Updated 30/10/2020
What a local COVID Alert level means
Local COVID alert levels set out information for the local authorities, residents and workers about what to do and how to manage an outbreak in their area. Local alert levels are sometimes called ‘Tiers’ or known as ‘Local Lockdown’.
There are 3 Levels/Tiers:
- Medium Alert
- High Alert
- Very High Alert
(Reference : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-covid-alert-levels-what-you-need-to-know)
What is the impact for children accessing Acorns if the alert level where they live increases?
Current government guidance for all alert levels highlights services for children and young people should continue to be provided (schools etc). Therefore, the following Acorns services will be provided regardless of which Tier families live in:
- End of life care
- Children resident already at the hospices
- Planned emergency stays
- Essential outreach support in family homes
- Planned booked (i.e. non-emergency) stays
- Assessment stays for children assessed as needing overnight short breaks
- Therapeutic support, including hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, music therapy, multisensory therapy, booked visits to the Birmingham hospice’s gardens
Keeping our children and staff safe
In order to keep our service safe, we are:
- Undertaking pre-admission telephone screening on the day of admission/visit or one day prior to admission
- Imposing strict restrictions on all visitors
- Completing individual risk assessments as appropriate
- Adhering to strict government guidance about the use of PPE and social distancing for all those accessing the hospice
- Prior to admission all children will be swabbed for Covid-19 and asked to shield at home, only once their swab is identified as negative will we admit for their overnight stays. If the family need to stay in the hospice, e.g. for EOL care or an assessment stay then we will require they are also tested for Covid-19.
Traveling across Tiers
If families are travelling to Acorns from areas where there is a High (Tier 2) or Very High (Tier 3) local COVID alert level to a hospice in an area of Medium (Tier 1) alert level they will be contacted by the hospice staff and an Acorns Covid-19 screening checklist for hospice admissions and visits will be completed, we may need to suspend or postpone stays and visits to the hospices based on outcomes from this process and any risk assessments completed.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call your local hospice and we will be able to assist you.
Acorns in Birmingham, Selly Oak
0121 248 4850
Acorns in the Black Country, Walsall
01922 422 500
Acorns for the Three Counties, Worcester
01905 767 676
For more detailed information about coronavirus, visit the Acorns Family Updates page here
