Monthly archives: May 2019

Unity Question Time – summary of responses

At the end of last month, several of our senior medical colleagues attended an event where they were able to put their questions directly to the Unity project team. A productive discussion ensued and the audience’s concerns were addressed.

Some of the topics covered included the Trust’s IT infrastructure, the advantages of Unity over other electronic patient records, and how to optimise our use of the system once it goes live. A summary of the questions and answers can now be found on Connect.

Thanks to all who came along and contributed to the discussion. Plans are currently being made for a similar session at City Hospital. Please keep an eye out for information.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 24 May

Thank you for everyone working through the sunshine and the Bank Holiday. I know that in some parts of our Trust the hot weather exposes issues of poor air conditioning and other environmental issues. Do feel free to report concerns and don’t assume nothing can be done. But of course having a decent working environment is one part of the rationale for Midland Met, as well as the investments made since 2013 in Sheldon, BMEC, BTC, Rowley Regis, Leasowes and Sandwell. We are moving through the stages of negotiation with Balfour Beatty on the Midland Met site, and have agreed further work this summer that they will do to help us secure an opening in 2022. Our Arts Committee are working hard to make sure that the internal environment we experience matches the grandeur of the exterior of the building, and creates a place we would want to work in and care for people in.

Do get in touch with Ruth Wilkin, our director of communications, if you want to know more about how that work is being governed and designed. One key part of that design is that the entrance to the whole hospital is given over to the work of our researchers and innovators to share and showcase their discoveries. This week we opened the new Clinical Research Facility in outpatients at Sandwell, and I know that our continued focus on both portfolio and commercial research trials is something that each group management team are giving thought to in how we better support specialties and individuals.

We have launched this month’s TeamTalk and my video will be out early next week. We have a month to go now until nominations close for our annual Star Awards. Heartbeat is packed with pages of people as individuals or teams winning awards, and I really hope that we get a bumper crop of nominations for the Trust-wide awards that we do. Please take a few moments to nominate your boss, or your colleague, or one of your team. Big topics within team briefings continue to be vacancies and car parking. There is more information coming out about our changed arrangements for car parking, both the new Pay-As-You-Go scheme, our car sharing app, and the temporary changes to permit permissions as Sandwell, with some colleagues having their spaces relocated to New Square. Individual appeals are heard this week for anyone with a health reason not to be able to make that eight minute walk.

Managers, recruitment and other HR leaders are intensely working on our 1,000 vacancies drive. You will remember from prior messages that we want to try and end 2019 with a much lower vacancy rate that we had in 2018, or 2012, or anytime really! That means advertising jobs, making our Trust an attractive option, tackling retention, and promotion. So, another big thank you to those involved in that hiring process, which is time consuming, even though we have streamlined vacancy control. Even though we are definitely hiring, I want to reiterate our commitment to promoting and developing people inside our Trust. By October we will have implemented our escalator arrangements for HCA bands 2 and 3, which will provide a very clear and very automatic route to those who want to progress through pay scales from one to another, taking on more responsibility with more training. The distinction between bands 2 and 3 in our Trust has been a longstanding concern, advocated especially by Staff-Side and the introduction of the escalator is a very clear signal that those messages have been heard. So, if you are a band 2 HCA and have been told that there “are no band 3 roles about” then bear with us for a few more weeks because that is changing.

Unity and smoking always get a look in my messages right now! Read the back-page of Heartbeat next week and there is plenty on our smokefree status (5 July 2019 if you have missed it…). Our 28-Day Unity challenge is drawing to a close. Scratch-cards have certainly got plenty of people involved. Nearly 1,000 colleagues have sorted out their Unity favourites at our fairs. And in coming days the training dates for digital champions and super users will come out for June and July. The IT team are part way through reconciling all of our computers and printers. In coming weeks our N3 connection is replaced. The countdown is definitely on, so now is the time to think through the role Unity will play in your work. The big safety gain in my view is electronic prescribing. Transcription errors will be a thing of the past and playing hunt the drug chart likewise. In terms of discharge but more importantly in terms of medication error and medication reconciliation we are about to enter a new phase in the quality of care we offer locally. For all that putting Unity in has been long-winded and will be hard, I hope we have some excitement left for what lies ahead.

Finally, advance notice of a subject I think will grow and grow: Across Sandwell we started this month work to talk to every patient we discharged from our acute beds. The idea was to understand their experience of care but particularly to make sure they know their next steps and the support available to help them. Around 40 per cent of those we have worked with so far needed some more help than we had expected or arranged. If we are determined to become an integrated care organisation this careful management of transitions of care, to make sure everything is coordinated, is a quality gain in the making…

Attached are this week’s IT stats: IT Performance Stats 24 May 2019

#hellomynameisToby

Heartbeat: Lesley waves goodbye after 29 years in HR

Lesley Barnett, Deputy Director of People and Organisational Development, recently left the Trust to take early retirement. She first joined the organisation in a HR operations role 29 years ago, and has seen it go through many changes.

Her role, and that of the wider team, has had to adapt too. “When I joined HR back in 1990 it would have been a very administrative support function, whereas now it’s very much a professional HR service,” says Lesley.

“We’re involved in transformation work. We use data to drive evidence-based practice. We focus on LEAN methodology to ensure we’re productive in supporting the needs of the organisation. We work very closely with our finance colleagues.”

Throughout this move in a new and more modern direction, Lesley has taken great pride and pleasure in her work. She points out a few things in particular. “I enjoy the variety. I enjoy the challenges involved in it and the people I work with. Every day is different. I’ll very much miss the team I work for and the team spirit we have.” she says.

“I’m proud of the HR service we’ve developed. I manage a number of different teams within the OD directorate and make sure that they work effectively together. I think we use the skills of the various teams together to support the services of the organisation, and we’ve got a very can-do attitude. I think we’ve got a very effective HR team so I’m proud of what I’m leaving behind.”

Having devoted so much of her working life to the Trust, Lesley is excited to explore new opportunities and see what the future holds.

She said: “I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter. I think it’s a very responsible and busy job here. I decided I just wanted to take a step back and do something different in my life.”

Star Awards 2019: Excellence in Research

Do you know an individual or team who has participated in research which has made a demonstrable difference to patient experience and outcomes?

Nominate them for the Excellence in Research prize 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 Kanthan Theivendran.

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 2019 page on Connect.

Insulin safety week: Think glucose, think insulin

Insulin safety week aims to raise awareness of all things insulin related but more importantly, raise awareness about reducing insulin errors, in particular – insulin safety among healthcare professionals.

Here are some tips for increasing your knowledge and keeping safe when using insulin therapy:

The Trust requires that all those involved in prescribing and administering insulin complete the ‘6 steps to insulin safety’ module on Quest or online https://www.diabetesonthenet.com/
There are many types of insulin available. You can find a list of compatible insulins and their action profile in policies and guidelines https://myconnect.swbh.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Diabetes-Compatible-Insulin-Substitutions-Think-Glucose-SWBH.pdf?x80510
Insulin must be prescribed on the correct insulin prescription chart.
Ensure insulin is given at the correct time. All quick acting (e.g. Apidra) and mixed insulins 9e.g. Humulin M3) are given at a mealtime before patient starts eating unless otherwise instructed.
Never omit long acting insulin, even when the patient is on intravenous insulin. Long acting insulin dose can be reduced when there’s a concern regarding hypoglycaemia. If long acting insulin has been omitted escalate immediately and complete an IR1.
Always use the correct insulin safety pen needle when administering insulin and ensure safe disposal.
Consider your discharge plan – who will administer insulin following discharge?
Ensure patient is provided a supply of insulin pen needles on discharge.
Variable Rate Intravenous Insulin Infusion (VRIII) is not needed if the patient is eating.
Know how to refer to Think Glucose via ICM

Pathway to paperfree: Printing Winscribe GP letters is a thing of the past

Our Trust has recently made a huge leap on the pathway to becoming paper free by rolling out automated electronic communications to all GP practices nationwide.

What does this mean for us? The biggest change this brings about is that colleagues no longer have to print and post any Winscribe or CDA letters to GPs. Also the days of printing and posting a letter for each and every inpatient discharge to a GP is a now a thing of the past.

Now, as soon as a letter has been written on Winscribe and has been signed off, it will go through the national EDT hub and be delivered securely to the right GP practice, all done at the click of a button and supported with an audit trail.

Colleagues simply follow the same process as usual to create a letter on Winscribe and have it signed off, however, effective immediately, there is now no need to print and post the GP copy of the letter.

Colleagues welocme Portal demonstration

On Wednesday, the Unity team demonstrated the Patient Portal to a group of senior sisters and matrons at Sandwell General Hospital.

The Patient Portal will allow patients to view selected parts of their electronic record via a secure website. Patients will be able to see their results, future appointments and key documents such as patient information leaflets.

The demonstration looked at all aspects of the patient journey using the system. The current and future functionality of Patient Portal was shown, along with the benefits to both patients and clinical colleagues. Some of the major advantages for patients will be the availability of results in real time and a reduction in outpatient appointments.

Colleagues who attended were enthusiastic about the benefits of Patient Portal, which the Trust is planning to introduce once Unity has been fully embedded. Senior sister Kayleigh Jepson said, “The Patient Portal will be beneficial for the pre-assessment workflow. Patients will be able to do health questionnaires prior to their appointment. A nurse can then assess the information, and check to see if the patient would be suitable for a telephone pre-assessment.

“We are hoping to re-introduce telephone pre-assessments and this will be very beneficial. It will then free up appointments for patients who need a more complex assessment.”

Sharon Reynolds, Informatics Matron, said, “This is an exciting project with great benefits for both patients and staff. There is a lot of work to be done over the coming weeks and months as we prepare the system for a go-live date.”

For more information on the Patient Portal, please email swbh.unity.queries@nhs.net.