COVID-19 - Information and Advice

At Whittington health we have put a series of measures in place to ensure that if you need to visit us for care, you will be kept safe, whether you have to visit in an emergency or for a routine appointment.

 

If you have any concerns about your health it is safer to get them checked out sooner, rather than later as it is often easier for us to treat you before your symptoms worsen. If you have symptoms you are worried about your local pharmacy, NHS 111 and your GP practice are all open and ready to advise you. In an emergency our Accident and Emergency and 999 are still available and safe to use.

 

If we invite you for a routine appointment or to an outpatient's clinic you should attend, our clinicians will have assessed your case and we will only ask you to attend if it is in the best interests of your overall health.

 

To help you understand what coming to our hospital, one of our sites in the community or if we need to visit you at home we have prepared a series of videos to let you know what to expect. You can watch them by clicking here.

 

Click on the links below for more detail information on specific changes necessary at this time:

 

We have produced a special leaflet for patients about going home from hospital and how to stay safe and well. Click here to read it.

We are committed to providing personalised and person centred care to all of our patients. In normal times, where a patient has a condition such as Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease or other conditions which might make it hard for them to communicate with our team we talk to them and their relatives and carers on admission about what is important to them. Together we create and complete a "What Matters To Me" sheet which can be seen by anyone visiting the patient to provide care. 

 

This helps us to understand the person, what makes them happy, what they don't like and the things that interest them and which they like to talk about. By getting to know patients who may find it difficult to articulate this for themselves we can try to ensure that their time in our hospital is as comfortable and familiar as possible and that they feel safe.

 

At the present time because visitors to our hospital are restricted* this conversation isn't always possible. Therefore we are providing an electronic copy of the "What Matters To Me" template which relatives or carers of anyone we are looking after can complete and email to us so that even in this unusual circumstances we can continue to provide the very best and personalised care.

 

All you need to do is to download this template, fill it in and email it back to us at: whh-tr.WhatMattersToMe@nhs.net along with the patients name, date of birth and postcode and, if you know it, the ward they are staying on.

 

*We will always consider individual requests to visit in exceptional circumstances where it is in the overall best interest of and we can ensure the safety of all our patients and staff. Please speak to your relative's ward manager to discuss any individual circumstances.

We would like to offer assurance that whilst you should not come to our hospital unless it is absolutely necessary it remains safe to attend and ask patients to attend all scheduled appointments. There is no reason to cancel an appointment. 

 

When you are at one of our sites, including our hospital we ask you to respect the 2m social distancing guidelines.

 

Elective surgery
At this time we need to prioritise the most sick and vulnerable as well as cancer patients. In order to free up space, we are stopping elective activity and will only be doing urgent or cancer (day case or inpatient) elective surgery from 16 March onwards. This will free up space in recovery for more ITU capacity and allow us to train more people in ITU skills and management of acutely sick respiratory patients.

 

Community based services
We are currently offering essential adult and children's services only. This is by video or telephone with face to face contacts only as essential. Health staff are prioritising essential work and are being redeployed to support the work of the hospital where possible.

There are currently no approved treatments for COVID-19. We want to help change that. This is why Whittington Health is participating in the RECOVERY - Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy study being run by Oxford University and endorsed by the Chief Medical Officers for the UK.

 

This trial will assess the effects of different treatments, including re-purposed and novel drugs, on major outcomes in COVID-19. All patients will receive the usual care from the participating hospitals.

 

You can find more details about the study as well as the Participant Information Sheet and Consent form by clicking here. If you would like to  get involved, please contact Kathryn Simpson, our Research Portfolio Manager.