Monthly archives: February 2019
3 Days to go until the Unity full dress rehearsal – are you ready?
On Monday, 26 areas and over 150 clinical colleagues will begin their full dress rehearsal of Unity. Between them, each will be looking to put the new system through its paces in a live environment using real patients in our clinics.
Across the Trust healthcare assistants, ward clerks, nurses, doctors, porters, pharmacists and healthcare scientists will all coming together to test, verify and validate that Unity is fit for purpose before we move forward with deployment.
If you’re part of the full dress rehearsal now is the time to make sure you have all of your devices in place and ready to go for Monday, ensure your colleagues are aware of your involvement in the FDR and don’t forget to wear your Unity t-shirt.
Most importantly, remember that patient care comes first, the activities of the rehearsal should not compromise or get in the way of safe patient care and if you feel that they are, please speak up and discuss the matter with your local area lead or the unity team.
Remember, the success of Unity is dependent on us all, so please support your colleagues, ask questions, get involved and make this a success.
If you have any questions about the Unity full dress rehearsal, email the Unity team on Unity.cutover@nhs.net.
Unity full dress rehearsal – 3 days to go
We are now 3 days away from the full dress rehearsal (FDR) of Unity. Thank you to everyone who is taking part in this important activity.
[su_youtube_advanced url="https://youtu.be/0r570rqLZs8" width="400" height="300" showinfo="no" rel="no" modestbranding="yes" theme="light" https="yes" wmode="transparent" playsinline="yes"]Be sure to check out this video of Chief Nurse, Paula Gardner talking about the importance of Unity to our organisation and why the FDR is essential to ensure a safe go-live of our electronic patient record.
So what have we been doing to prepare?
- Working with operational and clinical leads to ensure clinical processes are ready for use within Unity.
- Created a support team for clinical areas consisting of operational and training colleagues.
- Ensuring colleagues are able to log on and access Unity.
- Delivered devices required for FDR.
- Developing Quick Reference Guides (QRGs) and Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) to support clinical colleagues on how to use Unity.
- We have held 6 transcription workshops with 27 colleagues. This means colleagues are able to transcribe medicines from patient paper drug charts into Unity.
- Over the past three weeks we have held 16 briefing events for colleagues taking part in FDR. The briefings have included:
- A run through of the agenda during FDR
- Colleagues roles and responsibilities
- How to use Unity during FDR
January 2019 QIHD Agendas
Primary Care, Community and Therapies
Foot Health – QIHD Agenda January 2019
MSKCOS – QIHD Agenda template January 2019
Nutrition and Dietetic-QIHD Agenda – January 2019_ND
RRTS & Medicine-QIHD Agenda -Jan 2019
QIHD_Repo SLT- Agenda Jan 2019
Icares- QIHD Agenda January 2019
Medicine and Emergency Care
Surgery
Pathology
Imaging
Women and Child Health
Estates
Operations
Medical Directors Office
Workforce and OD
Financial Management
Heartbeat: NHS Hero – Lead Chaplain, Mary Causer
Our organisation is full of remarkable, motivated people, who give a lot to the communities we serve. Since 2014, we have been recognising our quiet heroes who come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and do a wide variety of jobs across our organisation. Each week we shine a spotlight on one of those heroes, and following an interview by our press office the Sandwell Chronicle publishes these inspirational stories.
In Heartbeat this month, we feature our new Lead Chaplain, Mary Causer, who has taken over the position from Ann Stevens who retired in October.
It was one of the most poignant moments that Rev Mary Causer has faced during her time working within the NHS.
As a new chaplain, she was asked to marry an end-of-life care patient to his long- term girlfriend at City Hospital, Birmingham.
“I had just started working at the Trust and was asked to marry a beautiful couple,” explained mum-of-one Mary, aged 51.
“The patient very ill but wanted to carry out this one final act with his partner.
“It was a sacred moment that was an important part of the process for him and his wife because they had been together for a while.”
Mary, who has worked for our organisation for over two years, added: “I had to organise the legal side of the marriage, and also be the emotional support – which was all a new experience to me. The ward team were amazing throughout and helped to decorate his room where we held the ceremony.
“The patient sadly passed away soon afterwards, but I have kept in touch with his wife and she is very grateful that she was able to say her vows to her husband and it be witnessed by her family and friends.”
Working within the NHS is certainly a big change from Mary’s previous job.
She recalled: “I had come from working as a chaplain in a category A prison, so there was a big difference in the type of people I was working with.
“But I really enjoy being here. My hope is that wherever I am across the Trust, I can make someone smile. I like making people laugh, but it’s also about being in the right place at the right time for those people who need more direct spiritual input.
“The chaplaincy is incredibly important and I see that my congregation isn’t a church, but a whole Trust.
“There is no typical day for me because we offer a bespoke service for patients, their families and colleagues and I offer faith to those who are seeking it.”
Mary decided to become a chaplain after studying theology at college. She had been invited to sing at a prison and during this she saw how the chaplain worked and it appealed to her.
She said: “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do whilst I was at college, but singing at the prison helped me to come to a decision and I haven’t looked back since.”
In her spare time Mary likes watching murder mysteries and also sprucing up her garden. So who is Mary’s hero? “It has to be Emmeline Pankhurst – she had no fear and she had a conscience that she lived out, making changes not just for England but across the world.”
Sage & Thyme communication workshops at City and Sandwell
The Sage & Thyme communication workshops are now available to colleagues at both City and Sandwell.
- Thursday 4 April, 9am–12.30pm: Room 14/15, Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital
- Wednesday 3 July, 9am–12.30pm: Hayward Lecture Theatre, Post Graduate Centre, City Hospital
The workshops covers:
- A memorable structured approach for getting into and out of a conversation
- How to empower patients/carers who are worried or distressed
- Communications skills that are evidence based
To book your place or for more information please contact emma.williams@marystevenshospice.co.uk
Heartbeat: Paul leads the charge on Fizz-Free February
Our Deputy Chief Nurse is spearheading our involvement in Fizz Free February – a campaign to get young people to reduce or cut out their intake of fizzy drinks, many of which have extremely high sugar content.
The campaign is being run by a number of local authorities across the country, including Sandwell, and has the full support of local MP Tom Watson who lost a dramatic amount of weight in 2018.
Paul said: “I have committed our support to this vital campaign and throughout the month, I will be working alongside our children’s services to get this important message out to school-aged young people.
I was privileged to meet Tom Watson recently who talked about his very inspirational health journey. We may not realise it, but fizzy drinks make up an average of 29 per cent of daily sugar intake. If you drink a can of coke every day for a month you will eat the equivalent of a bag of sugar. Fizzy drinks are also the largest single source of sugar for children aged eleven to eighteen. So if we’re going to get serious about childhood obesity, it starts with fizzy pop.”
The hard truth about soft drinks:
- You can save £438 a year if you stopped drinking one bottle of soft drink, per day for a year
- Drinking just one 330ml can of fizzy drink a day could add up to over a stone weight gain per year
- 79 per cent of fizzy drinks contain 6 or more teaspoons of sugar per can (330ml)
Tooth decay is the leading cause for hospitalisation among 5-9 year olds in the UK, with 26,000 children being hospitalised each year due to tooth decay – in other words, 500 each week.
D29 unavailable throughout full dress rehearsal
As you may be aware, twenty-six clinical areas are going to be taking part in the full dress rehearsal (FDR) of Unity from Monday 11 February.
D29 at City Hospital is reserved for FDR activities from Monday 11 – Friday 15 February and will be unavailable for meetings or hot desking space.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
4 days to go until the Unity full dress rehearsal
We are now 4 days away from the full dress rehearsal (FDR) of Unity. Thank you to everyone who is taking part in this important activity.
The full dress rehearsal is an exciting opportunity to put the new electronic patient record through its paces and realise the benefits it can bring in a live environment.
If you are part of the FDR please make sure you attend the briefings taking place next week, details of which are below:
- Monday briefing at 8am in the Conference Room, Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital
- Tuesday briefing at 8am in the Hayward Lecture Theatre, Postgraduate Centre, City Hospital
Quick reference guides to support colleagues in making the best use of Unity are also available on Connect (https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/trustindigital/unity/qrg/) as well as on the myConnect app. Please take the time to login to the Unity play system and familiarise yourself before the FDR.
Remember, the success of Unity is dependent on us all, so please support your colleagues, ask questions, get involved and make this a success.
If you have any questions about the Unity full dress rehearsal, email the Unity team on Unity.cutover@nhs.net.
Healthcare overseas professionals programme at Sandwell
Healthcare overseas professionals (HOP) is a Trust led programme that supports local overseas residents (many with refugee status) who are qualified in a healthcare profession to return to practise.
The programme works with over 180 clients and has attracted a wide range of support and funding. We have doctors, nurses, pharmacists and therapists all engaged in HOP.
We will be hosting our next HOP event on Thursday 7 February, 12.30pm-1.30pm, Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital.
For more information please contact lawrencekelly@nhs.net
Tracey’s essential holistic and beauty therapy – special offers in February
Tracey’s essential holistic and beauty therapy have a variety of treatments available throughout February for both men and women. Tracey’s stress buster packages aim to relieve build up of stress and tension and are ideal for an alternative Valentines Gift (gift vouchers available).
- Aromatherapy back massage using a blend of essential oils, followed by a facial including cleanse, exfoliant, massage, toner, moisturise – £35.50
- Aromatherapy back massage using a blend of essential oils, followed by a head/scalp, face massage – £35.50
- 7 time slots for aromatherapy back massage – £15, for Tuesday 12 February. Bookings to be made at Rowley Hospital only
Tracey’s essential holistic and beauty therapy are also offering a £5 discount on any Birthday treatments.
For booking and information please contact call 07716 811038 or email tracey.moore7@btinternet.com.
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