Responding to coronavirus: information for GPs

Our measures are based off public health guidance for visiting to acute hospitals. We review these measures on an ongoing basis, and we are very grateful to everyone for understanding these measures. 

• Who can currently attend our campuses?

  Our campuses will be open to staff members and service users with a clinical need to be onsite, as advised by their clinician or multidisciplinary team. 

  Staff members may also enter our campuses. Where appropriate, staff are being facilitated and encouraged to work remotely to reduce the number of people onsite.

  Visiting is in place for our St Patrick’s University Hospital campus only. All visitors must follow the measures outlined below.

  Clinical personnel from outside our service - such as ambulance personnel or accompanying nurses - will be admitted to the campus in accordance with our infection control guidance, outlined in the last item of this list of questions. Notification of such personnel attending our campuses is requested in advance, with the personnel requested to leave the campus as soon as they have completed their duties. 

  This arrangement will be under constant review.

• Are we continuing to admit inpatient service users?

  Yes, we are continuing to accept inpatient referrals.

  We run an award-winning Homecare Service, consisting of the highest levels of one-to-one support provided remotely. Service users availing of this service receive daily or more frequent contact, along with psychopharmacological input arranged in liaison with local pharmacies.

  This service includes:

  1. Assignment to a multidisciplinary team (MDT), which discusses the service users' care at weekly meetings
  2. At least daily contact from a member of the MDT by videocall, where available, or, where not, by phone
  3. Medication and prescribing review with the same frequency as regular inpatients and measures to ensure service users receive their new medication 
  4. Appropriate individual therapy sessions with members of the MDT, delivered by video call
  5. Appropriate ongoing psychotherapeutic interventions delivered remotely
  6. Support 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

  Referrals for admission will be offered homecare admissions, with minimal exceptions. This will be discussed in detail with service users, and they will be informed of their options in advance.

  The mental health risk of the service user will always remain a priority, with considerations including clinical risk or the need for treatment which can only be delivered onsite, such as electroconvulsive therapy, being taken into account. Approvals for the Homecare Service will therefore be taken on an individual basis, with all new referrals for inpatient services being reviewed by a consultant psychiatrist and a team of clinical directors to ensure best practice.

• Can you continue to refer your patients to our services?

  Yes, our Referrals and Admissions Service remains in operation for inpatient and outpatient referrals.

  You can send us online referrals directly from your practice management system; this is a secure and fast way to send referrals and a copy of the referral is automatically saved into your patient's records on your GP Practice System. The process for homecare admissions, outlined above, will be conducted through technological means, using a platform available to both the service user and our staff member.

  Only those referrals whose clinical mental health risk assessment determines it will be physically admitted to hospital. A member of our Referrals and Admissions Service will contact these service users on the day before their admission and will carry out a screening protocol against coronavirus. Any risk factors which may be identified will be discussed and considered with a doctor before their admission.

   

• Can you continue to use our online referrals system?

  Yes, our online referrals system is continuing to operate. You can send us online referrals directly from your practice management system; this is a secure and fast way to send referrals, and a copy of the referral is automatically saved into your patient's records on your GP Practice System. Easy, step-by-step guides to sending online referrals through HealthOne, Socrates, and HPM can be found here.

• Are appointments and programmes still running?

  Yes, our services and programmes are continuing to run, with contingency measures in place to protect everyone's health and safety.

  As such, we have scaled up technology-mediated interventions for people attending our Dean Clinics and day services; these interventions are underpinned by rigorous risk-assessment, combined with assessment of suitability for the services we can provide. We are offering technology-mediated appointments to all service users of our Dean Clinics. Most of our day services are now also being delivered either online or by telephone.

  A member of staff will be in touch with service users ahead of their appointment or session to inform and guide them on this. Instructions on how to take part in the appointment or session through the technology will also be sent to service users in advance.

• Are volunteer support groups still running?

  No, all volunteer support group meetings, hosted at both St Patrick's University Hospital in Dublin 8 and St Patrick's, Lucan, have been postponed until further notice. These include Alcoholic Anonymous, Aware, OCD Ireland, LifeRing, Orientation, AL-ANON and ANEW meetings