Monthly archives: March 2019

Friday Jumah prayers every week at City and Sandwell

As you may be aware, the Trust holds Friday Jumah prayers in congregation. The locations and the times are as follows:

• City Hospital: BTC/wudu salah room in the BTC link corridor adjacent to physiotherapy – Jumah Khutba at 1.15pm and prayers/salah at 1.30pm
• Sandwell Hospital: Activity hall Sandwell meeting room suite (former social club behind the canteen) – Jumah Khutba at 1.15pm and prayers/salah at 1.30pm.

For more information please call ext. 4055 for City chaplaincy and ext. 5015 Sandwell chaplaincy.

Heartbeat: It’s a physio first for Trust!

Clinicians from across Birmingham gathered at Sandwell Hospital for the first ever SWB organised Injection Therapy Study Day, designed as a mandatory CPD training day for Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapists and Podiatrists. The event focussed on injection therapy for musculoskeletal conditions.

Yogita Stokes, Clinical Lead and Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapist explained: “It was the first pan Birmingham study day we have organised and delivered, as our previous study days were done in house.

“It was an exciting opportunity to collaborate and share skills, knowledge and expertise from across Birmingham and develop networking between our clinicians and others from Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

“Over 60 clinicians attended the day at the Conference room in the Education Centre at Sandwell. Our speakers covered a range of topics across injection therapy including injection techniques, case studies, service developments and current evidence/ research.

Christopher Anton, Yellow Card Scheme Administrator for the West Midlands delivered a talk on Yellow Carding for adverse drug events, whilst Pharmacist Lynn Nyguen Do spoke on drug interactions.

Mark Maybury Consultant Physiotherapist, Sonographer and Researcher (UHB) presented an informative talk on ultrasound guided hydro distension and barbotage for shoulder conditions, followed by Consultant Physiotherapist (UHB) Phil Haley on his role delivering spinal injections. Anand Nadar Consultant Physiotherapist also spoke on wrist and hand injections.

“We had excellent contributions to the poster display including posters on a current research study into suprascapular nerve blocks by Neil Smith Clinical Lead / Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapist who was successful in obtaining a place on the PCAF. We also had posters on injection therapy audits with patient reported outcome measures.

“To ensure the study day had achieved what we set out to do, we surveyed all those attending and received the following comments in feedback:

• “great for CPD”
• “well presented, well put together programme”
• “great venue”
• “excellent initiative to improve networks and collaboration across Birmingham”
• “informative and interesting programme”

“I think it is safe to say that following this event, there will be more to come in the future. If you would like any further information about the day please contact me by email on yogita.stokes@nhs.net.

SWBH discounts still available in March

We’re offering additional discounts throughout the rest of March via the Hapi platform for all colleagues.

These include:

• Starbucks e-Voucher until 31 March, increased discount from 9 per cent – 12 per cent
• Debenhams e-Voucher until 31 March, increased discount from 8 per cent – 12 per cent

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

Heartbeat: A simple sip saves lives

Can a picture of a glass of water make a difference to patients’ lives? Well the answer is yes.

When City Hospital’s anaesthesia team entered the weLearn competition to demonstrate change they had successfully implemented, their entry ‘Think Drink’ – a campaign to nudge patients away from fasting before operations – came out the winner.

Now the team, led by Consultant in Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Dr Santhana Kannan, is enjoying success which has won them £5,000, but more importantly better patient experience and satisfaction.

The poster shows a glass of water with the headline ‘Think Drink’ and the message ‘Patients allowed sips of water until surgery’.

Dr Kannan explained that the guideline stipulating pre-operative fasting safety limits (six hours for solids and two hours for fluids) has been in place for more than three decades. However, repeated audits have shown that patients were fasting for much longer unnecessarily (up to seven hours on average for fluids in our organisation). This was due to a combination of perceived risks and also practical constraints in terms of monitoring patient fluid intake.

Recent research has shown that allowing patients to drink water before surgery is safe. It reduces the risk of dehydration, reduces post-operative vomiting and improves clinical stability during the procedure. There is enough evidence from inside and outside the UK to show this works.

Dr Kannan – alongside fellow doctors Christopher Horner and Ahmed Gilani – modified the pre-operative fasting policy that allowed patients to have unlimited sips of water in the run-up to their surgery, using a ‘0-2-6’ approach – ‘0’ for the sips of water until being called into theatre, ‘2’ for fizzy drinks, milk, tea or coffee up to two hours before and ‘6’ meaning solids up to six hours before.

Dr Kannan said: “Following the implementation of the ‘Think Drink Project’, we re-audited and the average fasting time for fluids had come down to two hours. There was a huge improvement. Ward colleagues reported that patients came back with fewer headaches – most likely due to better hydration.

“This is a step change in practice. We now need to try and ensure that all patients are aware of this option and we extend this to emergency surgery as well.”

The team aims to do this by modifying their letters to patients to make them aware of the revised guideline well in advance.

All the results from the campaign were put into an infographic poster that was submitted for the weLearn competition and won the £5,000 – which Dr Kannan and the team now have to spend. Fortunately, they have some ideas.

He said: “The prize money will be shared between myself, Dr Horner and Dr Gilani. I am not sure what their spending plans are but a proportion of my share will go to charity and quality improvement activity within the department. I am happy that our initiative won the prize. The resultant publicity will aid colleague awareness. I am grateful to all my department colleagues for their support in this venture.”

Year end notification to all departments information

Thank you in anticipation of your support in ensuring the safe delivery of our financial improvement.

The sheet below sets out key areas of financial governance which the Trust need to get right.

Year end notification to all departments

Should you have any queries in respect of this item, please contact either Rasham Sanghera) on ext. 5515 or Eilish Pandhal on ext. 5516.

Accounts Payable queries to contact Rasham Sanghera on ext. 5515 or Eilish Pandhal on 5516.

Note: Should you have any accounts receivable queries please contact Sarah Norman on ext. 4714.

NHS sustainability day at Sandwell: 21 March

To mark NHS sustainability day on Thursday 21 March, join us at Sandwell Hospital outside Hallam Restaurant between 10am-1pm to see how many disposable plastic cups we dispose of and have your say on how we can be more plastic smart.

NHS sustainability day is about celebrating the importance sustainable development plays within our national health services. Get involved, have your say and make a difference. Small actions make a big difference!

For more information regarding anything sustainability, please contact francesca.silcocks@nhs.net

Heartbeat: Patients ‘paws’ to spend time with therapy dog Otis

It’s not just our clinical colleagues who make patients feel better. Occasionally four-legged furry friends can make a difference too.

The charity Pets as Therapy specialises in enhancing health and wellbeing in the community through animals and their owners visiting hospitals, hospices, nursing and care homes, special needs schools and a variety of other venues all across the UK.

Otis, a six year old English Setter owned by Sharon Siddall comes into Sandwell Hospital once a week where he spends time on the children’s and stroke wards, allowing patients to pet and tickle him and even do high-fives.

She said: “Otis is exceptionally laid back which is why I thought he would make a good therapy dog. He is very good with children and people and a calming presence for them.”

To find out more about Pets as Therapy visit petsastherapy.org

Making the transition from cigarette to vape? Drop by one of vaping stands

As you may be aware, our sites will be smokefree from 5 July so now may be a better time than ever to consider quitting smoking.

If you think quitting all together may prove too difficult, vaping could help you to stop smoking.

Having helped millions of people to quit smoking through the use of electronic cigarettes, Ecigwizard will be visiting our hospital sites between 19 March-11 April in order to assist anyone looking to make the transition from smoking to vaping as easy as possible.

The team will be on hand between 10.30am-2pm on the below dates, ready to answer any questions that you may have regarding e-cigarettes, along with samples for you to try.

On top of this, they will be handing out 25 full e-cigarette kits, complete with a free bottle of e-liquid, on every visit for anyone who is looking to give vaping a go. Note: these will be on a first come, first served basis for each visit.

• Tuesday 19 March – BTC Ground floor by main reception

• Wednesday 20 March – Rowley  

• Tuesday 26 March – Hallam restaurant

• Wednesday 27 March – BTC Ground floor by main reception

• Thursday 28 March – Hallam restaurant

• Tuesday 2 April – Rowley

• Wednesday 3 April – BTC Ground floor by main reception

• Thursday 4 April – Hallam restaurant

• Wednesday 10 April – BTC Ground floor by main reception

• Thursday 11 April – Hallam restaurant

Ward D16 relocated to D21

The female respiratory, gastroenterology and haematology medical ward has moved from D16 to D21 and will now be known as D21.

Should you need to contact the ward, the please call them on ext. 4012.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Heartbeat: Radio star reveals how Sandwell Hospital “saved her life”

Colleagues at Sandwell Hospital have been praised by BBC WM presenter Samantha Meah for her care after she went into septic shock.

The host spent three weeks in our hospital’s critical care unit. She revealed details of the terrifying details live on her new morning show Sam & Daz, which she presents with Daz Hale, earlier this month.

Sam said: “I didn’t realise that it was sepsis at the time, but I was suddenly frozen cold.

“I was shaking, my teeth were chattering. I could not open the computer that was in front of me. I knew something was seriously wrong.

“We were about to interview Faye Tozer from Strictly and I was all excited about that, but was so incapable of doing anything.

“So an ambulance was called and they took 45 minutes to stabilise me. I was taken to Sandwell Hospital where I was seen and treated extremely quickly.”

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that comes when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.

UK Sepsis Trust said it kills 52,000 per year – five people per hour.

Antibiotic treatment should start within an hour of diagnosis to reduce the risk of serious complications or death.

Sam added: “I had a CT scan and discovered that I had been walking around for some time with a perforated bowel, because I have diverticular disease as a lot of people do.

“In my case I had an episode I was unaware of; I had a perforation in the bowel, that had caused an infection. The infection had spread to my liver, so I had abscesses on my liver and then the infection in turn spread to my lungs. So I was full of nasty and unpleasant infection.”

Diverticular disease is a condition that affects the large bowel. It happens when small pouches develop in the lining of the bowel and push out through the bowel wall – which in some people can cause stomach pain.

Her co-presenter Daz Hale has called Sam ‘a pro’ and asked her what would have happened if she had gone into septic shock at home.

She replied: “I would have died. They saved my life at Sandwell. I was in intensive care for a few days, had two blood transfusions and I was in there for three weeks. They literally saved my life.”