STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

Georgina Bailey Physiotherapy

COVID-19, October 2020

Physiotherapists must work within the legal, regulatory, and professional frameworks that guide the safe management of their patients, the wider public and everyone who works in the practice environment:

Physiotherapists are governed by a professional body - The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

Within private practice there is a professional physiotherapy network - Physio First.

Registered physiotherapists must comply with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards of conduct performance and ethics.

Physiotherapists must keep up to date with PHE guidance on infection prevention and control for COVID-19. All appropriate systems and processes must be in place to comply with information and advice for health and care professionals.

Prior to your appointment:

All patients will be screened and triaged over the phone prior to being offered a face to face appointment. This will include questions to establish whether the patient is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, has been tested or has household members with the same and whether they have COVID-19 rsik factors. The therapist will ensure the patient and/or any chaperone present can comply with social distancing requirements.
A joint decision will be made by the patient and the physiotherapist as to whether a face-to-face appointment is clincally justified, based on risk to the patient, the therapist, others in the clinical setting, or the patients household.
If it is considered appropriate to see the patient face to face, the patient will be emailed a COVID-19 screening form to complete.
The patient will be asked to contact the physiotherapist to cancel their face-to-face appointment, or any subsequent face-to-face appointment, if they (or anyone else in their household) develop any COVID-19 related symptoms. There will be an option to change to a video consultation should this be suitable.
People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

Fever or chills

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Fatigue

Muscle or body aches

Headache

New loss of taste or smell

Sore throat

Congestion or runny nose

Nausea or vomiting

Diarrhoea

Please do not agree to a face to face appointment if either you or one of your household is in one of the higher risk groups. It is reported that those who are immunosuppressed, older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19. You can read about COVID-19 symptoms here.

At your appointment:

When arriving the patient must remain in their car, or outside of the building and then telephone call or send a text message to the therapist. The therapist will then contact the patient when they are able to enter the building. The patient will be re-screened for COVID-19 symptoms over the telephone at this point.
All patients must wear a 3-layer face covering, or a type IIR surgical face mask when attending the clinic.
Ideally it is requested that patients attend alone. Chaperones will be subjected to the same clinical procedures as the patients.
On entering the building patients must go straight to the toilet to wash their hands.
There will be a wipeable chair for patients to sit on in the clinic room, this will be 2 metres away from the therapist during the subjective assessment. It is suggested that contact within the 2-metre zone is limited to 15 minutes where possible.
Close contact may be required during a face to face session.
Patients are asked to bring the minimal number of belongings into the treatment room.

Treatment room protocol/infection control procedures:

The patient and therapist will minimise contact as much as possible during the session.
Plastic wipeable chairs will be available for the patient to sit, at a minimum of a 2 metre distance from the therapist.
Pillow-cases will be plastic and wipeable. They will be covered with couch roll and changed at each appointment.
Disposable couch roll will cover the treatment couch.
If a towel is used, it will be single client use and washed at 60 degrees after treatment.
A 15-minute gap will be left in between patients to ensure no patient crossover, allow for ventilation and leave enough time to clean the clinic.
Once the patient has left the premises the therapist will remove the couch roll, pillow covers and then PPE will be disposed of safely.
At the end of patient treatment session all contact surfaces including door handles, taps, light switches, treatment couch, desks, seating, pillows, side tables, electronic devices etc. will be cleaned with anti-viral spray and the window will be opened fully to ventilate the room.
Waste will be double bagged, left for 72 hours and then disposed of as municipal waste.

Therapist protocol:

The therapist will wear PPE which is in compliance with government guidelines, this will include:

Non-latex Nitrile gloves (single use)

Plastic Apron (single use)

IIR facemask (sessional use)

Face visor (reusable) will be used during the examination when a 2-metre distance cannot be maintained.

The physiotherapist will follow guidelines on the correct donning and doffing of PPE.
The face-visor is re-usable and will be fully disinfected between patients.
The therapist will wash their hands as per NHS guidelines before and after each patient (with soap and water for 20 seconds) after removing PPE, and dried using disposable paper towels.
The therapist will change out of their uniform at the end of the day in clinic; they will not travel home in their uniform. It will be washed on the hottest wash that is advisable for the clothing. It is recommended that this is at a minimum of 60 degrees centigrade. It will to be washed and ironed separately from the main wash and in no more than a half full.
Gloves will be changed before cleaning the clinic and any equipment

Georgina Bailey Physiotherapy reserves the right to refuse a face to face appointment if it is deemed unnecessary or unsafe. This is in line with the recommendations from our regulatory body: The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy - see PDF file.