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Monthly archives: March 2018

New room booking system launches this week

 

This week see the launch of Booked, the new room booking system.

Access to  Booked couldn’t be easier; a click on the link under ‘Corporate Systems’ on Connect and you will be taken to the log in screen. The login is the one you already use to access the Trust systems.

If you have problems with logging in, please contact the IT service desk on ext 4050 or submit a ticket online.

Instructions of how to use the system can be accessed here

Both systems will be accessible and available for use from the 14 March we ask that if you require a venue from the 14 March onwards that you check the room availability on both Gingco (the current booking system) and Booked before making your booking.

All advance bookings will be consolidated onto Booked but we ask that all system users make their own check to ensure that their booking has been transferred.

Please check the note section of the booking on Booked when checking the diary entry as the entries themselves will not be in your name as they have been added as a bulk entry.

For administrative issues please contact swbh.bookedadministration@nhs.net.

Have you scheduled your PDRs?

 

The deadline of 19 March is fast approaching when all PDRs must be scheduled for a date in between April 2018 and June 2018.

Please ensure the dates are entered onto ESR by 19 March, please see guidelines for how to enter a date onto ESR. http://myconnect.swbh.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Entering-Booked-Appraisal-Dates.pdf?x38888

If you are a doctor please contact your rota coordinator who will enter the dates onto ESR for you.

NHS staff survey reveals rise in enthusiasm about our work

 

A number of us are increasingly feeling more enthusiastic about our work according to the latest NHS Staff Survey 2017.

The survey, that is carried out in every NHS organisation in England, was sent to a sample of 1,250 colleagues in October 2017. It allows us to see how colleagues feel about working for the Trust, whether that has changed since the last survey and how we compare to other, similar NHS organisations.

The report highlights some areas where we have made improvements.

Director of Communications, Ruth Wilkin said: “It is great to see that the number of colleagues who feel they are able to contribute to improvements within their teams has gone up by 8 per cent. And the number of colleagues agreeing that their role makes a difference to patients is 93 percent which is above the national average.”

The survey also reveals there is still much to do. Our overall indicator for staff engagement remains below average compared to trusts of a similar type. You can read the full report on Connect. Further information is also available on the NHS national staff survey website.

Oncology service update

 

Please be aware there are only limited oncology clinics present at our sites from the end of April as per the transfer of oncology services. If you require a second opinion from an oncologist or oncology input to an outpatient, this should be sent to  the centralised email box with the tumour site stated in the subject heading  – swbh.oncology-referrals@nhs.net or directly to a neighbouring trust that has medical or clinical oncology staff.

Emergency inpatient access to oncology remains unchanged via the acute oncology service.

 

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 9 March

 

As a Trust we continue to focus on the experience of working here, in effect how we make our Trust a great place to work. All sorts of efforts contribute to that, including a decent induction process, good access to training and a commitment to high quality line management. Remember that all appraisals/PDRs must take place between April 1 and June 30, and all of us should have ours booked by 19 March.  If your line manager and you have not settled on a date, please speak up!

A part of our effort is making sure that we tackle exclusion and unconscious bias. That has been part of the accredited manager programme. We want to see potential realised, and all of us in our appraisal, will evaluate potential as well as performance. The BME Stepping Up leaders programme provides an opportunity for some colleagues to accelerate their learning and career with us. We have deliberately organised this programme on behalf of all local Black Country Trusts, as we want to help create networks beyond our walls, and the chance to learn from and with others.

Despite the immense pressure our acute sites are under we continue to work to provide safe care. I know everyone is tired and many frustrated to be again faced with outlying and temporary wards.  The combined impact of a 20% jump in demand and challenges with norovirus have put us into difficulty. The response, grounded in teamwork, has been fantastic. The underlying need though is to get our basics right consistently.  In particular we have to become a place in which accurate and plausible expected dates of discharge are an important indicator of care quality. That will allow us to anticipate and respond to demand and supply imbalances. It will also allow us to challenge practice either where someone is sent home prematurely or kept in a bed longer than is needed.

Fiona Shorney and Elaine Newell have led our response this week to the pressures and I have asked them to share their lessons and learning from what has worked with the wider clinical leadership. Sometimes in extreme circumstances we find solutions which might usefully become routine. EDDs that are real are obviously one of those. Let’s not revert to dates which are known by all to be out of date!  On our latest historic data on 22% of patients in medicine were discharged when we had expected them to be. If we change that our hospitals will be – and feel – very much safer. The current pressures are also the ideal opportunity to use the facility we put in just before Christmas whereby we can book GP appointments for local patients.  If, in SAU, AMU, PAU, EGAU or ED we think a patient could best be seen in primary care then we should enact just that. The NHS is a complex system and we should not disadvantage patients presenting where they think best but in the wrong place. Because we can offer a date and time for that GP appointment we know that it is best to discharge someone with that confidence.

I know many colleagues are concerned about our fire readiness and response.  49 employees are now eight months behind with their fire training and that must be resolved in the next few days as a matter of good sense, and if necessary contractual obligation. Meanwhile Malcolm Partridge and his team continue our programme of evacuation simulations which we consider to be the best way to prepare for the worst. Our fire alarm alerts in recent days are, at City, a one off blip. The alarm system at Sandwell is safe but needs underlying repairs and remedy and that will be resolved over the next six weeks. In the meantime therefore we do need to act on alarms and not allow the over-triggering to make us ignore something serious.

A number of colleagues are presently struggling with Windows 7 computers which we will “swap out” for Windows 10. Based on feedback at Hot Topics we will create a drop off point at Rowley Regis for any community teams who have not got time to get across to the main IT hub.

You will have seen in daily comms the readiness work and survey work being done on Unity. The level of awareness and engagement is, I sense, beginning to build. All of the new computers are now out, so if you are seeing a gap or have a query on why a yellow “computer coming” sticker is still on your wall contact Dean Harris or log that via the IT Helpdesk.  Walkthroughs of the new EPR in local areas continue and I would expect to be able to confirm a proper go live date during March. Our dress rehearsal is definitely going ahead from 16 April, with background testing from the week before. As we have said many times, please do not delay getting yourself ready – Unity is coming in the months ahead.

Next week I will circulate a message to everyone on next steps with Midland Met.  Positive news I suspect…

#hellomynameis….Toby

West Bromwich Leisure Centre, Harborne Pool and Fitness Centre and Sparkhill Pool and Fitness Centre – 14% discount on premium memberships including joint and family memberships

 

The West Bromwich Leisure Centre, Harborne Pool and Fitness Centre and Sparkhill Pool and Fitness Centre aims to create active places and healthy people through providing a wide range of facilities such as a gym, swimming pools, steam & sauna, fitness classes as well as racquet sports. The centres offer NHS staff a 14% discount across Premium memberships all year round including on Joint and Family memberships. The premium memberships include unlimited access to the gym, swimming and classes, plus sauna and steam at Sparkhill.

To redeem the discount you will need to provide a valid NHS ID badge or payslip on signing up either over the phone or in the centre.

West Bromwich Leisure Centre: 14% discount

Opening hours:

  • Mon – Fri: 6.30am – 10pm
  • Sat: 7am – 8pm
  • Sun: 8am – 8pm

Address:

West Bromwich Leisure Centre

Moor Street

West Bromwich

B70 7AZ

Tel: 0121 580 6430

Email address: enquiries@westbromwichlc.co.uk

Website: www.placesforpeopleleisure.org/centres/west-bromwich-leisure-centre/

Facebook – westbromwichleisurecentre

Twitter – @westbromwichlc

 

Harborne Pool and Fitness Centre: 14% discount

 

Opening hours:

  • Mon – Fri: 6am – 10pm
  • Sat – Sun: 7am – 7pm

Address:

Harborne Pool and Fitness Centre

Lordswood Rd,

Birmingham

B17 9QS

Tel: 0121 428 6820

Email – enquiries@harbornepoolandfitnesscentre.co.uk

Website – www.placesforpeopleleisure.org/centres/harborne-pool-and-fitness-centre/

Facebook – HarbornePoolandFitnessCentre

Twitter – @harbornepool

 

Sparkhill Pool and Fitness Centre: 15% discount

Opening hours:

  • Mon – Fri: 6am – 10pm
  • Sat: 7am – 6pm
  • Sun: 7am – 8pm

Address:

Sparkhill Pool and Fitness Centre

Stratford Road

Birmingham

B11 4EA

Tel: 0121 702 0950

Email – enquiries@sparkhillpoolandfitnesscentre.org

Website: www.placesforpeopleleisure.org/centres/sparkhill-pool-and-fitness-centre/

Facebook – SparkhillPoolandFitnessCentre

Twitter – @SparkhillPFC

Massage Therapies available at Sandwell Hospital

 

Fully qualified holistic massage therapist, Lynne Tandy is now offering facials and relaxing massages at Sandwell Hospital.

Massages include:

  • Facials with hand and feet massage (£25 = 55 minutes)
  • Top to Toe – full body massage (£25 = 55 minutes)
  • Hands, arms feet and legs (£20 = 30 minutes)
  • Head, neck and shoulders (£20 = 30 minutes)
  • Indian Head Massage (£20 = 30 minutes)

For bookings please contact Lynne Tandy on 07743052065 or email lynnetandy.arbonne@gmail.com

 

Information Governance mandatory training – Are you up to date?

 

There is a statutory requirement for all staff to undertake annual information governance (IG) training. NHS Digital mandates that we have to achieve a minimum 95 per cent of colleagues trained in IG. We have to achieve this figure by 31 March.

All colleagues have a responsibility to ensure their mandatory training is up to date.

Check now to see if you are in date or out of date http://trustreports/Reports/Pages/Report.aspx?ItemPath=%2fMandatory+Training%2fMandatory+Training+-+Staff+Enquiry

The online information governance training is available on ESR (search for ‘Data Security Awareness’), along with other options if you are unable to access the online training.

Please contact the IG team on IGovernance@nhs.net if you require any further information.

Main visitor entrance on Western Road closure – 10/11 March 2018

 

The main visitor entrance gate on Western Road at City Hospital will be closed over the weekend of 10/11 March 2018.

Access will be available via the bottom gate on Western Road. Car parks and site roadways will be otherwise unaffected.

Rheumatology support group

 

The Trust rheumatology support group held its first meeting of 2018 at their new home in the Medical Infusion Suite at City Hospital.

10 participants made up of patients, family and staff explored the philosophy of Tai Chi with all of them getting the opportunity to try both forms of sitting and standing.

The support group was led by Painting The Rainbow, Chief Instructor Mark Peters.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the rheumatology support group.

The next rheumatology support group will be taking place on Friday 16 March.

For further information, please contact jacqueline.slater@nhs.net

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