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Heartbeat: All roads lead to BMEC – but there might be a slight detour

June 17, 2020

The coronavirus has had a fundamental impact on how we go about our working lives. Colleagues will be aware of discussions about how our organisation is tackling working from home and other matters of performing daily tasks whilst maintaining social distancing.

It has not just had an impact on colleagues and services, it has even had a knock-on effect on how we utilise our facilities and welcome patients into our buildings in the first place. One area that is meeting this challenge head-on is Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC), where the flow of patients into and through the building has been reviewed.

“When it comes to the entrance ways of BMEC there are several obstacles that need to be overcome now that we are dealing with COVID-19.” Hilary Lemboye, Directorate General Manager for Ophthalmology and Deputy Group Director of Operations for Surgical Services explained.

One of the major messages going out from the Trust throughout May – in particular with the deep clean work undertaken at the Birmingham Treatment Centre, Rowley Regis Hospital and BMEC itself was that we are #openforbusiness. BMEC, as mentioned in last month’s Heartbeat, has been at pains to emphasise this. “Part of being open for business is being open for business safely, for both colleagues and patients. Leading up to COVID-19, we had one very busy entrance to our building; we’ve had to rethink this in support of social distancing. As part of our improvement plans, patients now travel in and out of exits specific to outpatients and urgent/ emergency care respectively. They also queue in a manner that reflects current restrictions.” Inside the department, we’ve decommissioned some waiting spaces and have created others to better protect our patients.

To better support social distancing:

  • We are strictly monitoring the number of patients that we see per hour to reduce the number of people in outpatient waiting areas.
  • Relatives that are not allowed to enter (barring those allowed under current organisation guidance) will be asked to wait in their cars.
  • Some of our teams are implementing one-way traffic routes on busy days.

“Supporting patients to reach their outpatient and surgical destinations quickly as an interim measure to getting our new signs is essential in avoiding congestion That’s why we’ve now deployed our staff, and volunteers to BMEC’s front entrances Hilary continues, “We’ve improved our emergency department advice line to reduce the need for some people to attend and wait in queues. Where attendance (and queuing) is necessary, estates have created a shelter to shield patients as much as possible from the weather. We know that not everyone will get it at first and so we’re looking into ways to get the message out there to patients about the new routes via letters, telephone calls and social media.

“Our message continues to be that if you need to be seen for your eye care you should attend. Do not put your eyesight at risk.”

We are asking people to follow these guidelines:

  • Outpatients: the need for a face to face review in outpatients will have been assessed by a senior clinician. Should you have any concerns, call our advice line on 0121 507 4440.
  • Urgent/ emergency eye care: please call the above number and talk to one of our clinicians who will provide advice, for many of our patients we can offer a booked urgent appointment.”