Hertfordshire County Council reopens two care homes

Hertfordshire County Council is temporarily reopening two of its formerly-closed care homes as part of its response to COVID-19.

The Fairways in Watford opened earlier this week for patient referrals and Nevetts in Buntingford is due to open later this month.

Together they will eventually provide over 40 beds each with both sites staffed by 45 employees.

The homes will be for patients who are ready to be discharged from hospital but are not quite ready to go home and look after themselves.

For some it may be that they are in recovery but still need some support before they can go home.

For others, the homes will provide a place to live if their current care arrangements at home have had to be stopped temporarily.

The care homes will be staffed by redeployed or returning Hertfordshire County Council employees, and new recruits, who also helped with the setup of both homes.

Derbyshire County Council has also announced that a brand new care home is to be used to help support Derbyshire residents through the coronavirus pandemic.

The 40-bed unit is built on the former Thornton’s factory site on Derwent Street and will initially be used to exclusively accept patients discharged from hospital who need to rest, recuperate and isolate after suffering from COVID-19 but are not yet ready to go home.

Plans to open it as a conventional care home are currently on hold while the pandemic continues.

Hertfordshire’s cabinet member for adult care and health, Cllr Richard Roberts said: ‘We want to ensure our residents have access to the best possible care when leaving hospital so they can make a full recovery.

‘We have had a great response from previous employees and redeployed staff to work within the homes. To get the homes ready for use in such a short space of time, at such an excellent standard is a credit to the team involved. The response from local councillors and communities to support these projects has been overwhelming.’

The leader of Derbyshire County Council, Cllr Barry Lewis, added: ‘On the 200th anniversary of our very own Florence Nightingale’s birth, I’d like to announce that we will be using our newly built care centre to support local residents through the worst pandemic to affect us in generations.

‘The whole world learned a lot from Florence Nightingale’s work, including about infection control, and here in Derbyshire we will celebrate her achievements with the launch of our new unit for people recovering from coronavirus.’

Photo Credit – Pasja1000 (Pixabay)