Covid-19 has seen many businesses having to change their practices.  Of course, medicine is no exception to this. Many of the infection control procedures other businesses have applied were already existing in healthcare. However, we’ve made extensive changes to adapt to the new normal to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Doctor in the house

The most notable change for both doctors and patients is a switch to initial ‘virtual’ consultations.  All our patients are now offered an initial video consultation. This does not mean you won’t get to see your doctor face to face. Plenty of things can be resolved with a video consultation. Yet, there are still many things that require a full and thorough examination. However, video consultation allows us to minimise the time the patients spend in the clinic. This means that both you and your doctor is at lower risk of picking up an infection. 

If you have symptoms of COVID,  then you’ll be offered a home visit. This greatly reduces the risk of transmission of the virus.

A New Look

It’s not only our new clinic that looks different. All our team members have now have sleek black surgical scrubs to wear. Team members get changed into the scrubs at work and then take them off at the end of the shift. The scrubs are washed daily at 60℃ to help reduce the spread of infection. In addition to scrubs, all our team wear PPE. Team members check their temperature when they arrive at the clinic and wash their hands regularly.

Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness

We’ve always been proud to have a sparkling clinic. Now that we have two sparkling clinics we are really endeavouring to keep them that way.  Our communal areas are wiped down hourly. Each clinical room is wiped down after every patient contact.  

There are additional hand sanitisers in each clinic for patients and staff to use. You will be able to sanitise your hands when you enter and leave the clinic via a no-touch hand sanitising station. 

Hand washing for at least 20 seconds remains a really effective way to prevent the spread of the virus. Both our clinics have plenty of facilities for handwashing. 

I Wear The Mask. It Does Not Wear Me.

There is good evidence that wearing masks reduces the spread of infection. All staff members will be wearing face coverings appropriate to their role in the team. All patients and visitors arriving at the clinic will be provided with a disposable face mask. If you are already wearing a  face mask this can remain in place. If you do not wish to wear a face mask your wishes will be respected and we will ask you to wait in a private room. 

Socially distant

All staff required to maintain social distancing, where practicable, when in the clinics. Our lounge areas are designed so that there is 2 m distance between any patients and staff.  We have arranged appointments so that there is be a minimum number of patients in the clinic at any one time. New floor stickers help to maintain social distancing in the waiting areas. We have also invested in a new invoicing system with the highest level of security your card details can be stored by Stripe so we can process invoices for you and your family members contactlessly. 

We have also taken steps to ensure that there is the least number of staff at the clinic sites as possible at any one time. 

The Fun Doesn’t Stop

Everyone at Coyne Medical has missed seeing our wonderful patients coming into the clinic. However, we’ve really missed seeing and looking after kids! Sadly, we’ve had to remove all the toys (and magazines) from our waiting rooms. However, we have replaced the toys with some single-use colouring packs. We hope these will provide a temporary respite for parents who have been ‘enjoying’ home-schooling!