This week we move a little closer to opening up our homes and services to visitors again. We are looking at how other operators have set up indoor visitor rooms and we plan to do the same. We remain vigilant with regard to infection control and continue to monitor any suspected cases of coronavirus in both employees and residents.

We understand that people have had a tough time recently but we continue to support each other. We were very grateful to receive treat boxes for all our employees from Amazon and, together with thank you cards, we are distributing them to homes and services alongside are normal delivery of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

I’m really pleased to announce that we have opened a new reablement service in our nursing home at Chesham Leys. This will help people to recover from illness and return to their own homes. We are working closely with the NHS and we see this as a vote of confidence in our care.

You will have seen tributes to the NHS this week but we want to say Happy Birthday to social care too which started in the same year, 1948, with the passing of the National Assistance Act. We want to say thank you to all our teams for delivering great care every day and to our residents, friends and family for their ongoing support.