As of 16th August 2021, fully vaccinated healthcare staff (including community pharmacy) will no longer be expected to isolate and will be expected to return to work where appropriate. This only applies to staff who are 14 days post double vaccination at point of exposure.
Exclusion Criteria – The below should continue to isolate in line with the Government guidance
- Any staff member who has not had both doses of the vaccine,
- or who is living directly (i.e. in the same household) as a positive contact
What you need to do if a member of staff has been advised to self-isolate by the NHS COVID-19 App or contacted by NHS Test and Trace due to being a close contact of a
case:
- Member of staff must obtain a negative PCR test prior to returning to work (isolate until confirmed as negative).
- Once returned to work MUST report NEGATIVE lateral flow tests DAILY for a minimum of 10 days
- Test results should be reported to NHS Test and Trace via the web portal and to their duty manager
- Any staff member who has a positive LFD test during this period should not attend work and should arrange a PCR test as soon as possible.
- If the staff member develops any COVID symptoms, they should stay at home and immediately arrange a PCR test.
- Staff should comply with all relevant infection control precautions and PPE should be properly worn throughout the day. Any breaches should be reported immediately to their line manager.
- Risk assessment must be conducted by a senior member of staff to balance the risk of absence and potential impact on patient safety (See attached).
- There may be times when it is appropriate for the staff/student living with a positive contact to return to work, in-line with government guidance, in a risk-assessed way, but this should be through a process agreed with an appropriate senior decision
maker
As always, please contact the PharmaPlus team if you require any further support.
