Public Board of Directors papers 27.01.22

Testing for respiratory viruses is undertaken upon admission (Day 1) and therefore after in line with national guidance.

Patient testing for all respiratory viruses testing is undertaken promptly and in line with national guidance

Staff testing protocols are in place Yes, testing protocols are in place for new and existing staff and constantly monitored and reviewed in line with national

Staff testing is not mandatory. The trust acknowledged there is no SOP for existing staff and that SOP for new on-site staff has passed its review date. However, it is assured of the processes in place as monitored via staff compliance.

Compliance is closely monitored and reported at the trust wide sitrep / operational huddle. If a staff member were to decline testing this would be addressed with the line manager and appropriate mitigations put in place.

guidance. See Standard Operating Procedures for COVID-19 testing new on-site staff in response to COVID-19 pandemic. Asymptomatic clinical staff undergo weekly PCR testing. Results are communicated to the staff member via the testing team (weekdays) or the duty management team out of hours. Positive results trigger contact tracing to be undertaken and reported within 24hrs of a positive result. See Standard Operating Procedure for Test and Trace. Asymptomatic non-clinical / non patient facing staff are encouraged to lateral flow test twice weekly and report results through the government portal prior to coming onto trust premises. Symptomatic staff testing is untaken in the community at government testing sites. Despite changes in national guidance to use lateral flow tests, CAG have approved the decision to continue with confirmatory PCR’s for patient facing clinical staff due to vulnerabilities of our patient group. Staff that can work from home are encouraged to do so to limit foot fall on trust premises. Any staff typically working from home are asked to have a negative lateral flow test before coming on site and report results via the government portal.

C1501: Infection prevention and control board assurance framework (24 December 2021 Version 1.8) – January 2022

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