COVID-19 Bulletin: Sunday 24 May
May 24, 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.
By this time next week (end of May) we expect to be able to confirm plans for when different phases of redeployment will come to an end. We will also have issued further guidance on Working From Home and on second jobs/private income. None of this indicates that the Pandemic is coming to an end. Instead it is the next phase of the marathon, with a continued emphasis on infection control, and on social distancing. Please remember to talk now to your line manager about your annual leave plans so that we can make sure any recovery services we set up run smoothly and we keep our promises to our patients. This week has seen a great start to #greenshoots in the BTC!
Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (Yesterday’s totals)
| Number of our patients confirmed with COVID-19 during the pandemic | Number of positive COVID-19 patients who have been discharged during the pandemic | Number of patients who have died in our hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic | Number of patients entered by the Trust into a COVID-19 research trial to date | Number of COVID-19 positive patients who are inpatients with us today | Number of our staff absent due to ill-health or isolation today |
| 1232
(1232) |
809
(806) |
346
(345) |
127
(126) |
77
(81) |
–
(611) |
1. Get fit tested for a face mask this weekend!
PPE stocks are ever changing as stocks are replenished and new masks become available. It’s critical that colleagues stay up to date with the availability of masks that they have been fit tested for.
We have been advised that delivery of Alpha 3030V masks will be delayed until mid-June, and while we await delivery of both them and Alpha S 3V masks, we urge colleagues to get fit tested on a 3M 1873 or 3M 1863 FFP3 mask, as there is plenty of fit testing capacity and crucially we have over 29,000 of these masks in stock.
Fit testing clinics are running over the bank holiday weekend from 8am to 8pm at the outpatients clinic on first floor at Sandwell and on the first floor near the rehab gym at the front of City. Please book your appointment on 5050, or if you’re not able to do that, pop up to the clinics at a time to suit you and see if they can fit you in.
2. BMJ Best Practice – Staying up to date with the latest findings
BMJ Best Practice (https://bestpractice.bmj.com) is constantly updating their guidance on COVID-19. It has just published a new topic on the management of co-existing conditions in the context of COVID-19. The topic has recently been updated with recommendations for newborn care, patients who require anticoagulation, and the management of diabetes, community-acquired pneumonia, hospital-acquired pneumonia, epistaxis, and multiple myeloma. It also covers the issue of mental health in healthcare workers.
To access all of BMJ Best Practice register for an OpenAthens account here https://openathens.nice.org.uk/. Contact the library at swbh.library@nhs.net for more information or help.
3. Access to the pharmacy this bank holiday weekend
The pharmacy will be operating the usual weekend service over the bank holiday weekend with the dispensaries at Sandwell and City operating from 9am through to 4:30pm.
Please ensure all orders are inputted in to Unity as the last items will be dispensed at 4:30pm.
City dispensary can be contacted on ext 5263 and Sandwell dispensary on ext. 3783.
4. Take the time to look after your wellbeing – Book in to the Wellbeing Sanctuary
Your health and wellbeing remains paramount which is why we opened our COVID-19 wellbeing sanctuary based at The Learning Works, Unett Street, Smethwick, and would recommend you take advantage of what is on offer. The Sanctuary is accessible to all colleagues and offers a range of health and wellbeing activities. You can also pop in for a coffee and chat, or just to relax. Daily sanctuary sessions include:
- Deep Relaxation and Breathing through Soundscape – Travel from the peaks of the Himalayas to the depths of the oceans of Bali relaxing in harmonious tranquillity.
- Music Therapy – A time to find inner stillness through the tranquillity of relaxing sound vibrations.
- Restorative Clinical Supervision (Health and Wellbeing Lead) – A safe and confidential space to explore the impact of work pressures.
- Unwind with Mindfulness – Breathe and Relax. Enjoy the power of connection and self-kindness.
Many colleagues are already taking advantage of the services on offer. A ward services officer who has been visiting the Wellbeing Sanctuary on a regular basis told us. “I have been off work with anxiety and the help I am getting here is really helping me to get my mind ready so I am able to return to work. The colleagues here are wonderful, I would definitely recommend it.”
Sessions last between 20 and 40 minutes. See the full timetable here. You can book a session by calling 0121 507 5886.
5. Infection control: Don’t use fans, instead open windows
With the temperature rising in wards, areas and departments due to the summer months approaching, we’re strongly encouraging all colleagues to open windows for better circulation.
Do not use fans.
Using fans can disperse airborne particles which could increase the spread of COVID-19. Fans cannot be properly cleaned to meet our infection control standards which could result in the increased risk of transmission of any microorganisms.
By opening windows during the summer months it will help increase the natural ventilation around wards and departments. This enables greater dispersal of any airborne particles.
If you need further advice you can contact the infection control team on ext. 5900 or email swb-tr.SWBH-Team-InfectionControl@nhs.net