Last updated on August 14th, 2020 at 02:52 pm
An alert has been added to MEDWAY for patients who are at the very highest risk from COVID-19 and have been advised by NHS Digital, their GP or their secondary care consultant to carry out “Shielding”. Shielding is a measure to protect people who are extremely clinically vulnerable by minimising all interaction between them and others.
Patients have been added to the Shielded Patient List based upon specific criteria for identifying conditions or treatments which may put them at risk, which can be viewed here: https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/shielded-patient-list/spl-guidance-for-hospitals
Additional precautions are advised for protecting Shielded patients if they attend hospital during the pandemic:
In line with national relaxation of restrictions for adults shielded patients from 1 August 2020, shielded patients will no longer be required to be nursed in a cubicle. Shielded patients are identifiable through the ‘COVID shielded’ alert on Medway.
Where shielded patients are cared for in a bay, single use PPE is recommended for the care of the shielded patient (i.e. gloves, apron, type IIR surgical face mask and eye protection) which are changed before and after each clinical interaction with the shielded patient.
Standard infection prevention procedures remain in place for all patients (including shielded patients) who require isolation for other reasons.
Any queries should be discussed with the Infection Prevention Team.