North Ayrshire's care at home service has been going the extra mile to provide care and support to some of the most vulnerable people in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Health and Social Care Partnership’s team, which currently cares for more than 5,000 residents, has gone above and beyond since the start of the outbreak, providing the support that enables people to remain independent in their own homes.

Using PPE to protect both service users and staff, carers have not only continued to help with daily tasks including helping those they care for to get in and out of bed, get dressed and washed, and assisting with meals and medication but have also taken on additional roles.

With social isolation affecting many older people, the team has been using technology to keep service users in touch with their family members while they can’t see them in person.

The team has also been carrying out extra visits to check on service users who have been affected by the temporary closure of day centres, providing lunch visits where required and signposting to additional services where necessary.

One staff member for the care at home team said: “While this has been a challenging time for us all, knowing that we are helping people through this very difficult time by offering reassurance and comfort has made it all worthwhile.

“Assisting our service users to contact relatives if needed can be just as important as delivering care, and being able to put a smile on their faces has been lovely.

“While it has been difficult at times, we’ve all been getting on with it, and if anyone has concerns we pull together as a team to talk.

“It has given us a different outlook on life and work.”

Councillor Robert Foster, cabinet member for health and social care, added: “We are extremely proud of how our care at home staff have pulled together and worked as a team.

“They have gone the extra mile during the pandemic to ensure that those they care for are safe and well looked after and we would like to say a huge thank you.”