Coronavirus: ‘The sense of community in Melton has brought tears to our eyes’

We’ve been speaking this week to Dr Smile Paliath, one of the partners in the practice, about the unique challenges he and his colleagues are facing.

He revealed people had sent cakes and drinks to them to thank them for the work they are doing at the Sage Cross Street surgery while are working under strict restrictions.

Medics and nurses are now speaking only on the phone with those patients on routine appointments, while also dealing with the upsurge in health concerns surrounding the Covid-19 bug.

This is what Dr Paliath told reporter Nick Rennie this week:

Nick Rennie: How big a challenge has it been for staff at Latham House to adapt to the new working conditions since the coronavirus restrictions were imposed, and what have been the biggest challenges?

Dr Smile Paliath: We are not unique in this situation but certainly the pace at which the information has been shared in response to the coronavirus crisis has certainly been one of our biggest challenges. We are incredibly proud of our whole team at Latham House for their flexibility and for the care they have shown each other and our patients. Our approach was to find alternative ways that we can continue to provide a service for urgent needs. Patients rely on us for a whole range of complex health needs and we remain committed to supporting them as best we can throughout the duration of this crisis.

NR: How have patients responded to the advice not to visit the practice and instead to conduct appointments on the phone with GPs and nurses?

SP: Overall we have had a great reaction from our patients in response to our changing operations and we couldn’t be more thankful to them for their support and patience with us through this difficult time. Understandably, we have many questions from our patients regarding particular services and we have found that social media has been a useful tool in sharing the latest information and, again, the public have been great in forwarding and sharing our posts, helping to get the message out to as many of our community as possible. That has been a huge help.

NR: What precautions are staff and medical professionals taking to ensure they are safe and have many employees had to self-isolate at home?

SP: Early on we asked all of our staff to complete an internal risk assessment. We quickly identified those of our staff who would be considered high risk within the guidelines and made provision for those staff members to continue to work, but away from potential exposure to risk. We have utilised meeting rooms and closed consultation rooms as alternative working areas and a lot of our GPs manage their call consultation lists from home.

NR: Will there be enough GPs to cope with the current crisis or have you made provisions to draft others in, such as contacting retired doctors and nurses?

SP: With the changes implemented to consultations and postponing non-urgent appointments, our clinical team have managed amazingly well. We were incredibly proud of how flexible all of our staff have been in supporting each other to alleviate pressure as it arises. There is a national drive to bring back retired doctors and nurses and that resource will be managed centrally to help critical staffing problems.

NR: Have staff had issues with getting the food they need after working at the surgery, in light of recent publicity over people panic buying and emptying shelves?

SP: We support our staff to take time throughout the day to be able to shop for some of the provisions they need. Inevitably, when someone goes to the shop they are often picking up items for each other. We applaud all of the supermarkets for their thought and consideration to those who are vulnerable or high risk in our community and to now include a slot for NHS staff will no doubt have a huge impact on all NHS staff, but in particular those working incredibly long hours in our hospitals.

We would also like to say that the generosity and thought we have experienced from our local community and businesses in Melton has been phenomenal. We share all of the supportive comments we have received with our staff every day and would like to say thank you to everyone who has sent our staff a cup of tea, cupcake or sandwich, this sense of community has brought tears to our eyes.

NR: Is testing for coronavirus taking place with patients at Latham House or is that confined to hospitals?

SP: Testing for the coronavirus is currently only taking place in hospitals. We would welcome a move to test locally and to test our NHS staff as a priority.

NR: What advice would you give to patients who think they may have coronavirus?

SP: There is no need to complicate this – follow the advice we have all been given, but most important of all is our behaviour even if you do not have symptoms. Stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

NR: Is the practice ready to respond if there is a large increase in coronavirus cases over the next few weeks?

SP: We are continually in touch with East Leicestershire and Rutland CCG who share the latest information and advice for primary care settings. At the practice we also have a Covid-19 crisis team made up of senior staff from across the practice and who meet as a team every day, utilising online connection tools to support our commitment to safe social distancing. We would like to reiterate that there is very sound science that can demonstrate if you stay at home you will limit the spread of this virus and you will be saving lives. We urge our community to please stay at home and follow the guidance to protect themselves, their loved ones and the whole community.

Any Melton patients concerned about coronavirus can go online at www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19 , www.lhmp.co.uk and www.gov.uk/coronavirus to access more information.