COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 7 May

May 7, 2021

Numbers not statistics: This week (last week)

1. New: Lifting the lid on COVID-19 research through new NIHR course

Over one million people in the UK have discovered the benefits of participating in clinical research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with the help of the NIHR’s new free online learning course, more people can now delve into the world of health research.

The NIHR is launching a new short course called ‘COVID-19: Understanding the research behind the pandemic.’ The course aims to uncover the UK’s strong health research operation in conducting critical research in the NHS – which discovered new vaccines and proven treatments in response to the COVID-19 global healthcare crisis.

The two week online course will only take two hours of your time each week and you’ll explore how the research community rose to the challenge to develop life-saving treatments and vaccines with patient safety at the centre of its work. This was only possible due to the unprecedented support from the public around the world willing to take part in clinical research to help fight this new disease.

Register today for the NIHR course COVID-19: Understanding the research behind the pandemic starting on Monday 17 May.

2. Reminder: Welcome back – SWB welcomes back visitors on our stroke ward

This week we began a phased trial where we slowly started to welcome visitors back onto our stroke ward, Newton 4.

All visitors need to call ahead to relevant wards to book an appointment slot to visit. During this call visitors should be screened to ensure they do not have any COVID-19 symptoms. All visitors must wear a mask when on site. General patient visits will last a maximum of 30 minutes and should be limited to one visitor per patient.

Note: In line with national guidance, general visiting will only be allowed for patients that have been in the hospital for seven days or more.

We’d like to remind colleagues that there are exceptional circumstances where visiting is allowed in all areas, for example for young patients, patients who lack mental capacity and patients who are at the end of their life. For these patients it is important that we are able to safely facilitate visiting, so please if in doubt ask your group for advice.

It is essential to note that even for these groups visiting is NOT ALLOWED by anyone who is COVID-19 symptomatic or self-isolating, regardless of the circumstances.

3. Reminder: Swabbing for safety – Ensuring we protect our patients throughout their care pathway

As the numbers of COVID positive patients decreasing more of our focus returns to the restoration and recovery of our services. However, it is also essential that we also maintain patient safety and uphold Infection Prevention and Control principles.

One of the key methods to protecting patients from COVID-19 is to ensure we swab and screen patients at the right times whilst they are in our care to ensure they do not pose an infection risk to other patients or to colleagues.

Guidance on swabbing differs from area to area, so it’s important that colleagues take the time to understand their responsibility.

Please take the time to read the pathway guidance linked below as well as the ‘To swab or not to swab’ poster for further guidance on your responsibility to swab test patients in our care.

• Unplanned Admissions Swabbing Pathway
• To swab or not to swab poster

Colleagues should be aware that a new elective swabbing pathway was recently signed off  defining the COVID-19 swabbing pathway for patients attending green wards for elective surgery.

All patients are instructed to adhere to social distancing for seven days prior to their admission, and must self-isolate from the point of having their COVID-19 swab.

All patients must have a telephone pre-assessment appointment booked and for those who require an interpreter or carers to attend with them (e.g. if patient has Dementia/learning difficulties) then these patients must be booked a face to face pre-op appointment at Rowley Regis Hospital.

• Elective Swabbing Pathway.

4. Reminder: LAMP testing – Keeping ourselves safe and keeping COVID-19 at bay

The vaccination programme at our Trust has been incredibly successful and alongside colleagues continuing to social distance and follow PPE guidance we remain focused on keeping COVID-19 at bay. However, we must remember that outside the confines of our hospitals and out in the community, there still remains a risk of catching COVID-19 and ultimately spreading it to family, colleagues and our patients.

The only way to manage COVID-19 on a long term basis and to move away from the constraints of social distancing and wearing masks is to have a well-established and universally adopted testing programme, where colleagues test themselves regularly, and results are available quickly.

LAMP tests give us the opportunity to carry out a non-invasive, pain-free saliva test, and to have very reliable results returned quickly. As a Trust there is an expectation that all colleagues who attend sites more than once a week carry out a LAMP test on a weekly basis.

Data on LAMP test uptake is available here

The table below shows the numbers of staff registered, those testing and the numbers that have tested more than once for each Group.  PCCT continue to be leading the way with 48% staff registered and 33% of the total staff testing:

LAMP testing is open to both clinical and non-clinical colleagues. It is vital that we continue to test despite colleagues having had the COVID vaccination and infection rates starting to drop.

If you haven’t already, you can now book a kit collection slot by calling 0121 507 2664 and selecting option 6.

Further information on LAMP testing can be found in the attached FAQs.

5. Reminder: Vaccines are still available – make sure you book your jab appointment

If you are yet to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, you can still book in to get your jab at either Tipton Sports Academy vaccination centre or at the Saddlers Shopping Centre, Walsall.

The hub at Tipton Sports Academy, Wednesbury Road, is running Monday to Sunday, 8am to 7pm. Book your slot via the national booking website.  You can also use this link to book an appointment locally to your home. For the Saddlers Shopping Centre follow this link to book: Walsall Saddlers Centre

We advise all colleagues to take the time to read the COVID-19 guide for healthcare workers.

Please ensure you take your Staff ID with you when you attend your appointment as it’s important you’re able to confirm you are eligible for the vaccination.

6. Reminder: The Wellbeing Sanctuary is still open – massages are back on

During the COVID-19 pandemic the wellbeing team have been able to launch a range of services for colleagues to relieve the stresses and strains of the past 12 months. These services are continuing and colleagues are encouraged to contact the wellbeing team to book a chat or any of the therapeutic sessions at The Wellbeing Sanctuary.

Further details of the services on offer can be found in the ‘Daily Sanctuary Session’ flyer which explains the different therapeutic sessions offered.

Also, there are some other additional supports colleagues could explore shared in the ‘Wellbeing Together Newsletter’ and ‘NHS Supporting Our People’ flyer.

Please, feel free to contact the Wellbeing Team on 0121 507 5886 to book yourself for any of the following therapeutic sessions:

• A Confidential Chat – If you are finding things difficult and would like to talk to someone on 0121 507 5886
• Relaxation Pod  – Unwind and let go
• Meditation – Be transported to a beautiful place
• Hypnotherapy  – Let go and relax
• Music/Soundscape  – Therapy balance your energy
• Mindfulness – Just connect
• Single Session Therapy – A session to work towards a behavioural change

Massages are also available, having restarted last week.

Should you need Counselling, this is available via:

• Occupational Health on 0121 507 3306
• The NHS Direct Counselling Service  0800 06 96 22 (0700 – 23:00 – 7 days a week)

Urgent Support is available on:

• NHS 111 Advice Line
• Dial 999
• Your GP
• CALM – 0800 58 58 58 (17:00- Midnight – Anonymous)