Coronavirus resources: contact with patients

Patient management

• Guidance for first responders – advice for first responders and others who may have close contact with symptomatic people with potential COVID-19.
• Information for health and care professionals – information on coronavirus, including guidance on the assessment and management of suspected UK cases.
• Clinical management of persons admitted to hospital with suspected COVID-19 infection.
• Infection prevention and control advice for healthcare providers – guidance and information on infection prevention and control procedures to inform and advise local healthcare planning for COVID-19.
• Advice for pregnant workers – resources providing both general advice and more specific support around working with patients during the pandemic. 
• Standard operating procedure for general practice – practical guidance to support primary care teams in managing contact with, and presentations of, patients who suspect they may have COVID-19.
• Standard operating procedure for community health services – applies to all providers of community health services in England.  It clarifies the expected approach to the management of patients, both adults and children, in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Prioritisation within community health services – updated guidance from NHS England on which community services should be prioritised during the pandemic.

• Management of rheumatology patients – clinical guide for the management of rheumatology patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

• SPACES ward-care approach – information and advice for ward-based staff on how to reduce multiple entries into patient rooms and reduce exposure to COVID-19 using an integrated approach to patient care.

Patient management – specialty guides

A series of guides on managing patients during the coronavirus pandemic from NHS England. We have provided direct links to the guides most directly relevant to physiotherapy.

• Respiratory patients
• Critical care patients
• Stroke patients
• Urgent and Emergency Musculoskeletal Conditions Requiring Onward Referral
• Patients with musculoskeletal and rheumatic conditions on corticosteroids
• Trauma and orthopaedic patients
• Rheumatology patients
• Perioperative care of people with fragility fractures
• Non-coronavirus patients requiring acute treatment: Cancer
• Paediatric critical care patients
• Paediatric patients
• Palliative care in hospital

A series of rapid guidelines, evidence summaries and Medtech innovation briefings from NICE that include the following with particular relevance to physiotherapy:

• Severe asthma
• Managing suspected or confirmed pneumonia in adults in the community
• Managing symptoms (including at the end of life) in the community
• Cystic fibrosis
• Community-based care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Acute use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for people with or at risk of COVID-19 (ES23).
• myCOPD for self-management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (MIB214)
• Acute Myocardial Injury – aimed at non-cardiology specialists.

Informed consent

Please refer to our FAQ 'COVID-19 considerations to think about as part of gaining informed consent to proceed with a Face to Face physiotherapy appointments'