Keeping the hospice safe

Throughout the pandemic Farleigh Hospice has been working on the frontline, caring for those living with a life-limiting illness and supporting their family and carers. The battle with the virus is ongoing, and one of the most important ways to control and combat the virus is through excellent hygiene and cleanliness, and that is the role of our Domestic Team.

Our Domestic Team is crucial in ensuring our building and staff are safe and have been working on the COVID frontline throughout the outbreak. Abbie Milton is our Domestic Team Leader, and she has shared her story with us.

“The Domestic team has been working in the Hospice throughout the pandemic. We are a small team of four, but we are also supported by our bank staff, who are always ready to step in when we need additional help.

We start at 8am, and we each take responsibility for a specific area of the hospice, including the Inpatient Unit, the Lantern Suit and the upstairs offices.

Working in a clinical environment means we always have high hygiene and cleanliness standards, and we work to the criteria set by our governing bodies. In addition, to our standard training, we all completed a course on understanding and preventing the spread of the virus.

During the lockdown, the hospice felt empty. Most of our office staff were working from home, our nurses were out in the community, and our Inpatient Unit was closed to patients. However, there was still a lot to do, including washing the nurse’s uniforms. The guidelines stated clothing needed to be washed at 60 degrees, but I always washed them at 75 degrees, just for my peace of mind!

Our Inpatient Unit was used by consultants from Broomfield Hospital, as a rest area and somewhere they could get some sleep, and so we still needed to clean all the bedrooms. Upstairs we ensured the offices were disinfected, and today we continue to disinfect all handles and surfaces that are regularly touched. We also ensure all hand sanitisers are topped up.

We have changed the way we carry out a deep clean on our Inpatient Unit. In the past, this would be done by hand and could take up to five to six hours. However, we have now invested in a fogging machine, and we are now able to clean a room in just two hours, enabling us to ensure the bedroom is safe for the next patient, in a quarter of the time.

Hygiene and cleanliness play a huge role in controlling the virus and we have had to change our routine and ways of working. It has made us think about the environment around us and we will continue to work with our clinical team to keep the hospice safe.”

Everyone at Farleigh Hospice would like to say a huge thank you to our Domestic team, who have worked on the frontline, ensuring the hospice is safe for everyone.