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Using the NHS Track and Trace App

How we’re helping prevent the spread of COVID-19

Even though COVID-19 is still virulent, we want to continue to operate safely, so we can continue to provide our services to patients.

To ensure we can do this, we’re now displaying Track and Trace QR codes in all our clinics so that patients and visitors can quickly check in directly through the new Track and Trace App from the NHS.

We’re taking these measures to protect patients, staff, and the public, and to give you the reassurance you need that if anyone has developed symptoms following a visit to us, you will be notified immediately.

Our Track and Trace measures have been implemented in addition to the other COVID-19 safety guidelines we have rolled out, including social distancing, regular sanitisation of our premises, and the wearing of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), such as masks and gloves. 

What is the Track and Trace service?

Track and Trace ensures that anyone displaying symptoms of COVID-19 gets tested as soon as possible and self-isolates.  Its primary function is to alert people who have been in contact with an infected person. 

It works by collecting data on the recent contacts made and places visited by people who have received a positive COVID-19 test.  If you have been in contact with an infected person, the Track and Trace service will inform you, so you can self-isolate at home, contacting you by phone if you don’t have the app, or through email or a text alert.

What does the Track and Trace App do?

It urges people to get a test and self-isolate if they develop symptoms of the coronavirus.  If you test positive, you will be encouraged to enter details of your recent contacts as well as the places you have been, so that the service can alert anyone who may have been in contact with you.

Upon receiving a positive test result for COVID-19, you will be told to self-isolate for 14 days by Track and Trace and so will any members of your household.  When you return from travel abroad, you can use the app to check if you are travelling from a red-flag country. If so, you will be asked to self-isolate at home for 14 days upon return to the UK.

If you have been in recent contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus, you will receive an email, text or phone call from Track and Trace that will tell you what to do next.  Usually, you will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days from your last contact with the infected person.  Other members of your household don’t have to self-isolate if they don’t have symptoms. You will also be urged to get a test if you develop any COVID-19 symptoms.

The Track and Trace service adheres strictly to the Data Protection Act and doesn’t identify who has tested positive, only that you have been in recent contact with someone who has received a positive COVID-19 test result.

Your data is completely safe, secure as the service does not and will never disclose the data it collects to anyone other than the NHS, or NHS related services.

Who does the App define as “at risk of infection” and who will be alerted?

The Track and Trace service defines you as being at risk from COVID -19 infection if you have had recent close contact with an infected person.

Close contact is defined as:

  1. Face-to-face contact with someone less than 1 metre away (including if you are wearing a face mask)
  2. Spending more than 15 minutes within 2 metres of someone
  3. Travelling with an infected person in a small vehicle, such as a car, or sitting close to them on a plane

You are also considered to be at risk if someone at your place of work, or another place you have visited, such as a pub or shop, has recently tested positive.

If you have recently been exposed to potential COVID-19 infection by being in close contact or in a public place with an infected person, the Track and Track service will alert you and advise you to self-isolate.

Visit https://www.covid19.nhs.uk/ to download the app.