A new 24-bedroom facility has opened in West London to protect care homes from receiving residents who may have contracted Covid-19.
The unit will support the safe discharge of patients affected by Covid-19 from acute hospitals, while also ensuring that patients who are recovering do not remain in hospital for longer than necessary.
Ealing Community Partners (ECP), a group of NHS, Ealing Council and voluntary organisations helped develop the facility, which has been named in honour of Mary Robinson, the UK’s first District Nurse who worked in Liverpool during the 1860s.
Patients from across North West London will be eligible for short-term admission if they are unable to return to their long-term placement due to their Covid-19 status. The Manor Court Nursing Home is on the same site, however the NHS Mary Robinson Unit has separate staff and facilities to ensure that residents are fully protected.
Dr Christopher Hilton, Clinical Director of Integrated Care Services at West London NHS Trust said: “The impact of Covid-19 on care homes across the country has been devastating, and locally we have been trying to support the homes and residents in a number of ways since early on in the pandemic. The NHS Mary Robinson Unit will continue to be part of the system’s response to Covid-19 as we emerge from the first wave of the virus and continue to protect residents in the months to come.”
Ealing Community Partners has been supporting care homes in Ealing throughout the pandemic. The group has helped provide primary care support through partners in The Argyle Group, who look after around 1,000 patients in Ealing’s nursing homes and were among the first to highlight the impact of Covid-19 to patients in these care settings, inspiring the decision to develop the Mary Robinson Unit. They’re also helping to extend a new psychological support service called “Keeping Well” to care home staff across North West London.
For more information visit Ealing Community Partners
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