COVID-19 Bulletin: Wednesday 23 September

September 23, 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)

Summary of key points in today’s bulletin

• You must ensure you wear PPE when required and observe social distance rules.
• New restrictions imposed, but vulnerable adults and those with childcare arrangements are excluded.
• Scrubs still being taken home and not laundered, make sure there is enough for all.
• We are still having 10% of swabs a day rejected and require repeating, make sure you get it right for the safety of patients and your colleagues.

1. Ensuring a safe environment – we all play a part
As you have no doubt heard on TV or read in a newspaper or online, the threat of a second wave is now very real. We have seen more and more local lockdowns, such as those imposed in our region, implemented throughout the UK and the government is slowly increasing its national lockdown measures again, as it looks to quell the growing R number. We aren’t at a full national lockdown again yet, but it remains a possibility.

It remains, as always – but in particular now, vital that all colleagues adhere to the rules of wearing a face mask at all times whilst in clinical areas of our main hospital buildings. Where social distancing is not possible this remains important during handovers, breaks and with ward based teaching. Hand hygiene is equally important. The reason for this is clear, we need to remain vigilant against the transmission of COVID-19 and do everything we can to keep our patients and colleagues safe from infection. Complacency is our enemy, so we must all work together to continue to fight the spread. See below for some important points to protect patients and colleagues:

Handwashing and gloves: 

• Regular and effective hand washing is the best way to reduce the spread of the virus
• Gloves are single use and should only be worn when they are needed as part of PPE for a particular procedure or task and should immediately be disposed of following this and hand hygiene performed.
• Gloves are not required for procedures where there is a minimal risk of cross infection between patients and staff.

Social Distancing

To stop the spread of COVID-19 you should be taking steps to practice social distancing by leaving 2 metres (6ft) between you and those around you.

Whether you work in an office, clinical area, or someone’s home, you should be taking steps to limit close contact with colleagues.

• In communal areas such as coffee shops and restaurants you will see markings on the floor showing the ideal spacing between people.
• Observe the space around you and be mindful of not stepping into the personal space of others.
• Make good use of the technologies we now have available such as Webex Teams and Meetings to limit your face to face contact.
• If someone is too close, it’s ok to ask them to give you some space.

Manage the risk around you, if you feel that the behaviours of those around you are putting you at risk, speak up and notify your manager.

2. New restrictions imposed 

On Monday, the UK’s COVID-19 alert level moved to level 4, meaning transmission is “high or rising exponentially”.

• Extra restrictions have now been brought in including the ‘rule of six’ with guidance to encourage people to work from home where possible.
• The ‘rule of six’ now excludes paid or unpaid child care of children under 14.
• The new ‘rule of six’ means that any social gatherings of more than six people will be against the law.

In addition to national restrictions, there are further restrictions in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull.

• Residents in these areas are no longer able to mix with people they don’t live with, in their homes or gardens.
• Your household is defined as the people you live with and any support bubble.
• Households that have formed a support bubble with another single adult household behave as if everyone lives in the same house.

These new restrictions have come into effect for Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull and Wolverhampton to reduce the coronavirus rates of infection.

3. Options if you need to stay away from home

As case numbers climb, you may, unfortunately, find yourself needing to remove yourself from your normal place of residence. We have a limited number of rooms available and they will be allocated based on need, be it to protect your loved ones who are either vulnerable or shielding, or to ensure you continue able to help the NHS by staying well by staying away from a household member who is COVID positive. If you need to book a room please contact the team on swbh.hotel-booking@nhs.net. If your request is out of hours, you will get an out of office email with instructions of the number to call in order to book your room. This is a key part of our work to reduce absence and avoidable self-isolation during coming weeks.

4. Support with childcare in the event of school closures

Following the increase in COVID-19 cases and the introduction of local restrictions, some colleagues will experience a breakdown in their normal childcare arrangements. It might be as a result of extended family or friends no longer being able to provide childcare, the temporary closure of schools or school bubbles being required to isolate following a suspected COVID -19 case.

Colleagues who cannot attend work (including on-call activity) because of the breakdown of their normal childcare arrangements may have the first day off to make alternative arrangements. This one day of absence will be carer’s leave. On 21 September, the Government confirmed an exemption to the ‘rule of six’ for children under 14 or vulnerable adults where this is necessary for informal and formal care arrangements. Managers are requested to be flexible in supporting staff. Do consider alternative shift patterns and/or allowing colleagues to make up time to enable them to remain at work.

If a colleague is unable to attend work and options to work alternative shift patterns have been exhausted, staff may take parental leave or annual leave or accrued time in lieu. The possibility of working from home should also be explored as part of this process.

 5. Working from home arrangements extended

Our working from home policy will remain in place until 15 January 2021, as we continue to evaluate what is best for colleagues and the services we provide.

• This includes a safe office space review which is now close to conclusion. As a result, the health and safety team has written to managers in areas where this has been completed. If you have not yet responded, please ensure you do. If you require any information on the safe office space review then please contact Jacque Calloway on ext. 4118.
• We will maintain contact with colleagues who are shielding and continue to provide support.
• There will also be engagement over long term working from home arrangements over the coming months. This strategy will reflect learnings from over the last five months and look to put arrangements on a firmer and more contractual footing that will carry the Trust through to 2023. This ensures fairness for existing and new employees and clarity about eligibility and decision making.

You can read the working from home policy in full by clicking here.

6. Your health and wellbeing

Your health and wellbeing is paramount to us. The COVID-19 pandemic will take a toll on colleagues both mentally and physically. With this in mind, we are encouraging all colleagues to take advantage of the wellbeing resources we have available. These include but are not limited to:

• Access to the Thrive app. Go to https://swb.thrive.uk.com to create an account and claim your free access to Thrive.
• Our recharge booth takes place every Thursday. It offers a safe space to come together with others, reflect, recharge, decompress, and join a safe and confidential discussion. For more information please contact Richard Burnell on 07747 144874 or Angharad MacGregor on 07976 322893. Alternatively, drop an email to rechargebooth@nhs.net.
• The wellbeing sanctuary offers a chance for colleagues to de-stress and relax. You can take advantage of a free massage, meditation, music therapy and relaxation hypnotherapy. It is located at the Learning Works on Unett Street, Smethwick, B66 3SY with free onsite parking.

Click here for a detailed list of health and wellbeing resources available to colleagues.

7. Laundering scrubs correctly

Support Services are currently undertaking the laundering of Trust owned scrubs from Sandwell Hospital in our onsite laundry. This is to ensure there is sufficient stock available for designated areas. These include theatres, red wards or areas that require scrubs as identified by infection control or senior management.

All used scrubs must be placed in the blue trollies situated on the links and in departmental areas as indicated below.

• Under no circumstances can scrubs be worn outside the hospital or taken home for laundering
• Scrubs should not be stockpiled in lockers
• Do not wear scrubs in undesignated areas.

Maintaining the supply of scrubs to essential areas is dependent on everyone following the same process when it comes to laundering scrubs.

8. Going virtual for group activities

The ongoing pandemic has changed the way we all do our day-to-day activities and we’ve had to change the way we approach internal events (such as recruitment) and external events (such as our annual Star Awards) as a Trust.

So, we are taking our activity online, with virtual events being adopted by Your Trust Charity. In light of the current restrictions, YTC is sadly having to decline requests for face-to-face fundraising or 50/50 events for the foreseeable future. These include cake sales, coffee mornings and sponsored challenge events onsite (such as walks) that we all know many so enjoy taking part in. However, there are still virtual options for you to help raise money for those in need. There is almost no limit to what you can do virtually – if you need help or advice you can contact trustcharity@nhs.net and they will help you with your plans.

9. Routine swabbing: A ‘how to’ guide

It is vital that inpatients are not only placed in the right care environment (red, lilac, blue ward) but also that swabbing is carried out appropriately and effectively in each environment.

Remember:

• Every patient MUST be swabbed on admission.
• Patients on Lilac wards MUST be swabbed every 3 days.
• Patients on Blue wards MUST be swabbed every 5 days.

Follow the Trust’s pathway here.

How a swab is collected is also extremely important. The team has produced a quick ‘how to’ video that shows you how to collect and package a PCR swab for Coronavirus.
Click below to watch the short film: