We understand and appreciate the difficulty of the current situation and the impact it is having on many care providers and staff across Wales. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your efforts and patience while helping us contain the spread of COVID-19 in Care Homes. We currently test over 200 care homes across Gwent, while enabling over 5000 tests a week, so as you can imagine, this is no easy task.
This process has been specifically designed to protect you and your staff while reducing the spread of Covid-19. Our aim is to work with you to bring you out of ‘outbreak status’ as quickly as possible. We understand and appreciate how important this is, especially with regards to the vaccination rollout.
If there are no registered positive cases of Covid-19 in your setting, 2 weekly asymptomatic testing for staff is required via the UK Government Portal. Visit the Government website to find out more. If you have any concerns, please call 119.
If the twice-weekly testing indicates a positive case, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board enclosed team validates the test and completes a risk assessment. A referral is completed and is sent from ABB.COVIDEnclosed@wales.nhs.uk to the Testing Team.
It then falls to the Testing Team to make contact and arrange for PCR swabs to be delivered. The swabs will be collected 48 hours after the swabs are dropped off.
Your Care Home self-swabbing kit will be delivered to your facility by one of our designated delivery drivers. You will be provided with a kit containing:
We have created this simple step-by-step guide to help settings carry out testing successfully, including walk-through instructions and frequently asked questions. Please make sure that your team reads all the information that is available to them before starting their swabbing process.
To help and support care homes, the following procedure has been designed to ensure results are processed as quickly as possible. Please take time to understand the procedure.
Step 1: Please provide full and complete lists of staff and residents to be tested using these forms:
- Staff
Please send these forms to ABB.COVID-19TestingUnit@wales.nhs.uk
Please include regular agency staff in your list. Any staff who is not classed as a regular member of staff will need to seek asymptomatic testing via the 119/government portal.
Step 2: The testing kits will be delivered to your setting the day before your scheduled testing day. When kits are delivered, please check all required elements are present. If you are missing any, please inform us immediately on 0300 30 31 222.
Please note, if you need to make amendments to your staff or residents listing, please let us know as soon as possible. We only need the list of people that require updates.
Step 3: Carry out PCR swabbing for staff and residents using the instructions and guidance list below. When completing the swabbing process, please refer to the Sending a sample to an NHS Wales Lab guidance.
The swabbing process MUST be completed within 48 hours of delivery and under only exceptional circumstances are hand written labels to be used during this process. Hand written labels do not link back to a specific care home and you will not be automatically informed of the results. It also delays to processing, causing delays to results.
Step 4: Once the swabbing process has been completed, please update the forms by indicating which residents and staff have been swabbed. To arrange collection of swab samples, please call 0300 30 31 222 or email ABB.COVID-19TestingUnit@wales.nhs.uk. The collection times are 7 days a week, 16:00-19:30.
It is the care home's responsibility to ensure all samples are completed and ready for collection. If any sample are not ready, it is the care home's responsibility to arrange for the samples to be returned to Rodney Parade.
View this video and this Information Document for a complete Checklist for PCR Swabbing.
View this video for a complete checklist for PCR swabbing
Quick Guide to Donning and Doffing PPE
We hope these FAQs answer some of your questions, and we will be updating these regularly as the situation progresses.
Where can providers find the latest guidance and information on COVID-19?
Providers are encouraged to visit the Public Health Wales website for the latest information. We also encourage you to visit the Coronavirus (COVID-19) area, as it holds useful links and information.
Social Care Wales and Welsh Government have a lot of resources to guide you. Also, as part of its working programme for supporting care homes to improve the quality of care for older people across Wales, Improvement Cymru have developed the following as a single point of access for information relating to care homes.
Do I have to get staff and people living in the care home tested for COVID-19?
Testing is an important way of managing the spread of COVID-19. Providers should follow Welsh Government guidance and facilitate testing, even where people are asymptomatic. The safety and well-being of people must come first.
No blanket decisions should be made on behalf of people. If people do not have the capacity, individual best interest decisions should be made in line with the Mental Capacity Act. Additional guidance for best interest decisions on the Mental Capacity Act can be found on the Social Care Institute for Excellence website.
Should care homes admit someone new to the home when they have had confirmed cases?
PHW advice is that the care home should be free from COVID-19 for 20 days for both an incident or an outbreak as long as by day 14 of the last onset of a case, all staff and residents have tested negative and the outbreak is deemed under control. Please read the guidance to Prevent COVID-19 Among Care Home Residents for details.
Where can I find guidance on prevention and management of COVID-19 in care homes?
Please see links below for updated PHW Guidance on the prevention and management of cases, incidents and outbreaks of COVID-19 in residential settings in Wales.