I work in a NHS lab

[nc3457]

Nc for this. I recently went back to work after mat leave. I work in an NHS hospital lab (pathology).
So things are a bit different, they have asked staff to try to keep to the 2 meter rule and put in some procedures so that staff don't move into sections unnecessary. However the space isn't massive so it's difficult, I still need to work with coworkers, we are quite often within 2 meters and it's unavoidable. Lots of hand washing and clean your workstation.

I'm not working on the CV testing section but I am running routine testing on samples from pos CV patients, and obviously anyone can be carrying it so all samples are treated the same.

What I'm pretty shocked about though is we don't have masks or visors. Ive been told I still need to do manual work (requires opening blood sample) but to do it carefully so not to create an aerosol. No hand gel at all provided (I take my own now). We do have gloves. My colleagues laugh when I questioned this, they have got used to it.

My manager says that there's very small viral load in the blood that's why we don't need mask but I suspect there's also no ppe anyway. Is there anyone in a similar position to me? Any lab workers?

Thank you for you comments. I don't have time today to make a proper reply.
I've been thrown back into work without time to get up to date on my essential training never mind all the new docs to read. But anyone that's worked in the NHS this won't surprise you.
Maybe I am BU, I've wiped down my trolly and shopping and mail. But do all the stuff in the lab during the day. Maybe I've read too much MN, teachers worried and people going back to work worried. I wonder if I should be worried. I don't no. I'm just trying to do my best, I feel my head is mush! I'm a first time mum worried about nursery too. Maybe I worry too much!

Where I work samples are centrifuged and then left in there for 20mins to let the aerosols settle. Once taken out they are uncapped in a category 2 cabinet. You then walk 50yds to place then on the machines.
We have 2 visors and 2 pair of goggles between 40ish people. So whoever is using the cabinet wears them. PPE available= lab coats and gloves. We've followed the guidelines set by the government. Social distancing is in place but like OP said it's very difficult when the lab space is narrow.
All our shifts were changed during lockdown, you had to work 12hrswith the same group of people. The night shifts were with the same person. This allowed management to contact trace at work if anyone fell ill. Those who were told to sheild were sent home and had to provide evidence is,the letter from NHS.
We struggle during winter when it's cold and flu season as everyone works in close proximity, if one person has a cold within the week 50% of staff have got it.
From what I've read it seems most labs are operating this way.

To date we've not had a single member of staff off with covid. So it's working for us!

I worked in an NHS lab for years. We never had PPE equipment. Spin a sample down ,take the lid off, put aliquots in other tubes if need be for experiments.

We did handle HIV samples differently. But that changed.

Well - we had lab coats and gloves. But that's standard for labs anyway

Soap and water so much better than sanitiser. Sanitiser is only for when soap and water not practicable. Please don’t bring in your own sanitiser for use at work (in the car or at the supermarket for sure, but not when you have hand washing facilities available)

Could you speak to a microbiologist to help you understand the risks if you are anxious?

You are far more likely to catch Coronavirus in the canteen than from testing blood samples.

I don't have time today to make a proper reply

I've been thrown back into work without time to get up to date on my essential training never mind all the new docs to read

But anyone that's worked in the NHS this won't surprise you

I think you’re fishing for a story.

Can you not just ask your manager to supply the PPE you want?

I think you need to speak to your manager if you’re feeling anxious.
Did you do keep in touch days in order to stay up to date? You have to take some responsibility for this yourself, ask questions if you’re unclear. Lots of things are very different and your manager will not be able to go through every single change but will be able to point you in the direction of the right policy/risk assessment to have a read of, all available on your intranet I’m sure.
Your negative attitude doesn’t help. This NHS is a crap employer etc etc is tiresome. I hope you enjoyed your paid mat leave.
Some positivity and some initiative would help immensely here.

Going back to work after Mat leave makes you anxious at the best of times, I’m sure that anxiety is heightened even more in the current climate. And yes, I remember zero prep or reintroduction when I went back in the NHS - just started back one day straight into it. Being completely honest, I cried on and off for the first week or so.

I don’t work in NHS any more, but I still work in labs. I know what you mean about space often being tight. If it’s not equipment next to each other on a bench top it’s narrow walkways around benches or along corridors. We have some procedures where somebody has to physically check the amounts you’re pipetting/weighing/injecting - social distancing is impossible for that!
And we can’t just move equipment, everything is qualified for use exactly where it is.

We’ve been working relatively as normal through all of this (with some management working partially from home) and out of a hundred or so people we’ve had a few self-isolating for mild symptoms and two people who were actually unwell (although not needing hospital and back in a couple of weeks). We have much stricter self-isolation criteria than the government guidance though.
My point being that it hasn’t run rampant through us or anything! Although maybe we’re just fortunate I guess, or it’s still to come - so no resting on our laurels.

Just go easy on yourself, maintain 2m where possible, keep your hands off your face and wash them regularly.

Gronky - absolutely - but if there is viraemia then there is still a minute risk. And there is still a risk of accidents with blood specimens, and blood has an amazing scatter, given its low surface tension!

The Sars-cov-2 virus has been detected in blood, and more in faeces jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762688 - again, the risks of getting these in the eye is low but would be far more likely to be due to sample accident rather than aerosol. The eye is an accepted mode of infection, although again not a regular one. It's a lot of "tiny risks" but they're still there and if people should want to have access to eye protection then they should be able to have it, IMO.

come away from mn op and read your work guidelines and training

I think that is really poor working in a clinical area. I cannot understand it. Maybe ask advise from your union?

I don’t work in a lab.
Even the porters who collect samples manually wear a mask! Plus they double bag them with a yellow sticker. I thought you would wear a visor at least.

ThumbWitchesAbroad I had to check the government advice because I'm a little biased (given people were still mouth pipetting strong acids when I graduated) but I don't regard uncapping an unshaken vacuutainer as a particular aerosol risk and neither does the official advice. If I'd dropped it or the centrifuge had gone wrong, I'd probably wait a bit but it's not being terribly stirred up by the lid being removed. I don't think blood is that low in surface tension, probably somewhere between ethanol and water (closer to water); it certainly wicks nicely for a smear.

If people want to wear PPE, I'm not going to criticise them but, given its low prevalence in the blood of the infected, I don't think it presents an additional hazard over blood from the average person.

Stool samples on the other hand do look rather concerning, if I were covered in faeces from a C-19 patient, I'd definitely want to wash it off.

Even the porters who collect samples manually wear a mask!

I don't work in a hospital but I imagine that's more to do with them going near the wards and being a nice vector for infection (as they criss-cross the hospital) than the samples themselves.

given people were still mouth pipetting strong acids when I graduated

The good old days eh!!

Ha yes, the mouth pipetting!

I worked in a very old-fashioned public analysis lab before graduating - some very entertaining practices there that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny now!

Also, I'm not worried about aerosols from uncapping in the slightest. It's the accidental drop and splash that would bother me.

some very entertaining practices there that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny now

And no incident forms when someone received an object lesson in carelessness.

It's the accidental drop and splash that would bother me.

I suppose it depends upon what is being done with the sample, I'm only uncapping samples that are in a rack, fixed to the bench and I hold my hand over it anyway for control.

I'm only uncapping samples that are in a rack, fixed to the bench and I hold my hand over it anyway for contro

I got quite good at the one hand, cap off, pipette out, cap back on routine.

I won't talk about the person who decided to mouth pipette some waste water he was testing and it went wrong.

I got quite good at the one hand, cap off, pipette out, cap back on routine.

I've never been able to figure that one out, I always fumble the cap. Fortunately, the one piece of equipment I'm loading by this technique uses a sprung cuvette so I have an excuse. Everything else will pierce a cap quite happily.

We used to do faecal fat analysis. Which is as bad as it sounds.
3 days of faeces in a bag.
Boil in acid.

Then analyse.

That job often got delegated down the food chain for training experience.

I won't talk about the person who decided to mouth pipette some waste water he was testing and it went wrong

That job often got delegated down the food chain for training experience.

Rightly so, there's a lot the young blood can learn from boiling up stools.