First full working days since March 2017!

Well that was an interesting couple of days. Spent the first morning of day one looking at a plethora of folders with various newly developed procedures and protocols relating to the work of the Covid-19 Testing Team. These range from swabbing techniques, PPE donning and doffing procedures, testing criteria, outreach clinic protocols etc. In the afternoon I went out with the Outreach Team to test a bunch of staff in an Edinburgh nursing home.

Day two was spent with the drive through test team for the first part of the morning where the wind was beginning to pick up and blow quite a bit. Most of the rest of the rest of the day was spent working through more files and folders of information including some online, although I don’t yet have my own access to internet, email or shared folders.

It has become clear that my new boss is not particularly interested in my swabbing prowess and more interested in any ability I might have to lead and co-ordinate the testing teams. These teams have come together in the last couple of months from a range of backgrounds, especially dental health services and sick children’s research nurses. There are already team coordinator staff in place but I now understand that I am expected to join them and take on their role alongside them.

By the end of Friday the wind had picked up to such a level that conducting the drive through tests became increasingly hazardous for both staff and clients. We had just about everything possible securely tied or weighed down but PPE kit was blowing up and off, especially aprons and face shields, and staff did not feel it was safe or secure, for them or for clients, to continue to conduct the tests in increasingly hazardous conditions.

A quick walk around the site made clear that were no alternative places we could relocate to that were any more sheltered from the winds so a decision was made reluctantly to close the clinic at about 4:30pm for the remainder of day despite tests booked up until 7pm. This left us with a group of people to contact, many of whom were already on route to the test site, to tell them their test was postponed until the next day. Most, but not all, took the news with equanimity.

Unfortunately the forecast for Saturday does not look any better.  Contact was made with estates to see what, if anything, could be done to make the test site more resilient to adverse weather conditions. Hopefully all of the planned and rescheduled tests can be conducted on Saturday but that will be dependent upon the weather gods and the ingenuity of the estates department.

I am certainly quite bemused with the newness of it all at the moment but hope I can gradually get up to speed and be of some use to the service for a wee while rather than simply an extraneous observer. But that will take a wee bit of time.

I am working Mon & Tues of next week and I will see where I am by the end of those shifts.