Last updated on January 4th, 2022 at 03:38 pm
COVID-19 infection rates in our local community have more than doubled in the last week, and this means that once again there are COVID positive patients within our hospitals that require our care.
It is critical that we all continue to follow the correct guidelines to ensure the safety of our patients and each other.
Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the below guidance and make sure that your ward/department is following the correct procedures.
In today’s update:
- Keeping each other safe – correct use of PPE
- Testing of inpatients for COVID
- Self-Isolation and Swabbing of COVID-19 symptomatic staff and household contacts
Keeping each other safe – ensure you follow PPE guidance
We must do everything we can to keep each other safe, this means we ALL must:
- Wear the appropriate PPE in clinical and non-clinical settings – this includes wearing surgical masks (covering our noses and mouths) in all public areas and in any area where social distancing is not possible.
- Stay at least 2m apart where possible
- Wash and sanitise our hands regularly
- Clean our desks and workstations twice daily
Our colleagues and patients are relying on us to keep them safe – let’s do the right thing
PPE guidance can be found on the COVID website: https://covid.sthk.nhs.uk/what-to-wear-and-when/ (password: STHKcovid19)
Testing of inpatients for COVID
All patients requiring inpatient admission (i.e. at least admission overnight) require testing for COVID-19 regardless of symptoms or clinical features of COVID-19.
Any inpatients who test negative on their admission screen should be retested on day 3 of admission (day of admission is taken as day 1). Then, unless the patient is found to be positive, repeat screening should be undertaken on day 5 of admission and continued every 5 days thereafter until discharge. Patients who are awaiting this repeat test result but who do not have clinical features of COVID-19 do NOT need isolation in side rooms (unless they also have another reason to require this e.g. another infectious disease requiring isolation precautions or infection alert such as MRSA/VRE/CPE).
Further details on testing is available at https://covid.sthk.nhs.uk/current-case-definition-and-assessment-flow-chart/ (password: STHKcovid19)
Self-Isolation and Swabbing of COVID-19 symptomatic staff and household contacts.
As rates in the community and chances to exposure to COVID-19 increase, please ensure that you continue to follow all Government guidance.
if you are contacted by Test and Trace to inform you that you have been in contact with a positive case, you must immediately self-isolate, and follow the Trust’s self-isolation protocol.
Self-isolation guidance is at https://covid.sthk.nhs.uk/self-isolation-guidance/ (password: STHKcovid19)
Managers are also reminded that should a member of staff or household contact have symptoms of COVID-19, please submit a referral form to the Self Isolation Team for triage.
We continue to have a swabbing team on site at Whiston, Monday to Friday 08:30 to 13:30.
If you have any enquiries, please contact a member of the Self Isolation Team on self.isolation@sthk.nhs.uk