Healthwatch City of London Bulletin 31

HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

We are saddened to hear about the death of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who served this nation selflessly for decades.

On behalf of all our staff and volunteers, we would like to express our condolences. Our thoughts are with Her Majesty, her family, and the nation. Healthwatch City of London.

Ramadan, the vaccine and getting tested

Local GPs are urging observing Muslims not to delay having their Covid-19 vaccine – first or second dose – during the holy month of Ramadan. Find out more in these videos new videos. The safest and most effective way to protect yourself, your family and those most at risk from the virus is by having a vaccine when you are offered it by the NHS. The British Islamic Medical Association has confirmed that taking the vaccine and taking the PCR or lateral flow tests does not invalidate the fast during Ramadan.

Guidance on hospital visits

National guidance on visiting hospitals has recently been updated. Each setting has local guidelines to follow. Below is a brief overview of the guidance for Barts, UCLH and Homerton. We urge you to check with the hospital before you visit as they are under constant review.

UCLH

COVID-19 information for patients and visitors : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (uclh.nhs.uk)

Visitors must be over 16, and the visit must be pre-booked with the ward team. 

Visitors will only be considered in exceptional circumstances where one visitor – an immediate family member or carer – will be permitted to visit.

These include:

• One regular carer for a patient with additional needs, e.g. dementia or learning difficulties
• One parent/guardian for a child
• One person with you at key stages during your pregnancy, including labour and birth
• For a patient receiving end of life care
• For a patient where a change in treatment would benefit from a meaningful exchange
• One close relative for a long-stay patient where a visit would improve wellbeing.

Outpatients: Must follow guideline – wear mask, do temperature checks, test negative.

Barts:

Coronavirus: guidance for patients and visitors - Barts Health NHS Trust

Currently not allowing any visitors into hospitals.

Must attend appointments alone, unless you need support for mobility or accessibility reasons.

Visitors will only be allowed into clinical areas if the patient is:

• at the end of their life 
• a child 
• lacks capacity
• having a baby

Only one visitor at a time will be allowed in these cases. Please note that some wards may have further restrictions to protect the safety of patients and staff. 

The teams can also offer support with facilitating virtual visits at Newham Hospital, The Royal London Hospital, St Bartholomew's Hospital and Whipps Cross Hospital.

Homerton:

Coronavirus updates | Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust

Adult wards: Visitors can access adult wards to visit relatives - one named visitor per patient between 12 noon and 5pm.

Starlight ward has now reopened for paediatric impatient admissions.

The Children's Emergency Area in the A&E remains 'open' at Homerton 24 hours a day to care for children.

NICU: two parents nominated who are in the family bubble, one parent at the cot side at any one time. Open visiting on the unit between 7am and 8pm. 

Maternity - from Monday 12 April one adult partner is allowed for all antenatal appointments and scans with the following guidance:

• Adhere to the national programme in place to offer Lateral Flow Testing kits for all women and their partners
• Women/partners to collect kits and test as advised by national guidance
• Women/partners to attend appointments if no symptoms or recent exposure to COVID-19 – if symptomatic, exposed, or positive on LFT they will be advised to contact their midwife/helpline to discuss their upcoming appointments and next steps. Women should still access care if urgent. In the case of DNA the DNA process must be followed and the woman contacted.
• Women/partners to adhere to the screening processes currently in place at the main entrance of the hospital and to the community sites
• Partners will be refused entry if they decline to adhere to the PPE guidance. They will not be required to provide proof of testing but will be asked to upload the result to the national database.
• Partners will be asked to wait in the glass corridor (Picton Suite if seating to capacity in the corridor) and the woman will call her partner once she enters the clinic room

Two birth partners on labour ward (delivery suite)

Antenatal ward visiting between 10am – 6pm – one birth partner can stay for induction of labour or in early labour

Postnatal ward visiting between 10am – 6pm – One birth partner. No children at anytime.

Patients coming to the end of life
Relatives will be as asked to supply staff with a list of family members. Only one family member at a time can access the hospital.

For safety reasons and social distancing rules, they ask that visitors do not congregate in corridors. For other areas such as children and maternity they continue to have restricted visiting in place and access to those areas will only be by named persons as provided to the nursing staff.

Blood tests
Enter the hospital via the front entrance to the site on Homerton Row, and ask for directions to the Clifden Centre where the phlebotomists are holding blood testing sessions.

Patients are still urged to attend A&E and children’s A&E if necessary and to attend their appointments (either outpatient, elective surgery or diagnostics tests) in the Covid safe areas of the hospital.

Mary Seacole Nursing Home: one named visitor is allowed between 10.30am and 6pm.

Upcoming Healthwatch City of London Events

One of Healthwatch City of London’s purposes is to understand the needs, experiences and concerns of people who use health and social care services and to speak out on their behalf. To ensure we hear about and know of your concerns we run regular events. Ideally, we’d like to hold them face to face, but because of the current pandemic we are restricted to Zoom events.

Please see a list of our events below with joining details.

Listening to City Carer’s event – Friday 23^rd April: An opportunity for Carer’s to provide feedback on their experience of Health and Social Care.

Overview: This group is for all unpaid carers who live in the City of London. We would love to hear from young carers too, if you know a young carer please let them know about this forum.

Time: 14:00 – 15:00

Joining details:  
https://zoom.us/j/91663173054?pwd=YUVsTjl3K0MzZkx4SzEzNCtKUzRnQT09 

Meeting ID: 916 6317 3054 Passcode: 994555 Dial in: 0203 481 5240

Healthwatch City of London Drop-in session – Thursday 29^th April: An opportunity for residents, workers and students to raise issues about their experience of Health and Social care with the staff of Healthwatch.

Time: 14:00 – 16:00

Joining details:

https://zoom.us/j/91231426174?pwd=V1ZRS09JeEFFd3U5cmlPdEhnU0dLZz09

Meeting ID: 912 3142 6174 Passcode: 772639 Dial in: 0203 481 5237 United Kingdom

Mental Health and Wellbeing Focus Group – Friday 30^th April: An opportunity for residents workers, students and service providers to discuss mental health provision in the City of London, identifying access issues and any gaps in service provision.

Time: 15:00 – 16:00

Joining details: https://zoom.us/j/91874111747?pwd=N3N1eCtOTFdpU1dxbEpHaVBSYUQ4Zz09

Meeting ID: 918 7411 1747 Passcode: 276063 Dial in: 0203 481 5240 United Kingdom

Future dates for your diary.

Listening to City Carers Group – Friday 21^st May 11:00 – 12:00

Drop-in session – Thursday 27^th May 14:00 – 16:00

Dragon Café in the City

The next virtual Dragon Café in the City session – taking place on Wednesday 21 April on Zoom.

The award-winning Dragon Café in the City is free and open to anyone working or living in the City and provides a (virtual) space for them to release the pressure, try something new, and engage in creative activities designed to foster positive mental and physical wellbeing.

Next week’s programme includes:

• Work-Life balance coaching
• Self-massage
• Yoga
• Reading Friends Group

The programme can be found online here.