Any fellow nurses/ doctors here .. what’s your plans after 28 weeks?

[MelissaAnn92]

With the current guidance I still feel after 28 weeks it’s wishy washy. The RCOG guidelines after 28 weeks say more strict social distancing and

For many workers, this may require working flexibly from home in a different capacity.

“All employers should consider both how to redeploy these staff and how to maximise the potential for homeworking, wherever possible.“

I’m a nurse currently seeing everyone face to face still. I could do calls from my workplace- or do you take the guidance deems safer to stay at home? I’m worried about what to do for the best when discussing my risk assessment with my manager xx

It's not wishy washy at all. From 28 weeks you have to avoid direct patient contact. If you can work from home you should do or if you can't you may be redeployed to a non face to face role. If the trust can't accommodate that you would be at home on full pay until you start your maternity leave. Your occupational health team will be able to advise on your personal position. You can self refer or ask your manager for a referral. Once you and your manager have their advice you can work out what you will do from 28 weeks onwards and amend your risk assessment accordingly. Hope you get it sorted 😀

Pp pretty much covered it, after 28 weeks you shouldn't be patient facing or I would even say in the hospital where you can't social distance. You should either work from home where possible or be put on special leave on full pay.
I'm a scrub nurse have been on special leave as I can't work from home

I work in a Gp surgery so could sit in my room doing calls, but thinking is it safer to just stay home and do those calls, wondering if they refuse to let me work from home where I stand to be honest. I wish the guidance said MUST not leaving it up to employers.. my employer said she wasn’t aware of any change after 28 weeks so I printed the guidance out for her and have to await a risk assessment next week xx

I agree it’s wishy washy. I’m approaching 28 weeks and I’ve advised my manager I shouldn’t be patient facing. Confirmed it with my midwife at 25 weeks. Manager is under the impression that wearing ppe overrides these guidelines. I cannot work from home in my role and me not doing clinical work is going to cause staffing issues. But I’m sticking to my guns, they’ve known I’ve been pregnant since the very start so they’ve had more than enough time to prepare.
I’d say you’d be fine doing phone calls from work as long as you have no patient contact. But if there is scope for you to do the same thing working from home then guidelines say you should do that as obviously is removing the risks completely.

I'm a paramedic in a GP surgery, my employer told me I have to work from home at 28 weeks so will be purely telephone triage but we've compromised and they're letting me go in to work in a back office twice a week so I don't feel so isolated. I'll be in the office by myself but will be a routine and a socially distanced catch up at break

I'm a radiologist, planning on continuing to go into work after 28 weeks but without patient contact (no ultrasounds/fluoro) and just report socially distanced in my office. Think I'd really struggle to work from home in my flat! My friend is in third trimester now and that's what she is doing too.