Care home closures extended

Residential care homes across the Island will be closed for longer.

That's the latest from Manx Care - in a statement issued earlier today.

A ten-day closure for eight homes was put into place last Tuesday as Covid cases on Island continue to rise.

Following this, a number of privately-operated care homes put the same measure in place.

Now, it's been confirmed Reayrt-ny-Baie will remain shut for a further 14 days due to an outbreak of Covid-19 within the home. 

The other homes ran by Manx Care will remain closed for a further seven days, with effect from 5.30pm tomorrow. 

These are: 

Southlands – Port St Mary

Cummal Mooar – Ramsey

Langness/Gansey – Port St Mary

Thie Meanagh/Sweetbriar – Douglas

Reayrt Skyal – Ramsey  
 

Visiting will be allowed on compassionate grounds, and will be managed on a case-by-case basis by the management team of each home.

In addition, some provision of overnight respite care for adults with learning disabilities is being scaled back temporarily so that staff can be redeployed across other areas of Adult Social Care to meet the ongoing operational challenges, particularly the Residential Care Home estate.

 However, Adult Day Services will remain open as planned, this decision has been taken following receipt of professional clinical advice, and in line with infection prevention and control guidance.

Jonathan Carey, Manx Care’s Head of Adult Social Care Operations, commented: “Extending the temporary closure of our Residential Care Homes for older people is not a decision that’s been taken lightly. However, we have a duty of care to protect our vulnerable residents and our staff by minimising the number of people visiting residential care settings. We also need to be able to maintain staffing levels across all of our social care facilities, which continues to prove a challenge given the number of staff who are currently isolating due to COVID.

“We will continue to support residents to stay in contact with their families through the use of technology, and are supporting families wherever possible. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank staff from across Adult Social Care, many of whom have been redeployed from their usual roles to cover shortages in some of our residential properties at such a challenging time.”