Covid-19 (Coronavirus) has had an immediate effect on how things are run at Sports Lab! Consistency of care and patient/practitioner safety is first and foremost in our minds. There are a number of safety precautions that we have put in place to allow us to safely support our clients.

What are we doing at Sports Lab to keep us all safe?

Prior to Appointments

All patients are vetted prior to their appointment at the clinic via SMS, phone call or email. They are asked the following questions:

• Have they been overseas, in a hotspot area or have had close contact with a person with confirmed COVID-19 while infectious, in the 14 days before the scheduled outpatient appointment?
• Are they experiencing any flu-like symptoms, including, but not limited to: Fever, sore throat, cough, aching body or a runny nose.

If the client answers “Yes” to any of the above questions, they are not allowed to come into the practice and are offered the following options:

• Appointment via Video Consultation or Phone Consultation with an available therapist. We will endeavour to set the consultation up with the client’s normal therapist, but this is not always possible.
• Reschedule the appointment for a later date – at least 14 days AFTER they are outside of their required isolation period or no longer experiencing symptoms.
• Home visits are also an option, depending on the exact needs of the client.  This option is only available if the therapist deems that it is necessary and very strict protocols are followed by the client.

If the client answers “No” to the questions, they are fine to come into the clinic.

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Appointments in the Clinics

At Sports Lab we are following all Australian Government & NSW Health Guidelines, as well as doing anything else we can think of to give our clients peace of mind when attending a face-to-face appointment.

• Managed amount clients in the waiting room at any time (depending on size of waiting room – use social distance guidelines of 1.5M). Additional clients will be asked to wait in the hallway or outside (respecting 1.5 metre social distancing guideline). Reception can call you on your mobile when it is time for you to go into your appointment.
• Sanitising clients on arrival.
  All clients are asked to use hand sanitiser on arrival into the practice.  They are asked to wipe their hands with sanitiser. If clients are immunosuppressed or high-risk, we ask that they bring/wear a mask.  If the client does not have a mask, they can request a disposable mask at reception.
• Regularly disinfecting waiting room and throughout the clinic.
  This includes, but not limited to: spraying hospital grade disinfectant in the waiting rooms, hallways and toilets. Wiping down chairs and hard surfaces with sanitiser/disinfectant, as well as any regularly used items (ie. pens, clipboards etc.)
• Treatment room are disinfected before & after each client.
  Every treatment room is disinfected before & after each session.  This includes, but not limited to wiping down the treatment bed and spraying hospital grade disinfectant throughout the room.
• All linens have been removed from treatment beds.
  This ensures that we are able to completely clean the treatment bed surfaces between each client sessions.
• All equipment disinfected before and after each client.
• Safe distancing during treatment session.
  When talking to the client we maintain a safe distance. During any required hands-on contact during treatment, we are keeping it to an absolute minimum, and well within the advised guidelines of the Department of Health for hands-on treatments.
• Therapists maintaining strict hygiene protocols.
  All Sports Lab physiotherapists and other allied health practitioners have completed the Covid-19 Infection Control Training Course. Therapists are continually washing before and after each clients with soap and water, hand sanitiser and/or hand wipes, as well as following the advised guidelines for Allied Health.

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We are staying informed via all of the health advisement channels and will continue to do everything that we can to help our community. We are in this together and will get through this together.

Where can you find more information? We advise all members to visit the NSW Health COVID-19 & Australian Dept of Health , NSW Government &  World Health Organisation for updates and information. These pages are updated at least daily. In particular, the FAQ section of the website has answers to common questions that members may want guidance on – such as work, travel and school arrangements and questions regarding home isolation.

“You can still connect when you’re practicing social distancing — just in a different way.”

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