Milford Manor Covid outbreak led to 'a number of losses'

Milford Manor Residential Care Home, which is run by Wessex Care, is a specialist facility which cares for people with complex dementia and or mental health issues.

The outbreak, which was in January, was "quickly identified and addressed", according to Wessex Care.

But it said due to the "virulence of the current variant that is the present in the community", the virus proved difficult to restrict, and a number of residents tested positive for Covid-19.

The home added that the outbreak has now ended, with all staff and residents since testing negative for the virus.

Milford Manor re-opened on March 3 following Public Health consultation.

'Very challenging'

Matthew Airey, Founding director of Wessex Care, says the nature of care provided at the facility make it "very challenging" to ensure that all residents can isolate.

Many of the residents "do not see the world like we do and are often unable to understand or act upon given instructions, or in some cases even understand that there is a pandemic happening".

Wessex Care said its staff prevented any cases in the home throughout the entire pandemic up until January this year, due to workers making large sacrifices, and by applying strict restrictions to how they live their own lives, in order to safeguard the people they care for.

The company even went as far as setting up a company food bank for its teams if staff were unable to order from a supermarket.

Mr Airey added: "There have been a very large numbers of homes similarly affected across the county during this third peak.

"Unfortunately as the community infection rate climbs so does the risk of outbreaks in hospitals and all residential care settings."

'Very sad losses'

The team at Wessex Care added that the "very sad losses" have affected the entire staffing team, but it is supporting all staff through the grieving process.

The company asks that the privacy of the staff, residents and their families at Milford Manor is respected while they come to terms with the impact of this terrible virus.

Mr Airey added: "Wessex Care welcome enquiries if the general public wish to find out more about the procedures in place to fight the pandemic and a series of briefings detailing each step of the journey over the past year have been published on the Wessex Care website for all to see, providing transparency and a clear insight into how the past year has been difficult for all, and extremely well managed under the circumstances."

Last week, Wiltshire Council's public health director said coronavirus cases were "still heading in the right direction", with the number of care homes reporting infections and the number of infections reported continuing to fall.

The council provided an update on cases in Wiltshire on Tuesday.

For more information on Milford Manor Care Home, click here.

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