Never has there been a more important time to look after our NHS staff. With a more easily transmittable variant of COVID-19 circulating our NHS is under the toughest pressure it has ever faced. Although there is light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccination programme now up and running, it is more important than ever that the advice and guidance for staff and employers is clear and based on the latest evidence.
That is why the joint chairs of the NHS Social Partnership Forum have written to Public Health England and NHS England asking them to confirm that the Infection prevention and control recommendations are updated to reflect the transmissibility of the new variant and to reconfirm the levels of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for each setting.
At the same time, we are calling on employers to ensure they have updated their risk assessments and that they are ensuring staff and visitors are following the latest infection prevention control measures, especially in general wards, communal areas and within the community. This means reinforcing the basics of hand washing, routine cleaning of areas and touch points, ensuring social distancing wherever possible and the continued use of face coverings and face masks.
Branches have a vital role to feedback members’ concerns to the employer, ensuring that all staff have access to the right level of PPE for the tasks they are being asked to do, based on up to date risk assessments, in sufficient quantities and of a high enough quality and rating to remain safe. Our branch guidance is available to help branches approach risk assessments and discussions around PPE.
This is particularly important for staff groups who have a low level of employee voice in organisations, including outsourced staff, agency workers and students.
While the NHS focuses on getting the greatest number of people vaccinated as possible, ensuring the safety of all NHS staff vaccinating, caring for Covid patients and keeping the rest of the NHS running is the priority now.
We will update branches on any developments or changes to national guidance as soon as we know them.