Monthly archives: February 2019
FDR continues at City Hospital
Following in the footsteps of a successful day one of full dress rehearsal, today saw colleagues dressed in green descend on City Hospital to continue the work putting Unity through its paces. A big thank you to everyone who has worked hard to support the rehearsal this week as we continue on our journey to Unity.
Katie Gray, Deputy Chief Operating Officer said, “There is lots of learning coming out of today and by the time day two of FDR finishes tonight at 8pm, we expect we’ll have lots of learning points to take forward.
[su_youtube_advanced url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQCk9IRsQqk" width="400" height="300" showinfo="no" rel="no" modestbranding="yes" theme="light" https="yes" wmode="transparent" playsinline="yes"]“The full dress rehearsal today has gone remarkably well as we have taken the lessons that we learnt yesterday and put many of them into operation today. The local hubs and local area leads have worked hard today to support all of the areas that are taking part and have made sure that any issues that have been identified, have been dealt with quickly and effectively to ensure there is no adverse impact on patient care.“
[su_youtube_advanced url="https://youtu.be/psXXKv7q2B8" width="400" height="300" showinfo="no" rel="no" modestbranding="yes" theme="light" https="yes" wmode="transparent" playsinline="yes"]Feedback from doctors has been positive. Alex Hollis FY2 said, “It’s been a really useful experience today both as part of the FDR process, getting us more confident with prescribing, and getting us ready for when the system comes in.”
Areas involved in the dress rehearsal today have been.
- City Hospital ED
- D16
- AMU
- BMEC ED
- Critical Care Services Ward (CCS)
- BTC Theatre (Elective)
- Maternity and NICU
- Diabetes MDT Foot Clinic (Hallam Building, SGH – MDT
FDR day 1 kicks off to a promising start
Yesterday saw the start of the full dress rehearsal (FDR) of Unity at Rowley Regis and Sandwell. Many thanks to colleagues who congregated from 5am in morning and followed all their patients throughout their journey to ensure all processes on Unity are working.
Today (Tuesday 12 February), FDR continues at City Hospital and other outpatient areas which you can see listed on Connect https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/trustindigital/unity/a-guide-to-final-dress-rehearsal/full-dress-rehearsal-locations/
We received valuable feedback from colleagues who took part in the dress rehearsal yesterday. We are making sure that all the feedback is acted upon to ensure an even smoother process for colleagues taking part in FDR today and tomorrow.
Be sure to check out these videos of colleagues talking about how the dress rehearsal went in their areas.
Sustainability Newsletter
Our Sustainability Newsletter is a great way to keep up to date with what we are doing and have your say. Here are some recent editions:
Latest edition of Sustainability Newsletter
The latest edition of the Sustainability Newsletter is now available. topic covered in the issue include: Green impact, you said we did – sustainability, 10 year challenge plus much more.
For more information please contact francesca.silcocks@nhs.net.
Alcohol team training for nurses and HCAs
The alcohol specialist nurses team will be facilitating training for treating alcohol issues in and out of hospital. The training is open to all nurses and health care assistants from across the Trust and will be taking place at Sandwell Education Centre, room 14 on the following dates:
- 20 February, 9am-11am
- 18 March. 10am-12am
- 10 April, 10am-12pm
Note: Please pre-book before attendance so seating can be confirmed.
To book your place and for more information, please email amy.hunt7@nhs.net or alternatively call ext. 3897.
Heartbeat: Cash boost transforms cancer care for our patients
More than half a million pounds will be pumped into improving cancer services for our patients.
Our organisation and Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are thrilled to have secured £543,000 funding from Macmillan Cancer Care. The money will help to transform services for people living with and beyond cancer across Sandwell and West Birmingham. We are one of only a few areas in the country to secure this level of investment.
The funding will be used to implement the Macmillan’s recovery package across the cancer healthcare community.
It is a model of care that puts greater emphasis on identifying people’s health and wellbeing needs and finding ways to address them through the provision of person-centred care, with patients empowered to self-manage where possible.
Cancer Services Manager, Jenny Donovan is putting a team together, which will consist of five roles, including a manager, cancer support worker, admin support officer, practitioner and facilitator who will be based in primary care.
Figures for the West Midlands show the number of people living longer than 20 years with cancer was 159,700 in
2010 and will increase by 50 per cent to 310,300 by 2030. However, mortality rates for cancer locally are higher than many areas of the UK.
This is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact on how people are supported in the future. This new initiative will deliver a more consistent and effective service with improved access to support for those living with and beyond cancer.
Dr Diana Webb, Lead Cancer Clinician said: “This is an important step for us in driving forward our plans to make sure that anyone attending our hospitals for cancer care receives the best possible outcomes.
“We have a dedicated and experienced cancer workforce here, who are consistently striving for excellence in cancer care delivery and ensuring patients and their carers have the best possible experience.
“Already performing consistently on our cancer waiting times, we are currently working on plans to deliver optimal cancer pathways to ensure patients receive a faster diagnosis less than a month after their GP referral where cancer is suspected by 2020.
“This new additional funding will see us continue our close working relationship with Macmillan, SWB CCG, Cancer Research UK and our primary care colleagues to ensure that a personalised, patient-centred approach remains at the heart of our care.
“By embedding the Macmillan recovery package alongside our clinical care pathways, our patients will benefit from holistic needs assessment and care planning and have access to health and wellbeing events which will promote independence and healthy lifestyles.
“Patient treatment summaries and GPled cancer care reviews will see improved communication and understanding between our primary care and acute specialist care colleagues, and new approaches to personalised cancer follow-up will see patients empowered in their recovery after treatment, and beyond.”
Dr Nick Harding, Chair at NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG, added: “We are delighted to secure this vital funding to help improve the experience of people living with and beyond cancer in Sandwell and West Birmingham.
“The impact of cancer doesn’t suddenly stop when treatment is over and we are committed to transforming services so that our patients benefit from high quality cancer care that supports them in their long-term recovery.
“Our aim is to ensure that everyone receives the personalised care and support they need, when they need it, to live a happy and healthy life.
“This important programme builds on our strong track record of making a step change in health through partnership and innovation.
“Working in partnership with local GP practices and the Trust, we have already delivered pioneering initiatives such as the Primary Care Commissioning Framework (PCCF) scheme.
“This has helped to save the lives of people with diabetes, reduce the number of strokes in Sandwell and West Birmingham by identifying over 1,000 people with atrial fibrillation (AF) and increased the number of people undertaking cancer screening.”
Heartbeat: Lifeline support for addiction victims’ families
A new support group at City Hospital has been praised for its effort to help families and friends cope with their loved ones’ addictions.
The support group, which started two months ago, is being run by two volunteers Dave and Tina James with support from our alcohol team.
Dave explained: “We are both qualified facilitators and we aim to provide a safe environment in which people can feel confident to speak about their concerns and receive the support they need.
“We’ve actually been through this journey ourselves as a family member used to have a serious drug dependency. Therefore, we absolutely understand how challenging it is for families and friends when trying to help their loved ones.
“At our sessions, we provide confidential support for friends and family members of individuals whose alcohol use has become problematic, in order for them to feel more confident in dealing with situations. They will learn helpful tools and different ways of dealing with the problems caused by their loved ones’ alcohol misuse, such as better communication, how to cope with conflict, boundaries and supporting change.
“There are many support groups for people with addictive behaviour, but not
many for friends and families. In the UK, it is estimated that several million families are directly affected by substance use and addictions. They also need help because addictive behaviour affects families’ finances, physical health and psychological wellbeing.
“On average, we see five to six people per session and hope to see more so we can support them all.”
Peter Marple, Alcohol Practitioner said: “The idea of bringing this support group to our organisation started when I met Dave at an event. After learning about what they had been doing and attending a few sessions myself, I felt that this group would be greatly beneficial to families and friends who need support during a difficult time.
“When I learned that the group were looking for a new venue to run their sessions, I spoke to Arlene Copland (Alcohol Lead Nurse), about hosting the group at one of our hospitals. Arlene was excited about the idea and gave it her full support.
“We are now able to meet at City Hospital twice a month. During the sessions, if people have medical questions, I can step in and answer them.”
Dave, who is a full-time engineer, added: “We’re so grateful for the Trust’s support in giving us a place to run the evening sessions. It makes a huge difference to the people that we are helping.”
The group meets every first and third Wednesday, between 6 – 7.30pm, in the diabetes seminar room on the first floor. Everyone is welcome and no booking is required.
If you would like more information about the group, you can contact Peter via email at peter.marple@nhs.net and Dave at dave.smartff@protonmail.com.
Compassion in Care Awards – have you nominated anyone?
Compassion in Care is a monthly award scheme which celebrates colleagues who excel at consistently upholding the Trust’s nine care promises.
You can nominate colleagues who go above and beyond the call of duty to provide excellent compassionate care. Anyone from any department within the Trust can be nominated – not just clinical colleagues.
Each month a worthy winner is chosen who upholds our nine care promises:
- I will make you feel welcome
- I will make time to listen to you
- I will be polite, courteous and respectful
- I will keep you informed and explain what is happening
- I will admit to mistakes and do all I/we can to put them right
- I value your point of view
- I will be caring and kind
- I will keep you involved
- I will go the extra mile
Nominations are open from the start to the end of each month with winners being chosen by our Chair, Richard Samuda, and executive team. Winners will be presented with a certificate, rewarded with £50 of high street vouchers as well as being featured in Heartbeat.
[su_spoiler title="Click here to nominate" style="fancy" icon="arrow"][gravityform id="15" ajax="true"][/su_spoiler]
Chief Operating Office
Primary Care, Community and Therapies
Medicine and Emergency Care
Surgery
Imaging
Women and Child Health
Estates
Nursing and Facilities
Operations
Chief Executive
Medical Directors Office
Workforce and OD
Financial Management
Unity full dress rehearsal starts today
Today marks the start of our full dress rehearsal (FDR) of Unity – our electronic patient record. 26 areas and over 150 clinical colleagues will be taking part in FDR where they will be putting the new system through its paces in live environments using real patients in the Trusts clinics.
At this morning’s 8am briefing, held at Sandwell’s Education Centre, Katie Gray, Deputy Chief Operating Officer who is leading on the project, said: “The first briefing went really well and the teams were on the wards in good time. There were issues at the start of the day but they were resolved using the informatics service desk. There has been a lot of learning already.”
Throughout the organisation, HCAs, healthcare scientists, ward clerks, porters, nurses and doctors will all be coming together to test Unity to see if it is fit for purpose before we eventually go live across the Trust.
If your clinical area is part of FDR, please ensure all your devices are ready and working. Please also take time to familiarise yourself with your equipment in your area if you haven’t already done so.
It’s vital to keep in mind that patient care is paramount meaning any of the activities during FDR should not compromise safe patient care. If you feel this is the case, be sure you to discuss any issues with your local area lead or the wider Unity team.
We all have a part to play in Unity’s success. With this mind, please continue to support your colleagues throughout FDR. Should you have any questions or queries regarding Unity FDR, please contact Unity.cutover@nhs.net.
For the entire list of FDR locations please see link:
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