Covid 19 - The Steps I Am Taking To Keep You Safe

I hope you are keeping well and staying safe. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, I have been working tirelessly every day for the last few weeks to ensure that the clinic is as possible for myself and my patients.Thanks to the large, well-ventilated space we can safely adhere to and maintain 2m distancing, as per guidelines during the first part of the consultation, however, due to the nature of osteopathy the second part we are unable to maintain a 1m/2m distance as I'm sure you are all aware. Because of this, I have made some adaptations to meet the strict regulations generated by The Institute of Osteopathy (IO), The General Osteopathic Council (GOsc) and The World Health Organisation (WHO) The only time whereby we may need to be closer than this is just the first part of the session.For further peace of mind I have detailed the measures and steps we have taken to protect you throughout your appointment:Protecting Patients & StaffPatients will be called 48 hours before their appointment to be asked som pre-screening questions and to assess if they are within the high-risk category. All patients will then be advised of the new protocols when arriving at the clinic. Thanks for your co-operation here, this really helps.Patients will now be asked to arrive on time (but not too early) for their session and to wait outside of the side entrance (the side nearest the CO-OP) as patients will now be entering via the kitchen. Please note that the main hall doors will be locked. I will come down to meet you and welcome you in and escort you to your room when it is ready as the waiting room is closed for now, and like all of these measures, will be under review to determine the safest time to reopen. Patients will be asked to use hand gel before entering and leaving the clinic.In-Clinic Sessions Including PPEThe treatment room has sufficient space to allow social distancing during the discussing and taking of your case history during, however, I will be wearing full PPE which will be used by us and discarded at the end of each session.We also ask that you wear a mask should you have one, which if you haven't we strongly recommend that you obtain a mask. I can provide a fresh mask at the clinic for a 50p charge. I also recommend that patients who are within the vulnerable or extremely vulnerable risk who have been deemed suitable for a face to face session wear a fluid-resistant mask at a charge of £1. Patients who suffer from hayfever and/ or a nasal drip etc are also advised to wear a fluid-resistant mask.For any patients who rely on lip-reading, we have surgical visors available for our team to aid communication with you.Hand gel will be available to patients upon entering the hall and inside the clinic. Sophie will routinely wash her hands and arms up to the elbow before and at the end of each session as standard.And as mentioned above the for your session will be well ventilated throughout and 'fully aired' in between sessions/patients and surfaces will be wiped down and disinfected including the plinth, pillows and door handles, table and the stair handrails.Premises HygieneTo ensure that I can easily maintain incredibly high hygiene levels at all times I have worked hard to 'declutter and strip back' the Clinic to make it much easier to clean effectively and regularly.3 times per week all door handles, surfaces, kitchen cupboard handles and kitchen equipment handles are disinfected with bleach solution.I will also wipe all handles in public spaces at the beginning and end of shift and after each patient has left the building with an anti-viral disinfectant.Plinths and pillowcases are now plastic and disinfected between patients and are routinely changed and all towels and paper towels have been removed from the Clinic and the carpet will be steamed cleaned after every patient.Some RecommendationsDue to the increased ventilation, I would recommend that you attend your session with warm clothes as your temperature will reduce slightly whilst laying still.I would also advise you not to use the toilets at the hall as they are in a public space and we are not able to maintain them to the incredibly high standards we keep at the Clinic.The only way that we can all move towards a safer future is to put measures like the above in place.I thank you advance for your co-operation and look forward to seeing you all again soon.Until next time,Sophie x