Monthly archives: April 2019

Cake sale and charity tombola: 17 April

Neurophysiology will be hosting a charity tombola and cake sale today (Wednesday 17 April) to help raise funds for Your Trust Charity.

The cake sale will be hosted at the neurophysiology department (second floor of main spine at City Hospital, above Archers restaurant).

For more information please contact h.taylor22@nhs.net.

Free parking on offer close to Sandwell Hospital: Call for volunteers

Following the announcement on 29 March regarding the temporary changes to car park arrangements, work has been ongoing to develop alternatives to offset the loss of parking capacity whilst the development of the new health centre and multi storey car parks (MSCP) are built at Sandwell and City. The health centre development at Sandwell is due to start late June/July, which means that new arrangements will need to be in place from Monday 3 June.

A key element of our alternative arrangements is the provision of parking spaces at the New Square multi storey car park. The Trust has purchased these spaces and is offering them to colleagues at no cost. The car park is a short walk (10 minutes) from Sandwell Hospital and provides secure, well-lit car parking with the guarantee of a space. We are seeking volunteers who currently have a parking permit and are based at Sandwell to change their parking arrangements and utilise this new scheme for the duration of the development, up to January 2021.

If you are interested in this free parking option please email diane.alford@nhs.net by Tuesday 23 April.

 More information about the temporary changes to car parking

At Sandwell Hospital we are building a new health centre on the Lower Lyndon visitor car park, this means that we will have to create additional visitor car parking spaces to offset the loss of spaces on Lower Lyndon. The current All Saints Way staff car park will become a visitor car park.

There are a number of further schemes to manage the reduced car parking demand.

• Creation of an additional 80 car parking spaces on our existing sites
• Discounted public transport passes for colleagues
• Car sharing scheme with reduced parking costs
• Restricting parking for colleagues who live within one mile of, and are based at, Sandwell site
• Relocate colleagues to the New Square multi storey car park

The first part of the plan is to request colleagues who currently hold a parking permit and are based at Sandwell to volunteer to relocate their parking to New Square for the period of the development which could be up to January 2021.

Staff parking at New Square has the following benefits:

• Charges for your current SWBH pass will be suspended but will still allow parking at City and Rowley at all times, and for Sandwell at weekends only
• Free parking at New Square in the MSCP only Monday to Saturday (free to all Sunday)
• Parking at New Square will be in the MSCP, this facility will be open from 5am to 10pm and patrolled by three parking officers throughout that period with additional CCTV coverage

Heartbeat: Speech and language therapists to “WellComm” new screening tool

In all aspects of life, communication is of the upmost importance.

Our therapists’ work includes helping to develop communication skills in the young, as more than 10 per cent of children have a speech, language and communication need.

Our children’s therapies and nursing team has developed a new ‘second generation’ of the WellComm screening tool which will be launched in June this year. The WellComm Primary Screening Tool follows the highly acclaimed WellComm Early Years Screening Tool which was first developed by the team and published in 2010.

Kay Baker, Team Leader for Children’s Therapies told Heartbeat: “The WellComm Primary Screening Tool is a complete speech, language and social communication toolkit. Utilising a ‘traffic lights’ system, WellComm Primary allows primary school teaching staff and practitioners to help identify children between the ages of six and eleven who are in need of referral or support, providing a tailored intervention strategy for all children they see.

WellComm Primary comes with The Big Book of Ideas which is full of intervention activities, which can be photocopied. They are all designed to be fun, friendly and engaging to help improve language skills, whatever the age or ability of the child. “Where there are concerns with a child, they can assess them and identify activities to carry out with the child which will help to minimise any identified difficulties.”

Kay added: “This has been a really exciting and motivating project for our team. We have enjoyed being able to develop a tool that will be easy for school staff to use and fun for the children to be engaged in.

“Feedback we have received for the original tool was excellent and we hope that this new screening tool will be just as successful.”

Heartbeat: Big red resus rollout – new tamperproof trolleys coming to you

When a patient takes a turn for the worse and the emergency resuscitation team call goes out, clinicians reach for the resus trolley first; the home of life saving equipment. At our Trust, we’ve now invested further in these trolleys by completing a roll out of over 100 brand new tamper proof trolleys.

The new tamper proof resus trolleys are located across our workplace, both in acute ward areas as well as in outpatient areas such as the physio gym. Anywhere a patient could find themselves in need, there will be a resus trolley nearby.

To find out more about the brand new resus trolleys, Heartbeat caught up with Resus Nurse, Lizzie Bennett who has been one of the driving forces in the roll out.

She said: “Back in September the decision was made to begin the process of sourcing some new resus trolleys. Those that we had in the Trust were functional but they lacked uniformity and were limited in their security, making it easy to borrow items, which resulted in areas frequently failing audits.

“The new trolleys come with a security seal system so if a trolley is opened with possible items removed, it is easy to spot, restock and replenish. The trolleys now all look the same so if you need to find one in an unfamiliar location, they’re easy to spot.

“The key point we want all colleagues to understand is that these trolleys are there for emergencies and should only be used in these cases. They are not to be used for general supplies, as they must be kept fully stocked ready for use at all times and checked on a daily basis.”

If you have any questions about the new resuscitation trolleys, you can contact the deteriorating patients and resuscitation team via email: swb-tr.swbh-gm-resuscitation-team@nhs.net

NHS hero: Louisa Adams

A busy NHS theatres department needs someone able to react, adapt and roll with whatever the day brings – because it could be absolutely anything. For Louisa Adams, Matron of Theatres at Sandwell Hospital, that also includes making sure both patients and staff are getting the best support they can.

The 43-year-old from Halesowen joined the NHS in 2004 and is celebrating her 15th year working in the health service. She spends her time looking to improve the service our organisation offers its’ patients, whilst at the same time helping to make the working environment for colleagues the best it can be. But how she actually found her way into joining the NHS was something of an accident.

“I originally studied American Studies at University with a thought to lecturing,” said Louisa – who noted she could’ve even ended up a primary school teacher if the dice had landed differently.

“I then decided to join the police as a graduate, and whilst waiting for my interview I secured work in a private hospital as a theatres assistant. I quickly realised how much I enjoyed providing care for patients within that environment. So, I applied for operating department practitioner training and progressed from there.”

Louisa is responsible for the safe and effective delivery of patient care within the operating theatre, which includes ensuring standards are set and adhered too, helping to manage staff, and activity within the department budget, leading on clinical risk and health and safety as well as day-to-day management within the operating areas.

“Is there a typical shift?” She smiled, when discussing where a work day can lead. “Every day is different and busy. I can move from managing incidents, to supporting staff, reviewing equipment to see where we can make procurement savings, to reviewing policies to then planning recruitment events.”

It’s a fast moving role, and Louisa herself is pretty driven – managing to move up from a band 7 to a band 8A within a three month window – something she classes as a real career highlight.

“It was a rapid learning curve,” she noted. “This was on a secondment for two-and-a-half years; I then was successful in obtaining my substantive 8A position. As well as attaining my Masters in Healthcare Leadership through the NHS Leadership Academy whilst working full time.”

When not at work, Louisa enjoys spending time with her partner and children, reading, working out, cooking and enjoying time by the sea whenever she can.

Throughout everything, Louisa strives to make things better and more positive, citing Barack Obama’s example in life: “He has a desire to always do the right thing and help those in need.”

Heartbeat: Storytime captures the imagination of paediatric patients

Paediatric patients on Lyndon 1 ward at Sandwell Hospital had the opportunity to meet the newest members of the SWB family, Veronica and Monica Vet and their nurse Mark the cuddly shark, as part of Storytime – an interactive story session involving songs and dance funded by Your Trust Charity.

Innovative ideas see patients on the children’s ward working with Veronica and Monica vet to help their cuddly critters get better.

Pets arrive with a letter from their owner explaining what they have been doing and how they need help. In February, we met Dexter dog who had hurt his paw and in March, we met Jas duck who needed a bath after getting his feathers dirty whilst doing crafts at home.

The Storytime sessions are funded by Your Trust Charity in partnership with Sandwell Public Libraries. Our library service plays a vital role in evaluating the sessions to see how they improve patient experience on our wards.

Jean Fenn, Library Manager at Oldbury Town believes the weekly interactive story sessions have many benefits for our younger patients at the hospital.

She said: “The aim of Storytime is to leave each child with a sense of positive wellbeing as it explores themes around reading for pleasure, being active, exploring and healthy eating.

Throughout the session, the storytelling embeds the importance of using stories, songs and imagination to enhance your mood.”

A firm favourite of storytime is also Mark the cuddly shark who shares his favourite story and gets everyone singing along to Baby Shark where children, parents and carers can laugh, dance and sing along!

Preeti Puligari, Library and Knowledge Services Manager echoes these thoughts and said: “Providing play therapy to children during hospitalisation has high therapeutic value and contributes to both their physical and emotional well-being and ultimately, to their recovery.”

She added: “Storytime can help children who are recovering from procedures to better cope with the experience and aims to change the way they feel about hospitalisation.”

The next Storytime sessions are taking place on Wednesday 17 April, from 2-3pm on Lyndon 1 ward. For more information please contact Your Trust Charity on 0121 507 5196.

Heartbeat: Hello my name is… Caryl Thomas Pharmacy Governance Manager and Trust Medication Safety Officer

Heartbeat is delighted to welcome Caryl Thomas, Pharmacy Governance Manager and Trust Medication Safety Officer to our SWBH family.

Having started her role in January, Caryl was previously a patient safety and non-medical prescribing pharmacist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where she worked for seven years. Beginning her career as a junior pharmacist in 2011 after completing a pre-registration year in London, Caryl completed her clinical pharmacy diploma and began prescribing independently. This developed her interest and involvement in governance and patient safety, which led to Caryl completing a master’s degree in patient safety.

In regards to her role at SWBH, Caryl explains: “I am responsible for ensuring that medication related activities within pharmacy and in SWB comply with legislation. I support all changes that help make medicines practice safer. Working alongside two technicians in the pharmacy governance and medicines safety team, our accountabilities include investigating medication related incidents and supporting staff with changes to ensure compliance with regulations, as well as advising and educating colleagues on medicines safety and governance.”

So, what was Caryl most looking forward to about joining us?

She tells Heartbeat: “I am passionate about working with multi-disciplinary colleagues to support them with learning and actions arounds medication safety. I have already met many friendly and enthusiastic staff members and I hope our pharmacy governance and medicines safety team become a valuable resource. We want our positive approach to empower colleagues to recognise and resolve governance and medicines safety issues.”

Exploring cognitive stimulation therapy – free event: 16 May

Do you practice cognitive stimulation therapy (CST)? Would you like to share best practice and hear from people delivering CST for people with dementia?

Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust are hosting a free exploring CST event at the Village Hotel, Walsall on Thursday 16 May.

The event is an opportunity to network with other CST practitioners from a range of regional services and to share best practice in delivery CST. There will also be the chance to hear about the benefits of CST from people who are living with dementia.

For more information e-mail dwmh.talcs.team@nhs.net or call 01922 607209.

To book tickets visit https://exploringcst.eventbrite.co.uk.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 12 April

Since the start of April around 300 more people are attending our emergency departments each week than in prior months. The number being admitted has risen around 45 per site through medicine to figures exceeding 60. At Sandwell we have had our own beds closed to norovirus, and of course have seen proliferation in the local community too. Staff sickness here is up, with exhaustion, but also with D&V. There is very little that can be said other than thank you.

These rises are being seen in other hospitals too, and we are working through with partners the cause and the remedy. In the meantime, we have kept open some beds we had planned to close.  Team leaders are working hard on rotas and rosters to make sure we have cover in place. In any situation like this, teamwork and communication will be vital. I hope that you feel supported by local leaders like Helen Mallard and Beth Hughes, as well as by directors.  Lots of Shout Outs are rightly coming in about individuals, and I wanted to pick out Dr Jack Beardsall from Sandwell ED and Dr Mo Khan at City, as folk whose work has been praised to me by patients and by peers for its calmness, compassion and leadership. In Heartbeat at month end, we launch our new Star of the Week prize for anyone in our Trust, replacing the prior compassion in care award, and I am sure that we will see many nominations from the acute pathway.

Over recent days we have been finalising the first cohort of weconnect pioneer teams. I have been part of that selection process and it is great to hear and to see the enthusiasm for improvement and for learning among team ranging from nursery nursing, through estates, pharmacy operations and City ED. The pioneer process will kick off in earnest in May as we look to support around a dozen teams with engagement, involvement and resilience. Good luck to all – and look for faces, photos and stories in May’s Heartbeat.

The Trust has had a run of stories latterly in the Express and Star. I wrote last week about the current consultation process on CCG boundaries, and the potential for that to have an adverse effect on the Midland Met approval timing. You will have seen publicity for an incident involving one of the cranes as they were being disassembled this week. I am pleased to confirm no injuries, but I know Balfour will look to learn from what happened and remedy any damage to the site. There was some publicity for our car park changes, announced here on 29 March, with a focus on the temporary changes that mean some colleagues based in the Elizabeth suite and in Trinity parking at New Square from this summer for a year or just over. I do understand the frustrations and concerns expressed, but the position remains as decided after wide discussion. Of course if lots of volunteers come forward opting into the free car park there, we can reconsider the compulsion. Thank you to those colleagues who have seized, though, this change as an opportunity for fitness gain and other endeavours. On 24 April, we have our latest Stepping into Spring wellness event. Look out for details in communications bulletin.

Thursday 18 April is our next QIHD. By now you will have selected your accreditation bid. The learning topic this time will be Unity, and in particular the start of our competency self-assessments, and the launch of our 28 day challenge programme. I won’t mar the surprise element, but I do want to highlight the reality of the countdown to Unity. I know we have hundreds of people working really hard to get us ready, over a hundred digital champions trained and ready, and our super users to train in June and July. Unity will not solve all of our IT challenges. Unity will only work with decent WiFi and good community connections. But as much as anything else Unity depends on us, on you.  The whole executive was trained in the product last week by Pat Rodriquez, and whilst none of us qualify yet as super users, it was exciting to see some the improvements that the product can underpin if we work together to optimise its use.

I have attached a Brexit bulletin, albeit I am slightly lost as to the best way to summarise events. The IT statistics are easier to outline. Over 4,500 IT incidents were closed in March by those who reported them, which is by far our highest ever close rate. We have cut by a third the long wait incidents. Half of all queries are settled now on first contact and want that to grow to about 80 per cent over time. Recruitment is ongoing to support our first line helpdesk in IT going seven day this summer. I am well aware that everything is not yet perfect. IT teams are out finalising WiFi, and out too configuring printers and PCs. We have delayed the N3 replacement for a month while we complete readiness work. But there is little question, I think, that we are seeing improvement. Our 70 or so IT colleagues deserve our thanks for their endurance and commitment.

This week’s Brexit Bulletin: SWB Brexit Bulletin – 12 April 2019

Attached are this weeks IT stats:IT Performance Stats 12 April 2019

#hellomynameisToby

SWB Brexit Bulletin – 12 April 2019

Welcome to this week’s Trust Brexit Bulletin, to keep you up to date with the latest information relating to health care services as we prepare for exiting the EU under a deal or no deal scenario.

Updated guidance on overseas charging for NHS services

On 8^th April the Department of Health and Social Care published further guidance on changes to regulations that would affect how costs are recovered should the UK leave the EU with no deal.

In a no deal scenario visitors from the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland who visit the UK will not be covered for healthcare in the same way that they are now. There will be no change to rules relating to visitors or migrants from outside the EU. Services that we do not currently charge for will remain exempt from changes. This includes accident and emergency services and GP services.

The changes outlined below will only happen if the UK leaves the EU with no deal and will only apply in England.

EEA and Swiss citizens living in the UK

• Remain eligible for free NHS care, even if they arrive after the UK leaves the EU

EEA and Swiss citizens who move to the UK after exit day

• To be eligible for free NHS care, citizens must meet the ordinarily resident test and hold European Temporary Leave to Remain from the Home Office once freedom of movement ends
• Irish citizens will only need to meet the ordinarily resident test

EEA and Swiss citizens visiting or studying in the UK

• Not eligible for free NHS care unless there is a healthcare agreement in place with their country of residents or they are accessing an exempt service (eg accident and emergency).
• If the visit to the UK starts before exit day there would not be charges for the length of their temporary stay (eg until the end of a holiday or end of their education / training)

EU visitors with authorisation for planned treatment

• Eligible for treatment without being charged, even if treatment takes places after exit day

EEA or Swiss citizens working as frontier workers

• Eligible for treatment without being charged

People living in the EU whose healthcare is funded by the UK under current EU reciprocal arrangements

• Eligible for free NHS care in England when returning temporarily (eg to visit friends and family)

These changes would come into force immediately after exit day should the UK leave the EU with no deal.

For more detail on the recent guidance please go to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/overseas-visitor-charging-guidance-for-nhs-service-providers-on-updates-to-regulations

If you have any questions or concerns about our preparedness please contact our Senior Responsible Officer for Brexit, Toby Lewis, Chief Executive on tobylewis@nhs.net