'Covid-19 secure pod' at Blackpool care home lets elderly people meet loved ones for the first time in months

The new visitor hub at the Annacliffe Residential Care Home on Newton Drive will allow residents to meet family members face to face for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Care home owner and manager Alexandra Burke said: “We are absolutely delighted for our residents. Finally, after months of uncertainty and anxiety for our wonderful, but infection-vulnerable, residents, we are able to offer them a space, a totally separate space, in which they can meet their family and loved ones in person. No more waving through windows. No more wordless meetings. I am so delighted for them all, as well as for their families and our staff."

The pod was installed by portable building company Cube Modular.

The 60-resident home is now able to host scheduled visits every hour. Each visit is 20 minutes long and is followed by a rigorous 40 minute cleaning procedure.

Brandon Weston, Cube Modular’s MD, said: “We are thrilled to have made this possible for everyone at Annacliffe. When we arrived to install the pod the excitement was palpable. The look on everyone’s faces said it all.

“The response to our care home visitor pods initiative has been immense. We are delighted that we can offer care homes a unique, portable building solution which not only enables a personal and controlled contact between care home residents and loved ones during the pandemic, but also does so in a most safe, secure, and risk-mitigating way. We are looking forward to installing many more at care homes across the UK.”