Information on Remote video consultation first policy and consideration of Face to face treatment
Posted on 21st May 2020 at 15:04
Moderate risk or clinically vulnerable patients
People who are classed at moderate risk or clinically vulnerable will not have received a letter. This group includes people who are.
• are 70 or older
• are pregnant
• have a lung condition that's not severe (such as asthma, COPD, emphysema or bronchitis)
• have heart disease (such as heart failure)
• have diabetes
• have chronic kidney disease
• have liver disease (such as hepatitis)
• have a condition affecting the brain or nerves (such as Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy)
• have a condition that means they have a high risk of getting infections
• are taking medicine that can affect the immune system (such as low doses of steroids)
• are very obese (a BMI of 40 or above)
Currently our preferred choice of consultation for this group is remote consults as the close proximity that can be required (within 2 metres) during face to face treatment would increase the risk of you coming in to contact with Covid 19 if the therapist had unknowingly become exposed to and been infected by Covid 19. Our use of PPE and infection control procedures as per Government guidelines would help mitigate this risk.
Exceptions could be made in cases where the benefit of face to face treatment outweighs the risk of becoming exposed to Covid 19. For example if your condition was deteriorating and we felt it necessary to do objective tests to determine whether onward referral was required.
Patients considered as being not clinically vulnerable
Face to face treatment can now be considered however for new patients a remote consult via WhatsApp, Skype or Zoom will be required to determine whether the benefits of face to face treatment outweighs the risk of you becoming exposed to Covid 19 and the likelihood that you would suffer severe symptoms from the virus.
Patients who are considered not clinically vulnerable but have people in their household that are considered clinically vulnerable
It is important to consider other more vulnerable people in your household and the risks that would be incurred by them if you were to become infected with Covid 19.
How to arrange a face to face consult
From reading the information above, if you feel you may benefit and are eligible for face to face treatment under current guidance, please contact us 01206 579631.
Please note as Government guidance changes and prevalence of Covid 19 decreases we will follow the advice provided by our Governing bodies and change our face to face consultation policy accordingly.
Regular updates will be available via our blog page on our website www.colchesterphysiotherapy.com
Author
Craig Fowlie
Craig is a highly specialized physiotherapist with post graduate qualifications in Acupuncture and Sports and Exercise Medicine.
He has worked with Professional Rugby sides in New Zealand and has assisted Great Britain Table Tennis at the World Team Championships and Olympic Qualifiers in Qatar and Germany. He is a consultant for the Governments Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme and has published and presented research in the Journal of Physiotherapy and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Annual Conference.
Outside of work he enjoys participating socially in triathlon and running.
Tagged as: f2f, face to face, infection control, physioreallyhelps, physiotherapy, PPE, remote consultation first
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