Care home transformed into Covid-19 recovery unit

A County Down care home has partly transformed into a recovery unit for Covid-19 patients.

The Rainbow Recovery Unit at Bangor Care Home will provide rehabilitation and nursing care for people who have tested positive for Covid-19.

The unit, which is separate from the rest of the care home and was repurposed in just 10 days. will serve people deemed too ill to go home, but not ill enough to be in hospital.

The unit is a joint venture between Four Seasons Health Care and the South Eastern Health Trust and aims to take some pressure off hospitals and care homes.

The aim is for patients to leave the Rainbow unit and return to their own homes within two weeks, said Linda Johnston, the assistant director of older people’s services in the South Eastern Health Trust.

“There will be people - not older people solely - who need to recover and can’t go home," she said.

"Perhaps there’s someone at home who is shielding and they can’t accept that person back yet.

“So this will be a place for all sorts of people to rehab and recover, and become infection-free."

Figures released earlier this week revealed there had been nearly 300 coronavirus-related cases in 56 residential and nursing care homes across Northern Ireland; as of Thursday, there had been outbreaks in 58 care homes.

Carol Cousins, managing director of Four Seasons Health Care - Northern Ireland's largest care home operator - said it was a stressful time for the sector.

“Because it’s something that we’ve never faced before, there are no precedents for it, that is what brings a lot of the stress,” she said.

“We are still learning about this illness, we’re still learning about the impact it has on older people and we’re learning how best to look after residents who become affected.

“So that’s bringing pressures to us that we don’t readily have solutions for.

'Rainbow as a symbol for getting through pandemic'

Although there are currently no Covid-19 cases at Bangor Care Home, there had been at other Four Seasons homes among both residents and staff, added Ms Cousins.

That has affected staffing levels.

“There is a staffing situation that arises when we get people who have been so committed coming to work, find themselves affected by Covid 19, and knowing that our residents’ care is best delivered by people who know residents," she said.

“When you do not have a volume of staff who know your residents, well then delivering that care can become very difficult."

Four Seasons was now “working in partnership” with the health trust to make sure it had enough staff in its care homes, added Ms Cousins.

Ms Johnston hopes the Rainbow unit will help many people journey from isolation to recovery.

“The rainbow has become a symbol of this pandemic and of the work that is being done,” she said.

“The rainbow is about hope and it’s about recovery.

“It’s about moving through to the other side of this.“