Monthly archives: April 2019

Get ready for Unity with Favourite Fairs and the 28-day Challenge

With the launch of Favourite Fairs and the 28-Day Challenge, there will be lots of exciting Unity activity going on around the Trust today. We want to build on the momentum of a successful full dress rehearsal and our recent roadshows, which were well attended, to ensure everyone’s ready for when Unity goes live.

The distinctive green Unity t-shirts will be seen around the Trust today as two weeks of Favourite Fairs kick off at City and Sandwell Hospital. The fairs are the perfect opportunity to get Unity personalised to meet your needs. It will only take 20-40 minutes to set up your ‘favourites’ – the elements of Unity you will use most within your role.

If you will be using Unity as part of your role then it is essential to attend a Favourite Fair. They will be taking place from 7.30am to 4pm, 29 April to 11 May. For a full list of dates and locations, as well as information on what you can do in advance to prepare, please visit Connect.

The 28-Day Challenge is getting underway today too. It will see thousands of colleagues taking part in daily challenges to increase their familiarity with Unity in a fun and collaborative way. They won’t take long to complete and should help you to feel more comfortable and confident when using the system.

To help familiarise yourself with the layout of Unity, we have a Play System which you can access here. This is a safe place for you to explore Unity and practise using it.

It’s really important that you complete the relevant ‘Unity – It’s All About U’ checklist and assess your Unity knowledge at the start of the 28-Day Challenge. You can find the checklists on the Unity section of Connect. You will find other useful items there too, such as a glossary of terms, standard operating procedures and frequently asked questions.

Unity 28-Day Challenge – Day 1, Motivational Monday

Create your Unity Corner, perhaps with access to the Play System. Use your Unity Corner to keep any updates, posters and contact details.

As today is the launch of both Favourite Fairs and the 28-Day Challenge there will be plenty of people around the Trust wearing green Unity t-shirts so feel free to ask them any questions.

Changes to the delivery and collection of air mattress to ward areas 

From 30 April, Karomed Ltd will no longer be delivering and collecting air mattresses at the Trust.

The new company (Select Medical Ltd) will be taking over the contract for service and decontamination of Trust owned pressure relieving air mattresses from 1 May. Further details on any changes to the service provision have been sent to ward managers and matrons.

Select Medical representatives will be visiting the ward areas on all sites to support the transition period.

Unity 28-Day Challenge starts today – get involved

Welcome to the start of the 28-Day Challenge. Over the next four weeks thousands of colleagues will be taking part in daily challenges to increase their familiarity with Unity in a fun and collaborative way.

We deliver many different types of training at the Trust to suit different learning styles, but research shows that we retain a lot more information through experiential learning and the 28-Day Challenge is a perfect example of that.

To help colleagues familiarise themselves with the layout of Unity, we have a replica you can use called the Play System, which can be found on Connect. It was recently updated and is a safe place for you to explore Unity and practise using it to support your work.

Throughout the 28-Day Challenge there will be a dedicated hotline on extension 2670 where you can talk to a trainer or even book one to help you through an issue. They will be able to access your PC remotely and guide you through any problems, or come to your area to support you first hand.

Following the QIHD earlier this month, many of you will now have assessed yourself against the relevant ‘Unity – It’s all about U’ checklist, which outlines the 10 core requirements for using the system in your role.

If you haven’t self-assessed as yet, you can find the checklists on the Unity section of Connect. You will find other useful items there too, such as a glossary of terms, standard operating procedures and frequently asked questions.

It’s really important that you assess yourself at the start of the challenge to see where you are and what you need to work on. Even if you’re not sure how to complete any of the requirements – that’s ok!

Throughout the 28-Day Challenge, and beyond, focus on practising with the Play System, and asking colleagues and trainers for advice if you’re not sure of something. You can also use the eCoach in the Play System, and the quick reference guides and videos on the Unity section of Connect.

The 28-Day Challenge should be an enjoyable way to explore Unity through a series of bite-sized tasks. They won’t take long to complete and should help you to feel more comfortable and confident when using the system.

But if you feel worried, or that you require some additional help, please talk to your manager, who will be able to identify the most appropriate support to ensure that you feel ready to use Unity effectively.

Once the 28-Day Challenge is completed, your manager will check in with you to verify that you are able to complete the 10 requirements for your role using the relevant ‘Unity – It’s all about U’ checklist.

We really hope that you enjoy the experience and find it beneficial. Remember, there is lots of time to practise and lots of support available to ensure that you and your teams are ready for Unity.

#Hellomynameis Bethan and I’m Deputy Director of People and Organisation Development

#Unityiscoming

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 26 April

One month into the new public sector year, our Trust feels busier than ever.  Thank you to everyone working so hard to manage additional arrivals in our Emergency Departments.  We have as well many additional referrals into our planned care services which we were expecting.  Thank you to those getting ready for the new adult community 48 hour ‘trial’ project, under which all discharged patients will be contacted by our PCCT teams to assess their onward needs and discharge experience.  Many of our safety indicators are showing continued improvements:  Despite a region wide rise in breast cancer referrals the service is growing to meet need and we have met our cancer wait standards again in the last quarter, our ward clinical teams are consistently screening over 90% of all indicated sepsis risk patients, and I know that many clinical teams are now getting on top of results acknowledgement in radiology (a process which will be hugely aided by Unity).

Against that backdrop on Monday we launch our 2019 Star Awards. The ceremony in October can feel an age away (Villa might be promoted by then), but it is not too early to think now about your nominations.  All of our traditional categories will be back for a fifth year running.  The all colleague vote will happen in August and September, but, as they say, you need to be in it to win it.  So please take a moment to think about anyone you have given a Shout Out to, or anyone you could have celebrated.  Just being put forward means a great deal to someone, and it takes moments to do.  Remember local winners go onto national glory and just this week we had the fantastic news that our Anaesthetic and Peri-operative team @ SWBH has won the “Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine team of the year” at the recent 2019 National Annual BMJ awards!

You may have noticed an ever increasing Trust-wide emphasis on environmental impacts on the public’s health and so this year we have added our Green Award into the roll of honour.  By the summer, plastic hand wash bowls will go from our wards replaced by pulp bowls, and before winter I know that Kevin Reynolds will have put in even more LED lighting and other changes to tackle our energy efficiency obligations.

You may know already that on June 20^th we will be joining others to celebrate international clean air day.  That is, of course, just a fortnight before we go Smoke Free.  In January next year the Clean Air Zone comes into operation in central Birmingham as part of the Brum Breathes project being spearheaded by one of our Trust non-executive directors, Waseem Zaffar.  I hosted this week, alongside Kelly Redden-Rowley and Arvind Rajasekaran from respiratory medicine, the first West Birmingham and Sandwell Clean Air Partnership event.  With 900 lives lost in the city each year to poor air quality, and a significant impact on childhood asthma and other conditions, there is every reason for us to be part of this valuable collaboration.  We want to be at the front of queue with the Local Enterprise Partnership and the West Midlands Combined Authority as we tackle issues of air pollution in housing and in transport – and we absolutely should see these changes as an economic opportunity for local business and communities, not just as a disruption in where we drive or how we get to work.  There will be loads more information about the CAZ  over the summer, and of course we are taking our own initial steps in this space by removing day-time car park passes from anyone living within a mile of our sites from June.

Before the weather turned, we managed to get our Step Into Spring event complete, with lots of opportunities to share wellbeing services and other projects.  Next week, we keep that participatory spirit going with both our 28-day Unity challenge, and our fourth Speak Up day on Wednesday May 1^st.  The latest employee engagement survey data is incredibly encouraging.  Not only has more than one in three folk responded to the weconnect survey, but our overall engagement outcome has sustained from January’s results.  It is clear that people feel trusted and involved.  But fairness at work remains an issue for us to tackle.  As I have written about here before we are consulting now on our manager’s code of conduct guide, as we look to make it very clear what our norms will be.  And the flexible working pledges we announced in February are taking effect and we are collating data to make sure that everyone has fair access to altered working patterns and reasonable adjustments.

This week we got to fantastic news that an extra £12.5m has been given to the Trust in recognition of our financial good practice and discipline.  I left that till last in my message because none of us come to work in the NHS for the money.  On the other hand, Lawrence Barker presented to the Clinical Leadership Executive for review on Tuesday over £4m of new clinical equipment investments that we are prioritising now.  It is possible to create a virtuous cycle around public funds, and there is every reason to believe that our local model and our local approach is beginning to succeed in that regard.  Rod Knight, Pam Tura and Paul North’s  draft final business case for Midland Met is shaping up nicely and shows how we will be able to re-invest around £6m a year of new money in expanding primary care and mental health care to wrap around what we do in acute care from 2022.  We have always said that a new hospital both depends on and enables better out of hospital services and we are resolute in wanting to defy the NHS-norm whereby such words are warm but empty.

SWB Brexit Bulletin – 26 April 2019

Attached are this weeks IT stats:IT Performance Stats 26 April 2019

#hellomynameisToby

SWB Brexit Bulletin – 26 April 2019

Welcome to this week’s Brexit bulletin to keep you up to date with plans and preparations relating to the EU Exit.

On Wednesday 10 April EU leaders collectively agreed to grant an extension of Article 50 until 31 October 2019, although the UK will be able to leave the EU before this date if a Withdrawal Agreement is passed and ratified.

How was the extension secured?

The Prime Minister asked for an extension until the end of June, allowing the UK to avoid taking part in the European Parliament elections which begin on 23 May. Ultimately, a compromise of six months was reached.

Key milestones in the next six months

• 12 April: Deadline to sign up to European Parliament elections
• 2 May: English local elections
• 23 May: European Parliament elections
• 30 June: EU Council summit takes place
• 31 October: Deadline for the UK to leave the EU in absence of further extension or revocation of Article 50

‘No deal’ planning

The legal default remains that the UK will leave the EU on 31 October, whether or not a deal has been agreed and ratified.

All NHS Trust Chief Executives received a letter from Professor Keith Willett, EU Exit strategic commander, on Thursday 11 April advising Trusts to stop ‘no deal’ provisions being enacted from Friday 12 April but that they should be kept on hold.

We have therefore stepped down our daily reporting although we continue our necessary preparations for a no deal outcome with adjusted timescales.

Toby Lewis, Chief Executive, continues as our Senior Responsible Officer for the EU Exit so if you have any queries or concerns please contact him at tobylewis@nhs.net

Unity Favourite Fairs start on Monday

Will you use Unity as part of your role? Then it is essential to attend a Favourite Fair to ensure that you have access to Unity 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.

These events are the ideal opportunity to make sure that Unity is customised to reflect your clinical role, which will make it much quicker and easier to use.

Favourite Fairs will be taking place from 7.30am-4pm, 29 April 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.

Heartbeat: No two days are the same for our radiology nurses

If you like technology and constant exposure to new and innovative equipment then look no further than our radiology nursing team.

The team provides care for patients undergoing a variety of procedures and investigations in the imaging department at Sandwell and City Hospitals.

We caught up with Sister, Tara Kaur who is a clinical nurse specialist who told us more.

She said: “We are a very vibrant team who deal with complex cases on a daily basis so no two days are the same.

“Our work essentially involves the assessment, planning and care of patients who undergo diagnostic interventional and therapeutic procedures. This can include procedures like biopsy for patients with suspected cancer, carrying out sepsis drains or inserting IV cannulas.

“Often this means we have to develop a very strong relationship with the patient.

We have to ensure they are comfortable and that they understand the tests and treatments that we are carrying out.”

Upon meeting the radiology nursing team it is very apparent how close knit they are. “We are a small team of nine including staff nurses and HCAs. We have to support each other to ensure the clinic lists are completed in a timely manner and at the patient’s pace. We work together for the patients and are committed to delivering quality care,” continued Tara.

“The majority of our time is spent in theatre, often wearing our heavy lead coats as you can see in the photo,” laughed Tara. “I think many people assume we are just doing minor procedures in the x-ray room, however we have specialist and complex duties in theatres. I have been doing this role for over 30 years and I can certainly say it’s very rewarding. You get to make a real difference to patients and at the same time enhance your clinical skills. So if you are a keen learner, have a great attitude and can show initiative, this is the place for you.”

Heartbeat: Faster treatment for short stay surgery

In June 2018, the adult surgical unit introduced a new 23 hour stay service for patients undergoing short stay surgery.

Previously, there wasn’t a dedicated area for those needing to stay the night or an even shorter stay after surgery.

Recognising the need to improve the patient journey, the adult surgical unit worked closely with the planned admissions unit to identify patients suitable for transfer, who required an overnight stay. Along with patients directly booked with the adult surgical unit, it was acknowledged that a high number of patients would benefit from a new short stay unit.

Since it’s been established, the adult surgical unit is being increasingly utilised and the unit is working closely with multi-disciplinary teams to develop more specialities into short stay surgery, to expand the 23 hour model.

The result has reduced length of stay for patients post-operatively and a reduced elective waiting list for surgery.

Senior Sister at the adult surgical unit, Kayleigh Jepson says: “Due to the new 23 hour stay service, which provides 28 beds including a maximum of 12 beds used overnight, operations are no longer being cancelled. Also, unless they are unwell, patients are not being taken elsewhere in the hospital after surgery, which improves their patient journey.”

She continues: “Our team have been central to making the 23 hour stay service work so well, as they’ve adapted their working schedules to meet the needs of the service.”

Medicine Team of the Year

The Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine Team at our Trust have been successful in winning the Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine Team of the Year at this year’s BMJ awards held earlier this week. The team were recognised for finding innovative ways to drive perioperative safety and efficiency across the organisation.

Massive congratulations to all the winners from our Trust!