More than 260 patients seen at Shropshire's two coronavirus assessment centres
More than 260 patients have been seen at Shropshire's two drive-through assessment centres catering for those with suspected coronavirus symptoms.
The sites were set up by Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups at Shrewsbury Town Football Club and Telford's International Centre and opened last month.
They are strictly for use by patients across the county who have been referred by their GP and have pre-booked appointments.
Set up in car parks, they are now catering for almost 20 patients per day.
The model includes a drive-through facility for clinical consultations and assessment rooms if patients need face-to-face consultation or more clinical contact.
There are also discussions under way to further develop the service to offer home visits for patients who are house-bound.
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The 'hot sites' aim to reduce disease transmission, and provide care to people with coronavirus, as well as those in their households.
Patients are seen by health professionals to assess the severity of their coronavirus symptoms, or to deal with other non-Covid illnesses where transmission remains a risk.
The sites also offer blood testing and routine dressing.
For patients with coronavirus who are in the high risk groups, the Coronavirus Management Service has been commissioned to provide daily review and to arrange ongoing care as needed.
Environment
Dr Kieran McCormack, clinical lead for the Shrewsbury hot site and GP partner at Worthen Medical Practice, said: “The planning stage was the major element in this project as we needed to act quickly once the virus started to emerge nationally.
“The Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin CCGs acted decisively from the offset. We have now seen in excess of 260 patients since the beginning of the project.
“Fastidious attention to personal protective equipment (PPE) discipline and clinical processes has also made the site as safe an environment as possible in the circumstances.
“Having monitored the situation through the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control we were able to adopt guidance very early on which has been key to our success.
“By keeping patients with Covid symptoms away from general practices, these facilities are a safe place to assess non-Covid patients and those at high risk, arguably contributing to the low overall incidence of coronavirus in Shropshire.”
Dr Aidan Egleston, clinical lead for the Telford hot site and GP partner at Wellington Road Surgery, Newport, said: “From the decision to create an assessment centre in Telford to opening to patients at the Telford International Centre, the project took just seven days to complete, thanks to the support of Dr McCormack and the established Shrewsbury site model.
“Close collaboration with Telford & Wrekin Council, which included set-up, signage, and marshalling support, also meant that we were able to mobilise extremely quickly. This help from the local authority is also ongoing, which we are very grateful of.
“Although the number of patients being seen at Telford remains thankfully small, this crucial service protects our patients and staff from high risk contacts, enabling local practices to focus on other patient care safely.”
Dr John Pepper, GP partner at Belvidere Medical Practice, Shrewsbury, said a bespoke taxi service has also been set up, in partnership with the local authorities, for those patients unable to drive to the sites.
Marshalls are also on hand to help patients navigate to the correct areas of the site and to signal any issues that might need to be addressed; such as wheelchair access or those who need extra help.
