Our safety measures
- Enhanced levels of cleaning, over and above our normal high standards
- Regularly testing our staff and contractors
- Vaccination programme for staff
- Assessing patients in advance of treatment
- Checking the temperature of all patients, visitors, staff and consultants on entry to any of our buildings
- Providing surgical facemasks and hand sanitiser at all entrances
- Offering secure video consultations with our specialist consultants and therapists
- Performing in-house testing for patients
- Replacing magazines in our waiting rooms with access to a wide range of online newspapers and magazines through our wi-fi network
Staff vaccine programme
Recognising the importance of the vaccine to keeping patients and staff safe, we worked closely with our partners in the NHS to rapidly give our clinical and patient-facing staff access to it. We have continued that approach with the booster jab over the winter.
Providing a pre-assessment service
Most patients will receive an assessment three days prior to their procedure, which will include a risk assessment, to confirm health status, and, where necessary, additional testing, such as for Covid-19 and MRSA. The pre-assessment will be offered either virtually or in person, though it is not necessary in all treatment cases.
Performing in-house testing for patients
We provide COVID-19 testing from our on-site laboratory for all of our patients prior to procedures taking place - with results available within 24 hours.
Please note, testing is only available for patients booked in to receive treatment.
FAQs
Anyone entering our hospital or outpatient buildings, including staff, are required to check their temperature via one of our automated machines.
Ensuring that you have a safe and comfortable visit to The London Clinic is our priority, which is why strict hygiene and safety rules are in place.
Cleaning has always been to a high standard at The London Clinic. We have now escalated them even further.
Any room or space where there is a belief, or fact, of a COVID-19 patient, is triple- cleaned by our internal cleaning teams.
Patients are asked to wear masks on arrival, while staff and consultants across the clinic are in full PPE. We also ask that patient and staff alike maintain social distancing wherever possible.
We have been providing support to various NHS trusts by carrying out diagnostics, surgery, complex surgery including renal transplant, chemotherapy, inpatient care (including non-COVID-19 intensive care unit transfers) and urgent non-cancer surgery. We will continue to support the NHS wherever we can.
The majority of our consultants are now offering face-to-face appointments at one of our consulting houses. Some are continuing to offer access through a digital solution, like our Connect service. Your consultant will provide the option of a digital consultation if it's suitable for your requirements.
If your appointment is face-to-face, we ask that you arrive no more than 10 minutes before the start of the consultation. You will need to wear a mask when you enter, clean your hands using the provided sanitiser and check your temperature at one of the temperature machines.
If your consultation is to be done through a digital serivce, your consultant will explain how to access the appointment.
As long as the positive case occurred more than ten days ago, and prior to booking your appointment, then you can continue to be treated at The London Clinic.
If the positive case occurred since booking your appointment, for your safety and the safety of other patients and our staff, we will need you to contact us and organise a new date.
For non-urgent treatment, that would be at least seven weeks from your positive result. For urgent treatment, it would be at least ten days.
If you are unsure if your treatment is urgent or not, please speak to your consultant.
Essential information
Self-isolation is about minimising your interactions with other people, including household members. It is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself and others before your surgery, though we understand this may be challenging. If asked to self-isolate, you will need to:
- Stay at home at all times (but you can use your garden if you have one)
- Distance yourself from other members of your household
- Not have any visitors in your home, including other family, except in circumstances where essential care is being provided
- Avoid all gatherings
- If you have a carer, they must self-isolate too.
We recommend that you arrange for food, medicines and other essential items be delivered to your home. If you are employed, you will need to take time off work, or work from home to fulfil the self-isolation requirements. Please discuss this with your employer.
At all times you should maintain vigilant social distancing as recommended by the UK government. This includes:
- Avoid close contact and remain socially distant (two metres wherever possible) from anyone you do not live with or who is not in your support bubble
- Wear a face covering in all enclosed public spaces.
If you have any of the following symptoms, you must not come to the hospital for your appointment. Please contact us to re-book your procedure.
- Fever equal to or above 37.8°C
- New continuous cough (with or without sputum)
- Sore throat
- Difficulty of breathing/more breathless than usual
- Nasal discharge or congestion
- Loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell
Depending on the procedure being carried out, you may be required to attend a pre-assessment prior to admission. This is to assess whether you are healthy enough to go ahead with the planned procedure, and to confirm you have none of the symptoms linked to the coronavirus (see tab above). If you need additional testing, such as for Covid-19 or MRSA, then you will need to visit our main hospital at 20 Devonshire Place for the assessment.
If you are suffering with any of the symptoms, it may be that you have the coronavirus. If this is the case, please do not attend the pre-assessment and notify your consultant so they can reschedule your admission. You will be asked to self-isolate for 10 days and to complete a PCR test, before your admission can be rescheduled.
The risk of transmission of coronavirus in closed spaces, such as in buses, the London Underground and ferries, remains high. We recommend that wherever possible you travel to The London Clinic via a private vehicle. If this is not possible please use a taxi service. Keep the car well ventilated and sit as far away from anyone else in the car as possible.
We are continuing to minimise the spread of the coronavirus and ask for your support to keep everyone safe, including:
- Arriving no more than 10 minutes before your appointment time
- Limiting visitors to one person at a time, unless you need a carer and/or interpreter. We understand that this will be difficult for many of our patients and apologise for this essential requirement. Our team will provide you with as much support as possible during your visit
- Use the machines at the entrance to check your temperature
- Clean your hands using the supplied sanitiser. If you are wearing gloves, we will still require you to remove them and sanitise your hands in the same way. We ask that you do this at regular intervals during your visit
- Wearing one of the surgical masks provided at our entrances. You will not need to wear a mask in your bedroom unless your nurse advises you otherwise
- Respecting social distancing during your visit and ensure that you do not sit closely to others in the waiting rooms
- Taking you straight to your room to complete any outstanding registration paperwork there. You may wish to bring your own pen.
If going ahead with your procedure required you to be fully vaccinated and to have completed a lateral flow test on the day of admission, please ensure that you bring proof of both with you and show them to our front of house and clinical admissions teams.