COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 19 November

November 19, 2021

Numbers not statistics: This week (last week). 

*Numbers may decrease due to starters and leavers.

1. New: Chief Executive urges all to get jabbed and protected

We recently caught up with Richard Beeken, Chief Executive who is urging everyone – from colleagues to those in our community to get their COVID and flu vaccinations, if they haven’t already.

Be sure to check out this short message from our Richard below:

When and where to get your jabs:

Sandwell Hospital: Pop-up clinics for flu jabs are taking place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout November and December in the main reception area between 9am-5pm. There are also pop-up clinics for both flu jabs and COVID boosters taking place in the Berridge Suite on 24 November, 2 and 16 December between 9am-4pm.

City Hospital:  Pop-up clinics for flu jabs are taking place at main entrance to City Hospital every Thursday and Friday throughout November and December between 9am-5pm.

The City vaccination hub in Sheldon Block is open seven days a week for flu jabs and COVID boosters between 8am-6pm for walk-ins. The hub is also open to the public for COVID boosters. The simply book system for staff vaccinations has now closed, but you can still book an appointment via the national booking system for City hub.

Rowley Regis Hospital: A pop-up clinic for flu jabs and COVID boosters is taking place in Westwood ward on Thursday 25 November between 9am-4pm.

Note: There must be at least six months (182 days) between your second dose of your COVID-19 jab and your booster.

Act now and be prepared for the months ahead. Visit a pop-up clinic to get your flu jab and COVID-19 booster. If you have any questions, you can contact the vaccine hub on 0121 507 4404.

2. New: Infection rates high in Rowley Regis

Colleagues are being advised that COVID-19 rates in Rowley Regis, particularly in the Rowley and Blackheath wards remain high.

Rowley Regis is made up of four council wards – Rowley, Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill and Tividale. These four wards are where confirmed cases of the virus are highest in Sandwell. In particular, case rates are highest in young people between the ages of 11 to 25.

The current weekly COVID-19 infection rate in the Rowley ward (519 per 100,000 people) is twice the average for Sandwell as a whole (261 per 1000,000 people).

In Blackheath the infection rate is 451 per 100,000 people.

In Rowley there is also a higher incidence of the AY.4.2 variant, compared to other Sandwell areas. This sub-variant is closely related to the Delta variant, which has been dominant in the UK for a while and is currently rising across the country.

We ask colleagues who live in these areas, or travel to them for work, to remain vigilant and continue to wear their masks and socially distance.

3. New: COVID and mental health webinar: 2 December

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are hosting a special COVID and mental health webinar on Thursday 2 December, 11am – 12.30pm. The webinar will have a host of  clinical experts from across NHS to provide an update on the pandemic, how to keep safe and better ways of looking after your mental health. There will be a Q&A opportunity to put questions forward to all the panel members.

For further details and to join, please click here.

4. New: Inpatient eligibility for Ronapreve treatment has now changed

Patients that are hospitalised for the management of COVID-19 and hospitalised patients with incidental/nosocomial COVID-19 can receive treatment. There are different doses for each cohort of patients, details can be found in the “nMABs in hospitalised patients” pathway or by clicking here.

Note: Patients in ED and AMU should all be tested for anti-spike (anti-S) antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. This can be done as an add-on test.

The treatment has been developed from the results of the RECOVERY trial. nMABs is proven to reduce the potential risk of serious illness and reduces the length of time patients spend in hospital receiving treatment for the management of COVID-19.

All pathways can be found on the Covid Clinical Guidance page.

5. Updated: Process for enabling visiting on some wards

Due to reports of a lack of consistency in enabling visitors to designated wards, we would like to clarify the process to safely enable some visiting to take place. The confusion appears to be in the process by which visitors prove they are negative of COVID-19 through a lateral flow test. We have updated our poster here to advise that visitors must prove either photographic evidence of a negative lateral flow test (done the same day they wish to visit) or provide evidence from the government website where they uploaded their results. The Trust cannot provide lateral flow tests or accommodate visitors who wish to do a lateral flow test on site.

Our new visiting restrictions allow inpatients in amber areas to receive one visitor for up to 30 minutes per day. Patients can nominate two individuals who can visit for the duration of their stay, ideally from the same household. Visitors must use hand sanitiser and wear a face mask on entry. They must also show evidence of a negative lateral flow test result taken that same day to be checked on entrance to the building. All visits must be booked in advance by telephoning the ward to allow wards to limit the number of visitors on a ward / bay at any one time. All visitors must be free of COVID-19 symptoms, and must not attend if they are a household contact of a COVID-19 positive case. We regret we are unable to allow visits by children (under 16 years) or those who are immunocompromised.

The established visiting arrangements for paediatrics, maternity, community wards and ICU remain in place with the addition of evidence of a negative lateral flow test result.

Visiting remains permissible in all areas for patients at end of life and to support patients who are distressed or need support with nutrition and hydration. Please talk to ward nurse in charge who can provide guidance about a visiting schedule.

Red and green areas, (D17, D21, D25, L2 and L3) where visiting is currently not allowed should ensure you have robust systems in place to communicate with relatives / next of kin and to support communication between patients and their loved ones.

 We will review visiting arrangements weekly based on a risk assessment taking into account COVID-19 case rates in the community, numbers of COVID-19 cases in our hospitals and any outbreaks.

6. Reminder: Celebrating Christmas safely

Christmas will soon be upon us and whilst we’re not going to take on the role of the Grinch, we do need to remind colleagues to please remain mindful that we are still operating in an uncertain time where COVID is still rife in the community and we are still battling to protect our patients.

For now our rules regarding masks, social distancing and limitation to visiting remain in place.

We want to be in a position where we can enjoy Christmas so there are a few basic rules we need to ensure we all follow when getting wards and departments trimmed up for Christmas:

• Christmas trees can be displayed
• All decorations and trees must be flame retardant
• All decorations, including lights, must be wipeable and cleaned before being displayed
• Decorations cannot be in any area where clinical procedures take place, e.g. bays/side rooms on wards
• Decorations should be limited to a single area on wards to ensure effective cleaning can take place
• Decorations attract dust – do not suspend them from walls and ceilings

If a ward is closed due to an outbreak of an infection, e.g. Norovirus, you must dispose of all decorations

And whilst our rules don’t apply out in the community, we ask that colleagues use their common sense and their skills as clinicians to avoid risky environments. Continue to wear masks when you’re indoors and in crowded spaces and remember to wash and sanitise your hands regularly.

For more details please see the Christmas information sheet. Any further queries should be directed to the IPC team on ext. 5195.

7. Reminder: Join the saliva testing programme to protect your patients and loved ones

Did you know saliva testing (known as LAMP – Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification) is a speedy and less invasive way of detecting COVID-19?

You can book a kit collection slot for the weekly test, which requires you to spit into a tube in the morning before you brush your teeth or an hour after you have eaten.

When you arrive at work, you can deposit your sample into a red collection box. Many of these are positioned around our acute and community sites.

You can find drop off points and more information by clicking here.

If you are still unsure how to complete your LAMP test, be sure to check out the step-by-step guide in the video below.

Even if you are vaccinated it is vital that you register and carry out the weekly tests as they will help identify if you’re asymptomatic. Your saliva sample is ONLY used to test for COVID and is disposed of after testing.

The weekly saliva test is an easy way to help us all ensure we are remaining safe and playing our part in the battle against COVID-19.

Uptake of the weekly saliva test is monitored to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect our patients, the public and each other.

The latest data by group is below: