Harvest Healthcare

Equipped to care

Marjan Hakami

Top Tips for a Safe and Effective Engineer Visit

Harvest Healthcare recognises that both essential testing such as LOLERs and equipment repairs must continue in order to protect vulnerable residents.

To make sure that this essential work can continue as safely and seamlessly as possible, please see these top tips for a Harvest Healthcare engineer visit.

Top Tips:

  • If the equipment to be looked at can be moved out of bedrooms/bathrooms/communal spaces please do this in advance of our engineer arriving.
  • Our engineer will wipe down any equipment they touch with disinfection wipes after they are finished. Despite this, we recommend following your own in-house disinfection protocols as a secondary measure.
  • Our engineer will thoroughly wash their hands following strict washing protocols between homes and will always wear gloves during site visits. Please follow social distancing measures as much as possible while our engineers are on site to support these risk reduction measures.
  • If equipment can be serviced/repaired outside the building our engineers are happy to do this. Please place the equipment on a secure, flat, dry surface to maintain engineer safety and decontaminate any equipment before taking it outside.
  • If you have any concerns about the risks posed by a site visit, please contact Harvest Healthcare in advance of your scheduled visit to discuss the safest arrangement to protect staff and residents. We are happy to support the needs of individual homes in order to undertake essential work.

For more Information about Harvest Healthcare please click here

For more news please visit our Twitter Page Here

Or follow us on LinkedIn Here 

Coronavirus Update

In order to deal with the rapidly changing situation in the UK and across the world, we are reinforcing and keeping measures to ensure that we are able to continue to provide our high-quality services, whilst also protecting our customers, staff, other stakeholders and suppliers.
As well as reinforcing good hygiene practices throughout the company, we are taking the following measures:

  • Our business remains open but we do have a larger number of staff working from home now in line with the government advice on social distancing and working from home where possible.
  • We are running health check for all our field-based staff regularly. Any staff with the flu-like symptoms will be asked to self-isolate following the government advice.

And as we stated before,

  • There will be no business-related travel to hot-spot areas, and any staff returning from holidays there will be assessed before returning to work.
  • We are actively working with suppliers based in hot-spot areas to ensure continuity of supply, which has so far proved effective. We are also assured by the authorities that there is no health risk from imported goods from hot spot areas due to the nature of transmission of the virus.

We are closely monitoring updates regarding the virus and will keep in line with any change in government advice.

For more updates on Coronavirus and Harvest Healthcare please click here 

For more news please visit our Twitter Page Here

Or follow us on LinkedIn Here 

Coronavirus Update

In order to deal with the rapidly changing situation in the UK and across the world, we have put in place measures to ensure that we are able to continue to provide our usual high-quality services, whilst also protecting our customers, staff, other stakeholders and suppliers.

At the time of writing, we have no concerns about an outbreak occurring at our offices, and we have had no confirmed or suspected cases amongst any of our people.  However, it is important that we are fully prepared in case the situation in the UK gets worse.  As well as reinforcing good hygiene practices throughout the company, we have taken the following measures:

  • We have ensured that our office-based staff can work remotely from home if needed. Our offices are open to visitors; however we are constantly monitoring this and will update our policy should the situation change.
  • We have asked all our field-based staff to immediately report any flu-like symptoms, and where appropriate we will send them home.
  • There will be no business-related travel to hot-spot areas, and any staff returning from holidays there will be assessed before returning to work.
  • We are actively working with suppliers based in hot-spot areas to ensure continuity of supply, which has so far proved effective.  We are also assured by the authorities that there is no health risk from imported goods from hot spot areas due to the nature of transmission of the virus.

We are closely monitoring updates regarding the virus and will keep in line with any change in government advice.

For more updates on Coronavirus and Harvest Healthcare please click here 

For more news please visit our Twitter Page Here

Or follow us on LinkedIn Here 

 

Warning Signs and Symptoms of Pressure Ulcers

Pressure ulcers often develop slowly but can develop in just a few hours with the right conditions.

Pressure ulcers are likely to develop faster when there is higher pressure on a smaller area, and more slowly when there is lower pressure over a wider area.

What are the Early Signs of Pressure Ulcer Development?

Early signs of pressure ulcer development include:

  • A change in the colour of the skin. People with pale skin are more likely to see red patches on the skin, and people with darker skin area more likely to see purple or blue patches.
  • Reddening of the skin that does NOT turn white when you press it. This is called a ‘non-blanching erythema’.
  • Any unusual changes in skin texture may be related to pressure damage. Common changes include skin feeling spongy or ‘boggy’.
  • A patch of skin that feels cooler or warmer to the touch than others.
  • A sore or itchy patch of skin.

Bedsores fall into one of several stages based on their depth, severity and other characteristics. The degree of skin and tissue damage ranges from red, unbroken skin to a deep injury involving muscle and bone. Skin showing these signs of pressure ulcer development may be referred to as ‘category one’.

See our related article for more information on the staging of pressure ulcers.

What are the Later Signs of Pressure Ulcer Development?

As pressure ulcers worsen, they may break the skin. Signs of worsening pressure ulcers include:

  • An open wound or
  • A deep wound that reaches the deeper layers of the skin.
  • A very deep wound that may reach the muscle and bone.

When should I get help for a Pressure Ulcer?

The NHS website says that if you’re in hospital or a care home, you should tell your healthcare team as soon as possible if you develop symptoms of a pressure ulcer as it will probably continue to get worse if nothing is done about it.

If you’re recovering from illness or surgery at home, or are caring for someone confined to bed or a wheelchair, contact your GP surgery if you think you or the person you’re caring for might have a pressure ulcer.

Get medical advice immediately if there is:

  • Red, swollen skin
  • Pus coming from the pressure ulcer or wound
  • Cold skin and a fast heartbeat
  • Severe or worsening pain
  • A high temperature (fever) of 38C (100.4F) or above

These symptoms could be a sign of a serious infection that needs to be treated as soon as possible.

 

For more information about Harvest Healthcare please click here

For more news please visit our Twitter

Or follow us on LinkedIn

Staging / Grading of Pressure Ulcers

Pressure ulcers vary in size and severity of the tissue affected, ranging from reddening of the skin to damage to muscle and underlying bone.

How are Pressure Ulcers Staged / Graded / Classified?

According to the international classification system pressure ulcers can be staged as one of six categories.

Superficial

Stage 1: Intact skin with persistent reddening, known as ‘non-blanching erythema’. For more information on non-blanching erythema, click here.

Stage 2: An abrasion or a blister can be seen, without bruising. There is some skin loss or damage affecting the top skin layers.

Superficial ulcers are more difficult to spot than deep ulcers. For information on the warning signs of pressure ulcer development click here.

Deep

Stage 3: Full thickness skin loss which can expose fat in areas where this exists. Damage is limited to the skin and fat layers.

Stage 4: Full thickness skin loss with damage to the underlying structures, such as tendons or bone, which may be exposed.

Other

Deep tissue injury: Tissue injury hidden under intact skin. These appear as deep bruises and can quickly deteriorate into a high-stage pressure ulcer. For more information on why deep tissue injuries occur, click here.

Unstageable Pressure Injury: Pressure ulcer with an undetermined level of tissue injury because the entire base of the wound is covered by slough tissue.

Figure 1 Staging of pressure injury, NPUAP resources

The grading of a pressure ulcer is a critical part of the process of caring for a person with pressure ulcers.

While treatment is tailored to the individual, as may factors can impact the development of a pressure injury, the grade of pressure sore is an important part of creating a treatment/management plan.

For more information on what the risk factors are for developing a pressure injury, click here.

 

For more information about Harvest Healthcare please click here

For more news please visit our Twitter

Or follow us on LinkedIn