How are we reopening safely in December?

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Throughout the pandemic we have made clear our view that the safety of our patients and staff is our overriding priority. As we continue to treat patients and, eventually, return to full capacity, we want to share with you all that we’re doing to make our clinic a safe place to work and have treatment.

Good Skin Days and Skin Surgery Clinic is not a beauty or aesthetics business. At our heart we are and always have been a fully regulated medical organisation.

We are regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission, receiving a very positive report on our infection control procedures just last year. We have an experienced medical leadership team to guide us in all clinical matters. We have always had PPE, cleaning, respiratory hygiene and infection control policies.

We share these credentials often but they are more important now than at any point in our 10 year history.

Your questions, answered

During lockdown we reviewed every part of a patient’s journey from initial enquiry to aftercare. Our clinical team identified all the places in which we could make further improvements, and we’re publishing them publicly here.

In this page:

• Changes at Reception
• Reduced Capacity
• Pre-Appointment Screening
• Enhanced PPE
• Increased Cleaning
• Summing Up

Changes at Reception

We want you to spend as little time as possible in our Reception and Waiting areas. We want the time you do spend there to be safe and at safe distances from others.

Here are some of the changes we’ve made:

• On arrival you will be given a surgical mask to wear.
• You will also see our staff wearing masks, and some will also wear gloves and aprons – see the PPE section below.
• Social distancing is in place in reception and waiting areas.
• A one way system is marked for entry and exit from the clinic.
• Maximum of two people in waiting areas. Some patients may be asked to wait in their cars.
• Waiting area seats will be cleaned after each patient – see the cleaning section below.
• No children or accompanying adults will be allowed to enter the clinic, except for essential carers.
• We won’t be able to offer you a drink or magazine.
• You can bring your own bottle of water if you’d like.
• We’ve installed clear screens around our reception desks. These are a physical barrier to prevent droplet transmission.
• The screens will be cleaned frequently.
• Our skincare products cannot be handled by patients or visitors. Our team can advise you on the best products for your skin, as always, but patients can’t browse them unaccompanied.

You can still expect the same warm and professional greeting from our team that you always have! We’re grateful for your support with sticking to these essential measures.

Reduced Capacity

Some of the changes we are making will reduce our capacity. We will not be able to treat as many patients as usual:

• The staff who treat you will alternate between treatment rooms. They won’t treat two patients from different households consecutively in the same room.
• This is to allow our ventilation systems to carry out air changes between patients.
• We will minimise the number of people present in rooms where treatments are taking place.
• Appointments will take slightly longer in our diary, to allow staff time to clean and replace everything they need to in between treatments.
• We are operating reduced opening hours of 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, plus selected evenings and Saturdays. We’re reviewing this on a monthly basis.

These measures will remain in place until it is appropriate to change them.

Pre-Appointment Screening

Usually, after booking an appointment, you can just attend on the day. We’re making changes to this.

• Before you can attend your appointment, we will need to contact you once or twice, depending on the treatment you’re having.
• Your Doctor, Surgeon or Nurse may call you to go through some of the final checks and paperwork that we used to carry out on the day. We can’t treat you if this hasn’t been completed.
• Within 24 hours before your appointment, our Reception team will call you to carry out an infection risk screening. You cannot come to the clinic if this hasn’t been completed.
• Reminders about this will be sent by text message before your appointment, assuming we have your consent to contact you by SMS.

Please watch your phone for calls from us on 01943 882010 or 01943 882011.

Enhanced Staff and Patient PPE

We already use PPE daily. We have revised our PPE policies by assessing every type of treatment that we offer.

• Patients will be given a surgical mask on arrival.
• Reception staff will wear surgical masks and gloves.
• Clinical staff will wear masks, gloves, aprons, gowns, goggles and visors, depending on the type of treatment.
• Staff will wear FFP3 masks or fluid resistant surgical masks.
• All PPE will be of the appropriate type, fit and rating for its use.
• We will never waste or overuse PPE.
• We have retrained all staff on correct application, removal and disposal.
• We will replace disposable items (or clean reusable pieces) on a strict schedule, and after each appointment.

We’ve been careful to source the right items from trusted suppliers. We’re grateful to patients for doing their part by wearing the PPE we provide.

Increased Cleaning

We already clean according to our hygiene policy – between appointments, several times a day and weekly. We’ve added more to this.

• Commonly handled items will be cleaned frequently throughout the day with alcohol wipes.
• This includes keyboards, phones, door handles, arm rests and more.
• Waiting area seats will be cleaned after each patient leaves.
• Toilet facilities will be cleaned and disinfected throughout the day as normal, and after patient use.
• All unnecessary items have been removed from these areas to allow effective cleaning.
• Our existing hand hygiene policy remains in effect after every patient interaction.
• Alcohol-based hand rub will also be used when entering and leaving areas where treatment is being delivered.
• Staff have been retrained on respiratory hygiene both for themselves and patients.
• Laser equipment and surgical lights will be cleaned and disinfected after each use.
• Surgical equipment will be disposed of between appointments as normal.
• Reusable PPE such as goggles will be disinfected between appointments.

These cleaning procedures will stay in effect for the indefinite future.

Summing Up

We’ve looked at every aspect of our clinic to minimise risk through enhanced procedures. By consistently applying these hourly, daily and weekly, we are able to begin offering treatment again.

If you have an upcoming appointment with us, we’d be happy to answer any questions you have about our safe reopening plan. Our team is available by phone and email during our normal opening hours.