Coronavirus Policy and Procedure (Health and Safety)
- To ensure that Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd remains up to date and is able to respond in the event of a member of staff, Service User or contact, contracting the virus (SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS- CoV-2)) which results in the disease COVID-19.
- To support Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd in meeting the following Key Lines of Enquiry:
Key Question Key Lines of Enquiry
| SAFE | S2: How are risks to people assessed and their safety monitored and managed, so they are supported to stay safe and their freedom is respected? |
| SAFE | S3: How does the service make sure that there are sufficient numbers of suitable staff to support people to stay safe and meet their needs? |
| SAFE | S5: How well are people protected by the prevention and control of infection? |
| WELL-LED | W5: How does the service work in partnership with other agencies? |
- To meet the legal requirements of the regulated activities that Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd is registered to provide:
- The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020
- Civil Contingencies Act 2004
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
- Equality Act 2010
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Registration and Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2015
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
POLICY
- Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd recognises that the outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which results in the disease COVID-19 is a fast-moving situation. The WHO has stated that countries should be preparing themselves. As care providers, ensuring robust infection control and business continuity plans form part of preparing business at Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd for any events that can cause disruption to the normal
- Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will ensure that staff are aware and understand the importance of pandemic preparedness and will carry out preparations by following the checklist in the Pandemic Policy and Procedure at Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd understands that business continuity planning involves all aspects of the business and to be effective Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd must work with their partners, suppliers and commissioners to ensure that a safe and effective service can be
- Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd understands that they have a responsibility for ensuring that staff follow good infection control and prevention techniques and that they support Service Users with this too. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will ensure that staff have access to reliable information to reduce anxiety and dispel any myths and inaccurate information that may cause worry or distress to staff, Service Users or the wider public
DEFINITION
2.1 PANDEMIC
- A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease COVID-19 was characterized as a Pandemic on 11th March 2020
2.3 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
- The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that is concerned with world public health
2.4 COVID-19
- Novel coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China. The virus was named severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease it causes is called COVID- 19
2.5 OUTBREAK
- A disease outbreak is the occurrence of disease cases in excess of normal expectancy. The number of cases varies according to the disease-causing agent, and the size and type of previous and existing exposure to the agent
2.6 SOCIAL STIGMA
- Social stigma in the context of health is the negative association between a person or group of people who share certain characteristics and a specific disease. In an outbreak, this may mean people are labelled, stereotyped, discriminated against, treated separately, and/or experience loss of status because of a perceived link with a disease. Such treatment can negatively affect those with the disease, as well as their caregivers, family, friends and communities. People who do not have the disease but share other characteristics with this group may also suffer from stigma. The current COVID-19 outbreak has provoked social stigma and discriminatory behaviours against people of certain ethnic backgrounds as well as anyone perceived to have been in contact with the virus
2.7 THE HEALTH PROTECTION (CORONAVIRUS) REGULATIONS 2020
- The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 was put in place with immediate effect on 25th February to impose restrictions on any individual considered by health professionals to be at risk of spreading the virus
- The regulations apply to any individuals seeking to leave supported isolation before the current quarantine period of 14 days is complete. It will also apply to future cases during the current coronavirus incident where an individual who may be infected or contaminated could present a risk to public health
2.8 CONFIRMED CASE
- A person with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 infection, irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms
2.9 SUSPECTED CASE
- A. A patient with acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease (e.g., cough, shortness of breath)), AND with no other causes that fully explains the clinical presentation AND a history of travel to or residence in a country/area or territory reporting local transmission (see situation report) of COVID-19 disease during the 14 days prior to symptom onset
- OR B. A patient with any acute respiratory illness AND having been in contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case (see definition of contact) in the last 14 days prior to onset of
- OR B. A patient with any acute respiratory illness AND having been in contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case (see definition of contact) in the last 14 days prior to onset of symptoms
- A patient with severe acute respiratory infection (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease (e.g., cough, shortness breath)) AND requiring hospitalization AND with no other causes that fully explains the clinical presentation.
3. PANDEMIC POLICY
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd recognises that the WHO has declared COVID-19 can be characterised as a Pandemic on 11 March 2020.Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd however, will ensure that it reviews the Pandemic Policy and Procedure and will complete the checklist to ensure that the business is prepared and that robust business continuity plans are in place. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will ensure that staff have access to the Coronavirus Fact Sheet within the Forms section of this document.
1. REDUCING THE RISK OF CONTRACTING OR SPREADING THE VIRUS
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will ensure that staff follow the WHO and NHS advice to reduce the risk of contracting the virus and the risk of spreading it. The following procedures must be followed;
- Wash your hands regularly and properly for at least 20 seconds (2 verses of Happy Birthday) by using soap and running water
- Use hand sanitizer when it is not possible to wash hands with soap and water. Hand sanitizer must contain 60% alcohol to be effective
- Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing (social distancing). When someone coughs or sneezes, they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain the virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease
- Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick
- Practice respiratory hygiene. Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you do not have a tissue, use your sleeve. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately and wash your hands or use hand sanitizer if you do not have immediate access to soap and running water. Droplets spread virus. By following good respiratory hygiene, you protect the people around you from viruses such as cold, flu and COVID-19
- If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care
It is very unlikely to be coronavirus if you have not been in close contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus or you have not been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus in the last 14 days. If you have either travelled or have been in contact with a person who has been confirmed as having COVID-19, do not go directly to your GP or hospital, use the 111 coronavirus Service, or call 111. If it is a medical emergency call 999 but explain that you have either travelled or had contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus.
- Stay informed and follow advice given by 111, Public Health England or National and local authorities will have the most up-to-date information on whether COVID-19 is spreading in your area. They are best placed to advise on what people in your area should be doing to protect themselves
- People who feel unwell should stay at home and should not attend work but must speak to Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd as soon as they feel unwell.
Staff must follow the Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure at Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd
2. HANDWASHING
Staff should wash their hands:
- Before leaving home
- On arrival at work
- After using the toilet
- After touching pets
- After breaks and sporting activities
- Before food preparation
- After using public transport
- Before leaving work
- On arrival at home
3. CONFIDENTIALITY
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will follow confidentiality and GDPR policies and procedures to ensure that the details of staff involved in caring for Service Users with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 is kept confidential. Employees should also respect each other’s confidentially and take care not to inadvertently share information when using social media.
Where staff are suspected or confirmed to have contracted COVID-19, their personal details should be treated as confidential, as they would be for any other Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd Service User.
4. SAFE STAFFING
In the event of an outbreak of COVID-19, where staff are moved from other areas to support work on COVID-19, assessments should be made on the ability to continue to deliver safe and effective care in the services affected. Steps should be taken to mitigate any risks resulting from staff moving to other areas. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will as part of pandemic preparedness assess whether any staff need additional training, support or require a DBS check.
5. REDUCING THE RISK OF STIGMATIZATION
Stigma occurs when people negatively associate an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, with a specific population. In the case of COVID-19, there are an increasing number of reports of public stigmatization against people from areas affected by the epidemic, this means that people are being labelled, stereotyped, separated, and/or experience loss of status and discrimination because of a potential negative affiliation with the disease. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will ensure that staff understand the importance of preventing and addressing social stigma by making sure facts are available to staff and Service Users.
6. IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE CASES OF THE VIRUS
You may need to get medical advice if you have recently travelled to the UK from somewhere with a higher risk of coronavirus in the last 14 days. These places are:
- Cambodia
- China
- Hong Kong
- Iran
- Italy
- Japan
- Laos
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Tenerife – only the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel
- Thailand
- Vietnam
If someone has returned from these specific areas in the last 14 days, they should self-isolate even if they do not have symptoms. If they do develop symptoms, they should use NHS111 online at 111.nhs.uk (if they have no internet access, they should call NHS111). The areas are:
- Iran
- Italy*
- Special care zones in South Korea as designated by the Government of the Republic of South Korea
- Hubei province
This applies to the whole of Italy if the individual has returned after 9th March, when the Italian government extended the lockdown to the entire country.
The guidance is changing every day and Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will keep under review the specific advice for each country by reviewing the Public Health England Web pages on returning travellers to the UK. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will also review the number of cases reported near Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd to keep up to date on the risk which is updated daily at 2pm on the Public Health England site.
7. DEFINITION OF CONTACT
Contact with a case is defined as any of the following:
- Living in the same household
- Direct contact with the case or their body fluids, or in the same room of a healthcare setting when an aerosol generating procedure is undertaken on the case without appropriate PPE
- Direct or face to face contact with a case, for any length of time
- Being within 2 metres of the case for any other exposure not listed above, for longer than 15 minutes
- Being otherwise advised by a public health agency that contact with a confirmed case has occurred
- Contacts are not considered cases and if they are well they are very unlikely to spread the infection to others
8. ACTIONS IF A SERVICE USER MEETS THE CRITERIA AND DISPLAYS SYMPTOMS
If a Service User complains of symptoms and has either travelled from an infected area or has been in contact with others, staff must make sure;
- The Service User is safe and withdraw from the room
- They immediately wash their hands and avoid touching the face, nose, mouth or eyes
- They contact 111 for advice or 999 if an emergency (if they are seriously ill or
- injured or their life is at risk) and explain which country they have returned from in the last 14 days and outline their current symptoms
- They contact Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd as soon as possible and advise of the situation. This must be a high priority
- They do not attend any other Service Users, visit their GP or travel in the community until advice is sought
- Whilst they wait for advice from NHS 111 or an ambulance to arrive, staff should remain at least 2 metres from other people. They should avoid touching people, surfaces and objects and be advised to cover their mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when they cough or sneeze and put the tissue in a bag then throw the tissue in the bin. If they do not have any tissues available, they should cough and sneeze into the crook of their elbow
- If they need to go to the bathroom whilst waiting for medical assistance, they should use a separate bathroom if available. This will apply only to the period of time while waiting for transport to hospital
9. ACTION IF A MEMBER OF STAFF REPORTS SYMPTOMS
- Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will ensure that the member of staff has sought advice from 111
- Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd must contact Oxford County Council and the local health protection team for advice. Public Health England will provide advise to the person infected and will carry out all contact tracing
- Advice will be given to the member of staff if they need to self-isolate and what action will need to take place for any Service Users that they may have had contact with
- If a member of staff reports that there are concerns about their children, close family, friends who they have had close contact with, the local health protection team must be contacted for advice
- Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd must ensure that confidentiality is maintained and that records are held in line with Data Protection Act requirements
- In the event of a confirmed case, closure of the office, workplace or residential setting is not recommended. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will be contacted by the Public Health England (PHE) local Health Protection Team to discuss the case, identify people who have been in contact with them and advise on actions that should be
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd should follow their Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure and ensure that it follows government guidance which states that if NHS 111 or a doctor advises an employee or worker to self-isolate, they should receive any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) due to them. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will ensure that staff are made aware of the requirements for ‘fit notes’ if staff are required to self-isolate for 14 days
10. CLEANING THE OFFICE AND WORKPLACE WHERE THERE ARE CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19
The local Health Protection Team will provide advice on cleaning. Coronavirus symptoms are similar to a flu-like illness and include cough, fever, or shortness of breath. Once symptomatic, all surfaces that the person has come into contact with must be cleaned including:
- All surfaces and objects which are visibly contaminated with body fluids
- All potentially contaminated high-contact areas such as toilets, door handles, telephones
- Clothing and linen used by the person should be set aside pending assessment of the person by a healthcare professional
Public areas where a symptomatic individual has passed through and spent minimal time in (such as corridors) but which are not visibly contaminated with body fluids do not need to be specially cleaned and disinfected.
11. RUBBISH DISPOSAL INCLUDING TISSUES
- All waste that has been in contact with the individual, including used tissues, continence pads and other items soiled with bodily fluids, should be put in a plastic rubbish bag and tied. The plastic bag should then be placed in a second bin bag and tied. It should be put in a safe place and marked for storage until the COVID-19 test result is available, which will be within 24 hours
- If the individual tests negative, this can be put in the normal waste
- Should the individual test positive, the local Health Protection Team advise you what to do with the waste and laundry
12. RAISING CONCERNS
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd has effective procedures in place to allow staff to raise any concerns in relation to equipment, policies and processes for managing COVID-19 at the earliest opportunity. All staff must be aware of the Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure at Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd and be able to raise concerns without any fear and receive timely feedback on their concerns.
13. WORKING FROM HOME
Where staff at Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd are able to work from home, and Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd has agreed to the arrangement Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd has the following expectations;
- Staff can work independently and on their own initiative
- Staff are able to motivate themselves
- Complete agreed work within set deadlines
- Staff can manage their workload effectively
- Staff can cope well under any new pressure posed by working at home
- Staff will adopt healthy work from home practices which includes compliance with Health and Safety
- Staff will maintain contact with Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd and colleagues with whom they would usually interact with
- Confidentiality will be maintained in line with the Data Protection Act
- Any concerns will be raised immediately with Veronica Njenga
- Meeting with Service Users or external organisations will not take place with the employees at home unless teleconferencing facilities are used
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd understands during the coronavirus outbreak, that where the employee’s role makes home working feasible, it will consider this type of working on a case by case basis. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd can reverse the decision to allow home working if there are concerns about an individual or productivity and the smooth running of the business is adversely affected. The decision to temporarily allow home working is not a contractual change.
14. WORKING FROM HOME – HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd has a duty of care for all their employees, and the requirements of the health and safety legislation apply to homeworkers. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd is responsible for carrying out a risk assessment to check whether the proposed home workplace’s ventilation, temperature, lighting, space, chair, desk and computer, or any kind of workstation, and floor are suitable for the tasks the homeworker will be carrying out.
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd is responsible for the equipment it supplies, but it is the employee’s responsibility to rectify any flaws in the home highlighted by the assessment. Once the home workplace has passed the assessment, it is the employee who is responsible for keeping it that way. Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will refer to the ACAS guidance on Home Working
15. VISITORS
The impact of the coronavirus is far greater for people with underlying health conditions and who are elderly. The Government advice is currently that ‘it is therefore very unlikely that anyone receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected.’ (Guidance for social or community care and residential settings on COVID-19) however, Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will monitor the changing situation.
Merewood Healthcare Services Ltd will display information posters and advise anyone that is unwell to stay away.
Merewood Healthcare Recruitment solutions will ensure that all visitors document their names and contact phone numbers should contact tracing be required.