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Our Treatment Policy With COVID-19

11th August 2020

Why is there a need to be cautious?

COVID-19 is a highly infectious virus and is spread by direct contact from person to person. When an infected individual touches a surface they leave some of the virus behind, and when a second person touches the same surface the infection is spread to the second individual. What many people don’t realise is that a person can be infected with COVID-19 for 2-3 days before they show any symptoms, and this is why the virus can spread so quickly even though members of the public act responsibility once they exhibit symptoms. Though a majority of COVID 19 cases recover without any complications, certain groups of people are at a much higher risk of suffering complication, and are even at risk of dying from the infection. Though we are now able to provide some clinic-based appointments we feel we have a responsibility to inform our patients about the risks involved. No therapy clinic is able to bring the infection risk of the clinic room to 0%, despite a rigours sanitising programme. We need all of our patients to consider the advice below and act responsibly to see if a clinic-based appointment or a Remote Consultation is the best way to manage their pain complaint.

What Type of Treatments are Available?

When the UK was at alert level 4 (using the governments 5 stage alert system) we removed all clinic based appointments and would only see patients via a remote consultation. Now the alert level has been lowered to 3 there is still a need to be highly vigilant, but we can now organise treatment sessions for certain individuals where it’s essential for their pain management. At this stage we feel sports massage sessions are not an essential service, and are only offering hands on pain therapy services. Once the alert level has been reduced to 2 then we believe we can responsibly offer sports massage services again.

Who is able to attended Clinic-Based sessions?

If you’re suffering any signs of a COVID 19 infection in the last 14 days you will not be able to attend a clinic-based appointment, and will need to make use of Remote Consultations until the required 14 day quarantine has been adhered to. This also applies if a member of your household, or a person you've had contact with has shown symptoms of COVID 19 in the last 14 days. For more information on self-isolation please see the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/what-to-do-if-you-or-someone-you-live-with-has-coronavirus-symptoms/staying-at-home-if-you-or-someone-you-live-with-has-coronavirus-symptoms/

We promte any member of the public who is considered high or moderate risk to make use of a Remote Consultation where we’ve had great success in managing a wide range of pain complaints. If this category applies to you please contact us directly so we can review if a face-to-face appointment is appropriate for you. This also applies for members of the public that are a low risk but may be in a household where someone is shilding. For information on who is considered high or moderate risk please see the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus/whos-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus/
For more information and guidance on extreamly vulnrable people sheilding please see the govenment website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19

Where members of the public are considered to be low risk we would encourage the use of a Remote Consultation as this is the safest way to treat your pain complaint, especially in the first instance to assess the need for a clinic-based session. Following this, where an individual feels strongly about attending a clinic-based session, and where one of our Healthcare Professionals feels it’s an essential part of your management, we can arrange the necessary appointment at one of our clinic locations.

We ask all patients to act responsibly. If you, a members of your household, or someone you've socialised with are showing signs of a COVID-19 infection please let us know. We understand the restrictions may be an inconvenience, but should you withhold this information and then attend a clinical session, then you’re putting our Healthcare Professional at risk.

What can I expect at a Clinic-Based appointment?

On arrival for a clinic-based appointment patients will need to wash their hands using soap and water for the recommended 20 seconds (for information on the advice around hand washing please see the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/best-way-to-wash-your-hands/)

Our clinicians will also wash their hands when you arrive, as well as wearing a disposable facemask and plastic apron to help reduce the risk of infection spread. All contactable surfaces will have been cleaned and sanitised before your arrival. As a policy we feel the use of disposable gloves offer little help in limiting the spread of infection, and believe regular hand washing is more effective. However, if you would prefer our Healthcare Professional to wear disposable gloves please say upon your arrival. When you arrive we will confirm the answers to the health questions we asked the day before and will record your tempreature to check for any signs of infection.

The clinic-based session will proceed as it did before, with hands on techniques being applied where these are needed. If any of these techniques require our Healthcare Professional to be in close proximity to your face then you will also be required to wear a disposable facemask (provided by us). This is to reduce the risk of infection spread from the water droplets in your breath.

At the end of the session you will be required to wash your hands with soap and water before you leave the clinic. All payments will be via bank transfer or by use of Apple or Google pay (contactless payment). We will not be able to accept any cash payments. This is to avoid the need to handle a payment device or cash that has also been handled by others, and again reduce the risk of infection spread.

We would like to thank our patients for their understanding in these ongoing unprecedented times. From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic we have worked hard to keep our clinic policy’s up to date and remain responsible, putting our patient’s wellbeing and safety at the forefront of our clincial practice. We understand that some of the limitations we have in place may still not be what everyone would like, but we will continue to review government guidelines regularly and continue to update our policies accordingly. Thank you for your ongoing patience and support. 

The Momentum Healthcare Team

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