Dear Medical, Nursing and Midwifery Staff,

Thank you for your continued support and valuable feedback as we move towards a unit-led COVID-19 de-isolation process.

Last week we released the revised De-isolation Guideline. Thank you to the many staff who are becoming familiar with using this, when considering the de-isolation of suspected COVID-19 patients.

To further support you and increase your familiarity with following this guideline, we have produced a short video which I encourage you to set aside a few minutes to view. This video is available on the coronavirus site.

After following the De-isolation Guideline, please continue to adhere to the steps below for all suspected COVID-19 patients under consideration for de-isolation.

1. In hours (8.00am – 4.00pm, Monday-Friday and 9.30am – 5.30pm Saturday-Sunday) please call the de-isolation HMO via Switchboard on 8345 6666
2. For all other times, if there is an urgent requirement, please contact the AHA via Switchboard for further guidance.

It is essential that all medical staff continue to thoroughly check for Pathology results in the EMR, as some patients may be awaiting outstanding test results. For this reason, all staff are asked to please check both the results review and the orders page in the EMR. Please see the EMR Quick Reference Guide for further direction on how to verify you have the latest results. The EMR Team have also produced a helpful video to guide this process, this is available on the coronavirus site.

In the coming weeks we will commence unit specific information sessions to ensure teams are prepared for the transition to the unit-led COVID-19 de-isolation process.

This memorandum has been sent to all medical, nursing and midwifery staff, and the senior leadership group. Please distribute to your teams if relevant.

Thank you for continuing to support the delivery of Best Care.

Paul Eleftheriou & Shane Crowe