Monthly archives: May 2019

New clinical research facility opening at Sandwell Hospital today

Today we will be opening our new clinical research facility in the outpatients department at Sandwell Hospital between 10am-4pm.

This will give us new high quality clinical space to conduct impactful research for the benefit of patients.

We want to invite colleagues to come along to learn more about research that we do here and learn how you can get involved and reap the benefits of research.

We will be joined by the local research support bodies from across the region to help answer any questions. They include the Clinical Research Network West Midlands, which provides support to all NHS organisations.

Heartbeat: Top chef puts her pots down

Chef, Tina Truby is putting her pots and pans down after an amazing 40 years of feeding hungry patients, colleagues and visitors at Hallam restaurant.

Tina started working with our organisation as an apprentice, aged just 17 and after 40 years, her colleagues in the catering department have wished her a warm farewell.

She has received some great feedback over the years on her culinary skills, with bolognaise bake and chicken burrito being her specialities.

Tina says, “I want to say a big thank you to my colleagues. They have made my working life very happy indeed.”

So how will she be spending her retirement? “I’m looking forward to spending more time with my grandchildren, family and friends, as well as gardening and travelling. I’m particularly interested in planning a tour of Russia.”

Star Awards 2019: Prize for Innovation Award

Do you know an individual or team that has introduced new innovative practice or an innovative scheme during the year that has made substantial improvements to services or systems and processes?

Nominate them for the Prize for Innovation 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 Louise Thompson.

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.

Less than seven weeks to go smokefree

With less than seven weeks to go before our Trust goes smokefree on 5 July, we’ve asked colleagues, visitors and patients about why it matters.

Be sure to check out this video featuring consultant Dr Ziaudeen Ansari on why he believes going smokefree will benefit both colleagues and patients.

Unity 28-Day Challenge – Day 23, Uni-Tea Tuesday

We’ve enjoyed seeing all your team selfies so the competition is being extended until the end of the week. If you haven’t already, please submit your pictures to swbh.landd@nhs.net and we’ll announce the winner next week.

For today’s challenge, have a cup of tea and reflect on the past 22 days. What have you learned? What do you still need to learn? Do you feel more confident about using the system?

Note your ideas down and put them in your Unity Corner. This will act as an important reminder of the progress you’ve made and what areas you need to focus on over the coming days.

Heartbeat: Trip to Oz leads to top number of recruits

Our recruitment team are celebrating after a successful trip down under resulted in 174 conditional job offers to Australian nurses.

Colleagues Amir Ali, Head of Engagement, Retention and Nurse Recruitment, Glynis Fenner, Trust Bank Manager/Senior Nurse, Nicola Taylor, Acting Group Director of Nursing for Primary Care, Communities and Therapies, and Heather Bennett, Head of Service for Women and Child Health, went on the 16-day tour of the country to drum up recruits.

And they were overwhelmed with the response they received after visiting four different jobs fairs, in as many cities which included Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Amir said: “We interviewed candidates on the day, but we ensured that we were prepared before we went out there. We worked hard to streamline the process, which meant that successful candidates would receive an email offer immediately.

“They also underwent the correct compliance and processing checks within a short timeframe which meant we were able to confirm conditional job offers on the day in most cases.

“We also prepared the right information to hand out to prospective candidates and were really able to sell our organisation to them. We were inundated with queries throughout the day and were kept very busy. If there were candidates who couldn’t make the event, or were not available for an interview on the day, we carried out Facetime interviews afterwards.”

Amir added: “It was our first time in Australia, and we were up against two other Trusts at each of the events. However, we recruited more than the other organisations.”

The first event was held in Melbourne where 80 people attended and our team made 25 conditional job offers.

In Sydney 75 attended, and we made 22 offers. Meanwhile Perth saw 180 visitors, and 71 were recruited. In Brisbane, 150 attended and 56 offers were made.

“The calibre of nurses was really high and we hope to welcome our first cohort of 25 within the next five to six months,” Amir added.

“Going along to the Australian events has proved extremely successful for us as an organisation and will have a great impact in improving our nurse vacancy rate.”

Star Award 2019: Volunteer of the Year

Do you know an individual who has made a significant impact to our Trust whilst volunteering or a person who has shown selflessness and determination to support the people around them?

Nominate them for the Volunteer 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 Janet Dearne

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 2018 page on Connect.

Heartbeat: New heart disease technology continues to transform patient care

A non-invasive test to help diagnose and treat coronary heart disease (CHD) continues to go from strength to strength.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) leads to over 66,000 deaths in the UK and those living in Sandwell and West Birmingham are three times more likely to die from CHD than patients in London.

CHD develops when the arteries leading to the heart narrow or become blocked, which can reduce blood flow and cause chest pain and heart attacks. Typically, an invasive angiogram was used to diagnose CHD but SWB has become a pioneer in utilising effective and safe deep learning software, developed by the US health technology company HeartFlow. Using AI technology, HeartFlow Analysis is a non-invasive test that provides a digital 3D model of the arteries.

Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Dr Connolly explains: “HeartFlow Analysis is changing diagnosis for patients, meaning that in some cases, operations can be avoided. Having used the test with 100 patients, I found that 70 per cent didn’t require any follow up invasive testing. This leads to less risk, which is beneficial for the patient and represents considerable cost savings for our organisation.

“The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has suggested that HeartFlow could save the NHS approximately £9.1 million per year or £214 per patient.

“It also means that less time is taken to carry out diagnostic angiograms that ultimately don’t lead to patients’ even requiring stents or bypass surgery. We rely on CT scans and HeartFlow instead.”

Dr Connolly continues: “Also, the CT scanner that we have utilised extensively over the past ten years will have taken 2,500 scans this year. The Trust are investing in two further CT scanners which we will have by the end of the year, in recognition of the importance of access to non-invasive ways of diagnosing heart disease; one of the biggest and most fatal health conditions we are tackling in our region.”

As one of the first Trust’s to adopt HeartFlow, which is now available in 39 hospitals throughout the country, the UK are ahead of the curve when compared to the US or Europe in regards to quickly and accurately diagnosing and treating patients with coronary heart disease.

Derek concludes: “The future for the technology is bright too. There is potential to use machine learning to insert coronary stents virtually. These are tube shaped devices placed in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart, to keep the arteries open in the treatment of CHD. We would be able to view the impact on blood flow virtually before actual insertion; representing a major advance in the treatment of CHD.”

Star Awards 2019 – Clinical Team of the Year (adults)

Do you know a team that has provided consistent, high quality care for adults whilst meeting financial and operational targets, a team that has demonstrated best practice or has driven forward improvements in patient care or has pulled together through particularly difficult circumstances?

Nominate them as the Clinical Team of the Year (adults) at 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 winners out of hours district nurses.

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.

Star Awards 2019 – Employee of the Year

Do you know an employee who has an excellent attitude to work, colleagues and patients, someone who has repeatedly gone beyond the call of duty, made improvements to the delivery of services or the patient experience, or who consistently demonstrates the Trust’s promises to provide excellent care?

Nominate them as the Employee of the Year 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 Debi Fretwell.

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.