WE PAY TRIBUTE TO OUR FRONT-LINE HEROES
First of all, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all healthcare heroes on the front line for your relentless service and dedication to the fight against COVID-19. Each day you dedicate yourself to saving the lives of others. You are writing history with your bravery, heroism and compassion. WE SALUTE YOU!
NURSES’ DAY GIFTS – THURSDAY, 20 AUGUST 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not have the chance to celebrate International Nurses Day with our annual nurses’ day gift. As a result, we would like to pay a special tribute to our nurses during the month of August.
Please visit your local MHR office during office hours from Thursday, 20 August 2020 onwards, to collect your special Nurses’ Hero gift. This is just a small token of appreciation for being our nation’s front-line heroes, not only during the pandemic, but also during the daily care of patients.
NEWSLETTER TOPICS
Click on the topic below to go to the applicable section:
COVID-19 pandemic arrangements
- Access control at Mediclinic clients
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- COVID-19 random testing and exposure – isolation and quarantine
- COVID-19 Vulnerable People Survey
- Availability and booking of shifts
- Cancellation of shifts
- Recruitment of front-line nurses for MHR – how can you help?
- Accommodation and allowance for front-line nurses who assist at other locations
General arrangements
Last, but not least
COVID-19 PANDEMIC ARRANGEMENTS
We are all facing a plethora of new and unprecedented challenges and changes. MHR has summarised the most important changes and arrangements. Please familiarise yourself with the information below.
1. Access control at Mediclinic clients
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not have the chance to celebrate International Nurses Day with our annual nurses’ day gift. As a result, we would like to pay a special tribute to our nurses during the month of August.
Please visit your local MHR office during office hours from Thursday, 20 August 2020 onwards, to collect your special Nurses’ Hero gift. This is just a small token of appreciation for being our nation’s front-line heroes, not only during the pandemic, but also during the daily care of patients.
2. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
2.1 Masks
- MHR issued two cloth masks to each panel member at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: one to travel with and one to wear while on duty (non-clinical staff)
- Please ensure that you wear your mask at all times while you are travelling or on duty
- Wash your mask after every use with soap and warm water. If your mask becomes unusable, please purchase a new mask
- Clinical staff will receive a disposable mask, which needs to be worn for the duration of a shift and must be discarded after the shift. If the disposable mask becomes wet, soiled or damaged, please replace it immediately
- Some of the facilities will provide you with a respirator to wear when you are performing aerosol-generating procedures (AGP), e.g. tracheal intubations. Please adhere to the facility’s protocols regarding the wearing, storing and discarding of respirators
2.2 Visors (face shields)
- Some of our clients will provide you with a face visor/shield that you also need to wear while on duty
- Please ensure that you clean and store the visors/shields according to the confirmed protocols
2.3 Scrubs
- Our Mediclinic clients require nursing and care worker panel members to wear scrubs instead of normal uniforms
- When arriving on duty, you will receive your scrubs, and you will be able to store your uniform in the client’s storage area
- You are welcome to leave your work shoes at the client and wear a different pair of shoes when leaving the hospital
- Please ensure that your belongings are kept safe while on duty
- A plain, single-colour long- or short-sleeve top (no vest) may be worn under the scrub top, as long as it adheres to the permitted colour of the client. If you are wearing a long- sleeve top, it must be rolled up to above your elbows during clinical care
3. COVID-19 random testing and exposure – isolation and quarantine
- Some of our clients are performing random COVID-19 tests on permanent and temporary personnel. You will be requested to complete an authorisation form if you are selected for a test. Once you have completed the test, the client/MHR Infection Prevention and Control representative will inform you of the outcome. MHR will be liable for the cost of the test
- If you test positive, the client/MHR will start with the COVID-19 monitoring process. You will be required to go into isolation as per legislation and according to your exposure risk. The client/MHR representative will contact you to confirm your exposure risk and to explain the monitoring and return-to-work process
- We urge you to please inform your MHR Branch Manager immediately if you test positive and need to isolate
- We also urge you to please inform MHR immediately if you get exposed to a positive COVID-19 person in your personal capacity or while on duty and need to quarantine
- It is important that you contact MHR in the above circumstances so that we can assist you with the necessary steps. We also need to amend your profile on our system so that you do not get contacted for shifts. Limiting the spread of the coronavirus requires a collective effort. It is essential that you contact us, not only for yourself but for your family, co-workers and patients
- Please ensure that you adhere to the COVID-19 quarantine and isolation legislation as published by our government
4. COVID-19 Vulnerable People Survey
Since the beginning of May 2020, MHR emailed a ‘Vulnerable People’ survey to all panel members, with a request to complete the survey and send it back to MHR.
Thank you to those of you who have submitted completed surveys to MHR. This is an urgent call to all panel members who did not complete the survey to please do so and email it back to us. It is for your wellbeing, as well as the wellbeing of your family. The information on the completed survey allows the MHR Branch Manager to prevent vulnerable staff members from being exposed to a high-risk COVID-19 work environment.
If you have not received a survey to complete via email, please inform your MHR branch so that we can provide you with a survey.
Please note that the information will be treated as strictly confidential and will only be used to prevent vulnerable staff members from being exposed to a high-risk COVID-19 work environment.
5. Availability and booking of shifts
- It is of vital importance that you confirm your availability to work shifts with the MHR coordinator or after-hours call centre. This allows us to update your profile on our system so that you can receive SMSs regarding available shifts
- We urgently require staff to work at our clients during the COVID-19 surge. It will be very helpful if you could:
a) Reply to the shift request SMS so that a coordinator can contact you; and
b) Answer your phone, especially early mornings (after 04:00) and in the evenings until 22:00
We realise that you are tired and concerned about the wellbeing of your family, but we can assure you that all our clients will provide you with the required PPE and assistance. In the event that you feel unsafe at a client, please contact us immediately so that we can investigate and address the problem.
6. Cancellation of shifts
Please note that clients need to plan for the worst during these unforeseen times, which may, unfortunately, lead to the cancellation of shifts. Clients are committed to adhering to the cancellation times specified in our policy.
‘Patient Safety’ is our first company value as it is of the utmost importance to us. Should you wish to cancel a shift, please consider patient safety by ensuring that you cancel your shift on time and contact the MHR coordinator, recruitment consultant or after-hours coordinator at the times below:
- Night duty: At least three hours before the shift commences
- Day duty: Preferably the previous night, or two and a half hours before the shift commences
7. Recruitment of front-line nurses for MHR – How can you help?
Due to the shortage of front-line nursing staff, we are continually searching for potential professional and enrolled nurses. To support our COVID-19 recruitment drive, we have increased the rand value of our recruitment referral fee for all panel members who successfully recruit the specified nursing categories for MHR. Please refer to our ‘Recruitment Referral Fee’ policy for more information.
8. Accommodation and allowance for front-line nurses who assist at other locations
Did you know that we offer accommodation and an allowance for High Care and Critical Care enrolled and professional nurses who wish to work away from home at another location to assist during a COVID-19 surge? Please contact your local MHR office for more information if you are interested in this offer.
GENERAL NEWS
1. Professional driving permit (PrDP) licence extension
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an extension was granted for the renewal of PrDP licences that expired after 26 March 2020 and before 31 August 2020. You have until Friday, 29 January 2021 to renew your PrDP licence, seeing that 31 January 2021 is on a Sunday. Please remember to send a copy of your renewed licence to your local MHR office so that we can update your profile on our system.
Important note: If you renewed your licence before 26 March 2020, please ensure that you send a copy of your renewed licence to your local MHR office to prevent your profile from being temporarily deactivated on our system.
2. Indemnity insurance cost-saving offer
- MEDICLINIC/ER24 CLIENTS: We wish to remind all healthcare panel members (excluding Emergency Centre doctors) that you do not require indemnity insurance if you are working at Mediclinic or ER24 clients as you are covered by the client’s insurance.
- NON-MEDICLINIC/NON-ER24 CLIENTS: If you are working at non-Mediclinic or non-ER24 clients, please ensure that you take out your own cover from an indemnity insurance service provider of your choice and submit proof of cover to your local MHR office. Kindly also ensure that you renew this cover timeously before its expiry date to prevent temporary deactivation on our system.
