Protecting yourself and your patients during assessment

To ensure both your own safety and that of your patients, all clinical staff are reminded to follow the guidance when assessing patients. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been necessary to limit our exposure to patients to protect ourselves and the public.

To support clinicians and empower them to make decisions which may deviate from ‘normal best practice’, we have developed a document to answer some frequently asked questions.

This covers topics including:

• bystanders and family members in the same room as a patient
• What equipment to take to a patient initially
• Performing peak flow readings
• Undertaking a full respiratory examination

Although the situation with COVID-19 is changing, this guidance is still in place but we are seeing evidence of crews not following it and sometimes putting themselves and their patients at risk.

We’d therefore ask all staff to re-familiarise themselves with the guidance in this FAQ document and check with their line managers on any procedures or processes they remain unsure of.

Lynda Steele 
Deputy Clinical Director – Quality & Safety