Sheffield care home unveils clever £20,000 ‘visitor pod’ ahead of new lockdown rules

Northfield care home in Crookesmoor has launched a £20,000 ‘visitor pod’, enabling people to safely visit their relatives there for the first time in months.

The home had been forced to close to visitors earlier this year to protect its vulnerable residents during the coronavirus pandemic, with families staying in touch via video calls or being able to see each other through a window.

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But a new pod installed in the garden, in which people can sit either side of a glass wall, means they can finally be reunited in person.

The pods, which were bought using local government infection prevention and control funds, feature comfortable seating and speaker systems to enable residents and visitors can chat in close proximity without the risk of spreading Covid-19.

Palms Row Health Care, which runs the Northfield and Westbourne House care homes, says the pods are available to book now and will be cleaned between visits.

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Palms Row director Nicola Richards said: “It’s wonderful to see residents having safe face to face visits with their loved ones again. This year has been extremely difficult for all of us but we are conscious of the effects of our elderly not seeing their loved ones.

“We sadly lost residents during the first peak of this pandemic and we know we’re working with a particularly vulnerable group of people so visits inside the home are not possible. The new pods give us a solution for enabling visiting in a safe environment. As we feel Covid-19 is not going away anytime soon we made the decision to invest in a long term solution for safe visiting.

“I know that it has been extremely difficult for residents and their family and friends to miss out on close visiting over the past few months and myself and my team are all extremely grateful for their understanding and patience. As Sheffield enters increased lockdown restrictions I’m delighted that we’ve been able to install these secure pods to facilitate visits and give our residents the pleasure of seeing their loved ones in person.”

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Palms Row Health Care is installing a second pod at Westbourne House nursing home to ensure visiting can resume there in time for Christmas.

Visitors can only use one of the new pods in single households, in line with the existing coronavirus restrictions.

More than 200 people died with coronavirus in care homes across Sheffield during the first few months of the pandemic, as the virus spread rapidly through care homes across the nation.

The Government says that new guidance on visiting care homes will be published before England enters a new national lockdown this Thursday, November 5.

For now, the advice is that visits to care homes in Tier 3 ‘very high’ risk areas like South Yorkshire should only take place in ‘exceptional circumstances’ like when someone is dying.