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Covid 19 risk in A & E

Posted By Annbee

"Covid 19 risk in A & E"

About: Kettering General Hospital / Accident and emergency

(as a service user),

I attended A & E in mid October.  I was surprised to find that no checks were made as I entered the foyer (so different to other health facilities I have visited recently) and  hand sanitiser was not pointed out to me.  

On entering the waiting room I was shocked that no hand sanitiser  was available, one patient was wearing his mask underneath his nose and one around his neck, yet neither were challenged.  I was in the department for over two hours and during this time none of the chairs were sanitised.  Once all socially distanced chairs were occupied, additional patients had to stand thereby compromising the distancing.  I was also shocked that no paper towel was available for the examination couches.  I was told it had ‘run out’.
It would seem that this is not an isolated event.  A friend also visited A & E some weeks ago and had the same experience.  It is appalling that the supermarkets pay more attention to keeping us safe from covid 19 than this department.
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Responses

Response from Kettering General Hospital 3 years ago
Kettering General Hospital

Submitted on 24/12/2020 at 08:52
Published on nhs.uk at 19:49

Firstly, I would like to apologise for a delayed response to the serious concerns you felt required highlighting following your experience of using our service at KGH A&E department in October 2020.

I will address each concern by explaining what measures we have in place now to help protect the safety of our patients, staff and visitors.

On entry to the foyer, you will now find a member of our KGH security team 24/7. Face masks and hand sanitizer is available for every person who enters the building. Clear signage is on display reminding people to adhere to social distancing, to make use of the hand gel and to wear face masks at all times. Anyone who is entering the building without a face mask will be challenged by the security team; additionally any staff member without a mask and a valid exemption will be formally managed within the Trust Disciplinary Policy.

Once in the waiting room, all patients are reminded at booking-in that they should be unaccompanied by family/friends unless deemed as vulnerable; and all patients will be politely challenged regarding the appropriate use of face coverings. However, it should be noted that certain individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings due to pre-existing health conditions and therefore will not be required to cover their face.

We have a cleaning station in the waiting area; where patients can wash their hands/and hand sanitizer is available. Chairs are spaced to ensure appropriate social distancing; and with the opening of MiAMi (Minor injuries and minor illnesses) and the re-opening of newly reconfigured Medical SDEC; we are maximising the use of these areas so that clinically appropriate patients – who would ordinarily have sat in the main waiting area - can be streamed directly to these areas away from A&E thus helping with managing compliance with social distancing.

It should also be noted that we have a team of very dedicated housekeepers within A&E who work very hard at maintaining a clean, safe and well equipped environment for us all.

I hope that this response provides the necessary assurance that we are doing everything we can to keep everyone safe at this time.

J Ayres

Service Manager – Urgent Care

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