It’s been an exceptionally busy few days across many of our sites and departments, so I’d like to start today’s bulletin by thanking you all for your commitment.
There are numerous examples of staff going the extra mile to ensure we continue to provide Best Care for our patients and our communities. For instance, over the weekend our nursing and medical liaison teams responded to 160 calls from local residential aged care centres requesting support or advice. Yesterday, the nursing and midwifery workforce unit filled 205 vacancies. Our emergency departments remain exceptionally busy caring for all members of our community with diverse medical needs. Thank you to everyone involved in these efforts, and the many other examples across Western Health.
I would also like to acknowledge the outstanding work of our Infection Prevention and Infectious Diseases teams. Their proactive approach to COVID-19 – and the measures needed to keep our staff and patients safe – is a crucial part of Western Health’s coronavirus response. These risk-averse measures include the introduction of new guidelines for patients wearing masks. From now we are asking patients to wear a surgical mask when they are outside of their bed space or room. Where appropriate, we’re also encouraging patients to wear a surgical mask while in bed. It’s important to stress these guidelines apply only to inpatients who can safely wear a mask, without their care being compromised. Patients can choose to use their own face coverings, however surgical masks are recommended and will be supplied.
I’d like to remind staff to remain vigilant when it comes to PPE and personal safety. One of the risks we all face is that some people, including those in the community and potentially in the workplace who are COVID-positive may be asymptomatic. Please continue to follow our PPE guidelines, wear your surgical mask and eye protection (at a minimum), maintain physical distancing and practise good hand hygiene. We are also requesting that tea rooms not be shared between wards. Staff are welcome to use the marquees that have been set up as ‘breakout areas’ at Footscray and Sunshine.
Finally, the great work of our intensive care team in developing the ‘COVID hood’ has gained international and national attention, featuring on CNN last night and in The Australian newspaper today. See the links below.
Thanks for reading.
Regards
Natasha
COVID-19 Daily Summary
• Number of Respiratory Assessment Clinic presentations yesterday – all sites: 677
• Numbers of confirmed COVID-19 inpatients: 69
Patient mask guidelines
The new guidelines for patient use of masks are included in Version 7 of Western Health’s PPE guidelines, as updated yesterday.
'COVID hood' goes global
Click on the links below to see recent ‘COVID hood’ coverage.
