Publish date: 23 September 2020
Following yesterday's announcement from Boris Johnson about introducing tighter restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19, we are reinstating our original guidance to encourage you to please work at home if you are able to do so.
We fully acknowledge the wealth of information circulating in the media at the moment may be causing some confusion and the last thing we want to do is add to that by changing our messages frequently.
However, it is clear from the worsening national and local position that we must make the sensible decision and act now to continue to keep you safe.
We know many of you who are in clinical roles are unable to work at home. As outlined in the national announcement, you should please continue to attend work so we can continue to deliver patient care.
Our support services are absolutely essential to the running of our organisation and in enabling our clinical staff to effectively deliver patient care.
However, the nature of the work carried out by some support services allows more flexibility to work just as effectively from home. Therefore, we're asking you to please make arrangements with your line manager today to work from home.
We are monitoring the situation with regards face-to-face appointments and home visits and will keep you updated if changes are advised. In the meantime, please continue to carry out your work in agreement with your line manager.
In addition, our Clinical and Ethical Reference Group will be reviewing our arrangements for visiting on our wards and for managing Section 17 leave for inpatients to make sure we are compliant with national guidance and that we are keeping our patients, staff and visitors as safe as possible. Again, we will communicate any changes.
If you have any concerns or questions, please speak to your line manager in the first instance. You can also bring your questions to this week's live Q&A which takes place at 3pm tomorrow. If you want to submit a question in advance, email: communications@nwbh.nhs.uk
We value the work each and every one of you is doing at this difficult time and urge you to follow the hands, face, space measures at all times to help reduce the spread of coronavirus and keep each other and our patients safe.
John Heritage,
Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive