South West London CCG Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21

patients with heart failure, diabetes, and complex care needs. • Moving Covid-positive patients to dedicated care homes During the pandemic, patients with Covid-19 but no longer needing hospital care were transferred to dedicated care homes to complete their period of isolation. These are called dedicated temporary alternative discharge destinations (TADDs) and provided a setting where patients could continue their recovery before going to their own home or care home. Working with nursing home staff and CLCH, Merton GPs and all borough social care colleagues helped to establish and support two TADDs. Services at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton The Covid-19 pandemic meant that the NHS needed to make radical changes in the way services work, to ensure patients and staff were as safe as possible. As part of the response, the decision was taken to temporarily close the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) at Queen Mary’s Hospital (QMH). This was because of insufficient space and workforce to separate walk-in patients with respiratory symptoms from others attending QMH. While the service was closed, the NHS locally worked with Battersea Healthcare Community Interest Company (the Wandsworth GP Federation), and St George’s Hospital NHS Trust to look at options for a service on the site over the coming winter. In December 2020, we opened a new enhanced primary care service run by GPs and specialist urgent care nurses. This was a pilot scheme that provided safe, bookable same day or routine appointments, initially for patients registered with a Wandsworth GP and then for Merton registered patients. The service will continue to run for a further six months from April 2021, so that it can be fully evaluated, and the views and experiences of local people gathered, to influence any future developments. Other developments at QMH from spring 2021 were a large Covid-19 vaccination site, which opened on 15 March 2021, and four new modular operating theatres, with construction beginning at the end of March 2021. The modular operating theatres and vaccine hub will enable the NHS in South West London to ensure patients receive the treatment they need and give local people additional convenient access to the Covid-19 vaccination. Post-Covid-19 plans for Merton and Wandsworth For some people, Covid-19 can cause symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection has gone. This is known as post-Covid. The London Clinical Advisory Group has published guidance to support the management of post-Covid which is to be implemented at an Integrated Care System level. Across South West London we are implementing a networked approach – centralised where necessary and local where possible. This aims to achieve all the benefits 48 | NHS South West London Clinical Commissioning Group