Sadly, numbers of Covid-19 cases in the UK are rising sharply. The Government has now introduced a 3 tier Covid alert system to attempt to manage Covid outbreaks at local and regional level in England.
Most areas in the South remain on tier 1/medium alert level, however Essex county council requested a move to tier 2/high alert in an attempt to move early against a recent exponential increase in Covid-19 cases in some districts.
The good news for me and my patients is that Healthcare Services can remain open under ALL alert levels and even under another lockdown.
Osteopaths are recognised in the UK as key Healthcare workers. The Osteopath’s Act of 1993 regulated the practice of Osteopathy by law with the formation of the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC). All Osteopaths working in the UK must be registered with the GOsC whose role is to promote public safety and set, maintain and develop standards of osteopathic practice. In 2017 Osteopathy in England was also added to the list of NHS Allied Health Professionals. There are 14 different AHPs, all of whom are degree-educated and autonomous, meaning they can work independently without the need to be referred by a GP. AHP status means we are recognised by the NHS as being able to provide system-wide care to assess, diagnose, treat and discharge patients and we play an important role in being able to reduce pressure on the NHS in key areas.
With regulation comes responsibility, and it has therefore been essential for me after lockdown to put patient safety at the forefront of my return to work. I carried out a full risk assessment of my practice which included putting in place distancing measures, heightened cleaning regimes and use of PPE (personal protective equipment) as recommended by Public Health England.
If you haven’t visited me since lockdown lifted, you might wonder how your visit will be different from pre-Covid.
Patients are now asked to wait in their car before coming through to the waiting room at the time of their appointment. This avoids interaction with other patients and allows me time to fully clean and disinfect the treatment room and all touch points.
On entering the clinic, patients must wear a mask and sanitise their hands. Coming through to the treatment room, you will notice that all surfaces are now wipeable, but disposable paper covers are used for the treatment table and blankets are available for those chillier mornings! There is no change to your actual treatment, I can use all the same treatment techniques. The only difference is that I wear PPE – apron, mask, safety goggles and gloves! Special consideration can be made for clinically vulnerable patients such as booking the first appointment of the day, and for those people who are still shielding, remote video consultations are still available to give reassurance and self-help advice.
So, even in these uncertain times, you can rest assured that your health and safety is at the heart of everything that I do at Quendon Osteopathy.
You can read my Covid-19 protocol for full information about these changes.
