Case Study: Putting Knowledge into Practice at TLC Care

Jordana Hargreaves

July 24, 2020

3 min read

The Challenge:

Training new starters during the pandemic under social distancing rules.
Contextualising the importance of PPE beyond training and applying this to daily practice.

The Objectives:

To eliminate knowledge gaps among new starters.
For the whole team to understand the importance of PPE.
To make good hygiene practices second nature.

The Solution:

Accessible online training with no face to face component.
Training that is clear, concise and cements best practice.
Training that is suitable for the whole nursing team.

A Background on TLC Care Homes

TLC are a large group of care providers based in Essex. We spoke to Sabrina Cross who manages The Oak, a residential service providing care to vulnerable adults aged between 30-76.

Why Did You Take the Course? What Were Your Business Challenges?

Sabrina explains plainly that the residential care service faced huge challenges and safety threats as a result of the pandemic.

The threat to our unit was huge, both in terms of our service users and staff. It was very real and every single one of us had a responsibility to act correctly. We identified the need for training in areas that we were familiar with but never in the context of something like this.

In addition to the fundamental need to keep the service users and staff safe, there were additional challenges posed to the unit due to the social distancing measures in place.

We are constantly training, all the time. However, in the current climate, face to face training was impossible. We also had an influx of new starters to help us manage the new demands and we needed to make sure they were up to speed. Online training enabled us to do this.

Why Did You Choose This Course and High Speed Training in Particular?

The PPE for Healthcare course was sent out across the group. In Sabria’s care home, all 23 staff undertook the training.

We felt it was important to bring everyone up to the same level and this course came highly recommended.

How Will You Apply the Learnings Within Your Role?

Sabrina highlights that sometimes you need to go over what you have learnt before when you are faced with a new, challenging situation.

The training has helped to enforce a lot of what we have learnt throughout our careers. The difference is, this time there is the why. The training made it completely clear why we should be doing what we were doing and the very real consequences if we didn’t.

Sabrina emphasises the importance of carrying on your learnings into the future.

I imagine we will continue to use many of the practices even after lockdown in some capacity.

How has the course helped to solve the challenge you were facing?

Well, we are going through PPE at hundred miles an hour! We have been so lucky. We have had no cases of COVID-19 and I am putting this down to our efforts to totally lockdown the unit, train the staff equally and reinforce correct hygiene and PPE practices.

Absolutely, it was amazing. The training has opened everyone’s eyes. It’s so important to remember the little things and reaffirm why you are operating in a certain way. It has made the staff stronger and kept corona away from us.

What Can You Learn From TLC Care?

The basics are the foundations. When it’s as serious as infection prevention, the basics really do matter. It’s so important to go over material you may have learned in order to make sure you get it right.
Learning something and applying it are different things. Everyone has training as part of their role but it can be really difficult to ensure you apply this when the time comes, especially under high pressure. This is why it is imperative to make sure you take the time to train yourself as well as staff, and don’t be afraid to go over it until it has been cemented.