Monthly archives: December 2018
Heartbeat: New course for critical care colleagues helps to improve patient care
Our critical care service has developed a new leadership programme whereby those aspiring to grow within our organisation can enhance their skills to improve patient care.
A cohort of 12 band 6 nurses began the six month course in May and it has been developed by the senior team within critical care, this included Matron, Becky O’Dwyer, senior sisters and the professional development team.
Maria, a sister, is one of the first to join the course. She said: “Within critical care, leadership plays a massive part in developing the right care for patients and their families.
“This course allows us to do several things. It gives us the theory around leadership and it also gives us the knowledge to apply into practice.
“It also emphasises how to be a reflective practitioner, by being able to evaluate what you have done.
“You are continuously improving your skills and the outcome enhances your knowledge, theory and experience to make you a better leader within the service.
“We are supported by band 7 managers, who are also able to identify your learning needs.”
Rhea Conn, a sister who is also on the course, added: “It gives us on-the-job training which covers a wide range of topics. This includes looking at capacity, which will ensure a safe nurse-to-patient ratio, as well as analysing budgets and handling complaints. Since being on this course I have gained a great deal of confidence in dealing with many issues.”
Lucy Peacock, Senior Sister, added: “The critical care unit has historically had a strong link with leadership and development and we have been running an in-house ‘taught’ programme.
“However, the team decided to pull together and look at the main elements of the current course and adopt its principles of management, policy and unit standards into a wider programme which would be more practical-based rather than just ‘taught’. It is about training our next generation of leaders.”
Heartbeat: First steps of going smokefree at the Trust
As announced by Chief Executive, Toby Lewis on the 70th anniversary of the NHS, our organisation will be smoke free from 5 July 2019.
Back in September we marked 300 days until the ban on smoking comes into play and colleagues are being encouraged to kick the habit.
As an organisation we want to support any colleagues who are interested in quitting smoking. If this applies to you, you can access free stop smoking services during working hours, where you can find support to quit smoking and improve your health and wellbeing.
Alongside traditional coaching and support, 12 weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy to help manage cravings is also available.
One of the first steps in our journey to going smoke free was the recent removal of the smoking shelter at the rear of Trinity House. This shelter has been the subject of a number of Your Right to be Heard letters in Heartbeat after the last couple of months, as colleagues in offices close to the shelter were uncomfortable with the amount of second hand smoke created by people using the shelter.
Anil Patel, Digital Media Officer, who is based in an office directly behind where the shelter was said: “It’s a big relief now that the shelter has been removed.
We are able to open our windows freely without having to be concerned about second hand smoking.”
Benefits of going smokefree
Be sure to check out this video featuring Consultant Respiratory Physician, Arvind Rajasekaran explaining the benefits of going smoke free.
Our Trust will mark our 71st birthday next year (in 200 days) by going smoke free across all our sites.
200 days until we go smokefree
There’s just 200 days to go before we go smokefree across site.
The new policy will come into place on 5 July, 2019 and our organisation is preparing for the change by urging colleagues, patients and visitors to get the help they need to quit now.
Stop Smoking Services are available to colleagues and patients across Sandwell and West Birmingham with dedicated clinics at Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals.
Appointment slots can be booked with Caroline Kenny, and Stephanie Morris, Health Exchange Stop Smoking Service Coordinators, or Stop Smoking Advisor Nadia Al-Sohaini.
Stephanie said: “We have a presence on the wards four days a week in the mornings, where we visit patients asking them if they would like help and if they accept, we can then support them further.
“Employees are able to book an appointment at either Sandwell or Rowley Regis Hospitals, or go along to a drop-in session at City.
“During the one-to-one sessions, we talk to the patient or staff member about how much they smoke, their motivation behind quitting and the health benefits of giving up.
“We will also provide 12 weeks’ worth of Nicotine Replacement Therapy at no cost to employees.”
When the ban comes into force, the workforce, patients and visitors will still be able to vape outside, away from entrances.
Respiratory Consultant Dr Zia Ansari, said: “We see many patients and colleagues with respiratory conditions as a result of smoking. However, they are not very aware of the effects that it can have on their health.
“We are finding that around 50 per cent of patients attending our respiratory clinics are smokers.
“However, I believe the organisation going smokefree is a positive move and sends a clear message that it can seriously harm your health.”
Latest figures from Public Health England show that smokers are four times as likely to quit using a combination of behavioural support, than no help or over the counter Nicotine Replacement Therapy.
A survey to find out what our colleagues think about the smoking ban has also been set up. Early figures indicate that 94 per cent of staff are aware that the organisation is going smokefree across all sites, with 16 per cent confirming that they are smokers.
Feedback included a high level of interest in help to quit smoking, whilst there were suggestions for clearly marked areas for vaping. A small number also confirmed they were concerned about the effects of second hand smoke. The survey asks smokers whether they have attempted to quit before, whether the ban will change their smoking habits and what else the Trust could be doing to ease the transition to smokefree sites.
To fill in the survey, please click here.
How to access the service:
Sandwell Hospital:
An appointment-only clinic is held on Mondays, between 8.30am and 1pm for employees.
City Hospital:
A drop-in session is held on Tuesdays at Sheldon Block, City Hospital, between 9.30am and 1.30pm for employees.
Rowley Regis Hospital:
An appointment-only session is held every Saturday, for patients and staff.
For more information or to book an appointment, call the Stop Smoking Service on 0121 663 0007.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 14 December
I very much hope you are ready for Christmas. In the coming week we judge the decorations contest, and as usual on the day itself we will have gifts for patients and free food in our restaurants for colleagues on shift. Part of being ready for the festive period is being prepared for the single weekdays between Bank Holidays and the pattern this year of weekends.
I cannot emphasise enough how important it will be to have robust rota planning and discharge planning in place. I know some team leaders may be frustrated to be asked, but it is vital that we are well prepared to ensure that we manage safe discharges this festive season. We have worked hard with GP and care home partners to be ready. I know this week we rolled out our successful Sandwell early discharge work on to the City site, and I know too, how hard teams are working to help patients who have been with us more than a fortnight to move to the right location for ongoing care needs. I remain, despite our pressures, convinced we can succeed but we will need everyone to work together. Knowing who is going home tomorrow, and having that patient ready before 10am will make all the difference to the care of someone else. For all the skills and compassion of our ED colleagues, whose advent calendar is above, the A&E is not intended to function as a night ward, and to avoid that we need discharge volume and velocity, safely, rather than more beds. It is both safe and ‘ok’ for a non-complex patient going home this lunchtime to be asked to self-care at the bedside or in the day room under supervision if need be.
This last week saw a well-publicised simulation of the future integrated care model that GPs, social care, the third sector and our teams are co-constructing for 2020. This is in line with our long term vision and the NHS Long Term Plan. It will be grounded in a major move from financial flows based on counting what we do to funding annually or multi-annually each resident on a capitation basis. The emerging provider alliances – essentially co-operation agreements between neighbours – will then adapt what we do to better meet the needs of children, families, those with long term conditions and the growing older population that we serve. From April, I would expect each primary care network locally to have established with us some priorities for immediate improvements, as well as a shared vision for the longer term. This is all groundwork for Midland Metropolitan, and must be based on the staff and skills that we have locally. Put more bluntly, we have to design models of care that people want to work in. Some of those will be ‘centralised’ but many will be distributed across our own locations and key centres in primary care, like Neptune, Tower Hill and Rowley Regis. Our exact relationship with general practice in the future will vary across our geography. In some places, as with Modality, we will see groups of GPs take on work we presently do. In other areas, we may take more direct responsibility for primary care, either in partnership or as the prime provider. We have bid recently for some GP services and are now awaiting the outcome of those tenders.
Any distributed model of working will rely, of course, on our IT. We continue to focus time and attention on that, and are expecting next week to confirm our place at the head of the queue to enlarge and replace our N3 connection. On current plan we would expect all of the IT technical dependencies for Unity to be resolved and in place by the time we have our February Dress Rehearsal. Doubling our Wifi capability and resolving all of the local printing issues are hurdles set by our Board before we can progress to go-live. I want to thank those colleagues in Martin Sadler’s team who are working to achieve those aims. Unity Roadshows have been drawing crowds this last week and continue next week. Over 2,000 people remain to be trained in January, and if you have not yet booked yourself into basic training, you need to do so. Whilst we continue to publish statistics about our IT and work towards to a more methodical quantified scorecard, we are also conscious that we need to understand how our IT feels where you work. Look out in staff comms for the opportunity to be one of our 100 mystery shoppers who will be asked each fortnight whether you are experiencing improvements. It is important to us all not only to deliver Trust level IT changes for the better, but to neither obscure nor leave unresolved local issues like that faced now by neurophysiology or midwifery.
I want to thank colleagues in maternity services, especially Clare Cushing for the work done to make progress since October on VTE assessments. The Trust re-achieved a 95% threshold this month. You will remember though that our safety plan aim, and our quality plan aim, is 100% coverage. Efforts continue in acute medicine to do just that. I am sure that our leadership teams at local level can do this, and AMU A have been driving ahead. Whether it is overnight or at weekends, we need to make sure that assessments are not stayed to board rounds but completed live. Our mortality analysis continues to show avoidable harm and we should be unembarrassed, as with sepsis, ensuring that we deliver from ourselves as professionals the care we would wish as patients. In 2019 for both VTE and sepsis we will take together decisive steps to meet that promise.
#hellomynameis…toby
Adverse weather expected this weekend
There are reports of very cold weather this weekend that could include ice and snow. Please refer to your business continuity plans and check that you are prepared to continue your services in the event of bad weather conditions. This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services.
Please refer to the national Cold Weather Plan and our Trust Severe Weather Plan for appropriate preventive action.
Colleague preparation
It is expected that colleagues make every effort to attend work as planned including on call arrangements, as we will continue to run a 24 hour service during this time. Please ensure you consider putting the following in place as part of your planning arrangements:
- Consider alternative for care arrangements should schools and other care services close
- Ensure you have sufficient fuel in your vehicles and make all the necessary road safety checks to optimise your journey
- Dress warmly with layers; appropriate footwear for walking if necessary and readily available snacks
- Keep updated with the situation of the roads and the availability of public transport
- Consider car sharing with colleagues.
For individuals the cold weather plan recommends:
- Dress warmly with layers; take warm food drinks regularly; keep active
- If you have to go out, take appropriate precautions
- Check on those you know are at risk
Please can you consider this in your work and as individuals. Looking after vulnerable people in the community prevents additional hospital admissions. This is a busy time for urgent and emergency care, the cold weather could add to the pressure and these actions may help to reduce that pressure.
As individuals, please consider making sure you follow the guidance and that you promote good care for friends and family during this time.
Planned IT maintenance work Saturday 15 December: 6am-9am
Planned maintenance work is taking place tomorrow, Saturday 15 December, between 6am and 9am on the IT switches at Sandwell and City. We expect that any outage would only affect IT systems and VOIP (desk) phones for a short period of time (5 minutes). The schedule of maintenance for certain areas is below. Wards will be affected between 7:30am and 9am. You are advised to save your work ahead of the scheduled maintenance time as your PC will log out. Night shift colleagues must collect a radio for your area tonight as back up should the phones fail.
Sandwell General Hospital
06:30: ED, Critical Care and Theatres
06:45: AMU and Community (this should not affect external community sites)
07:00: Pathology
07:15: Pharmacy
07:30: Radiography
Wards are likely to affected for a short period between 07:30 and 09:00
City Hospital
06:15: BTC and DGM building (no scheduled clinical activity)
Telecomms
VOIP (desk) phones will go down cross-site at 6:45am.
Desktop alerts will be issued as maintenance is completed.
Should there be ongoing issues please contact IT Servicedesk on 4050 or via the portal on Connect.
Heartbeat: Celebrating the work and dedication of our maternity support workers
Our organisation took part in the Royal College of Midwives Maternity Support Worker (MSW) Week for the first time this year.
Taking place in November, the week was aimed at raising awareness of MSWs and celebrating the work that they do.
Midwifery Clinical Educator, Olivia Agar explained more: “In order to recognise MSWs as an integral part of the maternity team, the RCM celebrate MSW week on an annual basis. This is first year that our workplace has been involved. As part of our celebrations we hosted a number of events where we invited colleagues to nominate a MSW for good practice (MSW 2018 award), tell us why they love being a MSW and tell us why they love their MSW.”
Over 200 nominations and comments were received with many examples of how our MSWs make a real difference.
Comments included:
“They always prep the beds ready for admissions, always offer to help, very supportive. Feed us toast and tea!”
“Always friendly, polite and welcoming. Spend time listening to the women and value their points of view.”
Olivia added: “These comments demonstrate how lucky we are to have such a dedicated group of colleagues who play an important role in assisting midwives in caring for women and their babies through the vital stages of pregnancy, childbirth and the first few days of birth.”
Heartbeat spoke to Midwife, Pam Casey who added: “The MSWs on M1 are the backbones of this unit. We wouldn’t be able to function or do our jobs to the best of our abilities without them. In my book they’re the unsung heroes really. I couldn’t pick one MSW on M1 that stands out the most – I think they are all amazing. They are a credit to this unit.”
Tayyaba Mumtaz is a MSW who has received a comment about her work saying “Always has a smile on her face even when things are tough.”
We caught up with Tayyaba who told us more about her work. She said: “It’s good to be recognised for all your hard work and to see that people appreciate what you do.
“What I enjoy the most about my role is how we work as part of the team supporting new moms with feeding and changing their babies. Having a baby is a big thing for new moms and we provide support if they are unsure of anything. I enjoy doing bloods and observations on the new-borns and just being part of a good team.”
Katherine Gutteridge, Consultant Midwife and RCM President will select the winner of MSW 2018 at the end of November. Everyone who received a nomination will be awarded with a certificate of commendation.
As part of MSW week colleagues had the opportunity to attend RCM study days. The RCM welcomes support workers (bands 1-4) in maternity including MSWs, HCAs, MAs, community support workers or those in clerical or administration roles into membership and to get more involved in the organisation. You can find out more here https://www.rcm.org.uk/content/msws
OFSTED inspectors on site Friday
As many of you know our Trust is an accredited provider for Apprenticeships in health care, business admin and more recently team leading. Our accreditation means that we are subject to OFTSED inspections in the same way that schools and colleges are. The OFTSED inspectors will be on site on Friday 14 December and may visit apprentices and their managers in clinical and non-clinical areas across our sites. They will have their OFSTED ID with them at all times. Please welcome them and make time to talk to the inspectors and answer any questions they may have if they visit your area.
Black Country schoolchildren release Christmas single
Featured in the Birmingham Live.
All these Oldbury schoolchildren want for Christmas is to enter the charts with their charity single, O Holy Night.
Bristnall Hall Academy has teamed up with Your Trust Charity, run by Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, to form The Heartbeats Choir and record the well-known carol.
The track, which will go head-to-head with this year’s X Factor winner and other chart-topping artists, will raise cash to enhance patient experience at the trust, which also runs Sandwell , City and Rowley Regis hospitals.
Former pupil James Callaghan, who now works as sound designer for the hit BBC show, Doctor Who, also got involved by producing the track, which features the vocal talents of students, teachers, school governors, PCSOs, healthcare workers, and four-times world kickboxing champion Kash ‘The Flash’ Gill.
You can read the full article here.
← Older items Newer items →