Seeing an ENT specialist in a hospital outpatient clinic during the coronavirus pandemic can make a patient feel understandably worried about their safety. We are committed to providing a first-class service to our patients and it’s our job to reassure patients that it is safe to be seen by Mr Kirkland. We understand that patients will have questions and concerns regarding their visit – we want you to know that we have a robust set of precautions and safety measures in place to offer our patients total peace of mind.
We now send out a registration questionnaire to our patients to ensure they are seen via the most appropriate pathway. For example, if a patient is elderly or vulnerable, a video consultation may be a more appropriate and effective way to be seen. This also ensures patient and staff safety, by reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection. Quite often, we are able to instigate treatment or investigations following a video consultation.
For a patient who has an appointment booked in hospital, new safety precautions are in place. These are some of the precautions that we at The ENT Clinic have put in place to ensure patient and staff safety during the pandemic:
- Patients are advised to attend at the time of their appointment and not before, to reduce the time spent in the waiting room – which is set up with social distancing measures in place
- Patients are asked to wear a face covering in the hospital and to sanitise their hands on arrival
- Before being seen by Mr Kirkland, the nursing staff will confirm that a patient has no COVID-19 symptoms
- Mr Kirkland will also be wearing a face mask during the consultation
- If an aerosol-generating procedure (AGP) is necessary (for example ear micro-suction or endoscopy), Mr Kirkland will wear full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- We have incorporated time in between appointments to clean and disinfect consulting rooms
If you do have an appointment booked with us, please give us a call with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your safety. We constantly strive to maintain high standards of care and understand any concerns our patients may have.
We look forward to seeing you in clinic. Stay safe.
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