COVID-19 Bulletin: Wednesday 12 August

August 12, 2020

This is our weekly bulletin and will be issued every Wednesday. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. We are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of. Kindness remains the guiding principle of all the actions in our work to tackle the virus – kindness in how we look after patients, visitors, and one another.

Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (last week’s data)

1. PPE Hubs at City and Sandwell close on Friday

The PPE distribution hubs have been experiencing significantly reduced activity over recent weeks and the decision has now been taken to return to normal distribution led by the procurement team. This will occur from 14 August.

A continued daily delivery of PPE will continue for those areas already receiving such. Any new areas requiring a daily delivery can email the procurement team and this can be set up as required. Please email Lisa.Southall1@nhs.net.

An additional ‘adhoc’ delivery service will also be established with the procurement team.

For Sandwell please email swbh.ppe-bryanknight@nhs.net
For City please email swbh.ppe-d18@nhs.net

2. Car park barriers back in use

Colleagues are reminded that from this coming Saturday (15 August) our car parking barriers will be back in use. Earlier this year we raised the barriers and suspended car parking charges for staff, patients and visitors in response to government guidance and risks associated with COVID-19. Unfortunately this has seen an increase in both inconsiderate parking and security incidents in our car parks. As our hospital service gets back to normality there is a need to ensure the safety and security of all.

Parking remains free until further notice, however staff with valid parking permits must only park on designated bays on staff car parks. Visitor spaces are for our patients and visitors to use. Staff who park at New Square are asked to resume doing so.

Much like the one at City, a new afternoon car park for staff working late shifts opens at Sandwell on 15 August. Parking is allowed between 11.30am and 8am (the next day) only. Vehicles must have left by 8am – vehicles parked outside of these hours may incur a £50 parking charge.

3. Action required to tackle health inequalities in latest phase of COVID-19 response and recovery

COVID-19 has shone a harsh light on some of the deep health inequalities that persist in our society. Like nearly every health condition, COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on people living in areas of high deprivation, on people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, those with a learning disability and others with protected characteristics. A central part of responding to COVID-19 and restoring services as part of the Third Phase of NHS Response to COVID-19 letter must be to increase the scale and pace of system-wide action to tackle inequalities.

NHS England and NHS Improvement commissioned a national advisory group of leaders from within the NHS and beyond to advise on how to achieve this aim in the coming months. This group identified 8 urgent actions, building on the measures to implement the NHS Long Term Plan.  All parts of the NHS are now being asked to deliver these actions, working in close partnership with colleagues in local government, other public services, the voluntary sector, and with communities. NHS bodies and leaders will be monitored to ensure they are delivered.

Read more about the detail and context of the eight actions in the document Urgent Actions to Address Inequalities in NHS Provision and Outcomes and how they will be delivered and monitored.

4. Advice to patients before surgery

The Trust is producing a leaflet for patients setting out guidance on what is required before attending for a planned procedure. This is based on the NICE guidance that was recently published. We will be expecting patients to maintain strict social distancing for 14 days prior to their procedure. They will need a swab taken three days before surgery and then will need to self-isolate from that date prior to coming into to hospital. The patient information that will be produced in leaflet form can be found here. If you have any queries about these arrangements please raise them through your link on the Tactical COVID-19 group.

5. Updated guidance on returning from abroad

The COVID-19 pandemic is a rapidly developing situation and we recognise that ongoing Government announcements regarding a change in policy for those returning from some countries will impact on some colleagues.

In responding to the situation and to provide support we have taken the decision that all colleagues’ circumstances must be treated individually to ensure that we offer every opportunity to help.

We have received confirmation from Public Health England that all NHS staff/GPs, will be required to self-isolate for 14-days on return from Spain which took effect from the date of announcement – 24 July 2020.  There are no exceptions. Other countries have now been added to this list – the Government’s coronavirus travel guidance website has all the latest information.

Colleagues cannot book a test to get them back to work earlier, all those returning must self-isolate for the full 14 days. Any colleague who is symptomatic on return should book a test through our normal procedure; if the test is negative you must still complete the 14-days self-isolation.

Those staff affected by this Government announcement will be offered a variety of options which should, where possible, be agreed with your line manager, and recorded, prior to any trip abroad as we recognise this continues to be an ever changing situation.

All colleagues should discuss their plans in detail, with their line manager before travelling to the country, and consider whether they will be insured for their trip and any implications for the individual if something happens and you are not insured or may be unable to travel home. The line manager should make a record of the discussion and what was agreed.

Options available for quarantine period (not an exhaustive list)

• Working from home – temporarily for those who ordinarily work within a clinical environment where possible. Consideration must be given by the line manager to the fairness of the application of home working.
• Line managers may consider that some time is appropriate to work from home undertaking non patient facing duties, and the rest of the time as annual leave / unpaid leave / time owing.
• Utilise additional annual leave compensated by a period of unpaid leave
• Take unpaid leave
• Work additional hours over an agreed period to make up the time
• Consideration may be given for post travel quarantine payments in extenuating circumstances (e.g. attendance at a family funeral in a non-exempt country).

 We have produced a flow chart regarding the process to follow.

 6. Are looking after your mental health and wellbeing?

 The Recharge Booth continues tomorrow

The Recharge Booth is a ‘virtual’ space that allows you to come together with others, to reflect, recharge, decompress, and join a safe and confidential discussion. Hosted by Richard Burnell, it runs every Thursday at 2pm, sharing stories from different colleagues over a 20-30 minute session.

For more information please contact Richard Burnell on 07747 144874, Angharad MacGregor on 07976 322893 or Claire Hubbard on 07866004575. Alternatively if you would like to be part of the Recharge Booth, drop an email to swbh.rechargebooth@nhs.net. A WebEx invite will be sent to your outlook diary, and you will simply need to click on the ‘join’ button to enter.