As reported by the PHE, 80% of confirmed cases of legionella occur in individuals over 50. This is particularly worrying for residents in care homes who tend to be the elderly and the most vulnerable to the deadly bacteria. As such, it’s crucial that social care facilities have a suitable control plan in place. But what makes an effective plan, and how do you know if it is right for your care home?

Responsibility

The management of legionella can involve a lot of different people and activities, so you need to know who is going to be responsible on a day-to-day basis. Many care home facilities managers wear a lot of different hats and are often caught up in reactive work, so be sure to exercise caution if you’re thinking of keeping this responsibility in-house rather than with a third-party water treatment company.

Reach

If you have a chain of care homes, it would be a good idea to have a control plan that covers your various sites. This will allow you to manage your legionella control activities and monitor results more effectively than you would if you were to liaise with multiple water treatment companies - whose coverage, diligence and industry knowledge may differ from one another. What’s more, you will get the chance to build up a good relationship with your provider and you can work together to continually improve the health and safety of your care home group.

Record-keeping

Even with all of the right control measures in place, a poor record-keeping system (or worse, none at all) will offset your efforts. Not only is it included in regulatory guidance, it will also allow you to track how progress is being made, whether the right measures are being carried out, and who is in charge of tasks.

For a chain of care homes, the most effective way to do this is by utilising a centralised record-keeping system comprising an online portal where you can access all of your data – including risk assessments, reports and test results – in one place. A professional water treatment company should be able to provide this for you, and it should be an integral part of your control plan.

Regulation

Legionella control in UK care homes is regulated by the CQC. It is therefore your duty to ensure that your control plan is compliant with CQC guidance. It should, for example, include specific details on who is to be notified in the event of legionella outbreak as per the Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act.

Taking these four factors into consideration and making them a part of your strategy will help you set up a legionella control plan that will protect you and your residents. If you want to learn more about how legionella can grow within a social care facility, and how to combat it, read our free guide on water safety.