Coronavirus (Covid-19): What we are doing at Royal Surrey

New visiting rules

The Trust is slowly easing visiting restrictions from Monday 13 July. Visiting to some wards will be permitted by appointment only.

From Wednesday 8 July you will be able to book an appointment directly with the ward that the patient is staying on. The ward telephone numbers are available here.

Visitor bookings can be made for between 2pm and 8pm daily. All visitors will be taken through a Covid-19 risk assessment to ensure that it is safe for them to visit.

We have updated our visiting guidance as follows:

• Patients admitted for five days or more can have one visitor per week for one hour. This must be pre-booked with the ward
• Only visitors over the age of 16 may visit, unless there are exceptional circumstances
• Only one visitor will be allowed in a bay at a time
• For those patients who are under the care of our End of Life Team, daily visiting is permitted. Two people will be allowed at the bedside at a time. These bookings must also be made directly with the ward team
• Some wards will still maintain a no-visiting policy based on infection control requirements. These are: Compton Ward, Frensham Ward, Surgical Short Stay Unit and Day Surgery (excluding any end of life care)
• All visitors will be required to wear a face mask for the duration of their visit
• Visitors carrying out caring, faith and spiritual support for patients are welcome to visit, however you will need to complete a full risk assessment prior to coming to the hospital. You will also need to follow infection control guidance during your visit.

MYCO virtual visiting

• Myco virtual visiting continues to be available. You can access more information about this, including how to book here.

Please see Visiting someone for more information.

Our Emergency Department is still available 24/7 for patients requiring emergency care for serious and life-threatening conditions. If you are not sure if it is an emergency please call 111 or use 111 online.

If you think you may have Coronavirus, please use the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do. Please only call 111 for Coronavirus help if you can’t get help online.

To ensure the safety of both our staff and our patients, all patients arriving at the Emergency Department will be assessed at the entrance by a nurse. Patients who require emergency care will be directed into either the Coronavirus area or the routine emergency waiting area.  

As always we will prioritise patients on clinical need so you may face delays due to the high level of clinically unwell patients we are currently seeing.

Please also remember Haslemere Minor Injury Unit and Woking Walk-in Centre are still open for you also.

Our maternity service is still available for all women to access, even in our current health crisis.

It is really important for the safety of you and your baby that you continue to access our antenatal, labour and postnatal services. Government advice for pregnant women is that they avoid non-essential contact currently, however, midwifery and medical care is absolutely essential so please access your appointments.

We have put additional measures in place to ensure the safety of all our pregnant women and babies – both those with or without potential Coronavirus symptoms (new continuous cough, high temperature or loss, or change, of smell or taste).

For URGENT help, please call the pregnancy advice line 03001235473.

More information about what to do, who to contact and how we are keeping pregnant women and their babies safe.

Coronavirus parent information for newborn babies 

Illness in newborn babies 

 

 

The ICU and Medical teams have written two documents which provide information for families and friends of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.

These are:

Information for families of inpatients with Covid-19.pdf 260KB

Information for families saying goodbye from a distance.pdf 192KB

 

Most outpatient appointments will take place over the telephone or via a video call.

If you have a planned appointment and have not heard from us to change your appointment, please contact us using the contact details on your appointment letter. Please do not come in unless we tell you to.

We are reintroducing essential face-to-face outatient appointments. You can view more information here. 

If you are due to come in for an appointment that we have confirmed is still happening and you or anyone in your household has suspected Coronavirus symptoms, please contact us using the contact details on your appointment letter and we will tell your consultant/clinician who will be able to advise what we need you to do.

Our district and community nursing service is continuing but they will prioritise urgent and semi-urgent cases.

If you or a member of your household have symptoms of Coronavirus and are expecting a home visit from a member of the community or district nursing team, please contact the Community Co-ordination Centre.

Our district and community nursing team routinely wear a uniform when they are visiting patients and when they travel between patients. They are therefore extremely experienced at carrying out risk assessments to ensure they follow appropriate infection control and prevention practices and use the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect their uniform from contamination. In the event that their uniform becomes contaminated (for example with blood and bodily fluids) they would change their uniform.

Community hospitals (Haslemere and Milford Community Hospitals and Cranleigh Village Hospitals)

Outpatient appointments

Most outpatient appointments will take place over the telephone or via a video call.

If you have a planned appointment and have not heard from us to change your appointment, please contact us using the contact details on your appointment letter. Please do not come in unless we tell you to.

If you are due to come in for an appointment we have confirmed is still happening and you or anyone in your household has suspected Coronavirus symptoms*, please contact us using the contact details on your appointment letter and we will tell your consultant / clinician who will be able to advise what we need you to do.

*Coronavirus symptoms are:

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss, or change, of smell or taste.

Visiting

Following the most recent national guidance, the public will no longer be able to visit patients in hospital.

This is a further measure to help restrict the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to protect both our patients and staff.

Please contact the ward to arrange to drop off property for patients staying in the community hospitals.

Exceptions where visitors are still allowed are as follows:

• If the patient is receiving end-of-life care
• If the visitor is a birthing partner
• Visitors are still allowed on paediatrics and neonatal areas but only one parent or appropriate adult is able to be with their child at any given time.

Wards must be contacted in advance to make arrangements for your visit under these circumstances.

These essential visitors as listed above must adhere to the following:

• Only one visitor per patient per day
• Children are not permitted to visit
• Visits to only take place between 3pm-4pm
• Anyone with cold or flu symptoms, persistent cough or raised temperature must not visit.

These new measures are effective immediately.

We have reviewed and adapted our cancer services. We have put specific arrangements in place for each service as detailed on our St Luke’s cancer centre page.

A set of frequently asked questions has been developed by the One Cancer Voice group of charities.​

You can view our coronavirus advice for Rheumatology patients here.

The guidance will change on 6 July and again on 1 August , based on clinical evidence.

What are the changes?

The UK Government is planning to relax shielding guidance in stages.

From 6 July, the guidance will change so you can meet in groups of up to six people from outside your household. If you live alone you can form a support bubble with another household. This also applies if you are a lone adult with dependent children under 18).

From 1 August, you will no longer need to shield. The advice will be that you can visit shops and places of worship. Remember, it is still important to continue social distancing.

What support is on offer?

You will continue receiving food boxes and medicine deliveries. This will last until the end of July.

Local councils and volunteers are also providing support to people who are shielding. The government is funding local councils to continue to provide these services to those who need them until the end of July.

NHS Volunteer Responders can also support you with:

• Collecting shopping, medication, or other essential supplies
• A regular, friendly phone call. Volunteers, or someone who is also shielding, will stay in contact with you for several weeks
• Transport to medical appointments. Please call 08081963646 between 8am - 8pm for transport support. A carer or family member can also do this on your behalf. More information is available at www.nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk.

Health care

Essential carers/visitors who support you with everyday needs can continue to visit. Unless they have symptoms of COVID-19 (a new continuous cough, a high temperature, or a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell).

People in the clinically extremely vulnerable group should continue to access the NHS services they need during this time. This may be in a different way or in a different place than usual. For example, via an online consultation. If they do need to attend health care, extra planning and protection will be in place.

What support will be available after July?

From 1 August, clinically extremely vulnerable people will still have access to priority supermarket delivery slots. You need to have registered online before 17 July for a priority delivery slot.

NHS Volunteer Responders will also continue to offer support to those who need it.

The NHS Volunteer Responders Scheme has expanded to offer a new Check in and Chat Plus role. This new role provides peer support and companionship to people who are shielding as they adapt to a more normal way of life.

The updated shielding guidance should not affect any social care or support you were receiving before the start of shielding. 

Individuals should continue to contact their local council if they have any ongoing social care needs.

• Stay at home to stop coronavirus spreading
• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds   
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available 
• wash your hands as soon as you get back home 
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze 
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards​.

You can help by washing your hands more often, for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

You can access easy to read leaflets for those with learning disabilities here.

There are also useful videos avialable for those with visual impairement and/or needing the assistance of British Sign Language. You can view these below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have symptoms of coronavirus (new continuous cough, high temperature or loss, or change, of smell or taste), use the 111 coronavirus service.​

Health information and advice about Coronavirus

Government response to coronavirus on GOV.UK

You can get more advice about the Coronavirus infection and pregnancy from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

As Coronavirus has been declared a pandemic, all treatment for the virus is free to all no matter your immigration status.

We have developed advice sheets to assist community patients with self care, which can be found by clicking here.

Surrey Heartlands has created a new information sheet for Surrey parents, highlighting the health and wellbeing services and support available to them during Covid-19.

This includes information on new local initiatives including the DadPad App, HANDi app and the new virtual postnatal peer support groups which are just starting, alongside existing services such as the Children and Family Health Surrey Advice Line and national resources like Every Mind Matters.

View support and information for parents and families in Surrey Heartlands during the coronavirus pandemic

People in Surrey who are eligible for a coronavirus test can find answers to their essential questions by going online at www.surreycc.gov.uk/coronavirustesting. 

A revised, bespoke page clearly sets out who is now eligible for a test, how to book, information about the different types of tests available, and useful videos explaining how testing is carried out.

Under new guidance, in addition to key workers, testing is now available to anyone over the age of 65 with symptoms, anyone with symptoms who cannot work from home, and care home staff and residents.

The Surrey Local Resilience Forum (LRF) is rolling out a broad range of testing methods, including home testing kits and mobile testing sites so that all eligible people in need of a test will be able to access one quickly and easily.

Surrey’s community testing capacity is being built up and over the next week this will ramp up to include testing of all care home residents and staff, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.

Yesterday the LRF wrote to care home providers to let them know that all available options are being considered in order to build the necessary resources, and that more details will be shared in the coming days.

Clare Stone, Director of Quality at Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership and the Strategic Lead for Covid-19 Testing in Surrey, said: “I want to reassure people living and working in Surrey that we are working around the clock to ensure that testing will be available for everyone who is eligible. We have already increased our testing capacity, and we are developing solid plans to make sure we can continue to meet demand.”

Access to the local testing centres in Chessington, Gatwick and Twickenham has been available to key workers for the past couple of weeks and a new local testing centre site is opening in Guildford this week. To date, approximately 1500 key workers have been through this process.

How to get tested

All key workers in Surrey who have symptoms can book a test by registering on the Surrey testing hub. A member of the testing team will then be in contact to book the appointment.

People who fall into one of the new groups eligible for testing should book via the national self-referral portal for now.