Home › I am a member of therapy staff who covers several wards within a unit. Do I need to change my PPE every time I enter a different ward, even if not having had physical intervention with a service user?
Frequently asked questions for Trust staff
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Coronavirus
Yes, PPE should be discarded safely in between different ward areas.
No, you should maintain social distancing of more than 2 metres away from service users and staff.
All staff should follow the standard operating procedure for inpatient areas in the case of Covid-19. This is available on the Trust coronavirus intranet page.
Yes. The PPE on the wards is for all staff who require it in that area.
The PPE that is often shown on television is of the level that is required for people working in intensive care units who are doing aerosol generating procedures e.g. managing ventilators, tracheostomy care. This is not required where aerosol generating procedures are not taking place, which is almost always the case in mental health and learning disability wards and rarely in our stroke and neurorehabilitation wards.
No. The Trust PPE guidance is based on the national guidance, which is available on the government PPE web pages.
There is no requirement to wash any PPE apart from decontaminating visors. Visors should be decontaminated with So-Chlor on the ward or double bagged in the community and returned back to base where they should be cleaned with Clorox wipes or So-Chlor.
Use of the mask will be sessional in this instance. However, the apron and gloves should be changed between service users to reduce the risk of cross infection of all healthcare associated infections.
A session refers to a period of time where the staff member is undertaking duties in a specific ward, care setting or exposure environment.
Aprons and gloves should be changed between every physical contact with a service user. Masks can be maintained for sessional use unless the service user is a confirmed case, in which case they should also be changed when not working on a cohort ward. If working on a cohort area and you are moving between confirmed positive cases, the mask can be retained. Masks must be changed when moist or when the person eats or drinks. Masks must be changed if pulled down. They must not be worn for the complete shift.
A session refers to a period of time where the staff member is undertaking duties in a specific ward, care setting or exposure environment.
Use of the mask will be sessional in this instance. However, the apron and gloves should be changed between service users to reduce the risk of cross infection of all healthcare associated infections.
A session refers to a period of time where the staff member is undertaking duties in a specific ward, care setting or exposure environment.