COVID-19 Bulletin: Wednesday 15 July

July 22, 2020

This is our weekly bulletin and will be issued every Wednesday. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. 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.

Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (last week’s data)

1. Complete your COVID-19 risk assessment now! New easy online form available

All staff must complete a risk assessment to understand your individual risks associated with COVID-19 and ensure the right protection is available for you.

The form is now readily available online so easy for anyone to complete and will only take a couple of minutes. The link works on our Trust network but you can also complete the Excel form that is here and return it to swbh.riskassessmentoh@nhs.net . You will be contacted individually if you haven’t completed your assessment so please do so as soon as possible. Contact occupational health on 0121 507 3306 if you have any queries or would prefer to have a risk assessment completed with an occupational health professional.

2. Summer childcare during the school holidays

A number of local organisations have confirmed that they will be operating holiday play clubs on a limited basis for children up to 11 years old. Colleagues wishing to access their facilities should make contact with them directly as soon as possible as places are limited.

Note: As part of their risk assessment arrangements parents may be required to provide details of schools/childcare facilities children have attended during the COVID-19 pandemic to enable them to comply with current public health guidance and maintain consistent child groups or bubbles.

You can access details of child care facilities in the local area here.

3. PPE Updates

PPE Hub on the move: The PPE hub at City which was on D18 has been relocated to the reception area outside the Foot Health and Diabetes Outpatients Clinic – on the first floor above Arches Café.This area is sufficient for PPE but unfortunately cannot facilitate space for scrubs. Scrubs should therefore only be collected from the wards where they are delivered daily.  Similarly, scrubs will no longer be available from the PPE area at Sandwell (outside the Bryan Knight Suite).  Again, scrubs should be collected from the wards.

The fit testing clinic at Sandwell has now moved to Hallam Building, Diabetes Building (by car parking barrier)

Do you know how to dispose of PPE correctly? Colleagues are reminded that surgical face masks must be worn only on the face covering the mouth and nose. They must not be pulled down to hang around the neck as this increases the risk of cross contamination to the user. Whilst a surgical face mask can be used in-between patients, gloves and aprons cannot, and colleagues must decontaminate hands between different patients. Masks must be changed immediately when they are: visibly soiled, damp, or damaged. Additionally please note the following:

• If you remove your mask for any reason then it must be immediately discarded into clinical waste and NOT reapplied, hands must be decontaminated.
• Do not touch the mask once it is secured on your face as frequent handling may reduce its protection. If you inadvertently touch the mask, immediately decontaminate your hands.
• Used masks must not be retained once removed (e.g. in a pocket or bag) this will increase the risk of cross contamination to the user.
• The mask must be removed before you go on to break and disposed of into the nearest bin. The same mask must NOT be reapplied as this will increase the risk of cross contamination to the user.
• Remember to remove masks from the back NOT by touching the front of the mask as this area will be contaminated.
• Always decontaminate your hands following mask removal.

Move to single use visors

The Trust has an ample supply of single use visors, so colleagues are now advised that in situations where they are required to wear one, they should be disposed of after single use. There is no requirement to wipe down and reuse visors.

4. COVID-19 patients and Dexamethasone

Use Dexamethasone power plan to prescribe Dexamethasone for patients with COVID-19 as per the recovery trial.This week’s tip of the week comes from Steven Shanu, Pharmacist and Jon Hulme Consultant Anaesthetist: “Use the Dexamethasone power plan to prescribe Dexamethasone for patients with COVID-19 as per the RECOVERY trial.” You can view the tip here.

5. Your health and wellbeing

Your health and wellbeing is paramount to us. The COVID-19 pandemic will take a toll on colleagues both mentally and physically. With this in mind we are encouraging all colleagues to download our mental wellbeing app, ‘Thrive.’ The Trust have partnered with Thrive to give you exclusive access to an award winning mental health and wellbeing app that can help with managing depression, anxiety and stress. The app tackles common stressors such as sleep, bereavements, work issues and more. It also signposts to external support services – with users able to seek immediate help directly from the app. To access the service:

1. 1. Go to https://swb.thrive.uk.com/ to create an account and claim your free access to Thrive.
2. Visit the Google Play or App Store and search and download the Thrive: Mental Wellbeing app.
3. Log in using the email and password you created your account with and enjoy using the app.

To find out more about how Thrive can help you, and how to access it, click here.

You can also access the full range of health and wellbeing support on Connect

The Recharge Booth continues this Thursday:

The Recharge Booth is a ‘virtual’ space that allows you to come together with others, reflect, recharge, decompress, and join a safe and confidential discussion. Hosted by Richard Burnell, it runs every Thursday at 2pm, sharing stories from different colleagues over a 20-30 minute session. This week the Recharge Booth will focus on the following story about feeling anger:

“I find speaking to colleagues about patients and relatives that I don’t like difficult. I’m fearful that if I say what I really feel I’ll be seen as unprofessional and uncaring. I know we have to remain professional outwardly at all times but I also want to be able to talk about the feelings I have inside without being judged. Recently I have dealt with one relative and one patient who were so aggressive and unreasonable that I wanted to cry. I totally understand I can’t respond unprofessionally in public, but I feel I am not even allowed to vent my true feelings in private. It’s hard to make sense of something when you have to keep so much of it inside.”

For more information please contact Richard Burnell on 07747 144874 or Angharad MacGregor on 07976 322893. Alternatively if you would like to be part of the Recharge Booth, drop an email to swbh.rechargebooth@nhs.net. A WebEx invite will be sent to your outlook diary, and you will simply need to click on the ‘join’ button to enter.