Monthly archives: December 2018
Christmas Jumper Day – 21 December: Enhance the experience of people using our services
The Trust will be supporting Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 21 December and all colleagues are encouraged to play their part too!
Put on your silliest Christmas Jumper and help raise money for Your Trust Charity. Other items such as Christmas tie/bowtie, hair accessories or socks can be worn – so no excuses!
All proceeds raised will go towards enhancing the experience of all people using our services including colleagues, patients and their families.
To join in the fun and donate £2, text ‘YTCJ18 £2’ to 70070.
Please complete our short survey on going #SmokeFree
#SmokeFree
The Trust is going smoke free across all sites from 5 July 2019, and we’ll be marking 200 days to go on 17 December. In order to help us make the transition to smoke free we would like to hear how the change will affect you. Whether you are a smoker or non smoker, we’d love to hear your thoughts on going smoke free.
The following survey will only take five minutes to complete, so please take the time to tell us what you think. We’ll be sharing the results of the survey in the new year.
Heartbeat: Tablet donations – but not as you know them
Patients on Lyndon 1 will soon be tapping away with joy on brand new tablets thanks to a generous donation from BT.
Presenting the tablets to Lyndon 1, Tom Hannibal, Team Manager at BT, Providence House said: “We’re always looking for worthy causes to help and we have a fundraiser each month to support the local community, this month one of our team suggested having a collection in aid of the poorly children at Sandwell Hospital and after much thought, we decided to donate some tablets to keep young children entertained in hospital.
“Our staff at BT had a great time raising money by selling samosas and cakes and with the money raised we were able to buy not one but four tablets for the hospital.”
Joanne Wright, Ward Manager on Lyndon 1 said: “Coming into hospital is often a very stressful experience and whilst we do everything we can to keep our patients calm, we’re always keen to help distract and entertain our young patients.
“These tablets will give us the ability to provide a welcome distraction to patients on our ward, they can sit, relax, watch a video or simply play a game from the comfort of their own bed whilst they rest and recuperate.”
If you would like to donate to the hospital, you can contact Amanda Winwood at Your Trust Charity on ext. 4847 or email Amanda.winwood@nhs.net
weconnect: Become a pioneer for engagement
Our weconnect programme of engagement launched in November. Through this we are aiming to create happier, more effective teams as evidenced by an overall staff engagement score of 4.0 which is among the highest engagement score in the NHS – we are currently at 3.72 which is the NHS average.
An important part of weconnect is our elite programme of support for teams who are really keen to become pioneers and see their engagement improve.
Our pioneer teams will set out on a six month journey which will include dedicated support from specially trained in-house Connectors and Director sponsors. Pioneers will take part in new ways of listening and involving colleagues to be the best they can be.
- Fast-track support for Estates issues
- IT help where you need it
- Dedicated support to develop your team intranet pages on Connect
- A budget for your engagement activities
- Priority room bookings for team time
If you are interested in your team becoming a pioneer complete the form below and email it to sue.bullock2@nhs.net by the end of today.
weconnect Pioneer Teams Programme Application Form
Note: Teams should be between 20 and 30 people.
Job of the week: Band 7 Informatics Nurse (Secondment)
This is an exciting opportunity to join our existing clinical informatics team: supporting clinicians with working towards Unity go-live and post go-live.
To find out more about the role, please click the link below:
Clinical Informatics Nurse Band 7 Secondment
For more information please contact Sharon Reynolds, Informatics Matron on ext. 3548 or via email at sharon.reynolds1@nhs.net.
The festive forest – a Christmas tale
Once upon a time, a very kind deed was done in order to help the mummies and little babies born across the Trust. The person responsible for that deed was our very own Rachel Carter, Director of Midwifery who explained: “I love to relax by doing something creative and came up with the idea of making little Christmas trees from material and beads, with a cork for the base. It is a really enjoyable, rewarding hobby; this year I’ve already made a forestful which I’m selling at only £2 per tree.
“We’ve been fortunate to use funds donated to some of our areas maternity and paediatric areas to improve the environment however there are some areas that don’t receive many donations as our women and families ‘pass through’. So, the proceeds are going into the pot to enhance the décor across our Trust-wide antenatal clinics, bringing a little more joy to our mums and babies. I’ve made over 60 so far, and will keep on going until materials have run out! I hand sew the tiny beads onto each tree, so each one is a truly unique labour of love.
“I’ve had some lovely feedback on the finished product, and take great delight seeing them decorating colleague’s desks! I’m happy to share the design if anyone wants to join the forest project.”
To buy a tree or help in the creation of them, please contact Rachel by email on rachel.carter14@nhs.net.
Heartbeat: IPC nurse commended for outstanding achievement at Dundee University
A newly qualified infection prevention and control (IPC) nurse advisor is beaming with pride after receiving a Dean’s Award for outstanding academic achievement from Dundee University.
IPC Nurse, Susan Ward had been with the infection control team for 14 years when she decided to take the leap and launch herself in to a self-funded two year long distance learning degree at Dundee University with the aim of progressing in her IPC career here at SWBH. And at graduation two years on, she was overcome with joy when she was chosen for the much sought after award.
To find out more, Heartbeat caught up with Susan during one of her shifts at City Hospital. She said: “I love working here and I was keen to progress so as soon as I saw an opportunity to enrol in an IPC top up degree, I jumped at the chance and never looked back.
“The course was distance learning which fitted in with the demands of a young family and a husband who works away from home. The degree had a heavy focus on applied learning, this meant I spent time with our domestic teams and laboratory colleagues to see how they work and the challenges they face in a modern NHS. Additionally, understanding why it’s important that we work together to provide safe, quality care for our patients and support to protect colleagues.”
Susan continued: “Returning to academia can be daunting, but I worked hard for the first module, fitting in reading whenever I could. This often meant reviewing articles in the changing rooms of our local swimming pool whilst waiting for the kids, children’s birthday parties, and even sneaking work in at a family wedding! I pushed myself to engage with other students and with the activities that the tutors gave us and I even ended up doing a short video about the benefits of social media for nursing which my tutor has used for a presentation for other students.
“After getting an A for my first module this spurred me on and gave me confidence. The hard work paid off and I achieved a distinction overall for my degree. So it was a complete surprise to receive the Dean’s award, I feel very humbled.
“It’s been a great opportunity to study alongside people from many other countries and also to be taught by a leading light in IPC, our course tutor being the education and research lead for the IPC society.”
Since receiving her new qualifications and commendation, Susan has now moved in to a IPC nurse advisor role with a particular focus on neonatal, surgical wounds, MRSA as well as her number one priority of preventing avoidable healthcare associated infections and supporting colleagues to deliver safe care.
Looking to the future, Susan is now keen to gain her master’s degree.
#Unity is coming…
By Dominic LeGros, Informatics Nurse
Next year, our organisation will experience the biggest transformation in the Trust’s history – Unity.
Unity is our new electronic patient record (EPR) and will see a dramatic reduction in the amount of paper we use in our day to day activities whilst continuing to provide excellent care to our patients.
The change will be massive, instead of folders perched on the foot of a patient’s bed, we will be documenting directly on a computer. This requires a fundamental change in our culture from using paper to completing electronic documentation and assessments. Note trolleys will become a thing of the past.
The benefits of EPR systems are widely known around the world, and for this journey we have partnered with a global company with expertise in electronic patient records; Cerner. The system we know as Unity is already successfully used in 23 other NHS Trusts and over 67,000 hospitals worldwide, so we know it works and that it is safe.
Change is never easy, and a change of this magnitude will challenge us all; but if we all work together we will see Unity become the core around which we deliver high-quality care to all of our patients across the Trust.
Unity will work with us to improve patient safety by replacing illegible paper records, reducing the risk of error when prescribing and administering medications, allowing access to the drug chart at all times preventing delays due to a paper chart being in pharmacy (or elsewhere) and improving detection of potential sepsis thanks to a system of alerts that will guide all colleagues to take appropriate action.
Life as we know it won’t be the same; we will all need to brush up on basic computer skills (using a mouse and keyboard) as well as spending more time taking mobile computers for walks around the ward!
Over the coming weeks I will be exploring each of these themes, and more, in greater detail.
#hellomynameis… Dom, and I am one of your informatics nurses.
#Unity – releasing time to care
Raffle tickets at the ready – are you a winner?
Well done to everyone who entered this years Magical Raffle!
With your support, this year Your Trust Charity has been able to raise an amazing £1,995 which will go towards supporting patients at our Trust.
The raffle has now been drawn, so please check your tickets and get in touch with Amanda Winwood on ext 4847 if you are one of the lucky winners.
The winning numbers of our magical raffle are:
04744 – Harry Potter Studio tour
00861 – Magical overnight stay at Drayton Manor
00107 – VIP Giraffe experience at Longleat
03310 – Free parking for 1 year at SWBH sites
00128 – Holiday at Croyde bay
05461 – Harry Potter Cursed child theatre tickets
06642 – The Templar Knight signed book
05109 – 60 minute massage
02067 – 2 tickets to see Les miserables at Hippodrome
05004 – 2 x £50 Amazon vouchers
04727 – Waffle Bathrobe
00004 – Dinner voucher for Copthorne Dudley
02007 – £100 Selfridges voucher
03414 – Fruit Basket
03319 – 4 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts
02008 – Personalised 1:1 yoga session and a session for you and a friend
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