National Research and Innovation Lymphoedema Specialist Lymphoedema Network Wales, Cimla Health & Social Care Centre, Cimla, Neath.
National Lymphoedema Researcher, Lymphoedema Network Wales, Cimla Health & Social Care Centre, Cimla, Neath.
Br J Nurs. 2021 Feb 25;30(4):210-217. doi: 10.12968/bjon.2021.30.4.210.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, lymphoedema staff adapted services, providing care remotely, and worked in other NHS sectors. The impact on services and staff must be understood in order to safeguard patient care and foster workforce resilience.
To evaluate the experiences of clinical and non-clinical lymphoedema staff in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An anonymous online survey, based on scoping work, was sent out via the Welsh lymphoedema services mailing list.
71% (68/96) of eligible lymphoedema staff completed the survey. More than half supported lymphoedema services (40/68) with the remaining staff deployed elsewhere. Overall, staff and services felt prepared for new ways of working. Concerns about others and the future burden on services when life returned to normal were reported. Opportunities identified included education initiatives and virtual services.
Lymphoedema services were well prepared to deliver virtually, enable effective care and share knowledge. Co-ordinated efforts to uphold patient advocacy will support virtual services to meet their needs.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，淋巴水肿工作人员调整了服务，提供远程护理，并在其他 NHS 部门工作。为了保障患者护理和培养员工的适应力，必须了解服务和员工所受到的影响。
评估威尔士 COVID-19 大流行期间临床和非临床淋巴水肿工作人员的经验。
一项基于范围界定工作的匿名在线调查通过威尔士淋巴水肿服务邮件列表发送。
68/96 名符合条件的淋巴水肿工作人员完成了调查。超过一半的工作人员支持淋巴水肿服务（40/68），其余工作人员则被部署到其他地方。总的来说，工作人员和服务机构对新的工作方式感到有准备。报告称，对他人的担忧以及生活恢复正常后服务的未来负担。已经确定的机会包括教育计划和虚拟服务。
淋巴水肿服务机构已经做好了充分的准备，可以进行虚拟服务，提供有效的护理和分享知识。协调一致的努力来维护患者的权益将支持虚拟服务满足他们的需求。
