COVID-19 Bulletin: Sunday 26 April

April 26, 2020

This is our every single day bulletin. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. Remember KINDNESS is our watchword in implementing our plans.  In the rest of April and throughout May we are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of.

The Sunday Times ran a story about NHS organisations avoiding letting pregnant employees work at home.  Although we are were not named in that story there may be confusion about our policy:  We have implemented the RCOG guidance which would support pregnant colleagues working from home (and being paid).  If you are finding that impossible to agree locally, dial 3116 and ask for help.  The guidance did change nationally.  We implemented that some time ago.

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

1.Going live tomorrow: Recording proning on Unity

We are working every day to save lives.  One of the recommended ways that we can make a difference to outcomes is to ensure that we consider proning in our acute medicine and general ward environments, as well as in Intensive Care.  We issued guidance on this a fortnight ago.  Now we are tracking live how we are getting on.

The Quick Reference Guide (QRG) has now been developed to enable the recording of the Awake Prone Position (APP) in Unity. The QRG describes the steps you need to take using the APP PowerPlan. Please make sure you read this guide so that you can record when patients are receiving this intervention.  If you have any questions about our Proning Policy please contact Chief Nurse, Paula Gardner.

2. Mental health support:  250 volunteers!

Thank you to everyone who has stepped forward to offer to support your colleagues not just during COVID-19, but in the long term.  This is, as we know, a marathon not a sprint!

What happens next?  (nominations have closed…)

3. All accredited managers in the Trust will be undertaking virtual training in the next 6 weeks in supporting mental wellbeing conversations.  Our senior People and OD team are all being trained in the next fortnight to be the trainers for that work.
4. 60 volunteers are being selected to be our first wave Mental Health First Aiders.  Based with 30 departments these teams will provide support, in work time, to colleagues.  Their training will take place in the first fortnight of May.  You will hear if you have been selected over the next three working days.
5. Our TRiM team (giving up six days a year) will be trained in late May, and you will hear if you have been selected for that before the end of April – as we need to confirm time release with your line manager.

3. Lilac is – still – coming….

On Friday we advertised the idea that, with empty beds, and volumes of care reducing, plus much faster test turnaround, we would be changing our bed pathways in both hospital and community beds.  And we will be doing.  On Saturday NHS England published advice requiring Trusts to start testing asymptomatic patients on admission and all inpatients on discharge.  We plan to do this from Tuesday April 27^th.

Extensive discussions have taken place this weekend to finalise our model and we expect to announce that in the COVID bulletin tomorrow.  We need to consider:

• Which patients go into a lilac ward on each site?
• What are the PPE and other staff safety considerations in that ward or bay?
• When we re-test patients who have tested negative for COVID-19?
• What happens to patients in the blue stream who develop symptoms?

We will let you know more tomorrow.  But the point for today is maybe this:

• Whether you are red, blue or lilac, the focus on hand hygiene and social distancing is the same…..

4. Sign up to plasma donations:  Science wins…

As part of the national research effort against coronavirus, the NHS Blood and Transplant Service are leading a programme to collect plasma donations from people who have recovered from COVID-19. Donations of plasma will be used as part of a treatment trial to establish whether COVID-19 convalescent plasma, that contains antibodies against the virus, benefits patients and at what point in their illness they should be treated.

We are contacting our many COVID-19 positive safely discharged patients.  But we have many staff who have also tested positive, recovered and returned to work.  We need your help!

If you have had a positive test for COVID-19 or have had symptoms you can help by registering to donate plasma at the Birmingham centre. Read more about the trial and how to donate here.

5. Red brigades – the teams….

Over 75 staff are part of our red brigades.  If we are honest there is not a uniform for this one.  No yellow vest, just pride and hard work.

On Tuesday all our volunteers and those whose roles have moved them into this brigade will get a note confirming which team you are part of.  Here’s the teams:

• Working in your clinical group to support contacting waiting list patients to help them
• Working with primary care to contact shielding patients to plan their forward care and behaviour as the country moves on from total lockdown
• Joining a specialist central team like infection control or our mortality review team to make sure our Covid-19 care is outstanding
• Providing ward associated support to ensure that we are contacting families and loved ones to keep them updated on our patients care, and we are doing the right data collection at ward level on key issues like the Safety Plan

Mel Roberts is working with our clinical groups to marshal these plans.  We will be in touch over the next couple of days.

You will be aware of publicity associated with local community concerns over the care of members of the Black and Minority Ethnic community.  Our Deputy Medical Director, Sarb Clare, has been discussing these concerns and her reflections are in this short film.