Staff Update 01/03/21

Last updated on January 4th, 2022 at 03:34 pm

In today’s update:

• Scrubs
• Reporting cases of COVID-19 in vaccinated staff to Public Health England (PHE)
• Visiting restrictions apply to staff
• Staff vaccinations – our staff share their stories
• Ward allocation

Scrubs

Scrubs should now only be worn by those staff working in the designated COVID high risk areas of the hospital, unless you wear scrubs normally as your uniform.

If your ward has been de-escalated from being a COVID cohort you should wear your usual uniform and continue to follow all infection prevention guidance and wear the correct PPE for your area.

Reporting cases of COVID-19 in vaccinated staff to Public Health England (PHE)

Staff members that have received the COVID-19 vaccination and test positive for COVID-19 will be invited to participate in Public Health England enhanced surveillance.

Information about the enhanced surveillance can be found here:

The criteria to participate are as follows:

• Must have received either dose of the COVID 19 vaccination
• Symptoms must have started at least 10 days after the first dose or any time after the second dose
• Must test positive for COVID-19
• Must consent to participate

Upon receiving a positive COVID-19 result, vaccinated staff that meet the criteria will have their positive swab sample and personal information sent to PHE.  

To capture staff that meet the above criteria and wish to participate, the online and hard copy referral form into the Self Isolation Hub has been amended, please use the latest version. Additional to this triage nurses in the SIH will be asking staff their vaccination status as part of the triage process once a referral has been received.

Enquires please email: self.isolation@sthk.nhs.uk

Visiting restrictions apply to staff

Staff are reminded that visiting restrictions apply to them too and they MUST NOT visit family or friends in our care, whether on a ward or in the Emergency Department, even though they work at the Trust.

Apart from the risk of spreading infection, restrictions must be equal across the board and it is unfair on those patients who are not receiving visitors and inappropriate to put your colleagues working in these areas under pressure to allow visits.

Staff vaccinations – our staff share their stories

83% of staff have had their first vaccination against COVID-19 so far, and although this is fantastic, there is still a long way to go to make sure that everyone is protected against this horrific virus.

There has been a lot of media attention about BAME NHS staff having concerns over the vaccine and, if this applies to you, we want to offer reassurance to anyone who has concerns.

A number of our staff have shared their stories about why they believe having the COVID-19 vaccine is the best option to protect themselves, their families and patients, and over the coming days we will be sharing these videos with you.

Today, we share why Consultant General Surgeon, Leena Chagla and Associate Specialist in Trauma & Orthopaedics, Usama Munir, have had their vaccination.

(password: STHKcovid19)

Please take the time to watch their videos, and if you have any further concerns, please email them to: communications@sthk.nhs.uk and we will put them to Vaccination Programme Medical Director, Professor Kevin Hardy, who will answer them direct and in confidence.

If you took part in the Oxford Vaccine Trial, and have subsequently found out that you received the vaccine as part of this trial, please remember to email: esr.helpdesk@sthk.nhs.uk and inform the team that you do not need further COVID-19 vaccinations.

Ward Allocation