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Defend the NHS Government Policy H&S at work Hospitals and IPC Privatisation Staying safe Transmission Workplace COVID

One Stop Shops – trick or treat?

The media recently highlighted the fact that NHS England has announced: “The NHS is set to radically overhaul the way MRI, CT and other diagnostic services are delivered for patients . . . . Community diagnostic hubs or ‘one stop shops’ should be created across the country, away from hospitals, so that patients can receive […]

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COVID-19 DiU and Unite H&S at work Schools Staying safe Transmission

Schools should not take in more pupils on 1st June unless it is safe to do so

On the 7th May, Doctors in Unite expressed its full support for the National Education Union’s five tests before schools could take in more children and colleges re-open. In brief, these tests were: Far lower numbers of COVID-19 cases A national plan for social distancing Testing, testing, testing Whole school strategy for testing in the […]

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COVID-19 Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS

‘Isolate, trace and support’ is the only safe way out of lockdown

Doctors in Unite believe that comprehensive, publicly coordinated and community based ‘isolate, trace and support’ procedures are vital for control of the COVID-19 pandemic as lockdown is eased. To keep the frequency of new cases in the community manageable people must be supported to self isolate once they are identified as potentially infectious. To this end […]

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COVID-19 Schools Staying safe Transmission TTIS

Schools must not reopen without clear evidence and widespread agreement that this is safe

As a paediatrician, I share the grave concerns of nurse Ian Wilson who has two children at school in Lewisham and experience of working with covid-19 infected patients. In an open letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week, he pleaded that we were not enrolled against our will in a giant experiment that could […]

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COVID-19 Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS

There is no exit from the COVID-19 lockdown without population testing

It is not possible to undertake any meaningful planning for an exit strategy from the current lockdown without an understanding of COVID-19’s prevalence and our current levels of immunity. On April 2nd Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised to test 100,000 people daily by the end of the month. On that same day the UK was testing ten times […]