Monthly archives: April 2019

Heartbeat: Trust wins back school nursing contract

Its official, we are now formally responsible for delivering the Sandwell school health nursing service for both primary and secondary schools in the borough.

Amanda Geary, Group Director of Operations, Women and Child Health believes this contract is a real opportunity for the organisation and said: “We understand that both primary and secondary schools give us a fantastic opportunity to help shape the future health outcomes for the population of Sandwell so to be given this chance is something special.”

Changes to service providers can often cause disruption. However the quality of service will not be affected, everyone can be reassured.

Amanda added: “Our goal is to keep the transition as smooth as possible and maintain a high quality service for all the schools.”

“The core service model will have very minimal changes in the short term with the existing town based and vulnerable children’s team clusters continuing.”

The model consists of:

• The community offer – including national and local campaigns
• The universal offer – health reviews, supporting transition from primary to secondary school, NCMP programme, healthy lifestyle information for secondary school including assemblies, thematic road shows, weekly drop-ins
• The universal plus service – holistic assessment and active interventions, long-term conditions, medical plans, supporting Sandwell Community School, Youth Offending Service
• Universal partnership plus – annual LAC health reviews and safeguarding responsibilities.

Heather Bennett, Head of Services, Acute and Community Paediatrics is excited about winning the contract.

She said: “This is a great opportunity to further integrate school nursing into our existing Sandwell community consultant, nursing, health visiting and therapy teams.

“It will also allow us to focus on the delivery of the 0-19 agenda as an integrated team. As an integrated team we are better placed to provide a more responsive service for children, young people and carers with access to a wider pool of expertise.

“We now have a more flexible team who can make a greater contribution to shaping, leading and delivering the multi-disciplinary, seamless approach to health and wellbeing in Sandwell.”

Star Awards 2019: Digital Leader of the Year

Do you know a leader or manager who has inspired or brought about clear and demonstrable outcomes in terms of digital ways of working like 2018 winner, Dominic Legros?

This could include changing processes to reduce reliance on paper, improvements in service or care for our patients, or financial savings.

Nominate them for the Digital Leader of the Year Award in this year’s upcoming Star Awards!

Ways to nominate:

• You can complete a paper nomination form which you can download by clicking here.
• You can send in a video nomination for free to swbh.comms@nhs.net via www.wetransfer.com Choose go to free. When doing the recording remember to state clearly who you are and the name of the person/team you are nominating.
• You can complete the online form by clicking here.

Be sure to check out this video featuring last year’s winner Dominic.

If you have any questions regarding the Star Awards, please contact the communications team on 0121 507 5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net.

For more information, please visit our dedicated Star Awards page on Connect.

Unity 28-Day Challenge – Day 2, Terrific Tuesday

The 28-Day Challenge got off to a good start yesterday, with teams around the Trust setting up their Unity corners.

 For today’s challenge – using a patient you have just completed paperwork for, take a few minutes to go onto the Play System and see if you can replicate what you did.

 The Play System has recently been updated to improve user experience and can be accessed through the following link: http://unity.swbh.nhs.uk/Citrix/B0684EXPWeb/.

 You can also click here to find out more about the 28-Day Challenge.

Occupational health and wellbeing service closure

From 2pm today the Occupational Health & Wellbeing Service will be closed for training purposes.

If you sustain a sharps or splash injury please attend A&E immediately for assessment and treatment.

For all other enquiries, the service will be open as usual on Wednesday 1 May from 8.30am.

Second day of Unity Favourite Fairs – make sure you come along

Favourite Fairs got underway at City and Sandwell yesterday, and saw colleagues set up their favourites so they’re ready for when Unity goes live. The events continue at City and Rowley Regis today, and have already got off to a flying start.

Be sure to check out the video by Liam Kennedy, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Ash Sharma, Chief Clinical Informatics Officer talking about the importance of attending the Favourite Fairs.

If you will use Unity as part of your role it is essential to attend a Favourite Fair to ensure that you have access to the system and personalise it to meet your needs. Spend 20-40 minutes setting up your ‘favourites’ – the tests, medications or processes most commonly used in your role. Please take the time to complete a preparation sheet prior to attending:

• Doctors/CNS/CNP/Nurses/Midwives
• Therapies

Setting up your favourites isn’t difficult to do and it will help make the transition to Unity as smooth as possible. At the Favourite Fairs, members of the Unity team will be on hand to help you if you get stuck. There will also be guides and a checklist available to support you.

Favourite Fairs will be taking place from 7.30am to 4pm, through to 11 May. The full schedule is as follows:

For more information on Favourite Fairs and what you can do in advance to prepare, please visit Connect or contact SWBH.informaticsnurses@nhs.net.

Last chance to register for tonight’s Unity Question Time for doctors

Tonight our senior medical colleagues will be attending a special event to ask any questions they may have regarding Unity, our new electronic patient record. If you haven’t registered to attend as yet, please click on this link and follow the instructions: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unity-qa-your-concerns-addressed-tickets-59168705190

Organised in the style of the BBC’s Question Time, this is the chance to get your voice heard and address the Unity team directly. David Carruthers will be moderating, while a panel of senior figures from the Unity project will be ready to deal with your questions.

Unity Question Time

Date: Tuesday 30 April

Venue: Conference Room, Education Centre, Sandwell General Hospital

Time: 5.45pm-8pm

Please click here to submit any questions, and ensure you provide a name and email address. On the night, after panel members have been given a chance to respond, the floor will then be opened up to supplementary questions.

Although this event is specifically aimed at doctors, we will be organising follow-ups for other clinical colleagues. Please keep an eye out for more information.

Domestic abuse training at Sandwell and City

We will be hosting domestic abuse training for colleagues at the Trust on the following dates:

• 21 May, 12pm-3pm, Sandwell Education Centre – room 9
• 20 June, 10am-1pm, Anne Gibson committee room, City
• 16 July, 9.30am-12.30pm, Sandwell Education Centre – room 10
• 22 August, 10am-1pm, Anne Gibson committee room, City
• 24 September, 10am-1pm, Sandwell Education Centre – room 10
• 25 September, 10am-1pm, Anne Gibson committee room, City
• 23 October, 10am-1pm, Sandwell Education Centre – room 10

The training aims to help participants better understand the dynamics and complexities of Domestic Abuse as well as allow attendees to build confidence with routine questioning and the use of a risk assessment tool for the safety of patients.

For more information and to book your place, please contact amanda.millard@nhs.net.

Calling student nurse and doctor volunteers to help with environmental engagement programme

A fantastic professional development opportunity is coming up for student nurses and doctors. Green Impact is a UNESCO-recognised sustainability programme that this Trust is running. It’s designed to encourage, support and celebrate people making sustainability improvements. Student volunteers are trained as auditors to visit staff teams participating in the programme. No technical knowledge is needed! Full training will be provided to fit in with any learning or access requirements. All you need is a fully charged laptop with USB and Excel capabilities and the willingness to get involved.

You’ll receive IEMA approved training and a wealth of practical skills, experience and knowledge including practical experience and knowledge of applying sustainability principles in the workplace; planning and organisation; teamwork and communication; environmental auditing.

You must be free all day (10am-5pm) on either 1 May 8 May. You will be trained in the morning and then conduct practical audits in the afternoon. Time for breaks and lunch will be provided. Full details will be sent following receipt of your registration which you can complete using the online form.

For more information about the programme please contact charlotte.bonner@nus.org.uk.

Would you like to become a health visitor?

Are you a registered nurse of midwife? Would you like to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of children and families in Sandwell?

The health visiting service will be hosting roadshow events across the trust for anyone who would like to discuss health visiting as a career on the following dates:

• 1 May, 10am-2pm, Rowley main reception.
• 14 May, 10am-2pm at City Hospital, main entrance
• 29 May, 10am-2pm at Sandwell Hospital, Hallam restaurant

Health visitors will be available to answer any questions or queries you may have regarding the educational and practical components of the specialist public health degree/masters.

For more information please call the health visitor practice teachers can be contacted on 01922 423416 or 07972 344927.

Latest edition of Heartbeat now online

The latest edition of Heartbeat is now available to view online. This edition features our investment in scanning services and details about the 2019 Star Awards.