed to assessing and mitigating these risks. This Addendum is our response to the Covid 19 Pandemic, its impact and risks posed to all concerned.

1. Purpose and Scope The purpose of this policy is to minimise as far as possible risks of harm to The Bungalow Partnership Trustees, Management, Team Members, volunteers, students, clients, and visitors which may arise through contracting and transmitting Covid 19. 2. Definitions

Infection requires three main elements — a source of the infectious agent, a mode of transmission and a susceptible host.

Infection control is preventing the transmission of infectious organisms and managing infections if

they occur.

The main transmission routes for COVID-19 are from droplets created by coughing and sneezing

and/or contact with a contaminated surface.

3. Principles Effective infection control is central to providing high quality support for those accessing the service and a safe working environment for The Bungalow Partnership Management, Workers, Trustees, Students, and Visitors. People are the most likely sources of infectious agents and are also the most common susceptible hosts. Other people visiting the premises may be at risk of both infection and transmission also.

The current advice to Team Members, Students and Volunteers is that we should try to continue to work from home where at all possible to minimise the risk of infection from COVID 19. We should maximise the use of IT such as Zoom, TEAMS & Skype to ensure communication amongst the team, the families we support and with key partners remains strong.

However, there will be some functions that cannot be undertaken remotely and will need us to resume visits either to education settings or within the family home. This guidance will ensure that we have a consistent approach to visits and that they are undertaken in a planned way which keeps everybody safe. You should also read this guidance and its associated risk assessment with related guidance for transport and lone working.

Created: June 2020

4. Why might a Face to Face visit be needed?

The Management Team are responsible for working with their Team Members, Students & Volunteers to identify which aspects of their usual work cannot be delivered from home with the use of IT and remote working. This may include observations and direct work to inform assessments, demonstrating and modelling practice and interventions and providing direct support to children/ Young People. Managers must give approval for visits during this period of COVID 19 and ensure that staff are aware of the protocols to be followed.

5. Risk Assessment

COVID risk assessments must be followed for all individuals undertaking visits to schools and/or homes. Other risk assessments such as lone working and pregnancy must also be considered where applicable. Individual risk assessments will be undertaken for any Team Member, Student or Volunteer who identifies as vulnerable in relation to COVID 19 Transmission.

COVID-19 – GUIDANCE NOTES FOR STAFF CARRYING OUT VISITS TO SCHOOLS AND SETTINGS You must not visit the school if you may have symptoms that could be related to COVID 19.

Remember symptoms include a new continuous cough and/or high temperature and/or a change in the sense of smell or taste (anosmia)

Prior to the visit you must have discussions with the key member of school staff about the reasons for your visit and what your visit will involve. This is to minimise the time you need to be in school or the setting. You also need to check what is expected of you to ensure you follow the visitor protocols established by the school.

PPE is not required for visits to schools, but you must practice high standards in terms of hand hygiene. If a school or parent requests that we use PPE, then this instruction must be followed.

Before and after visiting the school, you are advised to wash your hands and arms, if uncovered, with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds and dry them on disposable paper towels. If handwashing facilities are not available, you can use alcohol-based sanitiser.

During the visit you need to adhere to the protocols established by the school including social distancing.

You must limit the equipment you take into school e.g. bags, books, laptops, coats etc. to avoid risk of contamination. Best practice is to provide a sealable box to the school in which you work, which only includes play and therapy materials than can be thoroughly cleaned between clients and left at the school – thereby minimising any risk of transmission).

You should not touch your face, mouth or eyes during the visit and avoid unnecessary contact with surfaces.

Certain therapeutic materials are not to be used until further notice which includes sand, modelling clay (unless the child has their own that is only used and touched by them), soft bodies dolls and puppets, dress up clothes, role play items children may use in their mouths such as dummies, baby bottles, balloons, bubbles etc. This list is not exhaustive!

Do not accept refreshments if offered. Use your own stationery and pens and computer if required during the visit and wipe these down

with anti-bacterial wipes at the end of the visit.

School Visits and Teaching ‘Bubbles’ If a school has established teaching bubbles to minimise contact with others, advice from Public Health and Health and Safety colleagues is that this is a balance of risk and providing precautions are taken in line with this guidance it is a reasonable adjustment. Please note however, that as schools reintroduce pupils back in a gradual manner, there may be a need to reduce the time each pupil spends in school and therefore staff may need to practice flexibility in adapting session times to meet the times in which their client is in school.

Created: June 2020

COVID 19 - VISITING HOMES Before visiting the family, you should contact the family, check with them if anyone in the

household who will be present during the visit is showing symptoms of COVID-19 or is shielding. If so, rearrange the visit after 14 days or later.

When speaking to the families check who will be at home during the visit and request that the family members present are aware that:

When arriving at the family home you will wash your hands (if they are able to provide you with this facility) and you will also wash your hands again before leaving the family home. You should carry soap and disposable towels with you, or alcohol based sanitise.

You must not shake hands with any member of the household and will seek to sit or stand maintaining a 2 metre distance from others.

If you are able to meet in an open space such as the garden this would be beneficial You should avoid touching any unnecessary surfaces, toys, doors and do not accept drinks or

refreshments from the family. You will spend only the time necessary with families, to carry out assessments or direct work

according to the circumstances of your involvement When visiting a family and you are concerned that a member of the household may be

symptomatic then end the visit as soon as is practicably possible and report and discuss this with your Supervisor immediately. DO NOT ATTEND ANOTHER HOME, SCHOOL or OFFICE until you have done this

Remember before each home visit you are advised to call ahead and ask if anyone has COVID- 19 symptoms or is shielding or self-isolating.

If someone is self-isolating due to symptoms or has been asked to self-isolate by the Test and Trace team, then the visit should be postponed until the self-isolation period is over.

If someone in the household is shielding and the visit is essential, then you should wear appropriate PPE (mask, apron, and gloves) to protect them. However, it is preferable that the visit doesn’t go ahead

Use of hand sanitiser. Hand sanitiser is a temporary method to limit infection spread. Team members, students and volunteers are advised to use hand sanitiser when they visit schools or families where they have no ability to wash their hands either in between visits. The most effective way to limit the spread of infection is by hand washing regularly and thoroughly using soap. On returning to the office/home please ensure you wash your hands before doing anything else to limit transmission.

Wipes Wipes can be used to clean contaminated surfaces including books, laptops etc. if these have been handled. Wipes are single use and need to be disposed of after use to limit transmission.

Created: June 2020

TRACK AND TRACE PROCEDURES FOR BUNGALOW PARTNERSHIP TEAM MEMBERS, STUDENTS & VOLUNTEERS

The NHS test and trace service: provides testing for anyone who has symptoms of coronavirus to find out if they have the virus gets in touch with anyone who has had a positive test result to help them share information about

any close recent contacts they have had alerts those contacts, where necessary, and notifies them they need to self-isolate to help stop the

spread of the virus (see pages 2 and 3 of this guidance for more details)

Please note that all team members, students, and volunteers are under obligation to share information of all clients, families, and professionals that they have had contact with should they test positive for Covid 19. It is therefore important to advise all clients and their families that until further notice there is a Covid clause in our confidentiality policy, that means we will share information with the NHS Track & Trace Service, in the event of a testing positive for Covid 19 as it is in the balance of public interest to do so.

Public interest is the general welfare and rights of the public that should be recognised, protected, and advanced. Disclosures in the public interest, based on the common law, are made where this is essential to

prevent a serious & imminent threat to the public health, national security, the life of the individual or a third party, or to prevent or deter serious crime.

Clients and their families must therefore be advised that we may need to advise NHS of people who we have contact with. We will need to provide their name and contact details but not the context in which we know them

Created: June 2020

Quarantining

Team Members, Trustees, students, volunteers and those using the services of the charity who are experiencing Covid 19 symptoms will be requested to refrain from visiting The Bungalow Partnership premises and other associated venues (such as schools/ home visits) and activities during the infectious period of the condition.

Response to Possible Infection

Where in a staff member or client reports Covid 19 and has been in The Bungalow Office, a deep clean will be required of the premises, including play materials. Items that are difficult or not responsive to disinfection must be discarded immediately e.g. sand, play do etc.

A supervisor must be notified of such incidents as soon as possible and an incident report form completed.

This policy forms part of the charities’ Health & Safety Policy.

Please note the Covid 19 Pandemic is an ever-changing situation and this policy and guidance is therefore subject to change at any time, should local or national levels of the virus increase/ decrease or updated guidance is received on infection control.

Created: June 2020

Created: June 2020

Appendix 1. Incident Report Infection Control – COVID 19Use this form to report any identified incidents related to Covid 19 infection control, even if there is no adverse outcome at this time (this includes errors, safety hazards, incidents of risk). This form is to be completed by Bungalow Partnership Team Members. After completion, please share with your Team Leader/ Director immediately.

Full Details of the incident (Including date, time of incident, who was present, venue):

Details of risk: (name of infection, health vulnerability of staff member, client and any other person(s) present)

What action was taken by the worker to mitigate/ respond to the risk:

Agreed Action to be taken (completed together with Line Manager)

Consider workers immediate and longer term health needs and that of their families, Consider health and protection of service user(s) and their families, Consider environmental factors – eg whether deep clean is required) and consider who needs to be notified (family, parents of client, schools, other professionals, other workers, Public Health)

Bungalow Partnership Team Member Acknowledgment

Name of Team Member: Title/Position: Acknowledgment - I acknowledge that the facts and circumstances reported above are true and accurate to the best of my knowledge: ______________________________________________________ Team Member’s Signature Date INTERNAL USE ONLY – COMPLETED BY DIRECTOR/ TEAM LEAD Action Taken as a Result of Incident: (please give brief details-attach separate sheet if necessary) _______________________________________Director/ Team Lead Date

Created: June 2020