Covid 19 Duty Of Care

In accordance to the HSA and HSE Guidelines, all essential policies have been adopted and implemented in the clinic.

The Covid Pandemic still rages on, and while the vaccine is being deployed, the levels of infection are the highest they have ever been. It is a time where we need to maximise our efforts, and make a final push to contain and restrain this virus. This means, more than ever, that we need to limit our contacts, wear a mask, social distance and adopt proper hand hygiene.

The clinic remains open as an “Essential Service” for the purpose of the government’s revised ‘Essential services’ List under the category of ‘primary care and general and specialist medical practice activities’.

Adherence to the guidelines is mandatory. 

If you have been recently away, or been in close contact of a confirmed case, please contact me to reschedule your appointment to a time after your quarantine has expired.

If you have ANY Covid Symptoms please contact me to reschedule your appointment to a time after your quarantine has expired.

Treatment to reduce and alleviate Covid symptoms can be provided through herbal treatments which will be posted out to you.

The main symptoms of Covid are below. If you have developed at least one of these symptoms to be eligible for testing and should get a test:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of taste or smell

If you have ANY of these symptoms, even if you think it is “just a cold” or “allergies” then:

1. Immediately begin self-isolating.
2. Do not go to work. Do not come to the clinic
3. Contact a GP by phone*, tell them your symptoms and that you want a Covid test.
4. Contact me and let me know.

While Waiting on a Covid Test / Test Results

• You should continue isolating while awaiting results.
• You should receive your results 24-48 hours after testing. Results are generally received as a text message.

Positive Covid Swab

• If you test positive, you will get a follow-up call from contact tracers.
• Continue to self-isolate
• When at home, try to use different plates/cutlery from the people you live with to prevent spread, and use a separate toilet (Covid virus can be found in stool samples).

Negative Covid Swab

If you had symptoms and have a negative Covid swab, you’re not out of the woods yet. There may not have been a high enough viral load for a positive test to be confirmed.

Continue to self-isolate until:

• You have no fever for 5 days, AND
• It has been 10 days since you first developed symptoms

If you had no symptoms and a negative Covid swab, you should continue to self-isolate for 48 hours to confirm that you do not develop symptoms.

If you have been identified as a close contact

• If you have no Covid symptoms, you will not be tested (there are a few exceptions) but you must still restrict your movements.
• If you have Covid symptoms, you will be eligible for a Covid test. You should restrict your movements as detailed above.

*Important Note: You do not need to specifically ring your GP. If you can’t get through to your own GP for whatever reason (out of hours etc), you can ring any other GP or an out of hours service such as Midoc, South Doc etc

You will not lose your slot or be penalised if you have to cancel/suspend treatment due to Covid. You will be welcomed back with open arms, but, as I am sure you can understand, I have a duty of care to all my patients, you included, and that means I have to take all possible precautions to limit clinical exposure to the virus.

While in the Clinic

• Facemasks are to be worn at all times
• A Covid form will be required to be completed during your first appointment
• Contract tracing is in use daily, and your temperature is required to be taken on attendance
• The clinic is already cleaned on a regular basis following best practice guidelines, often exceeding the recommendations of the HSE.
• All commonly touched surfaces are cleaned and disinfected frequently, far more than the recommended twice daily. In fact, door handles, chairs, desks, and treatment tables are disinfected before and after each patient and the room is aired.
• All shared items that are potential risk factors for micro-organisms such as magazines, business cards, fabrics e.g. cushions and towels have been removed (yes sadly, this means no lovely warm towels for a while). If you require support for the back or the head I request you bring your own pillow for the time being and your own rug if you require.
• Washroom facilities are cleaned twice daily and disinfected.
  Hand towels have been removed and replaced with disposable paper towels to be binned immediately after use.

Thank You for Your Cooperation and Understanding.
I look forward to seeing you soon