COVID-19 Bulletin: Wednesday 6 May
May 6, 2020
This is our every single day bulletin. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. Throughout May we are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of. You are doing a great job!
We have seen a significant change in our outpatient arrangements with telephone and video calls taking the place of face to face consultations in most circumstances. Thank you to everyone who has adapted quickly to this new way of working. From next Wednesday all outpatient areas will have the ability to operate these clinics. All our clinics will take place using the Visionable platform, apart from a few necessary exceptions, enabling a visual link with our patients and their clinicians as well as the ability to share clinic notes and images. Make sure you get ready for this change. 1:1 tuition is available through Mark Whitehouse – markwhitehouse@nhs.net
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 |
| 1114 (1114) |
712 (716) |
302 (300) |
101 (99) |
100 (98) |
527 (515) |
1. #SWBCleanhand – How clean are your hands?
This week is Hand Hygiene Week and a friendly reminder to remember to continue washing and sanitising your hands. Today we caught up with Undergraduate Manager Sian Shingler to find out how the Education Centres have been supporting out colleagues to stay safe and well alongside our #SWBCleanhands campaign.
Sian said: “Hand hygiene comes hand in hand with cleanliness. We set the standard from the moment someone enters our building with supplies of hand sanitiser in easy reach. In each of the rooms we also have supplies of clinell wipes as well as new room layouts to enable people to practise social distancing.”
2. Facemasks – Ensuring you have been fit tested for our current stocks of masks
We are in a good position overall in terms of personal protective equipment. Our stocks of FFP3 masks are constantly changing depending on supply and demand levels.
Currently stocks of Alpha Solway S3V masks are running low as we await a further delivery. It’s important that colleagues keep up to date with PPE stocks as well as face mask fit testing to ensure you are able to safely wear a face mask from our current supply.
If you have been fit tested for a mask that is now discontinued or is short on supply, please ensure you take the time to book in to a face mask fit testing clinic as soon as possible by contacting 0121 507 5050 or ext 5050 internally.
We will communicate stock issues as required via the COVID bulletin.
3. Testing still available for colleagues and household members
The testing provision for key workers and their family members has expanded right across the country with new regional test centres and mobile units. Our own testing facilities are still in place at City Hospital, the Little Lane car park at Sandwell and our mobile facility that can come to your home.
If you develop symptoms please book an appointment to get tested. You can also book for members of your household who have symptoms, including children.
To arrange a test contact 0121 507 2664 and choose option 5. Test results will be communicated to you as soon as possible with negative results returned via text or email and a telephone call if you have a positive test result or if there are any queries.
4. Your health and wellbeing
It remains particularly important to continue to look after your health and wellbeing during the Pandemic. A range of resources and support are on offer for all colleagues including 24/7 access to confidential counsellors, the Wellbeing Sanctuary, helpful tips to relieve stress and our wellbeing film and podcast library. Go to the dedicated pages on Connect for full details.
The latest film produced by some of our clinical colleagues covers the benefits of exercise and tips on how you can exercise safely during the current lockdown restrictions.