MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
August 28, 2020
LONDON, Ontario - For many Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients and their families, the need to come to the hospital for routine throat swabs that look for any bacterial growth in the lungs during the COVID-19 pandemic can be daunting. To alleviate these concerns, avoid unnecessary entrance to the hospital, and eliminate potential delays in care, the CF Clinic team at Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), created a new drive-up model of care that allows CF patients to receive their throat swab at the curbside.
CF is a genetically inherited disease that primarily affects the lungs and the digestive system, which causes severe breathing problems and extreme difficulty digesting and absorbing adequate nutrients from food. As part of the ongoing disease management process, patients with CF return to the Children’s Hospital clinic for a throat swab every three months to detect the presence of CF-specific bacteria in the lungs at an early stage where a course of antibiotic-based treatment can be considered.
“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,” says Jennifer Itterman, Paediatric Nurse Case Manager at Children’s Hospital at LHSC. “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.”
Today, appropriate clinic patients and their caregivers receive an email that contains directions on where to park, with pictures, as well as the telephone extension they will need to call when they arrive. Everyone in the car over the age of two is instructed to wear a mask, and families are advised to limit passengers in the vehicle to just the patient and caregiver if possible.
For younger children, parents are instructed to sit with their feet out of the car while holding their child facing out to allow for the swab to be completed. For older children that are more familiar with the throat swab and do not require additional soothing they don’t even need to exit the car.
“We work with each individual family to ensure their child is comfortable in the drive-up swab environment,” says Itterman. “We’ve tried as much as possible to recreate the experience they would typically have in the hospital in an outdoor setting. We don’t just follow our medical processes, we also include other practices like making sure we bring out a cooler with the post-procedure ‘reward’ popsicle that patients would typically get at a clinic visit, as that helps to bring a bit of comfort and normalcy to the drive-up process.”
Though each visit only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish, drive-up appointments are scheduled 30-minutes apart to allow appropriate time to send the swab to the lab and complete the proper infection control procedures, such as changing gowns, wiping down the cooler, etc. in between patients.
Itterman notes, “We’re really grateful to have the kind of leadership support that allows us to implement new and innovative ways of delivering patient-and-family-centred care. We know the drive-up option is having a positive impact on maintaining the health and quality of life for our young patients, and that is ultimately why we do what we do.”
The CF clinic at Children’s follows approximately 75 to 80 patients each year.
Note: Interviews are available with Jennifer Itterman today, Friday, Aug. 28, from 12:30 - 2:00 pm. Please contact Mandy Gelinas to arrange an interview time.
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been at the forefront of medicine in Canada for 145 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, the Kidney Care Centre, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 70 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
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For media inquiries contact:
Mandy Gelinas
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500, ext. 75157
Mandy.Gelinas@lhsc.on.ca
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Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communicator on-call
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