COVID-19 Update 24What you MUST do as we approach winterIntroduction Winter is always a time of challenge and pressure for the NHS. In some ways, this winter will be no different. In others it could be like no other. As we approach the winter season, in today’s update, I want to reinforce what we all MUST do as we approach and go through the winter season. I am most grateful for help and input from my fellow Executive Directors, Kenny Laing and Shajeda Ahmed, for their input into this Update. Since the last update I provided in relation to COVID, as you will be aware the national position in relation to COVID infection and transmission rates has continued to increase. In response to this the national COVID alert level has been formally raised to ‘Level 4 – Transmission is high or rising exponentially’ the national infection and transmission rate is now at the same level as we were experiencing in May 2020. We all must play our part, be responsible and mindful of the steps that we must take to reduce the spread of infection to look after our health, safety and wellbeing.. The key updates are summarised here and the government’s expectation is that these measures will need to remain in place until March 2021. As an NHS employer, we have a duty of care to our staff, patients and their families to prevent the further spread of the virus and ultimately prevent serious illness and deaths which we all know COVID can cause, particularly in vulnerable groups in our hospitals and communities. Please ensure you have read and understood ALL of the items below:
We appreciate that this is an extremely difficult time and working from home presents its challenges, particularly when we are used to interacting with our colleagues on a face to face basis. Support is available to you through our Health & Wellbeing Services, Occupational Health (Team Prevent), Staff Support & Counselling Service (Tel: 0300 124 0104), in addition to your line manager. To help you, we have produced a handy poster which you may wish to download and display on your Team Noticeboard. By each of us playing our part, we can continue to work together to look after our safety, health and wellbeing to deliver excellent care to our service users. Thank you and take care,
Working Practices I wanted to take this opportunity to remind staff about working practices that allow us to continue to deliver our services whilst keeping our staff and service users safe. I reiterate the guidance below:
Working from home As the prime minister reiterated in his statement on 22nd September, if any of our staff are able to work from home, this should be the preferred option in order to lessen the spread of the virus and protect our communities. In keeping with the steps we have taken during 2020, there are risk assessments and policies which are available to support you to do this, which can be found here To help contain the virus, if you can work effectively from home, you should do so over the winter. The Trust has put in place arrangements to enable you to work from home. If you can effectively work from home, you must do so and not enter any of the Trust’s sites. Exceptions to working from home The only exceptions are if you absolutely have to enter the Trust’s sites
As a Trust, we are keen to ensure that all our staff’s needs, balanced with the need to offer high quality care to our service users, are met during this COVID pandemic. If you have any queries about your ability to work from home please have a discussion with your line manager in order to review your personal plan which all staff should have agreed earlier in the year. Requirements if you have to enter Trust sites and cannot work from home If you do need to enter any of the Trust’s sites, you must have a conversation with your manager and agree on the length of time and specific purpose for doing so, unless you are carrying out work on site in line with service user needs, e.g. some Clinical staff in a non-community setting. If you do enter the Trust premises, you must ensure that you comply with any health, safety, infection prevention control requirements relating to that site, including social distancing and the wearing of PPE. Your manager will be able to advise you on what these requirements are before you enter the site. You must adhere to the Trust requirement that the wearing of face coverings is mandatory in all indoor areas of the Trust. The only exception to this is where a staff member is in a room alone. Our buildings and areas have been risk assessed and notices for room occupancy displayed e.g. office space. hand sanitiser and masks are readily available with other PPE as required. For any of our staff that absolutely cannot work from home, for example, some Clinical staff within our non-community settings, you should continue to go to your place of work to deliver care for our service users. The risk of transmission can be substantially reduced if COVID-19 secure guidelines are followed closely and the Trust has ensured that these are in place at our sites. We have also given extra consideration to our people at higher risk; and our managers will continue to regularly review individual health risk assessments with our people. Wearing of face masks in all NHS premises As I wrote in the last update, all NHS staff are now required to wear face masks on NHS premises (including corporate and community sites), if they cannot work from home. This is in response to the high infection rates of COVID nationally and locally and aims to minimise the risk of transmission amongst all our staff. There have been several examples of NHS employees contracting COVID in their communities, coming into work and whole departments then contracting the virus due to being in a shared workspace. In the Trusts where this has happened it’s had a significant impact on the service being provided (such as finance and HR departments having to close down). I am acutely aware that wearing face masks for long periods of time can be uncomfortable, so taking regular breaks (outside or on your own) to remove the mask is encouraged where possible. It is also important to remain well hydrated and nourished and removing your mask to enable you to eat and drink is, of course, also fine. Influenza vaccination programme The Trust is now running influenza vaccination clinics for all members of staff across the organisation. Clearly with the rising rates of COVID infections and the likelihood that COVID infection rates will remain high during winter, it is incredibly important that everyone who is eligible for a vaccine, including all NHS employees have their vaccination this year. This will protect individuals, patients and families from the threat of influenza and therefore, reduce the impact of COVID by improving the overall health of everybody. The Trust has ordered additional vaccines this year, so supply will not be an issue. We have also implemented an electronic booking system which will provide you with a 10 minute appointment slot of your choosing. If you haven’t yet booked your appointment, please click here to do so. |