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Monthly archives: July 2019

Heartbeat: Snow-done for Oldbury fundraisers

 

Joined by their families the intrepid band of colleagues from the health visiting and supervision team from Oldbury Health Centre have taken on and conquered the 3,500ft climb of Mount Snowdon, raising funds for the homeless in Sandwell in the process.

The team, consisting of Sharona English, Zerelda Hickson, Jocelyn Smith, Debbie Corrall, Pat Dore, Shellie Kerr, Joyce Holder, Leanne Murphy, Sarah Stanley and Lynk Martin joined Health Visitor Brenda Lewis and Clinical Lead Randeep Kaur in facing England and Wales’ highest peak, Mount  Snowdon at the end of May.

Talking to local newspaper Chronicle Week, Brenda Lewis revealed that while it was a unified start it wasn’t so much of a unified finish.

“We all go a coach there together and we all got to the top – but some were quicker than others! Some took around two hours and 15 minutes, where some of us took more than three. But it still went really well. I struggled a bit at the end though.”

A final total has yet to be calculated but in her interview Brenda noted she alone had raised several hundred pounds, suggesting the final total could be in four figures.

Occupational health cohort upgrade until 22 July

 

The occupational health and wellbeing service are upgrading their cohort computer system which has resulted in a downtime until 23 July, whereby the programme will not be accessible for managers.

During the w/c 15 July there will be a reduced occupational health service to allow occupational health colleagues to undergo training on the new system. All employees will still be able to contact the occupational health on ext. 3306 during this time to discuss any issues that require urgent attention.

The online referral system will be reopened on 23 July for managers to access. No further training is needed for managers in using the new system as it will work in exactly the same way but will offer much improved access for occupational health.  A managers training video can be found at https://youtu.be/KdmOVzmH00o which demonstrates how the online referral process will look on the new system.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Install your remote access solution here

 

Since IT outages last weekend, remote access has not been working. Priority for the installation of a new remote access solution called Pulse has been brought forward. Unfortunately we are unable to push this product out automatically so colleagues who require remote access to do their job will need to have the product installed  – this only takes a few minutes.

Colleagues who have previously used remote access to work in the community or away from the main hospital sites can now install Pulse either by following the quick reference self-installation  guide, quick reference videos or attend a IT supported clinic.  You need to be on one of our main sites at City, Sandwell or Rowley to be on our network to do this.

Pulse self-installation guidance

 

Please make sure that you continue to report IT issues to the IT Helpdesk on ext.4050 or via the IT Service Desk portal on Connect. We need to continue reporting all issues so that we have a true picture of functionality across the Trust and so that the team can take action to resolve the problems.

Thanks for your patience.

Heartbeat: Children’s play area gets a McHelping hand

 

The Trust got a welcome assist from local fast food businesses in May as the staff of five local McDonald’s restaurants teamed up to give their time to Your Trust Charity, to help in the rejuvenation of Lyndon Ground’s outdoor play area at Sandwell General Hospital.

Armed with pots of paint, boxes of tools, armfuls of inflatables and faces full of smiles, the group of McDonald’s staff helped change the outdoor area into four distinct ‘zones’, each catering for the needs of different age groups.

They included a “rec room” for teenagers, which boasts a seating area, table football, and a pool table, and for younger children, themed areas around cars, the jungle and outer space.

Avnash Nanra, Ward Manager for Lyndon Ground, said:  “We’re thrilled that so many staff gave up their free time to work with Your Trust Charity to refresh the play area. It looks amazing and means that regardless of their age, there’s always somewhere for the patients on the ward to go outside and have fun – which they’ve already been eagerly doing, especially our youngest. The volunteers have helped to refresh things and create these four areas, even painting murals on the walls for the children. Here our patients can recuperate well whilst having a fun time and relaxing with their friends and family. We’re so grateful to the McDonald’s staff for their efforts.”

Liam Priest, Business Manager at the McDonald’s in All Saints Way in West Bromwich, added: “We wanted to give a little back to the community as we’ve come to know a lot of the staff and patients at Sandwell Hospital, so we decided to get in touch and see if there was anything we could do. The hospital staff suggested the play area needed transforming and so we worked to clear that up, paint it and fill it with some new toys.”

Each of the five McDonald’s stores, which range from West Bromwich through to Sutton Coldfield, provided five volunteers to give their time. The group also gave a donation of £500 to the Trust towards helping with the refurbishment of the outdoor play area.

Unity Question Time for doctors – register to attend

 

Following the success of the last Unity Question Time event for doctors, another is being held at City Hospital Tuesday 16 July. All our senior medical colleagues are invited to this special evening session to ask any questions they may have regarding our new electronic patient record.

Organised in the style of the BBC’s Question Time, this is the chance to get your voice heard and address the Unity team directly ahead of go-live. A panel of senior figures from the project, including Martin Sadler, the Trust’s Chief Informatics Officer, will be on hand to answer your questions. Refreshments will be available.

Going live with Unity – all you need to know

Date: Tuesday 16 July

Venue: Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Post Graduate Centre, City Hospital

Time: 5.30pm – 8pm

To register for the event please click on this link and follow the instructions: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/going-live-with-unity-all-you-need-to-know-16th-july-2019-tickets-63422934705

Please click here to submit any questions in advance. On the night, after panel members have been given a chance to respond, the floor will then be opened up to supplementary questions. Even if you don’t have anything specific you want to ask, feel free to come along, listen to the discussion and find out more about preparing for go-live.

Getting ready for go-live – favourites and Access Fairs

 

Changing the way you work is never easy but it’s been good to see so many people embracing the benefits of Unity. As an Informatics Nurse, over the last few …

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 12 July

 

#smokingkills

If you have worn a red T-shirt this week a massive thank you for your work to help reduce smoking in our community; more T shirts are on order. The same thank you goes to security colleagues who have stepped into A&E and made “public service announcements”, to our partners from Safety Net who have had countless chats with visitors and patients, and to ward clerks, ward service officers, HCAs, pharmacists, nurses and doctors who have approached inpatients and offered alternatives to smoking. We are just over a week on from our July 5th ban on on-site smoking in our GP surgeries, community and all hospital sites. The clean-up of the old discarded cigarette butts is in full swing. I met earlier today with our grounds and gardens team to discuss their work and the new equipment that is coming to help with that, as well as the 200+ new signs that are being installed next week to support the smoke free policy here.  I hope that by this time next week the sites will look and feel even cleaner than today.

More and more people are asking about quitting smoking. And yes, a 30 per cent discount for you, applies in our vaping shops, which are based in Sandwell outpatients and on the City main spine.  Vaping is the quit-model advocated by Public Health England, and it is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking. No-one would sensibly take it up from scratch, and we are clear that children and young people should not vape. But as a route away from expensive and damaging nicotine dependency, vaping is a choice you can consider. If the evidence changes on vaping, we will change our policy.  While the peer reviewed evidence is as it is, we will proudly sell that evidence, endorsed by the Board, by our public health committee and by countless professional advisory bodies nationally.  Let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I know some colleagues remain frustrated by the sight of individuals smoking on the street or on a wall. As the rain comes I am sure that that will decrease. We will be removing some shelters and canopies so that when the weather worsens we do not see a return of smoke to our site doorways. I want to encourage everyone to challenge, talk and support those still smoking. There is every reason to try alternatives: Many colleagues have taken up the offer of paid smoking cessation clinic time, and I must ask line managers to make every conceivable effort to support this.

Learning from excellence

Other things are happening in our Trust! Thanks too to everyone who nominated someone for our Star Awards. The shortlisting process is happening now. Our Star of the Week competition is starting too, as well as our weLearn Poster contest. This week and next week we are adjudicating QIHD accreditation and I can be sure we have more silver award winners than right now and maybe even a gold or two. It is really important that quality improvement time is purposive and drives both successful and failed improvement projects where we experiment to make a positive difference.

You have five more days to get your PDR done. 17 July is the adjusted deadline that replaced 30 June. That deadline gives us a chance to start moderation in August. August’s Trust Board will consider the rewards scheme that will support Aspiring to Excellence 2019-20, with decisions next summer: It is categorically worth being part of this programme. High performers in our system will not only have support but will see salary benefit from high achievement. At the same time, the current pensions crisis will be met by a local Trust scheme for doctors, from 1 August, that tries to help manage the issues that you will have seen cited in the national media this last week.

Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT)/who refers to whom?

On Monday we re-launch clear clinical guidance from our medical director and chief nurse for how specialties work to support patients arriving in our emergency departments. Colleagues in those areas have a reasonable expectation that all of us will support patients with diagnostic attention and specialist opinions. Our EDs are well staffed. But they are not staffed as a ward, or a corridor ambulatory area, and nor can they easily manage 15 per cent more patients arriving than expected – as they did on Monday this week. We are expecting good specialty support to ED, and where trainee teams are not able to attend, consultant colleagues will be directly contacted. 17 patients on Monday waited over eight hours to be admitted or discharged. None of us would choose to be among that group.

On Wednesday we will meet with external teams to explore the progress we have made in tackling emergency waits. Projects like our Single Point of Access stand out. This Trust has the best ambulance handover times in the West Midlands, and has seen the second largest fall in long stay inpatients in the region. Parts of our urgent care transformation are succeeding. We need to complete the triangle by tackling long waits to be seen, admitted or discharged.

Recruitment and retention

Yet again our Trust won awards at the regional apprenticeship ceremony last week. Our apprenticeship team scooped the Birmingham Apprenticeship Training Provider of the Year award.  Today I was delighted to attend the Stepping Up ceremony to celebrate the journeys of the BME colleagues who have undertaken a development programme hosted by the NHS Leadership Academy. We were the first region to host the Stepping Up programme, and colleagues from across the Black Country worked together to develop their confidence and skills, many already receiving promotions in the NHS.

Of our almost 1,000 funded longstanding vacancies, we now have 307 people offers accepted with start dates by new joiners, and another 565 people who are completing their paperwork and awaiting start dates. This is good progress as we continue to advertise, recruit and work to bring in new colleagues. It is really important that those new joiners are welcomed and supported.  There are interesting ideas like the coloured dots on name badges used in medicine and emergency care to signify tenure and experience, and maybe help point the way to someone who may be less familiar with how we work.

Unity – including annual leave

Almost half of those who need to have now completed self-assessments of Unity competency. But our readiness criteria need us to cover everyone, and have those assessments counter-signed by line managers. In August many frontline staff will need to do three hours e-training on the CapMan module which is essential for those moving, admitting or discharging patients. And as we launched in this week’s QIHD there are a series of team readiness and competency tests to do. The latter will be externally audited. This package is part of making sure that we are ready to use the new system safely. I want to emphasise that most of the risks associated with go-live are now about us, as staff, and our familiarity with the system, rather than with the system or our IT itself. We need to ready ourselves with the precise skills to use the system well.

Part of go-live is the identification of teams that are most central to that safe use – so – called gold and silver teams. The list is attached and if you are not a member of one of those teams the temporary bar in having annual and study leave agreed is duly lifted. Within gold and silver teams we are agreeing staffing levels for the go-live period, and will confirm leave restriction reductions next week. I do appreciate that it is taking longer than hoped to sort this out and I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Thanks Nick

Dr Nick Harding OBE is shortly stepping down as clinical chair to the local CCG. Nick, and his family, have a long and distinguished association with the Trust. Nick remains in clinical practice locally and will, I know be keeping an eye on our slow march towards Midland Met, and supporting the work that we are doing to better co-ordinate care and work alongside local GPs. Ian Sykes, who works within our partner organisation, Your Health Partnership, has taken over the CCG chair role. You may be aware that the four CCGs that cover West Birmingham and the Black Country are merging, but in truth they will remain distinct until 2021. Ian will work with us to try and adapt commissioning, as we move away locally from a PBR model or one where someone sends us a specification, towards a model focused on experiment and innovation to deliver outcomes.

Attached are this week’s IT stats: IT Performance Stats 12 July 2019

#hellomynameisToby

Heartbeat: Digital Champions will ensure successful transition to Unity

 

To support the introduction of Unity, more than 600 colleagues across our workplace have taken on the role of digital champions. They have an important part to play in ensuring a successful transition to the new system as they help resolve issues and support anyone who may be struggling.

Anne Rutland, a specialist skin cancer nurse who first joined the Trust in 2012, has been a digital champion for over a year. She’s well-suited to the role having been through a similar process at a previous employer.

“It wasn’t as big as this, but it isn’t the first time I’ve been through a programme change,” says Anne. “I’ve been in another hospital, on the Isle of Man, where they had a new system come in and if you don’t get on board then you’re going to be left behind.

The way I see it is, you should get your training done and get an awareness of what’s going on so that you can see how to fit it into your practice.

“Being a digital champion is about being someone who can talk about the system, and help people to understand it. I’ve got an idea as to how it’s going to work so when people feel like they don’t know what’s going to happen with the system then I can say that I’ve looked at it and explain what pages they’re going to use and how it’s going to look to them.”

Like all digital champions, Anne will be receiving additional training to increase her knowledge of Unity, which she can then pass on to others. She sees reassuring her colleagues and helping them become accustomed to the layout of Unity, as some of the key responsibilities of being a digital champion. Anne knows that many people are understandably worried about change but is keen to put their minds at ease.

“I think there will be anxiety for a while but as digital champions we’re the ones to be there and say, ‘Look, it’s ok to be nervous about it but let’s work on it together.’ If I can’t help then I can call the people from Unity who will be around to spend time with staff, reassure them and show them what it is they need to do,” she says.

Back in February, Anne was heavily involved in the full dress rehearsal as Unity was tested out across the Trust. The successful trial run gave colleagues the experience of using Unity under pressure and with real patients. Initially daunting, things soon fell into place. “It was a chance to see how it was going to look to us, and really get your teeth into it and see how it’s going to work,” says Anne.

“I think it went well. Even for someone like me, who’s quite computer-savvy, I looked at it on the first couple of patients we had and it was terrifying. There was this whole page in front of me and I was scrolling up and down thinking ‘I have no idea where to start with this.’

“It was a completely different setup, but once the patient had gone I was able to look at it a bit more calmly and work out where I was going to write my notes, and allocate my processes and the treatments we’re going to give. As the clinic went on, by the end of the fourth or fifth patient I was able to see what I was doing. I was able to keep pace with it and see what was coming next.”

As always, practice makes perfect. Alongside Unity, Anne has been getting to grips with her new role, which she started in November. There are parallels to her work as a digital champion, with its emphasis on supporting others, providing assistance and signposting elsewhere if needs be.

“It’s really interesting and I’m really enjoying it. My role is essentially to support patients who have been diagnosed with skin cancer, give them information, ensure they understand what the diagnosis is, what it means for them and how to protect themselves from getting any further ones.

“I enjoy the patient teaching and support. I like talking to the patients and giving them the information so I can make life easier for them and alleviate anxieties. Just telling them a few simple bits of information, or giving them access to information they might not have known was there previously, might only take a couple of minutes but it can make a huge difference to them and their peace of mind. I like being that link for people and signposting them to other support.”

Diabetes training: 5 September

 

We will be hosting a diabetes study day on Thursday 5 September, 9.30am-4pm, in the conference room, Sandwell Education Centre (refreshments to be provided). This diabetes management session is for healthcare professionals. 

Note: If you wish to attend the training at the Sandwell Education Centre, please email anitakaur@nhs.net confirming your attendance. 

Heartbeat: Tuberculosis in the crosshairs at Sandwell College

 

The long-term health of a local college’s overseas student populous – and the community in general – was last month’s focus for colleagues from nursing and phlebotomy as they teamed up with the local council and Sandwell College to blood screen several hundred students.

The blood screening was to discover signs of latent tuberculosis (TB) and was offered to the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students who have ties to countries that are considered ‘high risk’ for latent TB infection.

Valerie Unsworth, Nurse Consultant for Health Protection at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council explained: “Many people have been exposed to TB in their lifetime and carry it in their body, but it doesn’t cause disease – they just carry the bacteria.

But the risk is that they develop TB disease later in life. We’re screening people for TB to see if they are carrying it, and if they are we can give them treatment, reduce the risk of them getting TB in the future and of passing TB on to others.”

“Screening for TB infection is important because if we can identify and treat it then it will hopefully reduce the cases of active TB in the future,” added Tracy Morrod, Lead Clinical Nurse Specialist relating to TB.

“It’s important to remember that these people that we’re seeing are well. No one is ‘ill’, there is no active disease but some people just carry the TB bug in their body,” says Valerie.

The day of tests follows an initial bout of blood screening previously undertaken which saw the Trust analyse the blood of over four hundred students at the college.

“We carried out a similar screening programme in the college around two years ago,” says Tracy. “We screened a similar group of nationalities – students from ‘high risk’ countries many of whom are young and new to the country.

“Over the last two years incidents in Sandwell have remained stable. We are a high incident area in comparison to other areas of the country. It’s very important for us and the residents of Sandwell that we continue to push against this, and it’s through activity like this that we will help maintain and reduce both the number of current number and future cases for diseases such as TB.”

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