We asked our CNS what the impact of Covid-19 has been on the Unit. These answers we hope you will find helpful. Where possible clinics are carried out by phone. If you are invited into the Unit you will be telephoned 24 hours before the appointment to confirm that you are well enough to visit and are still willing to come into Derriford. Whether you are a new patient or an existing one you still arrive and leave the Unit by the single entrance but when you come in your temperature will be checked. Staff temperatures are checked daily. Staff and patients wear PPE where face to face contact is necessary.
Telephone clinics reduce footfall into the hospital, therefore reducing clinical risk for patients and staff.
For new patients
Assessments for bladder, kidney and prostate symptoms are still being carried out but results are given by phone and letter. For bladder cancer patients TUR-BTs are still being carried out but at Care-UK rather than Derriford. Pre op assessment along with COVID 19 swabs are done at Care UK. Bigger operations such as nephrectomies and cystectomies are still going ahead at Derriford. Pre op assessments/COVID 19 for these patients take place at Derriford. Lynher ward has moved. Post op patients are nursed on Stonehouse Ward at present.
For existing patients
Cystoscopies are still being carried out on time and in the Unit. BCG and mitocycin treatments are being administered only to high risk patients. Other treatments are deferred. Chemotherapy is being offered on a reduced service by Oncology which is operating out of the Nuffield Hospital across the road.
What contribution can patients make to saving lives? Follow the goverment advice and any directions of the hospital on your visit. Stay safe.
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Plymouth – Bladder and Kidney Cancer Support Group
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