Care home welcomes festive visits as garden pod opens
Visitor pod at Oaklands House in Reydon, Suffolk. - Credit: Healthcare Homes
A care home is allowing festive visits to take place after opening a unique garden pod.
Oaklands House care home in Reydon near Southwold, which provides residential care to up to 29 people, is proud to announce the opening of a special garden ‘visitor’s pod’ in time for Christmas.
The purpose-built wooden cabin is situated in the communal garden at the home, and provides a safe space for relatives to visit residents whilst Covid-19 continues to pose a risk across the country.
Having taken a tough decision to cease all but essential or compassionate exceptional visits inside the home prior to the national lockdown in March, Healthcare Homes Group, which operates Oaklands House, has researched ways to keep residents connected with family members.
The answer has been to invest in creating temporary garden pod structures, which are equipped with two separate entrances, a Perspex screen to separate visitors from residents and an intercom to make communicating easy.
The visitor pod is at the bottom of the garden. - Credit: Healthcare Homes
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The rooms are also equipped with heating when required, insulation and nurse call buttons, for added comfort.
Now, residents will be able to spend treasured time with their loved ones whilst keeping safe and warm during the Christmas period, and beyond.
The visitor pod is warm and toasty for the festive period. - Credit: Healthcare Homes
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Ian Gooch, manager of Oaklands House said; “As the festive season begins, it’s even more important for us to find a way to keep a sense of connection between our residents and their relatives.
"We know how much this means to them throughout the year, but it’s even more poignant at Christmas.
“We’ve had to be innovative and creative in finding ways to do this safely whilst Covid remains a risk, so having a warm, inviting and safe space in the garden pod is just fantastic.
"We’ve even managed to make it feel festive with some beautiful external decorations and I hope our residents and their loved ones thoroughly enjoy using the pod for some special time together.”
Relatives are advised to contact the manager to make appointments for the visiting pod.
