COVID-19 Bulletin: Wednesday 23 December

December 23, 2020

If a message is in the bulletin, then it means all colleagues need to know about it. It is your responsibility to read the bulletin every day and if you think of a way to improve the bulletin, please let us know by emailing swbh.comms@nhs.net.

All the messages that are published in the bulletin are signed off during our daily Trust tactical meeting, and you can find the latest information about our COVID response on Connect here. Please take the time to keep yourself updated and safe.

1. Updated: Driving (patients) home for Christmas

A further update regarding the proposed changes to visiting arrangements over Christmas which we last wrote about on Friday.

Unfortunately due to the changing situation with COVID-19 cases back on the rise and the risk of the new COVID variant we will now not be in a position to reopen visiting over the Christmas period and our current guidance will remain in place.

Groups are encouraged to check that the video call technology installed in wards earlier in Wave 1 is still operating properly. That no one requires any further training for its use and to begin arrangements to ensure patients are able, wherever possible, to speak to their families on Christmas Day.

Please ensure that we work to support the discharge of any patients who are well enough to be, so that they are able to spend Christmas at home with their family.

Where patients need transport to get home, please ensure you book this appropriately, suspected COVID+ and confirmed COVID+ patients should not be travelling home on public transport or in taxis. Transport can be booked through West Midlands Ambulance Service by calling 0121 307 9114 for an advance booking or to book a journey on the day please call 0121 728 9876.

2. Reminder: Lateral flow – input your results and return your surplus kits

Thank you to all of you who have submitted your lateral flow test results onto Connect so far. Lateral flow tests are designed to help to identify any asymptomatic COVID positive cases and helps ensure we are playing our part in keeping patients, fellow NHS workers and our families safe.

Thousands of frontline colleagues have received the self-testing home kits, however only a relatively small percentage of results have been submitted so far. Recording these results could help to save lives, so it’s really important that each time you use the test your results – positive or negative – are submitted.

You can upload your test results here via Connect, but only when you are on the Trust network. If you carry out the test and it is positive, please ensure you contact your line manager immediately and book in for a PCR swab test to confirm the result.

Important information for managers:

If you have any Lateral Flow test kits remaining in your department that are not allocated to an individual please ensure you return these to Mike Carr or Kulwinder Johal as soon as possible. It’s important that we are able to roll out the testing kits to as many colleagues as possible and don’t allow any kits to remain unused.

3. Reminder: Fit testing and PPE – Keeping you safe over the holidays

All ward areas should now be well stocked with PPE, and further stocks are available from the PPE hubs at Sandwell Hospital and City Hospital. Access to these hubs out of hours is via CNPs.

• Sandwell Hub: Basement Cyber Café
• City Hub: D18

There is limited availability for fit testing during the holiday period so it is important that colleagues who feel they may need retesting take the opportunity to book in to a testing slot as soon as possible.

Fit testing over the Christmas and New Year period will be as follows: