Monthly archives: January 2019
Cold Weather Alert – Plan and prepare for your journey to work
As adverse weather is forecast for this week please ensure you prepare for how you will get to work in the event of snow, ice and travel disruption.
Top tips for winter preparedness
- Don’t be reliant on your car to get to work, ensure you have alternative transport available, (train, metro, bus).
- If you have childcare responsibilities, ensure you have a friend or family member to support should schools \ nurseries close.
- Keep up to date with the weather, cold weather reports are published in the daily bulletin and on myConnect, as well as weather reports on apps\ tv and radio.
- If you drive, ensure your car is suitably equipped and serviced to handle winter weather safely.
- If you need to find alternative routes to work using public transport that you are unfamiliar with use https://www.networkwestmidlands.com/ or apps on your phone such as ‘City Mapper’ to navigate your way to work.
If you are unable to make it to work, you must inform your line manager at the earliest available opportunity. Guidance on the reporting protocol can be found on Connect.
Heartbeat: Apprentices reach new heights
https://youtu.be/5nNl5AQUFvk
At the end of 2018, we hosted our apprenticeship achievements ceremony, which celebrate the successes of our apprentices. The celebration also marked our organisation meeting the government apprenticeship target of 2.3 per cent (equivalent to 161 people) of our workforce being on an apprenticeship programme.
The special event, which was hosted in the Education Centre at Sandwell Hospital, saw over 35 apprentices and their closest friends and family members come together to celebrate their success.
Guests were welcomed by Bethan Downing, Deputy Director, Organisation Development and Learning and then apprentices were presented with certificates of achievement by Maxine Griffiths, Widening Participation Manager. The event was then topped off with refreshments for all to enjoy.
Maxine believes all the apprentices should be proud of what they have achieved. She said: “All the apprentices have done really well to get their level 2s and 3s, whether that is in Business Administration, Health and Social Care or Customer Service.
“It can be difficult to manage the time to study whilst working but they have all proved that hard work can pay off if you put your mind to it.”
Bethan echoes these thoughts and said: “I would like to say congratulations to everyone who was successful in completing an apprenticeship in 2018.
“I would also like to congratulate the team on meeting attaining over 2 per cent regarding the government apprenticeship target.”
One of the apprentices who received an award was Cody Pearsall, who has recently been appointed as a HCA on Lyndon 1.
She said: “I really enjoyed my apprenticeship and I felt like I learned lots. I worked on Lyndon 1 during my studying, so I was delighted when they took me on as a qualified health care assistant and I am really enjoying my new role.
“I hope that in the future I can continue to progress.”
Cold Weather Alert Level 3 – Action
There is a 90 per cent probability of severe cold weather/icy conditions/heavy snow between 9am, Tuesday 29 January, 9am, Friday 1 February. This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services.
Please refer to the Severe Weather Plan for appropriate preventive action.
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.
Action counters terrorism
Our prevent strategy is a process aimed to counter terrorism through recognising vulnerabilities within communities and individuals which may place them at high risk of radicalisation. It aims to stop people developing into terrorists or supporting terrorism.
One way we do this is by using the referral process, this is the process you must follow if you suspect someone may be a terror related risk. Firstly you must ask is the person causing concern where they are not an immediate risk, but a parent/carer/college indicate that they may have been radicalised. If so, you need to complete a referral form and email to ctu_gateway@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk for individuals over 18, or access_team@sandwell.gcsx.gov.uk for under 18, also including the Adult Safeguarding team at swb-tr.SWBH-Alert-PREVENT@nhs.net.
The prevent lead will then review the referral and outcomes will either be: no further action, refer to a local authority, refer to police or adding the update to patient/ staff files. However, if the individual is at immediate risk, where they are behaving as though they will be an immediate risk of initiating a violent extremist attack, you must call 999 or security on 2222. You will also need to Inform Prevent Lead Clare Cotterill clarecotterill@nhs.net, along with Human Resources and complete an Incident Form.
Supporting the PREVENT strategy, National Counter Terrorism Policing have launched an eight-week Communities Defeat Terrorism cinema advertising campaign; timed to coincide with Oscar’s season.
For more information and to support this campaign you can follow the links below:
The campaign’s hashtag is #ActionCountersTerrorism and the social media channels are:
Twitter: @TerrorismPolice
Facebook: @CounterTerrorismPoliceUK
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/terrorismpolice
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/counterterrorismpolicinguk
Conference: Preventing deaths of people with a learning disability
Translating learning into action from mortality reviews to improve health and care outcomes and save lives.
This event is aimed at any health and care professional who may meet people with a learning disability and their families using their services, including professionals in mainstream health care services as well as specialist health and social care services and their partners in the voluntary and independent sector.
Date: Wednesday 20 March 2019
Venue: Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel, Portland Street, Manchester, M1 4PH.
To register for this free event visit: https://www.events.england.nhs.uk/events/leder-learning-into-action-conference
Further details available in the attached flyer: LeDER Flyer v3
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 25 January
While many of you have been working hard on the most important things this week, Steve Clarke and I have been out finding new car parking spaces at Sandwell. We have identified 20 new spaces for immediate use, and have plans to add perhaps 40 more by spring. Early next month we will announce the arrangements for our new car parks from 2020, alongside programmes this spring to reduce car park use by supporting and funding alternative ways to get to work. I know that car parking issues are a huge source of frustration. The future is much better but we are working to make the present bearable.
I am pleased that the nurse escalator programme that we launched almost a year ago has sprung into life now, with Paula Gardner and colleagues giving it renewed emphasis. Whether it is to move from HCA band 2 to band 3, into our nurse apprentice band 4 role, or the escalators for bands 5 to 6, we want to make career development at the Trust easier. Linked to your Aspiring to Excellence PDR outcome, some colleagues are being fast tracked through the role hierarchy, with extra support and opportunities. Within nursing, we are clear as a Board that we want to make sure that there is an expert practitioner career development route, as well as a route into professional management. Colleagues should not need to leave the Trust to develop specialised skills in some domains, which is why we have developed our critical care programme, and are looking at similar approaches in fields like infection control. The Trust in 2019-20 will continue to place a massive emphasis on being fully and better staffed, and whilst inevitably there is much talk about recruitment, we continue to focus on retaining people in our organisation and developing them into new roles. That should be part of a manager’s job and their appraisal, and by way of balance, the Board has just approved a new programme to support deputy directors in corporate functions en route to executive level posts. We need outstanding clinicians and outstanding managers in our system.
Just like last week, there are more people to thank for our emergency care mobilisation than there is space on this blog. The emphasis of the work that Rachel Barlow, Paula Gardner and David Carruthers are leading is on coaching to unblock historic problems in how we discharge patients, access diagnostic support, ready beds in our assessment units, and manage surges or other pressure in our emergency departments. Jo Thomas and Debi Fretwell are leading much of that work successfully at ward level, while Helen Mallard and Amandeep Tung are alongside our A&E shift leaders. Portering is always part of the picture and I know that many people have asked to mention Zaheer Iqbal’s work in experimenting with new ideas in that field. Saket Singhal, Linda Cashmore and Jenny Aldershaw have probably seen the best discharge day for many months through their work on Priory 5 – but there is still a weekend to go. That picks up a theme I want to return to next week. We operate seven days a week and overnight – and our site teams are adapting admirably to changing roles and expectations. Patreece Wright, Jo Aljundi and Laura Roberts have helped hugely with that, but I know that the site and duty senior nurse and managers need your help and cooperation not only to manage now, but to plan tomorrow. The notion that a patient being discharged in the morning can be safely sat out from bed, in many cases, before 10am is starting to take hold, as is bedside handover on admission. Taken together both ideas are making our daytime work safer. This weekend we want to make that true ‘out of hours’.
The countdown for Unity is gaining pace of course. The Pain and Gain sessions are developing a brand, and in a few days we start our Full Dress Rehearsal. We have a lot to practice and learn before we can go live with the new system, a system that gives us safer prescribing, and will, in the long run, save staff time because we won’t be recollecting lots of information. If you have not had your basic training, please get booked in. If you are booked in, please come along. If you think you have been forgotten, please speak up. Unity is all about working together to use technology to improve care, and that means you! Our Quality Improvement Half Day in March will kick off the 28-day challenge, which is designed to get us ready for a spring go-live. You know how soon that is if you have already booked your summer holiday, so please do not delay in talking with your colleagues and line manager about your needs to play your part.
Finally, February brings all sorts of new things. One of which in Sandwell is Fizz Free February. This is a borough wide campaign to cut out sugared drinks, especially for children and young people. As a Trust we took action on this issue as part of our Public Health plan in 2015, but we will be using the month to engage in education projects and to work with parents to promote the right nutrition, hydration, diet and exercise. Obesity in children is probably the biggest public health and inequality issue we face, and whilst this is just one step, it is an important one. Look out for more publicity from next week, and let’s do what we can to focus on health as well as illness. Working closely with schools is a constant and growing theme for us as we try to become more preventative in what we contribute to the local community. I am sure you will have ideas about what we could do, and, as ever, I would love to hear them.
I attach this week’s IT stats Informatics Data 25 Jan 19
#hellomynameisToby
Kerry’s clean path to work in theatre
Featured in: The Chronicle Week.
FOLLOWING an unusual path through healthcare has given Senior Theatre Practitioner Kerry Scott a wonderful tale to tell about her journey into the NHS.
Leaving school at the age of 18, Kerry decided to take on a number of jobs before deciding to join the healthcare industry. She said: “I’d originally joined the hospital as a cleaner and worked my way up to a healthcare assistant and then went onto work within the operating department.”
Understanding how important cleanliness is to the welfare of patients is a great discipline for anyone working within the operating theatre environment, so Kerry had a good head start on moving into her role in theatres. Working within theatres is not for the faint-hearted, but for the mum-of-two Kerry, it’s where she feels most comfortable and loves every moment.
She smiled: “It gives me a great sense of satisfaction. We save lives and make a difference to our patients on a daily basis.
“I feel extremely proud, especially when I see the patients’ recovery.”
As a senior theatre practitioner, Kerry’s main responsibility is to ensure all the equipment is clean and ready for operations. She also works with anaesthetists and supports surgeons during operations.
She said: “It’s a fast-paced and challenging environment, as you get to work on many difficult cases. Our theatres team have some of the best surgeons and doctors in the country and it’s wonderful to work along with them and help our patients. We’re currently looking for more theatre staff to join our team, so are holding a recruitment day on 26th January at Sandwell Hospital, I highly recommend theatre practitioners looking for a new challenge to come along.”
Kerry, 45, credits her team for her success. She said: “We are a close-knit team and we support each other in many ways. If a new person joins, no matter what their rank is, they will always have a buddy to support them in the first three months, so they can learn quickly and adapt to the new environment.
“We often go out with each other after work and if a member of the team is having a challenging time at home or at work, we always support them.
“I also feel grateful to my team and the Trust for investing in my development. I don’t think I would be where I am today without their support and encouragement.”
For her next challenge, Kerry and one of her colleagues will be looking at equipping the Midland Metropolitan Hospital with cutting edge technology for the department.
She said: “This is part of our big plan to prepare for the moving to the new hospital, which is due to open in 2022. We want to make sure our theatres have the best facilities so that we can provide great care.”
So where does she get her inspiration from? “My dad is my hero”, she explained. “He always works hard and is always helpful. He is kind to everyone and that really inspires me.”
- The theatres recruitment open day will be held at the Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital, on Saturday 26 January, between 9.30am – 2pm. For more information, please visit http://www.swbhjobs.co.uk/our-events/
Unity – the pain and the gain
https://youtu.be/dogFPVaHSVk
Thank you to colleagues from across our sites who attended the two Unity engagement sessions held at Sandwell Hospital on Tuesday.
There was a great buzz in the room as colleagues used Unity to follow a patient through their pathway and a lot of discussion as clinical leads and works stream leads were quizzed about how Unity will work in reality.
Attendees also heard about the pain and gain of implementing an electronic patient record from colleagues in two other trusts who have recently gone through the digital journey.
Chief Clinical Information Officer, Ash Sharma facilitated the Unity engagement sessions.
Be sure to check out this short video featuring Ash talking about the importance of the EPR system and the benefits Unity will have for the Trust and our patients.
Heartbeat: Collaboration with local GP partnerships announced
As Chief Executive, Toby Lewis announced in his Friday message earlier this month, we have been successful in a bid to secure an Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contract to run GP services in our area in collaboration with local GP partnerships.
Toby explained: “Our Trust believes in partnership and in diversity. So we will work at scale with primary care in our networks and alliances across Ladywood, Perry Barr and Sandwell. And we will continue to create deep working relationships with valued GP colleagues through mechanisms like these APMS contracts. The new arrangements are a chance to do, to learn and to build trust. We want to move fast to provide the very best long term conditions care for children and for adults that redefine traditional home and hospital boundaries.”
The contract takes effect on 1 April 2019. We’re working with two partners – Your Health Partnership across Sandwell and Broadway Health Centre in Birmingham – to deliver primary care services to approximately 16,000 patients from Great Bridge Health Centre, Parsonage Street and Summerfield GP Practice.
Dr Simon Mitchell, Executive Partner at Your Health Partnership said: “Your Health Partnership is delighted to have the opportunity to work with the hospital Trust to deliver primary care services in West Bromwich. We have a well-established relationship with the Trust and believe the opportunity to work together in this way will create lots of exciting new ways to improve the health of the patients whilst continuing to deliver great quality general practice.”
This new contract offers the potential to shape primary healthcare provision locally. Working with our partners, we’ll embrace the opportunity to work differently which may see some patients having their care delivered by consultants in a primary care setting, and seeing increased consultant-led clinics opening closer to home, at their GP surgery.
For many patients, they will see the benefit of having almost all their NHS services (with the exception of mental health) delivered by one organisation that includes, primary care, acute and community services. The opportunity to build a meaningful data set for the patients registered with the health centres, will give insight into whether new ways of working improve health outcomes.
Dr Imran Zaman, GP at Broadway Healthcare Centre, said: “I am a firm believer that healthcare should be delivered as a whole and that’s why I’m very excited with this opportunity as it will deliver the integrated care model that we have always been talking about.
“I’m thankful to everyone who has been involved in making this partnership happen. Over the next couple of months and indeed in years to come, I hope that patients and staff will see the difference that this opportunity brings.”
Dr Manir Aslam, GP at Broadway Healthcare Centre, added: “We’ve been really fortunate to collaborate with the Trust to deliver this truly integrated care model.
“This partnership has tremendous benefits for patients and means that there will be joined-up services, where treatment plans will be designed by generalists from primary care, specialists from the Trust and our patients.
“We will definitely see a more seamless pathway for patients so they can be seen quicker and treated more effectively. From my point of view, this partnership shows the true meaning of integration and that’s the future of our healthcare service.”
Heartbeat: State of the art x-ray machine takes pride of place at Rowley
A new state of the art x-ray machine has been installed at Rowley Regis Hospital this month, which means patients will no longer need to be transferred to another site for diagnostics.
The Siemens Ysio x-ray machine offers unique automation for fast and safe system positioning and better image quality. This means colleagues will be able to streamline and speed up their workflows resulting in an improved focus on the patient.
Heartbeat caught up with Fiona Rotherham, Deputy Group Director of Operations – Imaging to discuss the new x-ray equipment.
HB: How will the x-ray machine benefit our patients?
FR: The new Siemens Ysio x-ray machine at Rowley is the latest addition to our digital plain film x-ray stock and matches the models we have recently installed elsewhere across the organisation.
This means that patients across all our hospital sites will now be getting the highest quality x-rays via the most up to date technology.
Having this machine at Rowley Hospital provides a convenient on site x-ray service to ward based patients, negating the need for ambulance transfers to other sites, and will provide an accessible walk-in service to GP patients local to their home.
It will also be key in delivering required x-ray capacity in the future.
HB: How will the x-ray machine benefit our organisation?
FR: By continually investing in innovative technology such as this machine it means we are improving our fleet with the latest and most reliable x-ray machines in the market today.
Radiographers are pleased with the new equipment as they are familiar with using this at other sites and appreciate the benefits of such technology.
Standardising equipment reduces variation and therefore the likelihood of errors occurring.
HB: What were we doing at Rowley prior to installing the new x-ray equipment?
FR: The service was provided by less sophisticated technology. Having this new equipment will improve both the patient and operator experience.
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