Following the release of the COVID-19 rapid guideline: arranging planned care in hospitals and diagnostics service on 27th July 2020, the Spire & Princess Margaret Hospitals have adopted the new guidance. All current pathways and use of PPE/cleaning remain unchanged, there are no changes to pre-treatment screening and the Red, Amber and Green pathways remain in situ. The key changes are in the elective surgical/procedure pathway and advised self-isolation period for adult.
The new guidance removes the need for 14 day pre-operative household guidance and has replaced it with the following:
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Patients identified to be more at risk of getting COVID-19 and it being a severe illness to be advised to self-isolate for 14 days as previously
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All other patients advised to strictly follow government social distancing guidance including hand hygiene from 14 days before their operation, then tested for COVID-19 72 hours before their procedure, from which point they must self-isolate.
For planned procedure (daycase/inpatient) that require anaesthesia (General, regional or local) or sedation:
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Patients are advised to follow comprehensive social distancing and hand hygiene measures for 14 days before admission
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Have a Covid test 3 days before admission
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Self-isolate from the day of the test until admission
A high risk patient assessment needs to be carried out and documented, these patients may wish to isolate for 14 days.
If a patient does not wish to self-isolate for 14 days it must be documented that they have been fully informed of the risks.
The consent process must include the risks of getting Covid19 and the discussion plan of isolation of 3 or 14 days.
A summary of the changes from NICE is available on their website: