Living with Covid-19 Guidance for NHS Service Providers
Written by AlisonFreemantle on Friday 25th February 2022
Key points for community pharmacy following the announcement of changes and removal of restrictions
Following the announcement on 21st February 2022 and the publication of the Government policy document – COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19 – NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) have issued initial guidance to NHS service providers, including community pharmacies.
The key points for community pharmacy are:
Staff who test positive – Healthcare staff who test positive for COVID-19 should not attend work until they have had two negative LFD test results taken 24 hours apart. The first test should not be taken before day 5 after their initial positive test.
Providing they are medically fit, they can return to work on the morning of day 6, providing they tested negative 24 hours earlier on day 5 and tested negative on the morning day 6.
Testing for staff – NHSE&I will provide more information in the coming weeks on the specific detail of the various testing requirements for staff. Due to the higher risk nature of health and social care settings, the current advice for staff working in these settings has not changed.
For now, staff should continue to access the LFD tests via the GOV.UK online ordering system or via the Pharmacy Collect Service.
Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) – there are no immediate changes to IPC requirements. This includes the requirement for staff, patients and visitors to wear a mask/face covering in healthcare settings including pharmacy.
New revised materials, including posters, are being created to highlight the ongoing requirement for the use of face coverings in healthcare settings.