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COVID-19 Bulletin: Monday 2 November

November 2, 2020

To keep up to date with the pace of change we will be sharing a bulletin on a daily basis. There’s a lot of change taking place at the moment so please make sure you catch up with the latest bulletins throughout the week, as even if some points seem familiar you may very well find the details have been updated a great deal.

Summary of key points

1. Face masks to be worn in all Trust buildings at all times

Alongside social distancing and stringent hand hygiene, there is now a requirement to ensure you are wearing a face mask in all Trust buildings at all times whether in a clinical setting or office.

Steps for all staff to take:

  1. All staff will need to wear a fluid resistant surgical face mask while inside all SWBH  buildings. Masks are available at the welcome stations in the main entrances to each clinical building. Alternatively departments can order and collect masks from stores.
  2. A mask needs to be worn throughout the duration of the time spent in the SWBH buildings.
  3. When leaving work it is essential that masks are disposed of safely when finished. In non-clinical areas they can be disposed of in a black bag waste bin. PPE disposal process in clinical areas remains unchanged. Remember to maintain frequent handwashing / sanitising at all times.
  4. Face masks must be worn at all times unless you are working in a room on your own. If you leave that area for any reason, you MUST immediately wear a mask. This includes corridors, communal areas.

Wear your mask properly

Masks only work if they are worn properly, we have all seen people wear masks in some truly bizarre ways.

The instruction here is simple – your mask should cover your mouth and your nose.

Protecting your skin from damage beneath PPE

If you are finding that your masks are uncomfortable or are causing you issues with your skin, please take the time to read the helpful guidance produced by the Tissue Viability team for colleagues to protect and treat skin from damage beneath PPE.

2. Farewell to Lilac: Change to classifications

In response to the changing environment and as we experience a significant upswing in numbers of COVID-19 positive patients needing our care, we have made the decision to close our Lilac stream and revert to Green, Amber and Red wards to ensure we can provide safe care for every patient, bringing us fully into line with general NHS classifications.

This reflects the fact that we are seeing a high number of asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patients in Amber areas and will help improve safety with improved flow from our busy ED and AMU departments. All Lilac wards will become Amber, with all Lilac COVID positive patients moving into Red streams. Every patient left in our Amber wards will be risk assessed and where there is a suspicion of COVID being present they will be nursed in an appropriate environment while rapid testing swab results are awaited.

What the closure of Lilac wards means for you is that it is essential you follow infection prevention and control policy and procedures strictly to the letter, ensuring at all times you adhere to the correct PPE for the area you are in. Enhanced PPE is available for any colleague whose risk assessment requires it. To remind you of your obligations see the guidance on Connect.

To ensure that all colleagues understand and are applying the policy correctly, we will be auditing compliance through the use of spot checks, as we are taking an extremely firm line on the appropriate use of PPE within our buildings, social distancing whilst at work and regular handwashing. We expect all colleagues to comply with our PPE policies, that includes wearing masks in all clinical and non-clinical buildings and being socially distant from one another. There is no such thing as a “work bubble”. Any repeated breach of our PPE guidelines will result in disciplinary action. We are sorry to have to take such a strong line on this but we owe it to each other and to our patients to do the right thing to protect each other and ourselves.

Please note: If you require new IPC classification posters for your area they can be collected from Medical Illustration at City or the Communications Office, Trinity House, Ground Floor, Corridor A at Sandwell.

3. Swabbing guidance on issues and pathways

An increasing number of COVID-19 swabs are being rejected from the laboratory, due to a number of issues. This may include a specimen leaking, incorrect swab received, or duplication of samples.

Our Infection Prevention and Control team has put together a document which lists common issues and the relevant solutions. Click here to read the full document.

We have now increased the availability of urgent and rapid PCR sampling from 16 to 84 samples per day. These have been allocated to respective areas and detailed in the PCR flowchart which can be accessed by clicking here.

Routine samples: It has been agreed that COVID-19 samples will be collected by porters from all wards, ED and AMU every hour at City and Sandwell from 8am to 8pm.

Urgent Samples: Urgent Samples must be hand delivered to the Pathology labs on each site immediately after being collected should have an ‘URGENT 2 Hour Covid Test’ sticker on them.

Overnight samples: Overnight samples (taken after 9pm) which are mainly taken in ED and AMU should be kept in these areas overnight to be collected by a porter during the early morning run at 5.30am. Please make sure that the sample is securely deposited in the MediBins provided. Urgent samples that have been collected overnight should be kept in a safe place and given to the porters when they do their 5.30am run. Do not leave any samples out on the side and remember that the MediBins are only for routine samples, urgent samples should be kept separate.

The transport timetable for transferring samples between sites can be found on the following link: Covid-19 Transport Timetable 2020

Urgent samples: Please ensure that the ‘Urgent 2 Hour TAT’ sticker is attached to the outer blue transport bag and is hand delivered to pathology reception. DO NOT put urgent samples into the MediBins.

Remember:

  • Every patient MUST be swabbed on admission.
  • Patients on Amber wards MUST be swabbed every five days.

Please refer to the following swabbing pathways for unplanned and planned admissions.

4. NHS track and trace app – know what to do

As you know the NHS has launched their COVID-19 contact tracing app designed to help the NHS understand where and how quickly the virus is spreading, so we can respond quickly and effectively. You may have seen posters featuring QR codes for people with the app to ‘sign in’ at selected locations across our sites, but there has been some question as to whether Trust staff using the app should sign in at our locations.

The recommendation from the NHS is that health or care workers should pause the app when:

  • You are at work following infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance.
  • You are wearing correct PPE at work and maintaining 2m social distancing in clinical and non-clinical areas.
  • You are working behind a fixed Perspex (or equivalent) screen and are fully protected from other people.
  • You store your phone in a locker or communal area.

What to do if you receive an alert

If you receive an alert through the app stating that you are considered a contact of a case of COVID-19,

you should immediately inform your manager and self-isolate. As the app is anonymised, it will not be apparent whether your contact occurred within or outside the Trust setting. Internal contact tracing procedures will then take place using the agreed protocols.

You can read the latest government guidance for healthcare workers by clicking here.

5. Your mental health and wellbeing is paramount

Your mental health and wellbeing is vital to us. On World Mental Health Day the focus was on you to look after your mental health. We’d like to remind you that we offer a variety of health and wellbeing resources available for you. These include:

  • Access to the Thrive app. Go to https://swb.thrive.uk.com to create an account and claim your free access to Thrive.
  • Our recharge booth takes place every Thursday. It offers a safe space to come together with others, reflect, recharge, decompress, and join a safe and confidential discussion. For more information please contact Richard Burnell on 07747 144874 or Angharad MacGregor on 07976 322893. Alternatively, drop an email to rechargebooth@nhs.net.
  • The wellbeing sanctuary offers a chance for colleagues to de-stress and relax. You can take advantage of a free massage, meditation, music therapy and relaxation hypnotherapy. It is located at the Learning Works on Unett Street, Smethwick, B66 3SY with free onsite parking.

Click here for a detailed list of health and wellbeing resources available to colleagues.

  • There is also, for both colleagues and patients, a 24/7 mental health helpline available operated by the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. If you are feeling low, having difficulty sleeping due to things on your mind, suffering from anxiety – anything that is bothering you – if you feel unable to cope and need to speak to someone urgently please dial 0800 008 6516.