**Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Update @ Jigsaw OT**
Dominic Simpson
24th March 2020 Update
Good Morning again,
Following last nights message from the Government imposing additional measures on many business, I again wanted to reiterate that Jigsaw OT is classified as being an essential healthcare provider and thus is permitted to remain open to allow the delivery of essential services.
As our previous communications have explained we have put in place extraordinary measures to safeguard our centre and it’s therapy rooms. A proportion of equipment and resources have been removed with only the most essential items remaining that are also straightforwardly kept cleaned and sanitised. The only contact you clients will have directly will be with their therapist, who will also have had their temperature recorded prior to starting work, you will be met at the door and take directly to your therapy room. Those parents/carers who do not wish to join the therapy sessions must return to their cars and wait until the time of the session ending. By putting these measures in place and by all adhering to them we will be able to remain open to provide the vital input so many require. For those who do visit us you will receive an additional email on the day of your session to confirm your appointment, this can and will be accepted by any authorities who might question your reasons for travelling. So please either keep this email or your text alert available in such circumstances.
However, we very much appreciate that these are exceptional times and that for many it will not be safe nor appropriate to visit us. Let us state, if you have any concerns or doubts about visiting Jigsaw OT for therapy sessions then please do not come, cancel your sessions (without charge) and please let us know how else we can help. We have the ability to reach you remotely via video, phone or email so please let us or your OT know how they can help.
Thank you again for all your support and understanding. We have done everything we can to secure the availability of our services to those it’s possible to deliver it to. We could be under these restrictions for some time and the impact of these measures may be considerable, therefore if we can help in any way then please reach out to us. But please, please consider your own circumstances before making your decision to visit, the health and safety of you and those around you are the most important factor.
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Good Morning,
I hope you are all managing to cope in these extremely challenging circumstances. We are continuing to keep you informed on our position in terms of Jigsaw OT continuing to function and our reasonings for doing so. We are paying very close attention to the latest guidance from the UK government and Public Health England regarding social distancing and are taking this stance very seriously whilst at the same time acknowledging that therapists have determined as being ‘key workers’ due to the vital support they provide to those with additional needs.
Therefore, Jigsaw OT is to remain open for business at our centre for 1:1 sessions and assessments only. All training events have been cancelled, with a view to being rescheduled to later in the year. However, our priority is the health and safety of our customers, staff and the wider community around us and therefore we must stress that all visitors adhere to the current guidance from the UK government. To reiterate this is primarily:
to stay at home if you or any member of your household have any symptoms of coronavirus, specifically a new continuous cough and/or high temperature.
We ask that anyone showing symptoms as highlighted above to communicate this to us as soon as possible to cancel your affected appointments. Taking additional consideration of the importance of social distancing in the current climate we have taken steps to limit person to person contact at our centre. **The following measures are already in place and we kindly request that you adhere to this measures and pay close attention to and understand what we will be asking of you, our clients, during any visit to the Jigsaw OT centre**.
all children and parents/carers temperature will be taken upon arrival to the centre via a digital non-contact head thermometer. If any temperature of or above 37.8 degrees is recorded then we will request that those individuals do not access their appointment and will instead advise that the family return home and self isolate for the stipulated 14 days.
all parents/carers will be asked to either drop their child off to a member of the Jigsaw OT team at the entrance to the centre at the time of their appointment or to join the sessions itself in the therapy room. Our waiting room is closed to all visitors and we ask that those not joining the sessions wait onsite in their cars where possible.
All communal food and drink has been removed from the kitchenette area within the centre. We would ask that all children bring a personal water bottle to their session if they require a drink.
All visitors will be asked to wash their hands with soap and water before entering our therapy rooms. Hand sanitiser will be available upon request for any visitors who have difficulties washing with soap and water.
Any notices/posters will be displayed on the front door to the centre so they can be easily viewed by all customers.
We are very conscious that many of you will not be able to physically visit us during this challenging time and those who usually received OT input for their child in school. And we are equally aware of the potential impact on our clients of an extended period of time without our support. Therefore our team have begun to implement strategies to help support you in other ways. With immediate effect our our OT’s available to provide:
for regular video therapy sessions, in place of physical visits, where they can provide home OT programmes, advice and strategies to work on during any periods of self isolation and maintain the relationship between the OT and your child.
where safe, appropriate and possible to do so our OT’s can make themselves available to visit you and your child in the home environment and will be able to bring an array of transferable OT equipment to facilitate home sessions.
the OT’s can provide written support documents to allow individuals to have access to specifically tailored resources to assist with handwriting skills, functional skills, regulation, fine and gross motor skills etc.
regular phone and/or email support can be provided by your OT to help support you and your child during the extended period where home educating is required.
Everyone at Jigsaw OT is dedicated to helping our clients and we are so sad that we might be unable to do this for many people. Therefore, we ask that you please get in contact with us and let us know how we can help you. No matter how big or small, we want to help so please just let us know how we can.
Please keep an eye for any further updates on the how the Jigsaw OT centre is operating. We very much want to remain an option for people to access where possible and appropriate. Please be assured that all cancellation charges have been waived for the duration of this extraordinary period so please do not be concerned about any fees for short notice cancellations. Obviously, due to the high level of cancellations we are experiencing we do have availability for sessions if there are any clients who wish to attend additional sessions to help their home educating process, please just get in contact.
By staying positive and working together we can all get through this challenging time. We must take care of each other and look out for those who might need our help. Please take good care of yourselves and take whatever steps are best for your and your loved ones. Whatever we can do help we will but most importantly we want you all to be safe and well so that we can see you again in better times and continue to help people for the better. It’s all everyone at Jigsaw OT wants. Again we thank you for your support and your help during this time.
Wishing everyone all the very best,
The Jigsaw OT team.