Monthly archives: July 2019
VitalPAC/NEWS 2 update: Information for all clinical colleagues
You will no doubt be aware of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) which advocates a system to standardise the assessment and response to acute illness.
NEWS 2 is the update that incorporates some important clinical advances and is now the version running on VitalPAC.
The accompanying NEWS 2 paperwork has replaced the prior NEWS paperwork.
NEWS 2 will be the track & trigger system within Unity.
Below is a short information sheet that is pertinent to you if you have clinical contact with patients who have physiological observations recorded whilst at the Trust.
Heartbeat: Pain management patient group explores how to thrive at work
As we all know, caring for patients does not stop with a surgery or a course of medication. A number of long term conditions including pain, require considerable ongoing support from health services as people adjust to the life changing impact such a diagnosis may present. Pain also has the potential to affect numerous aspects of people’s lives.
Thankfully our organisation provides a number of services to help people accept and learn to live with long term pain conditions. This includes a new patient group that has been set up with the help of the SWBH Trust charity. The Pain Management Support Group run by Advanced Physiotherapist, Paul Rees. Paul, who specialises in musculoskeletal physiotherapy (MSK) and pain management welcomes patients to the sessions which take place at West Bromwich Leisure Centre and facilitates the development of self-management strategies in order to reclaim some of their freedom in ways they may not have conceived.
His most recent session focussed on the value of vocational rehabilitation. During the session the group participated in discussions about the benefits to this, potential and existing issues that can affect the process for someone who has a life altering pain condition and what support is available in order to help find work.
“We’ve put together a session to support people with long-term persistent pain on returning to work. Vocational rehab is an integral part of their journey with living in pain. We understand that one of the really important components of self-management, and particular with long-term pain, is engaging in meaningful activities.
Work represents a really good opportunity on a number of levels in terms of emotional wellbeing and physical conditioning. Factors which are really important to help someone learn to live with long-term and persistent pain.”
This session also featured multiple guests, including Jonathan Maddison from the volunteers team who gave a presentation about the number of volunteer roles that our organisation utilises and how the opportunities provided could work well with those only able to do certain hours.
“I was delighted by the interest the group showed in not only what the volunteers team does but the opportunities it presents, a number of those attending expressed interest in joining the team in some degree citing the flexibility we offer. We’ll definitely be following up with them.”
Jonathan was joined by Simon Woods and Tracy Elsdon, representatives from the organisation Prospects, who were there to promote the health-led trial Thrive Into Work. The trial is a new type of employment support for people with disabilities or health problem who would like to consider going back into work.
“Going back into work is proven to benefit both mental and physical wellbeing and we’ve been discussing with patients ways that can work with them and their conditions.” Explains Tracy, “Thrive Into Work health-led trial currently in Europe, hopefully we will be able to prove that individual placement and support is effective in a primary care setting we will be able to roll out across the country to benefit patients everywhere.”
Paul adds “From here, this group is part of a wider project supporting people with long term persistent pain. Our role is acting as facilitators to achieving longer-term self-management of their condition. Hopefully we’ll be able to help the group feel more comfortable, get comfort acquainted with dealing with their condition and alleviate some of the frustration that can be generated by their conditions.”
Heartbeat: Combining accounting with canine massage
Senior Management Accountant, Jo Bevan, who has been with the Trust for 20 years, has transformed her passion for dogs into an additional new role treating dogs with muscular issues as a canine massage therapist.
Jo qualified as a canine massage therapist in February 2018 after undertaking a two year Clinical Canine Massage Practitioner Programme by the Canine Massage Therapy Centre. The course covered sports, Swedish and deep tissue massage, as well as myofascial release and the Lenton method, a scientific and systematic method of injury identification and therapy. She specialises in the rehabilitation of muscular issues dogs may experience such as lameness, limping and stiffness, whilst helping dogs with chronic pain management caused by orthopaedic issues such as arthritis and hip dysplasia.
“I decided to become a canine massage therapist when I had difficulty treating the muscular issues experienced by my two dogs. They were offered pain relief but nothing to help alleviate their issues at the root cause. Upon research, I found out about canine massage and despite no prior medical training, I decided to become an accredited practitioner.
“The course was complex but I was thrilled to become qualified. As a dog lover, it’s so rewarding to help dogs in pain. Dogs show us unconditional love but it is difficult for them to communicate if they are suffering pain. I initially assess a dog’s posture and gait and identify muscular issues via palpation. Most issues can be resolved in three massage sessions. The dogs can sometimes be a bit wary of me at first but they soon love me when they experience the benefits of massage!”
As a complementary therapy, canine massage has been established for 15 years, with the world’s first clinical trials on canine massage currently taking place. However, canine massage therapy is not fully understood and endorsed by all veterinary surgeons. Therefore, as a proud member of the Canine Massage Guild, Jo attended Crufts last year to promote the benefits of canine massage. She assisted the Guild in launching their Integrated Veterinary Care Initiative (IVCI), an educational project to help vets appreciate the science behind canine massage and the phenomenal results it can achieve.
Heartbeat: Parents’ meningitis experience prompts better sharing of information
Each month a patient or relative is invited to share their story of our care at our public Trust board meetings. In July, the Board meeting was held at The Nishkam Centre on Soho Road, where Board members were introduced to Simon Carswell, a local dad, whose six week old daughter Aubree became seriously ill and was treated at Sandwell Hospital.
Simon explained how his daughter Aubree had become very unwell overnight and, to get help, he and his partner Kirstie called NHS 111 who were able to arrange an emergency appointment at Sandwell Hospital. Aubrey was assessed and moved swiftly to the paediatric ward at Sandwell for further investigations. On arrival they were taken to a bay and several doctors and nurses attended within seconds.
“At that point it turned into carnage from my perspective,” said Simon. “Fear attacked me and Kirstie. We didn’t know what was going on. I was brought over to try and calm Aubree down. Kirstie had a doctor with her who was trying to update her and I was trying to comfort Aubree. I heard works like ‘sepsis’ and we were being asked lots of questions. We were really scared.
“Things settled after five to ten minutes – it felt like a lifetime. She was given antibiotics and put on a monitor. We were taken to Lyndon 1 to our own cubicle and things settled a bit. I have never experienced anything like that before. I don’t think I ever worried about anything until that point.
“The feedback I can provide is not relating to the care she received – the care was spot on – but instead it was about how the information was shared with us. She had lots of tests and we would be told for instance that there would be a result in 24 hours. Once 24 hours had passed we weren’t always informed of the result and we were left in limbo. Every second that passed 24 hours we became more and more concerned.
“There was confusion about where some of the tests went and when the results would be back. We always had to ask people what the test results were and what was going on. We stayed every night and were up almost all of the time waiting for some form of indication as to what was going on. Aubree improved and was discharged and we subsequently found out that she had viral meningitis. I can’t fault the time and attention the staff gave us but it was frightening not knowing what was going on.”
Paula Gardner, Chief Nurse, thanked Simon for sharing his story, “I agree that healthcare professionals need to be pro-active and communicate continually to parents and carers. We need to take particular care with people whose first language isn’t English. The quality listening time that we have in place in some wards is a really helpful opportunity for relatives to meet with the clinicians and find out about the care plan for their loved one.”
Toby Lewis, Chief Executive, asked Simon whether it would have been helpful to have fixed points during the day where you could find out information. Simon felt that it would have been useful, saying: “The information would come 90% of the time when the doctors did their rounds so we gave up asking questions we just waited for those moments. It would have been good to have other opportunities.”
Heartbeat: Signing skills to help communication with patients
A group of 12 colleagues from across the Trust, both clinical and nonclinical, have recently completed their level one course in British Sign Language. They finished their third and final exam in June and are expecting to receive their results shortly.
The group, who work in a range of areas including A&E, women and children, and complaints, met every Wednesday from January onwards as they gradually developed their understanding and signing skills. Their instructor conducted the class completely in sign.
The course is organised through the Trust’s equality and diversity team and delivered by an external provider called Signature. It’s been an enjoyable process, with the group helping each other along and becoming good friends.
Charlie Duhig, a midwife at the Serenity Birthing Suite, was excited to take part: “I wanted to do the course as I felt it would benefit my practice to be able to communicate better with those who are deaf or hard of hearing. I felt it would
make them feel more relaxed and hopefully have a better birth experience,” she said. “It can be very alienating to be in a hospital setting for anyone. But when you add this to an already heightened emotional time such as labour, and you are struggling to make sense of what is going on around you, I felt this skill would be particularly beneficial.”
Natalie Trepsenishti, a charitable funds and cash office administrator at City Hospital, was also motivated to make a difference for patients. She enjoyed the experience too.
“Deaf people are cut off from the usual forms of communication such as hearing your name being called at the doctor’s or exchanging a few kind words with a stranger. This means that deaf people can feel isolated and find it hard to get information or even help in an emergency,” said Natalie.
“I wanted to be able to help by learning the basics of sign language, even just to say a friendly ‘How are you today?’ or ‘Can I help you?’ That feeling of making someone feel included is amazing.
“BSL is a beautiful visual language. We had so much fun every week learning and practising the signs. Our tutor, Karl, was superb and I am grateful for his support and encouragement to do well.”
Having learned a lot over the last six months, it’s something they would recommend to others. Most are keen to continue onto the level two course, which will be self-funded. A second cohort has also recently started up.
Heartbeat: Stepping Up to develop senior leaders
We recently played host to the graduation of over 100 BME colleagues from across the region from the NHS Leadership Academy Stepping Up programme.
The programme which is aimed at bands 5, 6 and 7 colleagues who self-define as being from black, asian or minority-ethnic backgrounds aims to develop senior leaders in the NHS who will lead effectively, creating and embedding organisational inclusive cultures whilst also looking to create a deeper level of understanding to help change take place. The programme was funded by the Local Workforce Action Board (LWAB) as part of building leadership capability in the Black Country.
Donna Mighty, Assistant Primary Care Liaison Manager was part of the first cohort of colleagues to take part in the stepping up programme and subsequently went on to help organise the graduation. She said, “The stepping up programme was empowering and enlightening and I’m immensely proud to have been part of it.”
Director of People and Organisation Development, Raffaela Goodby said: “as an organisation we are proud to be part of this this programme and we welcome any opportunity that helps to build greater levels of inclusion within our organisation. My congratulations to everyone who graduated and to those joining the two cohorts we have planned for later this year.”
If you would like to join the next cohort of the Stepping Up programme, contact Estelle Hickman for more information.
Heartbeat: Appreciating every member of the team
After having a particularly busy shift where she had not even had time to take a break, Sophia Panton Sister/Charge Nurse was touched by a patient who commented that all of the staff worked so hard but didn’t receive the appreciation that they deserved. Sparked by the patient’s kind words and recognising that we should start to appreciate each other, Sophia decided to take on the task of organising what has now become the AMU Appreciation Ball.
Sophia invites colleagues from the AMU and other multi-disciplinary teams to an evening where colleagues can come together and celebrate. The night is an awards ceremony, voted for by staff and recognising various categories such as AMU nurse of the year, AMU consultant of the year, AMU registrar of the year, acute nurse practitioner of the year, unsung hero, patient’s choice, and rising star.
The big award of the evening is the the AMU Appreciation Award which is essentially the people’s choice award. Everyone on the ward votes for one person that they think has gone above and beyond in their role, is approachable and generally possesses various qualities that make them easy to work with. Ward Nurse, Claire Obiakor took home the big prize this year.
Sophia is extremely dedicated to making sure the evening is an enjoyable one, organising everything from venue and ticket sales to seating plans and posters. She has even designed an electronic voting system to allow staff to vote for their colleagues.
Recognising people’s hard work and making them feel appreciated is crucial and Sophia understands the importance of this. ‘We spend most of our days with our colleagues, it’s important to show love and appreciation to each other” she said.
145 colleagues attended this year and Sophia is excited about making the event even bigger and better next year. “I am thinking about how I can make it a little bit different next year, maybe I can get in a local artist to make an appearance.”
Heartbeat: Hello my name is… Frieza Mahmood
Welcome Frieza Mahmood, who has joined our workplace as Deputy Director of People and Organisation Development.
Frieza started her career in retail marketing and events management. It was after studying business, psychology and sociology that she considered the field of human resources (HR) as a profession.
Frieza explained: “Following completion of an undergraduate degree at Aston University in human resource management, my first operational HR role was working in the private sector for Cadbury Schweppes as a trainee HR manager responsible for the management of all employee relations matters at the Bournville plant. I subsequently spent some time working for Accenture on the management of the outsourced provision of NHS HR contracts before joining the NHS full time.
“My career in the NHS began on the National Graduate Management Training Programme. Following this I worked for a number of large provider Trusts covering acute hospitals to mental health and community services.”
Frieza has 15 years HR management experience, 10 years of which has been at a senior level. She has extensive knowledge of the workforce agenda within the NHS where the majority of her career has been focused.
So what attracted Frieza to SWB?
“The scale of the organisation’s ambition, its commitment to excellence and the recognition by the Board of the people and OD functions as being of crucial importance to the delivery of the Trusts vision and strategy,” she said.
Frieza’s role at SWB will see her be accountable for resourcing, operational HR and supporting the delivery of our strategic workforce agenda.
“I view this as adding organisational value by making a real difference in the delivery of people focused solutions to include renewed focus on workforce transformation, productivity, staff experience, leadership development and talent management,” continued Frieza.
“I take the greatest professional satisfaction from facilitating organisational cultures where leaders feel empowered to achieve excellence and are supported in being able to adapt to the changing environment around them.”
In her spare time Frieza enjoys cooking but only when she doesn’t have to! She also enjoys winding up friends and family with practical jokes and watching old movies that no one else thinks are entertaining.
Heartbeat: Award win for supporting young people into work
It’s the annual awards ceremony that celebrates the best apprentices and their employers working across the Greater Birmingham area, acknowledging those up-and-coming talents working in fields as diverse as manufacturing, creative industries, finance, digital industries and the public sector.
At this year’s Ladder for Birmingham Apprenticeship Awards, we scooped one of the main prizes – Birmingham Apprenticeship Training Provider of the Year.
“It was a fantastic honour to hear our organisation announced as the winner of such a prestigious award,” said Libby Marshall, Apprenticeship Co-ordinator.
“Feedback from the judges was that the award was in recognition of our distance travelled since setting up as a provider in 2017. It was absolutely great news especially after receiving a positive report following an OSFTED inspection in December last year.”
We currently have 140 apprentices working across a range of departments. Our Live and Work’ project, in partnership with St Basil’s homeless charity, provides accommodation and jobs through the apprenticeship route and has so far supported around 25 homeless young adults to change their lives through increased confidence, skills and employment with the trust.
Libby added: “We have been able to support the Level 4 teaching award for our team which has enabled us to ensure improved practice and a better apprentice experience. Our aim is to have a culture of inclusivity and we are pleased to have been asked to participate in the ‘Five Cities Diversity Programme’ – a new government project aimed at increasing apprenticeships within underrepresented groups.”
The awards night saw us as runner up in two other categories Large Employer of the Year and Outstanding Apprentice of The Year – Public & Charitable Sector for Amanda Healy.
“We were delighted for Amanda to be recognised in this way,” said Libby. “In 2016, Amanda was a domestic assistant with a dream of becoming a midwife. Her personal determination saw her overcome a number of organisational barriers and gain support to work additional hours as a health care assistant apprentice.
“She did this while still doing her ward services role and it was the first time a domestic had done this. As a result of Amanda scoring the highest grade available in her 2018 PDR, she has been selected to join a nursing career escalator programme to look at future training and development opportunities and plans to study for a midwifery degree apprenticeship at university.
“Amanda’s story shows that apprenticeships are for everyone. I would encourage colleagues to get in touch to discuss the options available.”
To find out more contact Libby Marshall on ext 3196.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 26 July
Unity runs through this message, as you might expect….
If you are reading this message and have not yet completed your Unity competency checklist please take a few minutes to do so. If the particular competency is not relevant to your role then tick not applicable or leave it blank. Earlier today I issued additional guidance and resources to support team simulation. Do get in touch if that request is not clear or talk to your line manager who will be working to organise the activities we want to undertake during August. Connect is absolutely full of material to support your learning about Unity and I would encourage you to try that, and to try the Play System too.
The hot weather is in many ways a joy. I know that it can make some departments or homes that we visit fairly unbearable or some uniforms oppressive. Thank you to everyone finding practical solutions to that. Over 100 fans arrived earlier in the week and many teams have set up hydration stations too. Our tap water is safe to drink (as Board members today have made good use of). Please do work to make sure that teams, patients and visitors stay hydrated. We expect high temperatures to remain with us through this weekend. After the air conditioning induced IT problems of three weeks ago there is additional monitoring in place.
On 12 July we removed the temporary Unity leave booking bar for the go-live period in late September and early October for most teams working in the Trust. For Silver and Gold teams the decision has now been taken that we would aim to have in place ten and twenty percent more staff over the first fortnight of go live, including super users but excluding our digital champions and floor walkers. That provides local leaders with a new rota to work to for that period, and leave can be booked once that rota is fully populated.
Earlier in the week, we opened on Priory 5 our dedicated Paracentesis room. We hope that that will slash wait times for patients in beds awaiting care by creating a dedicated ambulatory space. Many congratulations to GI consultant Saket Singhal and specialist nurse, Clare Smith for bringing their idea to rapid fruition, and to Carol Cobb for cutting the ribbon! This change is one of quite a few planned for coming months as we begin to implement our winter plan for 2019. Next week’s Trust Board will consider a series of specific guarantees about how long inpatients will wait, as a maximum, for key interventions or tests. We want to ensure that ward leaders from all professions have some ‘backstop’ for what support they can expect, seven days a week. Those guarantees will be publicised as August goes on and they will be inevitably disruptive. Historic practices vary by site and team and day and personality. We to be transparent about arrangements, in the same manner that establishing our turnaround times for imaging scans and reports is beginning to drive real improvements in the quality of the care we offer.
You probably know that, in the margins of Unity, we will roll out in August and September our Tap & Go RFID changes. These will give you immediate access to the product at log-in. More excitingly still during 2020 the change will start our single sign-on programme for other applications. The challenge in the next eight weeks is to get your ID card enabled for this. Please keep an eye on the Daily Comms Bulletin for details.
Our Smokefree campaign continues. Thanks in advance to our grounds and gardens team who, having worked hard on the butts campaign, are turning their minds to how we might change our gardens in coming months. The aim is to remove unnecessary landscaping, and wild field areas that we are disposing of, but to concentrate more time, love and pride on our main gardens. Those gardens are an important place for colleagues, visitors and patients to relax and socialise. At the same time we will be investing in outside gym equipment, to go alongside the new free gym at City which is coming soon. Of course thinking about our gardens also gives chance to look again at how we work to create space for fruit and vegetables on our sites – a key part of our coming Obesity Strategy: If you are a reader of the Express and Star you will have found that message starring back at you on Thursday! Thank you to everyone who used Team Talk to submit ideas to us. In October we will start to publicise the changes that we want to try and make – just after Unity go-live with its new Making Every Contact Count functionality.
I know football is almost back, and notwithstanding the current England Ireland cricket excitement, or distant memories of world cup glory, our own backs to wall scrap against local GPs at Dartmouth CC opposite the Hawthorns is now pencilled in for 8 September. Do get in touch with me if you want to be considered for selection this year, as we look to make it five wins out of six. If you work in one of our three primary care practices, we would especially like to have you fielding with us!
Attached are this week’s IT stats: IT Performance Stats 26 July 2019
#hellomynameisToby
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