Monthly archives: March 2019

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 29 March

Next week our school nursing colleagues join the Trust. Or re-join us in many cases. As I have written before, this change represents an important opportunity for the future of our work with schools in the borough. Many colleagues have written to me and to Nick Makwana about the opportunities that arise from the upcoming changes. But of course, all of that starts with welcoming and supporting people in joining the organisation, and being open to learning from them about what works well elsewhere. I very much hope that departments that induct and support new joiners in the Trust are ready to recognise the priority that we need to give to the teams now with us. We would all recognise that the joining experience can be a daunting thing, and not always one that works smoothly. Bethan Downing is working with others on precisely that, and over coming weeks we will finish our project on digital identity, so that for every person in our teams, and every job, we are clear what IT permissions are needed, including for Unity, and can smoothly establish set up before people join – and indeed have an up to date email and phone list too. It may seem a thing of detail, but actually it is this detail that makes working here easier or just more time consuming.

Gabapentin and Pregabalin – reclassification as schedule 3 controlled drugs

From 1 April, gabapentin and pregabalin will be reclassified as schedule 3 controlled drugs. This is further to advice from the advisory council on the misuse of drugs following concerns over misuse.

Please see Gabapentin and Pregabalin memo for further details.

For more information please contact the pharmacy department on ext. 5259.

Heartbeat: Singing praises of our clinical audit heroes

Following our first Clinical Audit Awareness Week in November, a national initiative to celebrate clinical audit within the NHS, colleagues were encouraged to nominate their audit hero, a healthcare professional who is passionate about improving patient care through clinical audit.

Our audit hero is Mr Anand Dhanasekaren, Urology Consultant, who was awarded a certificate and £50 Amazon voucher.

Mr Dhanasekaren was nominated by his department, including consultants and urology specialist nurses. He has encouraged medical students, junior doctors and specialist registrars to participate and has registered many audits within urology, with these audits leading to significant improvements in patient care and best practice.

The prize for the Best Clinical Audit was for an audit entitled ‘Thromboprophylaxis during pregnancy: appropriateness and cost effectiveness of prescribing Enoxaparin in the antenatal clinic.’ Enoxaparin is an anticoagulant medication used to treat and prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism during pregnancy. The intention is to use suitable treatments that safely prevent the formation of blood clots during pregnancy.

The aim of the audit is to determine the clinical appropriateness of Enoxaparin prescribing in the antenatal clinic and the cost effectiveness of supplying the medicine to patients. The audit also assesses the most appropriate route for pregnant patients to obtain Enoxaparin, in terms of whether it should be dispensed in a hospital or community setting.

Demonstrating excellent team work, the judges felt this ongoing audit was impressive because it is multi-disciplinary, involving both pharmacy and obstetrics and the strong patient benefits were evident. The following colleagues were involved in the audit; Summaya Mahamed Cabdi (Pre-Registration Pharmacist and Audit Lead), Akila Ahmed (Lead Clinical Pharmacist), Emily Horwill (Deputy Chief Pharmacist), Lorraine Cardill (Deputy Head of Midwifery) and Richard Murrin (Consultant, Haematology).

Angharad Macgregor, Head of Clinical Effectiveness says: “We know that SWBH participate in 64 national audits and over 300 local audits have been registered with us. If colleagues are involved in an audit that could lead to significant improvements in patient service, our team would love to know about it. So please get in touch. It could even lead to an award!”

Lyndon 4 ward is currently not accepting admissions due to Norovirus

Due to confirmed cases of Norovirus on Lyndon 4, the ward is currently not able to accept new admissions.

Visiting is not permitted unless in exceptional circumstances and agreed with the ward manager.

We are also restricting colleague attendance onto the ward so that only essential staff can attend at this time.

Each team/specialist/discipline should devise a plan to allow safe working whilst wards or bays are closed to reduce the risk of transmission.

To minimise the spread of the virus any further, all staff are reminded of the importance of our infection control procedures, with a particular focus on hand washing.

For more information please contact ext. 5900 or email swb-tr.SWBH-Team-InfectionControl@nhs.net

National Autism Awareness Week

National Autism Awareness Week starts on Monday 1 April.

The awareness week aims to increase the understanding of people with autism spectrum disorder throughout the world.

Our children’s therapies service work with families to support young people with autism ensuring they reach their fullest potential. As well as supporting reasonable adaptations that everyone can make to support the child with autism, we are also driven to raise awareness of the many facets of autism and work towards breaking the stigma that some families may feel when they have a child with autism.

The team have an established diagnostic pathway with which we work with our colleagues in health (often paediatricians or CAHMS) education (school and inclusion support) and the child/ family. They’re a multidisciplinary team comprised of occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists.

To celebrate Autism Awareness Week the team will be sharing lots of useful content across their social media platforms regarding autism, including myth busting.

So be sure to follow them on Twitter @SandwellSPOT for updates through the week on all things autism.

NHS hero: Donna Mighty

There are those whose impact in the NHS is felt in their working role, and there are those whose impact is felt through what they bring to the NHS outside of it.  Donna Mighty does both.

Living just a stone’s throw away from Sandwell Hospital, Donna joined Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust in 2016 as assistant primary care liaison manager.

It is a role which sees Donna travel frequently, acting as a facilitator between the Trust and GPs from 85 practices.

“No two days are the same,” said Donna. “It’s a role that sees me developing our relationship with the GP practices across the area and ensuring that communication is always as clear as possible.

“It’s about integrated care for our patients. The service they receive from their GP should be in line with what they experience at our Trust. We all work for one NHS and have one goal – to make sure that our patients are cared for safely and they have the best experience possible.”

Donna added: “It’s an exciting time for the Trust, as we have just taken on three GP surgeries in Sandwell and West Birmingham and we are working very closely with the practices to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. ”

Donna is aided in these tasks by her “wonderful and supportive” line manager, Dottie Tipton.

Outside of her main role, however, Donna is influential in a whole other way. She is the Equality Officer for Unison and current Chair of the Black Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff Network which she helped set up.

“The work of the BME staff network helped us to celebrate Black History Month in a way like never before in 2017,” she explained.

“In 2018 I helped to organise a huge tea party at the University of Birmingham School  to mark 70 years of Windrush and also launch the ‘Here to Stay’ exhibition. Around 250 people came along to the event and it was very successful. The ‘Here to Stay’ exhibition features photographs taken by Ines Elsa Dalal, and documents the impact of nurses from the Windrush Generation. The photographs are currently on display at the Education Centre at Sandwell Hospital open to all and will remain there for the foreseeable future.”  During 2019, we are taking the ‘Here to Stay’ exhibition on tour to Liverpool, Warwickshire and London.

This year Donna was approached to be a judge at the annual Health Service Journal (HSJ) awards  – one of the leading award schemes in healthcare.

A passion for equality was instilled in Donna by her own hero – her mother, who she describes as a strong woman with a big heart, a really positive role model and, above all, kind. A passion officially recognised last year in the Star Awards when she became the Equality and Diversity Champion.

“It was the cherry on the cake.  It’s nice to get that recognition for the work that’s taken place.”

A mother herself to a fourteen year old daughter, she is humble about her own impact at SWBH. “I can’t fix everything.” She shrugs wistfully, “But I’m playing my part and doing my little bit.”

“Everybody should be given the opportunity to flourish.”

Heartbeat: Unlock your potential with an apprenticeship

Do you aspire to excellence? Looking for a new challenge or simply wanting to upskill? Our apprenticeship courses could help you unlock the next level of your PDR.

Apprenticeships in the past were the homestead of students and young people, keen to do whatever it takes to get a foothold in an industry, often looked down upon by professionals. However, this is changing with the launch of a brand new range of apprenticeship opportunities.

Apprenticeships range from Level 2 all the way to Level 8 which is the equivalent of a Master’s Degree. These courses could be your answer to how you enhance your skills and opening up a new world of opportunities.

Maxine Griffiths, Widening Participation Manager, believes there are numerous benefits of completing an apprenticeship at the Trust.

She said: “The new Apprenticeship Standard is a nationally recognised qualification with progression routes. There are a vast amount of study opportunities at a variety of levels meaning there is something for everyone. We currently offer a range of clinical and non-clinical apprenticeships from Level 2 business administration to Level 3 senior healthcare support worker.

“Should colleagues not be able to find what they’re looking for, they can view all NHS relevant apprenticeship standards by visiting the HASO Health for Skills “Skills for Health” website.”

The barriers to entry for academic study in the workplace are known to be high.

However, with our Trust offering more accessible learning opportunities for colleagues than ever before, there is no better time than now to enrol yourself on an apprenticeship.

Libby Marshall, Apprenticeship Coordinator is a real advocate of academic learning in the organisation and said: “Apprenticeships are funded through the SWBH Apprenticeship Levy and anybody interested will need to complete an assessment for maths and English if they don’t have any certificates and gain support from their manager via a study leave request.

All of the apprenticeships available give learners a structured programme which means they’re able to work towards a qualification. This will allow better opportunities to progress in the Trust.”

For more information about apprenticeships courses within our organisation, please contact swbh. apprenticeship@nhs.net.

Heartbeat: Cash windfall for new sensory garden at Rowley Regis Hospital

A new sensory garden at Rowley Regis Hospital needs green-fingered volunteers to make it a reality after an award of £9,600 from the Big Lottery Fund.

The grant awarded to Your Trust Charity will create an open, user-friendly space based around calmness, reflection and tranquillity. It will be ideal for dementia patients, those with learning disabilities and their carers, families and friends who visit them at the hospital and use its facilities.

The Big Lottery Fund grant will be part match-funded with £2,500 from Your Trust Charity. It is anticipated that the project will take approximately nine to twelve months to complete with work scheduled to start this spring.

Sarah Whitcombe, Senior Sister on the Eliza Tinsley Ward at Rowley Regis Hospital, said:  “We are delighted by this award and it will really encourage our patients to enjoy an outside space whilst socialising with each other.

“For those using the new garden and from a wider community perspective, we believe that it will create a sense of community ownership.

“We’d like to start the project quickly and are calling out for budding gardeners and volunteers who can do what’s needed to get it up and running. This will involve a few hours a month on the garden site at Rowley Regis Hospital and giving input at project steering meetings.”

For more information about how to join the sensory garden project, please contact SWBH’s Your Trust Charity via Amanda Winwood on 0121 507 4847.

Heartbeat: The future nurse

By Paul Drew, Lead Nurse – Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Education Team

From September 2019, significant changes are afoot for nurse education to transform how we develop not just nursing colleagues but student nurses, trainee nurse associates and the wider workforce.

To reflect these changes, we’ve made a minor change to our name. Rather than being known as the nurse education team, we will be known as the nursing and midwifery clinical education team. After consulting with midwifes and midwifery students, we decided upon this change of name because it highlights our commitment to wider workforce education. It is also a reflection of the broad partnership work we’re embedding across our organisation.

The nursing and midwifery clinical education team are the first point of call for advice on placement, student and mentor issues. We have always managed midwifery placements, mentors and midwifery students and we now also manage the nurse associate apprenticeship program.

We have also launched “The Future Nurse – standards of proficiency for registered nurses”. These new standards represent the skills, knowledge and attributes all nurses must demonstrate. The first cohort embarking on the Future Nurse program will start in November 2019.

With a fresh curriculum and a new world of skills to develop, they’re the future of nursing and it falls to the team to ensure we have the right support mechanisms to help them flourish.

There’s plenty to do to ensure our plans work. Our mentorship programmes will continue but not as you know them. They will be known as practice supervisors and practice assessors.

Practice supervisors can be qualified mentors or anyone with a registrant (pin number) who has completed the in-house practice assessor’s course. Practice assessors will lead on interviews and the approval of training progression. They will work in partnership with one or two different practice supervisors to help make a decision.

For clinical training, we have two priority areas; cannulation/venepuncture and intravenous usage. Students will move to being trained and assessed in placement within their clinical areas to ensure we have nurses who are not only proficient in these skills but confident in their ability when working under direct supervision.

To support clinical areas with these major changes, we will advertise mentor transition training to update and upskill mentors to become practice assessors. Practice supervisor courses will take place for colleagues who support students. There will also be extra cannulation/venepuncture sessions available.

Throughout 2019, I hope the changes make a real impact to our nursing and midwifery colleagues, as well as to patients in terms of standard of care.

The nursing and midwifery clinical education team can support in identifying opportunities to develop and in making clinical training and education readily available and easy to access. Contact us at swbh.nurseeducation@nhs.net

Competition winner – The Wonderful World of Disney On Ice

Congratulations to Estelle Hickman, Equality and Diversity Officer on winning the family ticket for four to the opening night of The Wonderful World of Disney On Ice.

Estelle correctly answered the question “in The Lion King, what colour is Scar’s mane” with the answer being “black.”

Estelle’s was one of many who answered the question correctly and was drawn out as the winner.

The prize draw was drawn by Raffaela Goodby, Director of People and Organisation Development.

Be sure to check out the prize draw by viewing the short video.

Thank you to all of our colleagues who took part in the competition and to the NEC Group for kindly donating the tickets.

For more information regarding staff benefits on offer please contact amir.ali1@nhs.net.