Day 50 of Lockdown

Day 50 of lockdown is the last day of the soft lockdown as we look forward to tomorrow’s slightly softer version.  Topics today include:

• International Nurses Day (no coincidence it is on Florence Nightingale’s birthday);
• Home births can resume;
• Softening of lockdown – a range of articles;
• The First meeting of Essex Climate Action Commission;
• It’s still Christian Aid Week (link to Monday’s update);
• Some nursing humour.

International Nurses Day

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.  It is as though she was 200 years ahead of her time when you consider her legacy.  Nursing, washing your hands and evidence based-healthcare, pioneered by Florence Nightingale, have come to the forefront during this COVID-19 pandemic.

The museum that honours her legacy is struggling without visitors, as are many voluntary institutions.  Visit their website to find out how you can help them.

Kristin Buhnemann, assistant director at the Florence Nightingale Museum, told the PA news agency:

In terms of modern nursing, her legacy has never been so relevant, as she was a pioneer for sanitation, hygiene and had a monumental impact on infection control today.

She focused mainly on improving hygiene for nurses, advising them to wash their hands regularly. Before this, nurses were not changing their uniforms or aprons, instead continuing to work with the same equipment, which she believed to be incredibly unhygienic.

We now see this essential equipment being used properly and thrown in the bin after every use, because she was the first to identify the impact of health workers’ hygiene on patients’ mortality rates.

Meanwhile, enjoy Horrible Histories take on Florence Nightingales contribution:

All About This Base | Meghan Trainor Parody | Horrible Histories

Re-establishing local home birth service

Pregnant women are able to choose to have their baby at home once again thanks to the resumption of the home birth service in north Essex and east Suffolk.  Our local hospital trust has re-established its home birth service at Colchester and Ipswich hospitals today, 12 May.  The service was temporarily suspended in April to keep both staff and patients safe during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Trust’s Director of Midwifery Anna Shasha said:

We’re committed to offering women the choice about where to have their babies and providing them with the option of a home birth, when appropriate, is important to us.

We have staff and safety measures in place and I now feel confident we can resume the home birth service.

As part of our commitment to keep everyone safe we will continue to constantly monitor our services and we will keep home births under review as the pandemic continues. If we need to make any changes in the future we will let people know immediately.

Women who had already booked to have a home birth in the coming weeks are being contacted by our midwives to let them know the service is up and running again.

The trust’s midwifery teams will continue to risk assess every woman’s suitability for a home birth at the time of booking and as their pregnancy progresses to maintain their safety and that of their unborn child.

Lockdown Softens

A few articles on this subject today:

• CBC’s plans to restore services;
• COVID-19 Impact Survey for Businesses;
• Parks & Countryside Car Parks to Reopen;
• Government Advice updates – if you have any doubts about what you can/can’t do you should really check these out.

CBC Finalising Plans To Restore Services

Colchester Borough Council is finalising plans to ensure it can safely restore its services affected as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions.

The council has worked hard to maintain its key services and support to residents and businesses through redeploying staff from areas closed or reduced as a result of the lockdown, such as Leisure World, museums and the North Essex Parking Partnership.

As well as using modern technology to ensure the continued delivery of its services, it has also helped people stay fit and healthy through the free My Wellness app launched by Leisure World and delivered historical-based learning programmes through its Museum from Home project.

Building on Initiatives Already Undertaken

The council is looking to build on these and other initiatives as it restores its services. However, it is also facing extreme pressures on its budget with estimated losses for this financial year in the region of £10 million. Some of the steps the council is looking to take include:

• assisting local communities to continue to support and look out for each other.
• introducing virtual council meetings to enable key decisions to be made.
• working towards restoring the council’s waste and recycling service in a way that is sustainable and safe for our staff and communities.
• ensuring deep cleans are carried out at council buildings before they reopen to staff and members of the public.
• social distancing measures in all council buildings and potentially introducing one-way channels, like those currently used in supermarkets, in some facilities.
• continuing the efficient and effective home working arrangements for council staff wherever possible.
• continuing to review working arrangements to ensure all staff stay safe.
• building on initiatives introduced during lockdown which have helped enhance customer service – for example using screens at the crematorium to prevent people having to share hymn books.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out his steps for easing the restrictions put in place nationally to tackle COVID-19. The council is now reviewing the detailed guidance that has been issued following that announcement, to further inform its plans.

CBC Advice to Local Businesses to complete COVID-19 Impact Survey

CBC and its partners urge local businesses to complete a survey to find out what impact COVID-19 has had.  The survey, which launched today, aims to find out what kinds of support businesses might need to help them into recovery. The results will be comparable with similar surveys taking place by other local councils.  This will enable a clearer picture of the broader economic impact of COVID-19 to be understood.

The information will be used to help the council and a variety of local partners, such as the Our Colchester BID, the Colchester Business Enterprise Agency, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Creative Colchester group and others, to plan for the future and to direct businesses to available support, advice and guidance.

To complete the survey visit www.colchester.gov.uk/coronavirus/businesses/business-impact-questionnaire.

For more information about the council’s response to COVID-19 visit www.colchester.gov.uk/coronavirus.

Parks & Countryside Car Parks to Reopen

Following the Government’s announcement that households in England will be able to drive to other destinations to exercise and spend time outdoors from Wednesday, Colchester Borough Council will reopen car parks at its parks and countryside sites on 13 May.

Playgrounds Stay Closed

As per the Government’s guidelines, all playgrounds and outdoor gyms, including those in our parks, will remain closed until further notice.

Under the latest Government guidelines, anyone visiting our parks and countryside sites and coastline should always follow social distancing rules and keep at least two metres away from members of other households.

Parking

In car parks where charges apply, motorists are encouraged to make contactless payments through the MiPermit App, text messaging, online or by phone, using their own device. Further information, including ‘how-to’ guides, can be viewed at http://www.mipermit.com/ and in the car parks themselves.

Cash parking payments can still be made – however, motorists are encouraged to follow the Government’s advice on handwashing or using sanitiser gel, before and after handling cash.

For information about Colchester Borough Council’s car parks, all of which are open, please visit www.colchester.gov.uk/parking.

Government Advice Updates

The government issued a wide range of updates today as follows:

• HMG’s plan to rebuild: The UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy:
  The Government’s roadmap for how and when the UK will adjust its response to the COVID-19 crisis.
• Staying alert and safe (social distancing):
  The most important thing we can do is to stay alert, control the virus, and in doing so, save lives.  Detailed information about how to achieve this in different environments.
• Staying safe outside your home:
  You should follow these principles to ensure that time spent outside your home is as safe as possible.  It is your responsibility to adopt them wherever possible.
• FAQs: what you can and can’t do:
  Frequently asked questions on what you can and can’t do during the coronavirus outbreak.
• Public advised to cover faces in enclosed spaces:
  To help reduce the spread of coronavirus, HMG advises the public to consider wearing face coverings in enclosed public spaces such as shops, trains and buses.
  • How to wear and make a cloth face covering:
    A cloth face covering should cover your mouth and nose while allowing you to breathe comfortably. It can be as simple as a scarf or bandana that ties behind the head.
• What parents and carers need to know about schools and other education settings during the coronavirus outbreak:
  Information for parents and carers about the wider opening of nurseries, schools and colleges, transport, & much more.

It is also still safe to come into hospital at this time if you are booked to have your baby in one of our maternity units, but new arrangements for postnatal appointments and visiting do apply which you can read here.

The First meeting of Essex Climate Action Commission

Today in the first (low carbon, virtual) meeting of the Essex Climate Action Commission, it was agreed that there was an urgency to proceed at pace and to be bold in tackling the climate challenge.  The commission members discussed their own personal reasons for being part of the Climate Action Commission.  They set out what motivates & inspires them and what they see as the biggest challenges in the fight against climate change and the race to reduce carbon emissions.

Gains Through COVID-19

The Commission discussed the opportunity to build on the gains that have emerged as a result of COVID-19 – how the public are engaging more with the natural world, walking and cycling more (greener forms of transport) and more people are working from home, including in jobs where this hadn’t been thought possible. They discussed whether it will be possible for these changes to be kept and built upon.

They also discussed the challenges arising from COVID-19; aspects such as

• single-use plastics making a reappearance,
• carrier bags being used more, and
• more home deliveries being made.

The commission recognised the importance of public safety while balancing the need for responsible purchasing and not losing the momentum that has been made in the fight against plastic and waste.

Humour

Let’s start with some Nursing Humour in honour of International Nurses Day:

Nursing jokes and puns are so humerus! They’re definitely not Tachy though.

When a hospital runs out of maternity nurses do they have a mid-wife crisis?

How many nurses does it take to screw in a light bulb?
None, they just get a nursing student to do it.

Transplant nurses hate rejection.

The nurse who can smile when things go wrong…
Is probably going off duty.

What’s the difference between an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer?
The taste.

I was in hospital visiting my wife after her operation when the nurse suggested it might
help if I adjusted my wife’s pillows to make it more comfortable.
She wasn’t wrong.  Taking my wife’s two pillows and putting them on my chair was a lot
more comfortable.

… and a quick one for the Police: