Advice on contact with patients
On this page:
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'
