Two staff members share what it's been like Two workers at a dementia care home in Nottinghamshire have shared what life has been like
working in that environment through Covid, with one 'scared' of its unknowns and saying residents deteriorated more quickly because of it.
At the start of the pandemic, care homes were some of the worst affected places in the country, with outbreaks happening widely.
Severe Covid killed a large number of elderly care home residents.
Measures such as face mask wearing and social distancing were put in place quickly to help stop the spread of the virus, but many still died across the UK.
Rachel Squire and Sheriff Marong both work for Church Farm Care, a Nottinghamshire-based dementia healthcare provider.
Rachel is the manager of the Skylarks home in West Bridgford, has worked in dementia care for seven years and has been the manager at Skylarks itself for two years.
Despite a natural enthusiasm for caring for others, she says the pandemic has been 'scary'.
Rachel said: "It has been scary, it's been like nothing we've ever experienced before and we were in crisis mode for such a long time.
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"Before we would have an open door policy, just like it would be if you were visiting your Mum's house, but patients here have felt very
disconnected from their families.
"It's hard to say definitively, but dementia has progressed quicker than it would have done if normal visits were still able to be done - there's no bond like a husband and wife, or a parent and their child.
"Patients have had to see their loved ones deteriorate or pass away, and they've had to watch that happen behind glass.
"We tried to keep things as normal as we could, but it was difficult at first for our residents to get used to us wearing masks as facial expressions are lost.
"Everyone practiced moving and expressing with their eyebrows, and that is a skill in itself."
Rachel said managing the care home through that time has been the most stressful time of her life.
She said: "Managing a care home can be stressful anyway, but when the threat to life is huge, you just want to protect and keep everyone safe.
"Some people felt scared to come into work and we were learning as we went along - concerns were raised about vulnerability and if they could directly care for someone who tested positive and how that would work.
"Some chose to leave their job as they were worried and had to look after elderly relatives themselves, there is no judgment at all towards those people, but it was great to see everyone eventually rally round.
"Some of our workers even moved out of their homes to move in with friends so they could safely come to work and look after others."
Speaking before the Omicron variant of Covid swept the UK, Rachel said while things have changed, that workers and residents have adapted to the changes well.
She said: "We've been fortunate that we've been well looked after, we had PPE shipped in from all around the world and our owner would help to pick people up in his car when bus services were down.
"Although the world is getting back to some normality, in a care home setting, there are still a lot of restrictions.
"We still wear masks and do lateral flow tests before coming to work.
"We'd encourage the patients to write letters and we'd do virtual Skype calls on a giant virtual tablet, we've tried to be as creative as we could and set up a proactive Facebook page so everyone could be connected with what was going on in the home.
"Going forward, our focus is still to keep everyone as safe as possible, and the love for my job is still there.
"I personally started work experience in the sector when I was 17 and never left, I don't think I could or would want to do anything else, I'm just
driven to look after people and make people happy.
"If anyone out there is not sure about what kind of job they want to do, give social care a go, it is the most supporting and rewarding thing you will
ever do."
Sheriff Marong moved to England from Barcelona in 2014 when he was 19-years-old, eventually following in the footsteps of his mother and helping to care for others.
He started at Church Farm in February 2018, and his average day with patients involves washing, dressing and undressing, helping with mobility, serving meals and drinks, and helping those who cannot eat on their own.
Those tasks were made much harder because of the impact of Covid, but the pandemic has not dampened his enthusiasm for his job either.
Sheriff said: "The pandemic proved to be an incredibly hard challenge, but I tried to remain positive and keep spirits high in the care home, and altogether, we are managing to get through the crisis and come out the other side even stronger.
"To be fair, just one month into the role, I could feel in my heart that I was where I needed to be and I knew I wanted to do it forever, I can honestly say I love what I do.
"My favourite part of the job is talking with our patients, making a difference to their day, and seeing their reactions to all of the activities we arrange for them."