Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 5 March
March 5, 2021
Hello, colleagues
My first Friday message made more than just reference to the fundamentals of care needing to be a continuing and relentless focus for us now and in the future. When all said and done, we are a healthcare organisation and our primary duty is to do no harm and to make people better. We cannot do that if the fundamentals of care are inconsistently delivered.
There is no doubt that the second wave of COVID has hit you all hard and your staffing ratios have been worn very thin, leaving you exhausted and at times exposed to not delivering those fundamentals at all times. As we start to see marginal downturns in the pressure on our services now, whilst I fully concede you remain exhausted and damaged by the last 12 months, there should be and must be, time created not just for your recovery but to deliver those fundamentals. This week, I focus on the one which we have seen as the most important during the last 12 months, infection prevention and control:
Controlling exposures to the risk of infection, is the fundamental method of protecting patients and staff.
Standard Infection Control Precautions (SICPs) should always be applied and are the minimum infection prevention practices that apply to all patient care, regardless of whether infection is known to be present or not. These are:
Be bare below the elbows to facilitate good hand washing.
Wash your hands
Adhere the Who 5 moments of hand hygiene (Before patient contact, Before aseptic task, After body fluid exposure, After patient contact, After contact with patient surroundings)
Wear PPE
Wear the correct PPE for the task being undertaken, gloves should only be worn if risk of exposure to bodily fluids, and hands should always be washed after removal. Follow the correct donning and doffing processes. All information is available on the connect page, help/advice is there for you via infection control. Eye/face protection should be worn if splashing or spraying with blood and/or body fluids is anticipated. A face visor should not be worn in place of a surgical face mask or respirator in the context of COVID-19.
You must be fit tested if you are wearing a FFP3 mask, you must be clean shaven at the point of fit testing and if you are wearing a FFP3 mask. Even stubble can impact on the seal of a face fit tested mask. As I write this, I reflect that I am glad I haven’t needed to be fit tested in my role, because I haven’t been clean shaven for 31 years and I look like a plucked chicken when I am…..
Cleaning
Clean equipment after use – dirty commodes/near patient reusable equipment is unacceptable
Single Use
Single use means just that – use it once and throw it away
Waste
Dispose of you PPE correctly – in a bin, not on the floor and certainly not in one of our staff car parks, please. Any infectious waste should be disposed of in an orange bag.
I can fully appreciate that some of this stuff is dull, it’s not sexy and it’s been said many times before. However, we are still seen as an organisation with much to improve in this field and we should all take pride in getting it right – and to respectfully challenge each other when we are not.
Covid-19 vaccination
My thanks to the thousands of you who have had your first doses of the Covid-19 vaccination either at one of the Trust vaccine sites or elsewhere. This is the vast majority of our colleagues, but may I say again how vital it is to ensure you have the vaccine so that you are protected from the serious risk of Covid-19. You have all seen just how devastating this virus has been within our own families and communities and right across the world. The vaccination programme is essential to moving forward out of lockdown restrictions and keeping you and your families safe. Pictured above is Chief People Officer, Frieza Mahmood, having her first dose at Al Abbas Islamic Centre in Birmingham. There are vaccine centres now in many community locations and we are planning to get a mobile vaccination unit out on the roads shortly to vaccinate people in their own homes. If you remain unsure or hesitant talk to your colleagues and our clinical leaders. Through the Covid bulletin we will continue to share evidence based information on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine as well as how to book your appointments.
Have a good weekend.
Richard