MS Centres to remain open, see note below from Frank Sudlow from MS National Therapy Centre.
Obviously if you have any symptoms please ring us and do not come in.
We will continue with our new protocols of wearing masks, taking temperature, therapists wearing PPE etc.
Any concerns please ring us.
Note from Frank Sudlow, National MS Therapy Centre, Oct 2020
Provided we continue to observe the protocols we have developed and shared, Centres can all remain open.
Is my centre allowed to be open?
Our research of Covid-19 related documentation has not identified any recommendations or legal bar to centres being open for therapies. Not now, or at any time during the pandemic. Furthermore, there is ample provenance for centres continuing to provide therapies;
- Such health related provision is an essential service (World Health Organisation NIS, Annex II)
- Our therapy centres are not included in any list of businesses or facilities that must close or are subject to baseline/key measures (HM Government Covid-19 Guidance)
- Citizens, other than those subject to isolation, are permitted to leave home for the purposes of healthcare (ditto)
- MSNTC continuing research confirms that those with MS suffer health deterioration when access to therapies is not available
- Public Health England recognises the important role of the Third Sector in addressing NHS inequalities in response to the pandemic (PHE). Their equivalent bodies in Wales and Scotland say the same.
- The NHS across Great Britain are actively seeking to remobilise recovery and rehabilitation services, for which our centres perform an active role.