Coronavirus: Care home nurse saves 13 dementia patients

A care home nurse has been credited with saving the lives of 13 dementia patients with suspected Covid-19 by swiftly setting up an isolation ward.

Maria Spollin transformed a communal area at Church Farm at Skylarks, in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, when residents began falling ill in March.

Family consent had to be obtained before each of the 13 residents were put into isolation.

Church Farm Care said all had since made a full recovery.

Ms Spollin drew upon her previous experience as an intensive care nurse during the 2009 swine flu outbreak to come up with the plan for the home, which is a specialist dementia care centre.

"It was absolutely critical we reacted quickly and incorporated these isolation measures as soon as possible," she said.

"The decision to isolate anyone showing symptoms was a difficult one to make as we had to consider that someone showing symptoms may not necessarily have contracted the virus.

"If we opted to isolate them we would be exposing them to the virus from those who tested positive."

Along with ward beds, the isolation area includes chairs and activities so residents could continue to socialise while recovering.

Five of the 13 patients tested positive for Covid-19 while the other eight displayed symptoms.

Patrick Atkinson, director of Church Farm Care, said: "Maria was instrumental in our containment process and in preventing further infection within our residents."

There have been more than 3,000 coronavirus related deaths in care homes in England and Wales since the outbreak began.

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