Monthly archives: June 2019
Only one week left to nominate in this year’s Star Awards
There is only one week left to get your nominations in for the upcoming Star Awards.
Star awards recognise the exceptional care, compassion, hard work and innovation shown by colleagues, volunteers and members of the local community.
Get involved and nominate and help get our stars the recognition they deserve!
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.
If you want some help with your nomination, get in touch with the communications team or join us at our Star Awards stand on 25 June at the BTC, City Hospital from 12pm – 2pm.
For more information, please visit our dedicated Star Awards 2019 page on Connect.
Sandwell day nursery fun day tomorrow
Sandwell Day Nursery will be hosting their annual fun day tomorrow (Saturday 22 June) from 10.30am – 2pm. We will also be celebrating the nursery’s 40th birthday and would like to welcome past and present nursery users and old nursery colleagues to join us. We would love to see faces old and new and find out what you have been up to!
The theme of the fun day is Disney where there will be Disney craft activities, a Disney photo booth, activities, games, tombola, raffle and a café to purchase light refreshments.
Parents, children and colleagues both past and present are all welcome as the nursery will also be hosting a stand with archived evidence books where parents can look back over the years.
For more information please call ext. 3566 or email emma.collier@nhs.net.
Surveillance Camera Day – visit our City control room today
We are pleased to be supporting the Surveillance Camera Commissioner and the first Surveillance Camera Day. It is hoped that open access will dispel some of the myths that surround CCTV and its use.
With this in mind we will be opening up our control room today (20 June) at City Hospital for colleagues to find out more and to support the nationwide initiative.
If you are interested, please contact mark.stankovich@nhs.net.
Heartbeat: Finch coach trip helps bowel condition patients take flight
It’s always nice to get out and about – now imagine if you couldn’t take a trip to the out of fear and embarrassment at the prospect of your body betraying you. For some patients it is a very real reality, but thanks to the FINCH group (faecal incontinence and constipation healthcare), assistance to those suffering from potentially life–altering bowel conditions is available.
It can be a tricky subject to talk about, as Jodie Smith, Bowel Function CNS at FINCH explains: “We know that bowels are a taboo subject and that bowel complaints can lead to social isolation, but the feedback demonstrates that even when an individual has regained control, the social isolation can persist.”
To help combat this, earlier this year at one of their quarterly support meetings the FINCH group proposed pushing social boundaries more significantly, raising the idea of a specially tailored coach trip to the Cotswolds for the simple pleasure of going ‘somewhere different’. The response from patients was a definite yes.
One such patient was 79–year–old Hazel Bury, who suffers from anterior resection syndrome following surgery for bowel cancer: “The idea was a big cheer up for us all; people who don’t normally get out and socialise. It gives us a bit more freedom, to have a day out or a few hours where we feel we’re in control – instead of the complaints being in control of us.”
FINCH, with sponsorship assistance from delivery company Respond worked to make it happen, allowing all those attending on a highly enjoyable trip the Cotswolds – one even rain could not dampen. Hazel laughs: “That day it poured with rain but it didn’t matter. It was a very interesting area and we wandered and wandered and I’m afraid was a bit late back for the coach because we wandered a bit too much!”
Further outings are now a possibility for the patients as it has opened back up a door thought closed to many.
Jodie adds: “The benefit of a patient support group is that patients can share experiences, give advice, and provide emotional support as they are speaking to others in a similar situation to themselves. These patients may not have anyone else to talk to, and even if they did it can be most beneficial to speak to someone outside their immediate circle.
From a patient support group friendships can be formed and this relief from isolation is gained.
“That was the whole aim. To help encourage patients to go out, live their life and not let their bowels stop them doing what they want to do.”
Kids go free at Dudley Zoo
Dudley Zoo are offering free entry to children between 3-15 years when accompanied by one full paying adult. This offer is valid until Tuesday 30 June 2020.
Note: Paying adults will need to show NHS ID.
Dudley Zoo kids go free voucher
For more information regarding staff benefits on offer please contact amir.ali1@nhs.net.
Join us at the Trust AGM today
We will be hosting our annual general meeting (AGM) at Sandwell Hospital, Education Centre today (Thursday 20 June) from 5.30pm – 8pm.
Please join us as we launch our annual report and quality accounts. There will be an opportunity to meet our patients and to discuss the delivery of our 2020 Vision.
Trust Chairman, Richard Samuda will be joined by his fellow Trust Board members as they host a ‘Question Time’ session with members of the public. The focus will be on our move to go smokefree on Friday 5 July – the 71st birthday of the NHS.
Light refreshments will also be provided.
For more information and to attend, please contact swbh.invitation-response@nhs.net.
Note: All reports will be available on the Trust’s website at www.swbh.nhs.uk.
National Clean Air Day
Clean Air Day is a chance to raise awareness of the harmful effects of air pollution and encourages everyone to make the air cleaner and healthier for everyone. It is estimated that long-term exposure to man-made air pollution in the UK has an annual effect equivalent to 28,000 to 36,000 deaths.
With this in mind National Express are offering colleagues a variety of benefits to reduce travel costs whilst improving the environment.
Please see information sheets below for further details regarding travel discounts:
Save money when you give up your parking permit discounts
Bus and Metro card discounts sheet
For more information, please contact francesca.silcocks@nhs.net.
New blood collection training for night shift workers
The transfusion practitioners will be holding blood collection training sessions for colleagues who work permanent nights on Tuesday 25 June and Thursday 11 July.
Sessions will take place up until 9pm in the pathology department at Sandwell Hospital. The training is aimed at colleagues who have blood collection as part of their mandatory training and need updating to be able to use the new blood fridge.
For booking and information please email Jayne.Evans1@nhs.net or Michelle.Reeves1@nhs.net.
Heartbeat: Virtual patients now a reality with futuristic training
By using futuristic simulator technology, our organisation is looking to improve the ultrasound training we offer within the radiology department.
Real–feel haptic technology is creating the sensation of touch in mid–air by using a simulator and it is being used to train our colleagues within imaging. It creates a virtual patient that can be scanned without discomfort.
We have invested in a device which responds to movement and pressure so it enables registrars and radiographers to accelerate their training in the art of carrying out a comfortable ultrasound.
There is also a virtual tutor component that guides the trainee through multiple modules to extend their knowledge of normal anatomy and pathologies.
Dr John Morlese, Consultant Radiologist and Clinical Director for Diagnostic Imaging said: “The ultimate aim is for us to improve our training and inspire members of staff to become ultrasonographers.
“The simulator responds to the movements of those using it, and it alerts you to the amount of pressure you are using.
“There are many ways that this equipment benefits our patients and our organisation. Normally we would carry out training on a patient, who may feel some discomfort when there is too much pressure applied during an ultrasound.
“By allowing the clinician, either a registrar or radiographer, to train using this haptic technology, they avoid this interaction with a patient. It also accelerates their training and enables them to become more competent in a shorter time frame. It also offers a taster to those who want to learn how to carry out ultrasounds.”
Heartbeat: Preventing cerebral palsy in pre–term babies
Pre-term births are increasing and more premature babies than ever are surviving, however, the number born with cerebral palsy also continues to rise. Here at SWB, our maternity department is committed to breaking the trend and has set out its plans to join the national PReCePT prevention campaign.
PReCePT is an evidence based project developed by the West of England Academic Health Science Network which looks to reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy in pre– term babies by administering intravenous magnesium sulphate to mothers during pre– term labour.
The drug which costs approximately £1 per dose is proven to be effective at reducing the risk of developing cerebral palsy in babies born before 30 weeks by approximately 30 per cent. Nationally between 4,000 and 5,000 babies are born pre–term, if all mothers of at risk babies received the intervention, we could prevent 200 – 300 from developing the debilitating condition.
To find out more about the project, we caught up with Consultant Obstetrician, Ashwini Bilagi, she said: “PReCePT is a really simple and straight forward initiative, all we have to do is identify mothers at risk of pre–term labour and make sure that this drug is offered to them. It’s extremely low cost and the benefits it offers are significant.
“At our Trust, we’re committed to making sure that our expectant mothers get the highest levels of care so we’re making this project part of our normal thought process. All of the necessary equipment to dose and administer the drug are readied in PReCePT go boxes, so that when we need to administer a dose, we have everything ready and waiting. Our target is to make sure that 85 per cent of our expectant pre–term mothers take up the intervention so that their babies are given every chance at a health start in life.”
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