COVID-19 Update 12Settling into a new rhythmSince my comms last Friday, we have noticed that things have settled into more of a ‘new normal’ rhythm this week. Things have been calmer and we have all continued to embed the new ways of working which may now be around for some time. The staff on Ward 7 have continued to manage the cases of COVID-19 on the ward in a committed, caring and compassionate way and should be very proud of their efforts. I’m pleased to inform you that at this time, the patients who have tested positive for the virus are physically well. A number of patients have also been tested for the virus across other wards over the last two weeks including EMU, Ward 4, Ward 6 and A&T – all of whom I’m really pleased to say have returned as negative. In the wider health economy we’re seeing the number of cases rise day-by-day and the number of people needing care in the Royal Stoke University Hospital is increasing. Projections place the peak demand for inpatient care for COVID-19 somewhere between the 11th April 2020 and the 17th April 2020, so we know this is likely to continue to increase for now, before it starts to then reduce. The whole health economy is starting to pull together to work out how we ensure the hospitals have enough capacity to provide care for patients. As an NHS Trust we’re looking at how we can contribute to this and use our excellent inpatient facilities differently to make sure people can access the care when they need it. See some of the below information for more detail on this. Today I want to ensure you have the latest information on a number
Jonathan O'Brien - Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive Video Message From Kenny Laing, Executive Director of Nursing & Quality Yesterday our Director of Nursing and Quality, Kenny Laing, released the video message below for all staff. Please do take the time to watch this or read the script via this link. In it, Kenny speaks to our AHP, Nursing and Social Work staff about how we might need you to work differently and help the Trust provide the very best response we can for our local population. Take a look – it’s well worth a watch. Staff Help Needed As we have a number of staff self-isolating or symptomatic with COVID-19, we have seen absence levels increase across the Trust. We now need to ask for the following volunteers to support our inpatient areas: 1. Administrative staff with experience of ward based work. This would be valuable to keep our clinicians focused on providing clinical care. If you would be willing and able to use your experience to support the wards at this time, please get in touch. 2. Nursing staff with inpatient experience, currently working in non-inpatient areas. We are aware we have a vast number of registered nursing staff working in non-inpatient areas of the Trust who have extensive experience of working on wards. If you are one of these members of staff and you would be willing to support our ward areas at this time, please get in touch. Please can any members of staff who fall into the above categories and wish to support the Trust and wider NHS efforts at this time, please contact Incident Control Room on 01782 614 403. We will then contact you and support a discussion with your line manager on where your skills may be best utilised and if your current team can release you. Thank you. Ward 4 and Ward 5 As part of the support to increase NHS bed capacity across hospitals at the present time, we are currently working on deploying a different model of care which will be rolled out on Wards 4 and 5. From next week, these wards will form a virtual 30 bedded unit continuing to provide care to elderly patients with dementia, but also with extended admission criteria in order to assist the flow of patients out of the Royal Stoke Hospital. This is part of a coordinated effort in which the Trust is working the other major NHS Trusts to increase bed capacity in the system. Midlands Partnership NHS Trust will be opening significant numbers of additional community beds and the Royal Stoke Hospital is keeping open all clinical areas and beds available – many of which would usually have closed as we see the end of winter pressures. We will communicate further on this once the details are finalised by our clinical teams on what the offer will be. I would like to thank all staff on Wards 4 and 5 for their absolutely brilliant response to this request – you should be very proud. Staff Testing Over the next week, we are likely to see the availability of staff testing for COVID-19 increase dramatically. This is currently in the planning stages and individual staff groups are being prioritised (e.g. critical care and A&E workers). The test available tells us whether staff currently have COVID-19, not whether staff have had it in the past and have cleared the virus. To be clear, it is the antigen test, not the antibody test. This will assist us where members of staff are self-isolating due to having symptoms themselves – if the test proves negative, we will be able to facilitate an earlier return to work than is currently available, but also give a definite answer to individuals on whether they have the virus. As soon as we have access to the test next week and have the arrangements in place, I will communicate these out in the normal way. Volunteer Responders Referral Process As you may be aware, a great many members of the public have volunteered to support vulnerable people at this time. The process for referring individuals to this service has been communicated to us and is available via the document attached here. Fire Safety Guidance COVID-19 specific Fire Safety Guidance has been produced by Mick Daniels, our Fire and Security Advisor. It can be found here. If you have any queries or require further information, Mick can be contacted via mick.daniels@combined.nhs.uk. Guidance for Medics on Coronavirus Act Excess Death Provisions New information and guidance has been published specifically for Medics on the procedure for certification of deaths at the present time. This guidance can be accessed here.
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