COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 29 May

May 29, 2020

This is our seven days a week bulletin. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. Throughout May and June 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.

2 metres apart.  Walk around our site and do your best to make sure you are observing this.  All of us could be a spreader.  Antibodies are not a protective shield that changes that.  As we all face the complexities of schools opening, football restarting, sunshine and summer, it is even more important that we get the basics right.  So if your workspace means social distancing feels impossible, please speak up and we will try and find alternatives.  In the week ahead let’s really try and make it ok to ask colleagues Don’t Stand So Close To Me….

Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (Yesterday’s totals)

1. Antibody testing

Testing for antibodies to COVID-19 begins on Monday 1^st June, with the telephone line to book your appointment also open this weekend from 8am to 4.30pm. Be aware that telephone lines are likely to be busy.

You must be symptom free for 21 days prior to being tested, to ensure the test will give an accurate result. There is no point in colleagues undergoing the test to get a false result. To book a test please call 0121 507 6104 and select option 2 when prompted. Results of your test will be e-mailed to you from Occupational Health within 72 hours of having the test.

Whatever the result, you must continue to follow the infection prevention and PPE guidance in full. Observe strict hand hygiene at all times, keep social distancing two metres from people outside your household and wear PPE according to guidelines when seeing patients in clinical areas. You will also need to follow Occupational Health guidance on self-isolating and testing if you develop symptoms of possible COVID-19 in future.

• You can view an overview of the employee antibody and swab testing process here.
• An updated version of the Q&A for antibody testing can be found here.

2. Test and Trace notifications

Colleagues will have heard about the launch of the Test and Trace service across England, which aims to help identify, contain and control coronavirus, reduce the spread of the virus and save lives. Anyone who tests positive for coronavirus will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace and will need to share information about their recent interactions. This could include household members, people with whom you have been in direct contact, or within two metres for more than 15 minutes.

If you receive notification from the Test and Trace service you may be advised to self-isolate for 14 days. Under these circumstances you should follow this guidance, but if you have developed antibodies you may be able to return to work so please book your antibody test. In line with the usual guidance if you develop symptoms you must stay at home for at least seven days and advise your line manager. On receiving a notification from Test and Trace please alert your line manager. If you are unsure what you should do you can contact Occupational Health for advice.

3. Sandwell Deep Clean: P5 this weekend

A detailed schedule is in place to deep clean our wards at Sandwell Hospital. This involved moving patients into other wards, and completing a thorough clean before the ward can begin accepting patients again. We will use N1 (OPAU) as the decant ward where required.

This weekend the work begins on deep cleaning P5. Thank you to all the colleagues who are safely moving patients and to the ward service officers who are completing the deep clean work. The deep clean continues in Sandwell throughout June and then will move to City Hospital. Please contact Paula Gardner if you have any queries.

4. New risk assessment tool for C-19 in our workplace

Further to discussions over the last three weeks, and specifically conversation with Black and Minority Ethnic employees in a special forum held last week with the medical director, the Trust will launch the new assessment tool on Thursday June 4th.  Anyone wishing a new assessment should telephone Occupational Health on 0121 507 3306 to book a slot over the coming month, you can also email swbh.riskassessmentoh@nhs.net.

The tool seeks to analyse the known contributory factors to the disease as the evidence currently stands.  The position is clearly a dynamic one and the tool will evolve under Occupational Health medical advice over time.  Because the tool is a clinical one, any risk assessments will be done through OH rather than line managers to ensure patient confidentiality.

5. Working from home: Updated guidance

On Wednesday we published new interim guidance on working from home. This guidance is valid up to 31 July 2020 and covers those roles that are recommended to be home-based at present. People who are shielding should continue to WFH. Three things are required for people working from home which are: Complete your PDR via Webex; Talk to your line manager if you feel you can do 85% of your role from home and you are not currently WFH; and, arrange to spend a full day on site once a week or fortnight. You can read the full guidance here.

If you are WFH you may have received a laptop or desktop to take home. You must log onto this computer whilst still on Trust premises to ensure you can connect to the SWB network. Your computer will not work at home unless you do this. This cannot be resolved remotely so you need to return to site to sort it. Contact the IT Helpdesk 24/7 on extension 4050.