LJMU CoVid Operations Group Update

LJMU CoVid Operations Group

Update (26th October 2021)

Following the Liverpool Health Protection Board statement to people living, working, or visiting the city the CoVid Operations Group has met to consider any further action necessary to keep our communities safe.

https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/blog-we-need-to-take-action-now-ahead-of-a-difficult-winter/

or see https://www.unisonljmu.org.uk/covid19-news/liverpool-health-protection-board

As Matt Ashton, Director of Public Health for Liverpool states in the message above, the CoVid-19 pandemic is far from over, and we are expecting a lot more flu this winter. Local action is needed now, to look after ourselves and each other, to prevent us from having a winter crisis, and important to keep our critical services running, including education.

As result, COG has taken the following action with immediate effect:

Wear a face cover at all times

We are moving with immediate effect to mandate the wearing of face coverings in all teaching and research activities. We continue to provide free face coverings at reception points and expect everyone (other than approved exemptions) to comply. We continue to expect face coverings to be worn in all communal spaces including offices and libraries. You can remove your face cover when you are eating or sitting at a single-person desk or study space.

Hybrid working

We have already introduced hybrid working and will continue with this approach across the university to maintain and protect face-to-face teaching, research, and all student-facing services. Staff must be on campus to provide the services to our students they are expecting.

If you chair university staff group meetings please move these online rather than face to face. University events with large groups on campus can continue and we will be signposting to ensure that CoVid safe practices are in operation during these events.

Ventilation

We are following government and professional body guidance regarding ventilation and have assessed every space on campus to ensure this is being met. In mechanically ventilated rooms we are complying with guidance that flow rates are increased, only 100% fresh outside air is circulated, and the systems run for one hour before and after teaching times.

In rooms with no mechanical ventilation systems, we will rely on the opening of external windows (natural ventilation) and have installed CO2 monitors in many naturally ventilated rooms with more to be introduced from the 1st of November. We have also purchased air purifying units which are being introduced into spaces where necessary.

Looking after yourself and others

Don’t delay your vaccines

We strongly recommend vaccination as the single most effective action to combat CoVid-19. Whilst vaccination is a personal choice it helps protect you and those around you, including the vulnerable and elderly. It remains the case that most hospitalised CoVid-19 patients are unvaccinated, and as such we will continue to work with our health partners to increase vaccine take-up.

CoVid-19 testing and what to do if you have symptoms

Around 1 in 3 people with Covid-19 don’t have symptoms but can still infect others. Everyone should continue to take a lateral flow test twice per week, and these are freely available at reception points.

If your lateral flow test is positive you should immediately self-isolate and book a PCR test. If you also have any symptoms of CoVid-19 you should immediately self-isolate and book a PCR test. PCR testing is available at the joint LJMU/University of Liverpool test centre.

https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/microsites/moving-forward/covid-19

LJMU Moving Forward Together

We want to do everything we can to protect face-to-face teaching, research, and our student services. In doing so, we all have an individual and collective responsibility to keep our communities safe both within and outside of the university.

LJMU’s Outbreak Management Plan was approved by Matt Ashton, Director of Public Health on 14th October 2021 and is available on our website:

https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/microsites/moving-forward

The University CoVid Operations Group also continues to meet regularly to review national and local guidance.

There is huge complexity in our planning and the decisions we are taking. Please look out for regular university CoVid-19 updates and refer to Liverpool City Council’s CoVid webpages for more information.

Phil Vickerman

Chair of the Covid Operations Group

26th October 2021

Talk Liverpool

 

Welcome

Welcome to Talk Liverpool

We are a free NHS service offering psychological therapies to adults in Liverpool who are feeling depressed or anxious.

Our range of treatment programs are designed to give you the right information and to help you develop the skills you need to overcome your problems. We have a range of options on offer, including short courses which run regularly in locations near you (suspended during Covid-19), or online help which you can use from the convenience of home.

Our aims

Talk Liverpool is Improving access to psychological therapies (IAPT) service. This means we aim to get you the right help at the right time. It also means we only use psychological therapies that have been shown by research to help with depression and anxiety.

Talk Liverpool is part of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust – improving the lives of the people of Liverpool is at the heart of what we do.

                                     https://www.talkliverpool.nhs.uk/

Branch E-News - Issue 39

Dear Members,

You can find Issue 39 of E-News HERE

Many thanks,

UNISON @ LJMU

You can access our E-News Archive HERE

E-Scooters @ LJMU

The LAW

The only E-Scooters that can be used on public roads are those rented as part of government-backed trials.

Liverpool City Council Pilot Scheme

400 hundred E-Scooters are available to hire in the city center and surrounding areas including Toxteth, Dingle, and Kensington, as well as key transport hubs and hospitals.

The year-long pilot scheme that started in October 2020 is a joint initiative of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool City Council, and E-Scooter company VOI.

How do I hire an E-Scooter?

Information about hiring an E-Scooter is available on www.voiscooters.com where you can also download the 'VOI Scooters: Get Magic Wheels' app. You can also call VOI on 0800 3768179 or email support@voiapp.io for support.

• E-Scooters cost £1 to unlock, plus £0.20 per minute - unlimited daily and monthly passes will also be available

• users must have at least a provisional driving licence to hire an E-Scooter - it is against the law to ride an E-Scooter on a pavement

• you can hire one at city centre hospitals including the Royal Liverpool and Women’s Hospitals - with 75% discount available to NHS staff

• users are encouraged to use hand sanitiser and wear gloves

Personal E-Scooters

If you own an E-Scooter, you can only use it on private land with the landowners' permission. They are not allowed on public roads, cycle lanes, or pavements this also includes council-owned parks.

If you use an E-Scooter illegally:

• you could face a fine

• you could get penalty points on your licence

• the E-Scooter could be impounded

E-Scooters & LJMU

The Branch has been in discussion with the Universities Safety Health and Environment (SHE) Department and a decision on their use and storage within LJMU will be communicated shortly.

UNISON@LJMU would like to thank the members of the SHE Department for working with the branch on this topic.

#SMEARONDEMAND

We ask that in addition to population screening, if a woman presents at her doctor's and requests a smear test and the GP/nurse agrees, she is given one.

This does not currently happen. This is a gender issue; women are turned away if they are not due for their population screening, despite health care professionals wanting to carry out the test. This doesn't happen to men in relation to prostate examinations.

Since the age for a smear test was put up to 25 in 2004, the number of women under 30 dying from cervical cancer has almost doubled. Cervical cancer is one of the most treatable forms of cancer, with a recovery rate of 99.7% if caught early enough. So why are the Government letting this happen?

Our fight for change is in the final crucial stages.... Would you like to be part of it?

The facts:

• The rate of cervical cancer has more than doubled in women aged 25-29 years since 2004.
• In women aged 25 years, there has been a three-fold increase in the rate of cervical cancer since 2007.
• In 2011, registrations of cervical cancer in England were highest in women aged 25-29 years.
• A smear test costs the NHS £7.10 but being denied one cost these women their lives.

Cervical cancer is preventable in 99.7% of cases.... So no one should be dying.

Please support UNISON North West's

#SmearOnDemand campaign

You can support our campaign by signing our petition, sharing it and contacting your MPs. Please tag @NorthWestUNISON on Twitter and use #SmearOnDemand

Check out the full story https://www.unisonnw.org/smear_on_demand

Sign the e-petition https://action.unison.org.uk/page/78402/action/1

#VictimsRights

 

Follow @VictimSupport  Victim Support on Twitter as over the next 12 days, they are raising awareness around #VictimsRights. Under the Victims' Code, victims of crime have 12 key rights. You should always be able to realise your rights.

https://twitter.com/VictimSupport/status/1450012542466674688?s=20

Save the world from home

It’s always tempting to point the finger at other people, businesses or nations when looking for environmental scapegoats, but we all have a responsibility to look at our own lifestyles and see what we can do to reduce our carbon emissions. After all, those big smoke-spewing factories in China are making stuff to satisfy our consumerist demands!

Again, a good starting point is to find out your own carbon footprint. This will help you to understand which aspects of your life are causing the most carbon emissions and therefore what needs to change first. There are several on-line carbon calculators such as the WWF’s https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/

A few hints and tips:

· Don’t try to do everything at once – take a step-wise approach, starting with the easiest or cheapest things that make the most difference, such as installing loft insulation.

· Think about what’s most essential in life, as well as what scores the highest numbers. For instance, heating our homes burns a lot of carbon – but you do need to be warm. Whereas overseas flights are a less painful thing to cut back on.

· Swim against the tide of materialism. We are bombarded with adverts and keeping-up with-the-Joneses pressures to constantly want more; but everything we buy costs carbon to produce and will probably mostly end up in landfill. Every pound you spend can either make the world a better place or a worse place, so shop mindfully: think about where that product has come from, who made it, whether you really need it, how much use or pleasure you will get out of it, and what will happen to it once you’ve finished with it.

· Finally – be positive! It can sometimes seem that being green is all about having to give fun things up. We have sleepwalked into a way of life in which we accept polluted air, cheap plastic goods and sitting in traffic jams as inescapable. But a low-carbon society is also a society in which the air is breathable, the streets are safer, your neighborhood is full of nature again, you are healthier and you have more time for your family and community.

 

Who is WASPI?

The aim of the WASPI Campaign is:

TO ACHIEVE FAIR TRANSITIONAL STATE PENSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR ALL WOMEN BORN IN THE 1950s AFFECTED BY THE CHANGES TO THE STATE PENSION LAW (1995/2011 ACTS).

This translates into a 'bridging' pension to provide an income until women reach their new State Pension Age - not means-tested - and compensation for financial losses for those women who have already reached their State Pension Age.

We campaign for all 1950s born women affected by the change and do not favour one group over any other. We are not opposed to the equalisation of the State Pension Age  with that of men.

WASPI DOES NOT ASK FOR THE STATE PENSION AGE TO REVERT BACK TO 60.

visit the national WASPI Campaign website: www.waspi.co.uk

the Facebook page: facebook.com/WASPICampaign/

follow us on Twitter: @WASPI_Campaign

Free Eye Test Voucher

Working safely with Display Screen Equipment (DSE)

Eyes and eyesight testing

The law says employers must arrange an eye test for display screen equipment (DSE) users if they ask for one, and provide glasses if an employee needs them only for DSE use.
DSE work does not cause permanent damage to the eyes. But long spells of DSE work can lead to:

·    tired eyes

·    discomfort

·    temporary short-sightedness
·    headaches
 
DSE work is visually demanding, so it can make someone aware of eyesight  
problems they have not noticed before (including changes in eyesight that happen 
with age).

Employees can help their eyes by:

·    checking the screen is well-positioned and properly adjusted
·    making sure lighting conditions are suitable
·    taking regular breaks from screen work
 
Employers must assess DSE workstations and take steps to reduce any health risks.
Eye tests for DSE users an employer must provide an eyesight test for a DSE user if they request one. The employer must also pay for the test.

This should be a full eye and eyesight test by an optometrist or doctor, including a 
vision test and an eye examination.

It's up to the employer how they provide the test. For example, they could let users 
arrange the tests and reimburse them for the cost later, or they could send all their 
DSE users to one optician.

Glasses for DSE work
Employers only have to pay for glasses for DSE work if the test shows an employee needs special glasses prescribed for the distance the screen is viewed at. If an ordinary prescription is suitable, employers do not have to pay for glasses.

How to apply at LJMU
You should download and complete the DSE Self-Assessment form from HERE. You then return the completed form via e-mail to SHE@ljmu.ac.uk. 

Next e-mail OHAdmin@ljmu.ac.uk confirming completion of the DSE Self-Assessment form (you do not have to send a copy) asking for the eye test voucher to be issued.

 

Global Day of Action for Climate Justice

 

Manchester - Global Day of Action for Climate Justice 6th Nov

Start: Saturday, November 06, 2021 • 12:00 PM

St Peter's Square Cross• St Peter's Square M2 3AE, Manchester, United Kingdom M2 3AE

Host Contact Info: manchester@cop26coalition.org

Direct Link: https://actionnetwork.org/events/manchester-cop26-protest

In November the UN "COP26" climate talks begin in Glasgow. We will be protesting across the world to demand radical action on climate change and climate justice.

Climate change is already destroying the lives of millions of people. 2021 has seen floods and hurricanes to some of the biggest wildfires in history. The poorest people in the world and the Global South are disproportionately affected by these events, which have been created by the industrialisation of the richest nations.

In the UK the COP26 Coalition is calling protests across the country on Sat 6 Nov to demand climate justice. Many activists will protest in Glasgow, but there are regional and local events as well to ensure maximum participation.

This protest has been called by the Manchester COP26 Hub.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1025938184909751