A coronavirus-hit Bermondsey care home has been awarded a ‘Good’ rating in its latest inspection.
Tower Bridge Care Home had been on the front-line of the Covid epidemic in Southwark care homes, recording more than half of the borough’s death toll as of July, with 34 deaths.
The home provider, HC-One, told the News it was difficult to battle the outbreak because a lack of testing made it impossible to know who had Covid and who didn’t.
The care home watchdog has now rated the home ‘Good’, a result which manager Christen San Pedro called “testament to the hard work and kind care that each and every member of the team puts in, day in day out.”
In a report, inspectors rated the home ‘Good’ in all of the categories inspected.
“Staff had been able to manage and contain any outbreaks within the home with the processes they had in place,” said the Care Quality Commission report.
“A health and social care professional we spoke with praised the resilience and dedication of the staff Tower Bridge Care Centre team and felt the leadership of the home had been crucial in how the home had coped, especially during the peak of the pandemic.”
The home’s staff were also praised for ensuring access to video calls for residents, so that they did not get lonely when relatives could not visit.
At the time of the inspection in August, socially distanced visits were being allowed, but at set times and with limited numbers to prevent infection.
The managing director of HC-One, James Ilesanmi, praised the report, and said: “I would like to thank the whole team for their commitment and hard work and congratulate them on such an impressive report.”