Latest News re Covid-19 Measures
Dominic Simpson
I hope you are all well and continuing to manage through these challenging times. Following this weeks update advice from the UK Government we have carried out a further review of our processes and measures in place to safeguard the Jigsaw OT centre against the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
As many of you will be aware, through being proactive and extremely diligent with our measures we have managed to keep the centre open throughout the past weeks for those in most need of our services. We continue to be classified as an essential healthcare provider and thus have provided our services accordingly where possible, albeit on a hugely reduced scale.
Looking to the future, it is our hope that as time passes we will continue to be able to provide our services to more and more individuals, either directly at the centre or remotely via our Telehealth services. Our priority remains the health and safety of our clients and staff and this ethos will form the basis of all our measures put in place. Please see below for confirmation of our continued measures at the centre which will be in place for all visitors:
we ask all visitors to self-screen before visiting the Jigsaw OT centre to help lessen the spread of the virus. We ask that you do not visit if you or any member of your household have any symptoms of the Coronavirus, specifically if you have had a fever of 37.8C and respiratory problems with at least 2 of the following symptoms; cough, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion. We also ask that you do not visit if you have had any contact with any possible source of the virus. If you have met any of the above criteria please do not visit and contact NHS 111 for advice. We will have clear signage at our entrance highlighting this information.
For those who are able to visit, in line with the primary measure highlight above please familiarise yourself with the following guidance:
all communal areas of the centre remain closed and we operating a drop off system only for sessions. All parents/carers will be asked to either drop their child/young person off at the entrance when greeted by their treating OT and then return to their vehicles or join the session with child/young person. Assessments will require both children/young people and their parents/cares to be present in our therapy rooms.
upon entry all visitors will be requested to wash their hands before entering the therapy room and before leaving the centre at the end of the session. Hand washing facilities will be available for this purpose in addition to hand sanitiser where hand washing is not possible. We will have clear signage throughout the centre highlighting the importance of hand washing.
All OT’s and reception staff will be wearing face coverings, during any direct contact with visitors as per the latest UK Government advice to wear face coverings in ‘enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible and they come in contact with others that they do not normally meet’. The space within our centre and it’s therapy rooms does enable for social distancing measures to be adhered but, due to the nature of the therapy input, we feel the face coverings offer a prudent additional measure to protect our visitors, staff and the spread of the virus. These face coverings will not be medical grade masks, as these should be reserved for NHS requirements, but will be reusable fabric coverings. OT’s will be replacing their face coverings with a fresh and clean covering for each and every session. Used face coverings will be bagged and removed for cleaning before next use.
Whilst Jigsaw OT will not stipulate that all visitors should wear face coverings would encourage you to consider the UK Government recommendations on face coverings and would recommend wearing when visiting our centre, if appropriate and possible, as an additional precautionary measure.
clear floor markings will be put in place at the entrance/reception area of the centre and in the few remaining communal areas (i.e. hallways, hand washing areas etc) to serve as a visual reminder of appropriate social distancing.
All communal food and drink will remain unavailable from the kitchenette area at the centre. We ask that all visitors bring a personal bottle of water to their session should they require a drink.
We have taken our responsibilities regarding keeping the centre open very seriously. We elected to remove a proportion of our equipment and resources to help maintain the required levels of hygiene and to enable our staff to adequately disinfect and sanitise the therapy rooms and resources following each and every session. General communal areas throughout the centre are disinfected and sanitised at regular intervals throughout each and every day. All staff are instructed to wash their hands at least every 2 hours whilst at the centre and OT’s between every session. Disposable paper towels only are available for hand drying, used towels are binned and emptied regularly.
We have done our very best to safeguard our visitors, staff and the centre as a whole to allow us to provide our services to those in need. However, we very much appreciate that despite these measure many of you will not be in a position to visit and we perfectly understand and appreciate individual circumstances will dictate above anything else. Again, to be clear if you personally have any concerns or doubts about visiting Jigsaw OT then please do not not come. We will simply continue to cancel your regular planned sessions, without charge. Please also be aware that we are able to help remotely for those who are unable to access physical sessions, our team have been working collaboratively and we have seen some great successes in supporting individuals via our Telehealth services. Remote support can include:
regular Telehealth video therapy sessions, providing home OT programs, advice, support and strategies to work on in lieu of being able to visit us and to maintain the relationship between your child/young person and the OT.
where safe and appropriate to do so, according to the latest UK Government advice, OT”s can make themselves available to visit you in your family home bringing with them specialist equipment to provide a level of sensory input.
the OT team can provide written support documents to allow individuals to have access to specifically tailored strategies and 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/young person with managing through the lockdown period and with home educating ideas.
Everyone at Jigsaw OT is dedicated to helping our clients as best we can and we miss seeing our regular faces each week. But we know we will see you again soon. If we can help with any of the above please just let us know or if there is any other way that you would like support please just get in touch and let us know how we can help you.
As always, stay safe and we very much hope to see you all soon.
Dominic Simpson
Jigsaw Occupational Therapy Limited
Tel: 01444 616162
Email: dominic@jigsaw-ot.co.uk