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COVID-19 Bulletin: Tuesday 10 November

November 10, 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.

 During this second lockdown restrictions, we must ensure we look after ourselves and others within our community. Make sure you keep in touch with those you love and your neighbours. People may well be feeling anxious, lonely and scared at this time. Thank you for looking out for one another.

  1. Hotel accommodation available, part of protecting you and others

Limited hotel rooms are available to support colleagues who may be at risk of being exposed to COVID-19 from people in their households. The accommodation can be used to help you remain at work so that you can stay in an environment away from a confirmed or positive COVID-19 case. We have accommodation available at:

  • Mercure Hotel, West Bromwich and
  • Holiday Inn Hotel, Snow Hill, Birmingham

To clarify, these hotel rooms are a resource for key staff to use to isolate themselves from symptomatic friends and family, to safeguard their wellbeing and to support their ability to continue providing safe and effective services.

The best ways to protect your friends and family from Coronavirus are to wear appropriate PPE and strictly adhere to the infection control procedures including regular and thorough handwashing.

Guidance for colleagues staying in hotel accommodation

Staying in a hotel, may obviously increase the risk of passing the virus between colleagues working in different environments. National guidance is that where possible:

  • Minimise time in communal areas of the hotel including receptions and corridors to reduce risk of infection to colleagues.
  • Where possible, to limit to 1 or 2 people at a time in lifts where possible, or to use the stairs if appropriate.
  • Ideally eat in your room. If meals are provided within the hotel, please try to sit at tables at least 2 metres apart from other residents in any bar or restaurant.

We will be working with the hotels and providing guidance so they are aware of this and are working to support you.

You can apply for the Trust funded hotel accommodation by emailing swbh.hotel-booking@nhs.net.

2. COVID-19 discharge pack

We have developed a discharge pack for patients recovering from COVID-19. It has guidance including how to manage symptoms and staying safe at home. Before discharging your patients, please ensure you explain the contents of the leaflet and ensure they have a copy to take home when they are discharged.

You can order copies of the leaflet by emailing medical illustration on swb-tr.SWBH-GM-MIorders@nhs.net quoting reference code ML6293.

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 92 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. Asymptomatic testing for NHS staff

You may have seen in the news that the Government has announced twice weekly testing for NHS frontline staff. There are 34 trusts currently taking part in the pilot and SWBH is not one of those organisations.

It remains possible for colleagues to get asymptomatic testing via the SIREN study. The study specifically looks into the impact of antibodies that fight the virus which causes COVID-19. The study is open to anyone working in a hospital building where there will be contact, and those participating may have had the virus, or tested negative. Colleagues taking part in the study are regularly asked to complete a questionnaire and nose swabs. Blood samples are taken every two/four weeks for up to 12 months. For information on the SIREN study and details on how to join go to Connect.

To remind you swabbing for symptomatic colleagues remains available through our drive-through at City Hospital and Little Lane car park at Sandwell Hospital. Testing is available if you have been experiencing symptoms. You can book an appointment by calling the community contact centre on 0121 507 2664 option 5 Monday – Friday 8am – 6pm. On weekends call 07816 992873. Please do not just turn up!  You can read the staff swabbing and results process by clicking here.

5. Our wellbeing video and podcast library  

The wellbeing video and podcast library is still available on Connect.

The library also includes the collection of one minute resilience videos by Richard Burnell and some breathing relaxation videos by yoga teacher Christopher Randall.

6. Masks for inpatients

To provide added assurance around our Lilac/Amber ward changes, all inpatients (with exceptions including children under the age of 12, patients with dementia or anyone with a medical or psychological reason who is unable to) are required to wear a fluid resistant surgical face mask while they are out of bed for any reason, including sitting in a chair at their own bedside. Please promote patient hand hygiene as well. The reason for this is because of the rising number of asymptomatic patients that we are finding through our screening procedure. We simply must make every effort to provide as safe an environment as we can within our Trust. We will provide masks for patients which will be distributed to them along with an information leaflet on their admission to the ward.

Our infection prevention and control team have created a new information leaflet for patients with everything they need to know about our processes to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, whether they are admitted in an emergency or are coming to site for an appointment or treatment. The leaflet advises patients about the actions we take to prevent the spread of infections, and sign posts to further sources of reliable information. Every ward and department should now order a quantity of leaflets so they are available to give out to patients. They are available on Connect here or can be ordered in the normal way from medical illustration through the following email: swb-tr.SWBH-GM-MIorders@nhs.net.