Young cystic fibrosis (CF) patients will no longer have to enter London Children's Hospital to get routine throat swabs.
The hospital at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) announced Friday it is now offering curbside throat swabs as a way to eliminate unnecessary entrance to the medical facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We were concerned that fear and anxiety of having to come to the hospital for a throat swab while the pandemic is still ongoing could mean that some families might opt to delay their appointments when their child appears to be healthy,” Jennifer Itterman, a paediatric nurse case manager at London Children's Hospital, said in a statement. “We had suggested the possibility that we could do drive-up swabs as a way to keep the families out of the hospital and maintain routine care in passing, and it was our clinical leadership that really liked the idea and helped us to safely bring the drive-up swab process to fruition.”
Patients with CF, a genetically inherited disease that causes severe breathing and digestive problems, have to undergo a throat swab every three months to detect bacteria in the lungs. If caught early, the bacteria can be treated with antibiotics.
The hospital has sent an email to patient caregivers about the new drive-in swab service. It includes instructions on where to park and a telephone number to call once on site. Everyone inside the vehicle over the age of two will be required to wear a face mask during the visit.
“We work with each individual family to ensure their child is comfortable in the drive-up swab environment,” said Itterman. “We’ve tried as much as possible to recreate the experience they would typically have in the hospital in an outdoor setting."
Measures taken to provide comfort and normalcy to the drive-up process also include the traditional post-procedure reward popsicle for patients, Itterman reassured.
While each visit is only expected to take roughly 10 minutes the drive-up appointments have been scheduled 30 minutes apart. This is to allow health-care staff time to send the swab to the lab and complete the proper infection control procedures, such as changing gowns and wiping down the cooler.
