18/06/2020
Covid-19 and Clinic Re-Opening Changes
Following recently updated guidance on 12th May 2020 from NHS England and our governing body (LCSP) we are pleased to announce that we shall be able to offer ‘face to face’ consultations, where clinically appropriate and necessary, from Monday 6th July 2020 at selected times. We shall also continue to offer remote consultations for patients. Any patients requesting a ‘face to face’ consultation will first receive a brief telephone consultation from one of our clinicians to assess clinical need and screen for any additional risk factors.
Where assessed as appropriate patients will be offered a face to face consultation. After the initial face to face consultation it will be agreed between the patient and therapist whether future treatment sessions can be delivered remotely or if there is a need for ongoing face to face sessions.
Hygiene - All reasonable infection prevention and control measures are in place and compliant with Public Health England guidelines.
Confidence - Patients, staff and general public can have confidence in The Musculoskeletal Therapy Clinics ongoing commitment to ensure all safety measures are in place and followed at all times.
Communication - The clinic will be forthcoming with communication to patients, staff and the general public at all times ensuring direct communication with all patients prior to appointments and on-site information from staff.
The health and safety of our patients and staff are always paramount. Since the first day of lockdown the clinic has been busy preparing for re-opening to ensure patients and staff can return to our clinic with confidence.
We have been preparing thorough risk assessments for every aspect of our clinic environment and the patient journey to ensure we provide the cleanest and safest environment possible. We have been in contact with industry experts to ensure that our infection prevention and control measures along with PPE not only complies with current guidelines and protocols, but also minimises any risks of transmission of COVID-19 during treatment sessions.
We will continue to follow the guidelines set out by the government and NHS England and respond to any changes to ensure we comply with all the necessary social distancing and PPE protocols.
Our 10 steps to re-opening:
1. Face to face appointments will only be offered to patients where effective treatment cannot reasonably be carried out remotely.
Patients will undergo screening protocols for Covid-19 symptoms. Firstly a telephone consultation which will be followed up and checked again on your arrival.
The COVID-19 high risk flags (according to PHE) are:
Age> 70
BMI >40
Black and minority ethnic individuals
Weakened Immune system
Comorbidities that cause immunosuppression
Diabetes
HIV/AIDS
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Pre-existing infection
Smoking
Alcohol abuse
Long term steroid use
People with known cancer diagnosis and currently having treatment
2. All patients and staff are advised not to attend our clinic if they are displaying possible signs of COVID-19 or if they should be self-isolating under current government guidelines.
Patients and staff will be screened before their appointment to ensure they do not have any Covid-19 symptoms.
3. All staff and patients will be temperature checked on entering the clinic and advised not to enter if their temperature is greater than 37.8
4. Patients where possible will wait in their car and be signalled / called into the clinic in line with social distancing to minimise traffic.
5. Our clinicians will be wearing all the necessary PPE including, surgical masks, gloves and aprons at all times during your appointment. If there is any chance of ‘splash back’ from bodily fluids e.g. during exercise or manual therapy, your clinician will wear a visor or eye protection. The washing of clinicians hands will be in accordance with NHS standards between each patient along with using alcohol gel.
6. We will be operating a significantly reduced service to minimise the number of patients during a single clinic.
7. We will be extending our opening hours of a single clinic to spread the flow of patients evenly throughout the day.
8. Between each patient we will allow 30 minutes to deep clean all surfaces using appropriate disinfectant and change the necessary PPE. Couches will be wiped down between patients with anti viral sprays and wipes.
9. Treatment room windows will be open throughout the clinic for ventilation.
10. Maintaining a 2 meters distance policy at all times and any closer where possible we will try and limit manual treatment to 15 minutes during a face to face consultation.
The above steps enable us to guarantee you, that these measures will not effect your standard of care / treatment.
To finish, keep safe and see you soon.
