Following the recent news about Covid-19 vaccinations we are very pleased that employees and residents in care homes will be amongst the first to receive the vaccine. We wait to see whether this applies equally to people living and working in Supported Living, and we will be lobbying for that to be the case.

We want all employees and residents to be vaccinated as soon as possible, so they benefit from the protection and reassurance it provides. We hope that life can start to return to normal, with increased freedom of movement once employees and residents are vaccinated. We understand that a minority of people may not be able to have the vaccine for health reasons. We will continue to protect them from infection.

We do not yet know how the vaccine will be rolled out in Buckinghamshire, or when vaccines will be available to our employees and residents. However, this may happen at short notice so we are preparing to ensure that we can respond as soon as we are contacted by the NHS. To this end we are gathering consent to be vaccinated from all residents. Where someone is not able to consent themselves, we will complete a best interest assessment for them with involvement from their GP, family and advocates. We will contact you directly where this applies to your relative or friend. We understand that some people need more information about the vaccine, which we can provide.

If you have any questions about vaccinations please contact your Home or Service Manager.

We also have a phone line and email for general questions and information at 0333 005 8735 and covid19support@fremantletrust.org