Staying safe in our hospitals and on campus

With many restrictions lifted on 19 July, including social distancing and compulsory face coverings, it remains vital that our staff and students are safe at work or university. Our partners continue to ensure their sites remain safe places for patients to visit, staff to work and students to study.

Protective measures against COVID-19 have been put in place across our partnership during the pandemic, such as handwashing regularly, social distancing and wearing a face covering.

Following the easing of restrictions, it is important that we ensure the continued safety of all staff, students, and patients. Several measures are therefore still in place across the hospital and university sites. For example, across all trusts hospital staff will continue to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in clinical areas.

We look at some of the measures currently in place:

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

The Trust continues to increase the range of services available for patients with other conditions. To ensure the continued safety of patients and staff, all safety measures in place prior to 19 July remain in place.

The steps the Trust are taking include:

• Separating or physically distancing as much as possible, where we care for patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 or may have symptoms of coronavirus, and where patients are being treated for urgent surgery.
• Following national guidance for infection prevention and making sure staff and volunteers are trained in how to limit the spread of infection in hospitals.
• Asking patients coming in for surgery to self-isolateand to have a COVID-19 swab test.
• Deep cleaning hospital theatres, equipment and wards regularly, in line with national guidance
• having the right levels of staffing and equipment so that appointments and surgery can take place safely.

You can read about Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust’s safety measures, explore their frequently asked questions and view their video: Keeping you safe, on their website.

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Due to the nature of the work carried out by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and the vulnerable patient groups being treated, it is vital that certain measures remain in place to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The Trust will continue to require the use of face masks in all areas of the hospital where appropriate social distancing cannot be maintained. This will include all public spaces, such as entrances and corridors, and will apply to our staff, patients, visitors and contractors at all times.

Social distancing will also continue to be applied in clinical and communal areas across the hospital sites, as far as is practicable. Screens will continue to be used at reception and clinic desks.

For more information, visit the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s website.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

As COVID-19 restrictions remain in place across the Trust’s site, staff, patients and visitors are all expected to continue following guidance on social distancing, mask wearing and testing while they are on the hospital site or in community settings.

To help keep everyone safe, the Trust continue to offer alternative ways to:

• Attend appointments, offering more appointments by video and telephone.
• Receive medication, providing larger supplies of tablets to reduce frequency of visits.
• Encouraging phone and video calls for family and loved ones in the absence of face-to-face visits.

For more information on the measures in place at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, visit their website.

King’s College London

King’s College London will be maintaining restrictions put in place prior to 19 July until 1 September. The latest guidance from King’s College London is as follows:

• Any teaching and learning scheduled before the 1 September will go ahead as planned.
• All staff are encouraged to come on to campus if they would like to. However, staff may continue to work remotely until 1 September, providing they do not need to be on campus to carry out their role or to support our students.
• Safe distancing will remain in place (some exceptions may apply where local risk assessments indicate this is appropriate, for example in some research labs).
• Wearing a face covering unless exempt and washing or sanitising hands regularly.
• Regular asymptomatic testing if you are coming to campus – we recommend using KCL TEST. PCR testing is the most sensitive and accurate method of testing currently available, identifying the virus at an early stage and helping to reduce the spread of the virus

Please remain vigilant by following the health and safety measures in place across campuses and residences.

King’s College London is prepared to respond quickly to implement additional and appropriate measures where necessary and in the instance of suspected or confirmed cases.

For more information on the measures in place at King’s College London, visit the University’s intranet page.