Monthly archives: August 2019

Heartbeat: Our Hospital at night is all about patient care

As darkness falls and the sound of sirens fade, there are still some of our colleagues whose work continues. That is especially so for the out-of-hours team working across Sandwell and City Hospitals.

Running the “hospital at night” service is Matron Rebecca Bloore, who served as a clinical nurse practitioner (CNP) for nine years with the team, before landing her current role as matron for the service.

There are 16 CNPs and they can deal with anything from deteriorating patients to major incidents, a recent example of this is when the IT system failed. Becky, as she is known, says: “It’s a varied job and you are faced with many different scenarios on a day-to-day basis. We’ve been through a lot of changes and we are now relaunching the service.”

The service is the first line of contact for the wards during out-of-hours. Becky explains: “Unwell patients are referred to us via the hospital at night system from clinical teams working during the day. This is discussed at a 9pm meeting which is held every night. During weekends and Bank Holidays, this meeting takes place at 9am in the ED seminar room and is chaired by the CNP.

“The emergency medicine response team (EMRT) also attend these meetings where they flag up their roles for that evening. They will discuss any patients that may have required the EMRT during the day. We go on to discuss the patients referred to the hospital at night service and their care pathway for that night. We cover all specialities, although patients from the medical wards are predominantly cared for by the CNP out-of-hours team.”

Becky explains further: “At Sandwell, the medical wards would be OPAU, the fourth and fifth floor wards, whilst at City, this would be D5, 7, 11, 15 16, and 26. On average we could be looking after around one to seven patients per hospital site. Plus any other patient referred to us during our shifts.

“These are patients who maybe haemodynamically unstable or have other clinical concerns. We are there to make sure they are stable or their condition doesn’t deteriorate. Our role is to ensure they are seen by the right person, at the right time and given the right treatment.”

The role of the CNP doesn’t stop there.

“While we are on the wards we look to encourage and support the teams. This is achieved through discussing patient conditions and working through treatment plans or assisting nurses with competency sign off for skills such as cannulation,” adds Becky. “It’s about the learning and development offered out-of-hours.”

Shift patterns vary from a 5.30pm to 6am (a twilight shift) or the traditional night shift, which, for the team, starts at 6.45pm and runs until 7.15pm. During weekends they will also work 6.45am to 7.15pm.

There are two members of the team per site – one takes the clinical role, whilst the other takes on the role of site manager. At Sandwell they are based in the Bryan Knight Suite, whilst at City, they are at D18.

The site management role sees Becky or one of her team members take over from colleagues within Capacity at 7.15pm, where during a 10 to 15 minute meeting, a handover occurs.

“It is about looking after the entire site,” says Becky. “We deal with capacity and flow, troubleshoot and offer solutions to any issues that arise.  We are also there to support our colleagues in ED and beyond.

“At the end of the day, it is about patient safety and making sure they receive the right treatment.

“We are there to also deal with a multitude of tasks such as complaints and staffing issues too. The CNP team are responsible for the safety of the site and at times it can mean having to move colleagues between wards or cross-site if there is a shortage.”

With the relaunch also comes a new look. The team will soon be wearing new and more distinctive uniforms.

“Previously we used to wear scrubs which I think was received well,” says Becky. “Now we are in tunics and so sometimes colleagues will not realise that we are in a clinical role.  We are in a position to move forward and we are very positive that the new uniforms will make us stand out.

“It’s an exciting time for the Clinical Nurse Practitioner out-of-hours team. We strive for high quality care for our service users and we want to make sure that our colleagues are aware of the service we provide.”

Heartbeat: Fun in the sun to mark 40 years of Day Nursery

Forty years ago Sandwell Day Nursery opened its doors to its first pupils and this month, it had the opportunity to invite back families from past and present to celebrate its momentous anniversary.

On a sun soaked Saturday afternoon, children from past and present dressed as their favourite Disney character and celebrated with nursery staff at a day hosted at the nursery.

The fun filled day saw young and old reminiscing about their time at the day nursery as they enjoyed the party. The event which included a tombola, raffle, Disney makeover and café was a delight for both young and old.

The nursery which caters for children from the age of 3 months up to 5 years first opened in 1979 and over the years has nurtured the development of over 3,000 children.

Heartbeat caught up with Nursery Manager, Emma Collier to find out more, she said: “It’s been an amazing opportunity to see some of the children we’ve supported over the years and to learn more about their memories of their time at the nursery. We’ve been here on the same site for 40 years now and our family of nursery pupils has grown significantly.”

Sharing their experience of the nursery, Anthea and Teagan Forsythe summed up their experience in four short words. “The best nursery ever!”

Heartbeat: Pioneer teams kick start engagement drive

Nine teams have embarked on a six month journey to improvement engagement within their teams.

The teams are part of the weconnect Pioneer programme which launched in June this year.

Speaking to Heartbeat, Ruth Wilkin, Director of Communications said: “The weconnect Pioneer programme is a tried and tested approach already used in several NHS organisations. Our aim is to improve how happy, motivated and involved people are within their workplace and this programme helps us to do just that.

“The pioneer teams are receiving help and support from their HR business partner, a specially trained Connector and an Executive Director sponsor.

“It is a real opportunity for the teams to listen, learn and make improvements to their working lives.”

To kick off the programme all the teams were asked to take part in a survey to assess how they feel about working in their team or service. Team leads are now in the process of feeding back the findings and have started to work together with colleagues to put in place action plans. A second survey will follow at the end of the programme to see whether the activities they have set up have made a difference to how people feel about their job and team.

Theatres are one of the teams taking part in the programme. Heartbeat caught up with Matrons, Louisa Adams, she said: “This programme has come at an ideal time for us as we work to move away from having three distinct teams, to having the ethos of one team that works across sites.

“Colleagues are excited about being part of the programme and have really embraced it at the recent QIHD when we presented the findings of the first survey. The programme gives us a platform to improve engagement and the activities we will set up should give colleagues control and influence over how they work and continue to provide a high quality service to our patients.

“There is plenty of opportunity to raise concerns and share ideas to provide high  quality care. Our aim is to be a gold standard, national centre of excellence. The weconnect Pioneer programme will help and support us on that journey.”

Also taking part is the estates team. Speaking of behalf the team, Head of Estates, Steve Lawley told Heartbeat: “The estates and new hospital directorate is looking forward to being involved in the pioneer team cohort to develop closer internal team relationships and improve the integration of estates, car parking, catering, waste and the new hospital project team.

“An additional driver is to standardise and improve our processes to enhance the quality of our service for our customers and to create time in the working day/week for our staff to reflect, train, share and increase knowledge.”

Heartbeat: Youngsters’ choral tunes entertain on Newton 4

Stroke patients were left singing the praises of youngsters when they were entertained by a local school choir.

The pupils from Ryders Green Primary School, in West Bromwich, visited patients on Newton 4 ward at Sandwell Hospital

The choir sang an array of songs for patients and their visitors including school classics such as Any Dream Will Do and We Like Joyful Music.

They were invited to the hospital by Your Trust Charity, as one of the many projects it organises to enhance the experience of colleagues, patients and their families.

Fundraising Manager, Amanda Winwood, organised the visit. She said: “It was fantastic to see our patients on Newton 4 enjoying the Ryders Green Choir with many of them tapping their feet and even singing along.

“The rehabilitation ward can sometimes have many patients who aren’t in the best of spirit so to be able to lift their moods, even if it’s just for an afternoon, is truly a special thing.”

Natalie Heath, Senior Sister for Newton 4, added: “I was delighted when we were asked if we would like a visit from the choir. Newton 4 is a stroke and neurological rehabilitation unit, so our patients can be in hospital for quite a few weeks, due to their disabilities both physically and cognitively that may have developed through their condition.

“While the children were performing, I witnessed a patient who was not very responsive previously, express emotions. She began talking when she heard the children singing, which was very touching to observe. I know all of Newton 4’s patients and staff were very grateful to have been a part of this experience. The children were extremely pleasant, polite and seemed very happy with their performance.”

If you would like more information or would like to fundraise for ‘Your Trust Charity’, please contact amanda.winwood@nhs.net or call 0121 507 4847.

Heartbeat: Never give up! Dinah gets ready to run an ultra-marathon

Dinah Mclannahan, Acting Director of  Finance, has enjoyed sport for most of her life, having caught the physical activity bug whilst still at school and continuing to stay active ever since. Now she is taking on her biggest sporting challenge to date, after agreeing to undertake an ultra-marathon.

Dinah is no stranger to keeping fit, and has been a longstanding member of the Sandwell Leisure Trust (SLT) typically going to the gym five times a week, where she attends a variety of high intensity exercise classes with a mix of Les Mills, body combat, body pump, with sprint being her favourite.

So when Your Trust Charity challenged people to take part in an ultra-marathon to raise money for the charity, Dinah thought it was the perfect opportunity to a push herself further than ever before as well as help a good cause.

“It’s a massive challenge, people do 10kms and 5kms but I wanted to do something really special,” she said.

The Ultra London, an urban ultra-marathon event, is a multi-distance event which will be held on an innovative course that aims to showcase some of London’s finest viewpoints.

“Realistically, I’ll be going for 7 or 8 hours so I just want to finish it. I think it’s going to be ace being able to see all of the landmarks on the route, and London has a great buzz,” she said.

Dinah has already completed a few half marathons, but is well aware of the magnitude of taking on an ultra-marathon (55km): “I’m trying to get my head around the distance, and I know that I’ve got work to do but I think it will be an amazing experience.”

The determination that is required to train for and complete this event is something that Dinah feels can also be carried over into everyday life.

“In this job resilience is important, as it is in many roles in the NHS. It’s never easy and you have to keep pushing through. You have to keep going and there is a definite parallel there. Never give up.”

Heartbeat: Course skills up security to support people with mental health issues

Lance Bryan, Security Officer at City Hospital is well aware of the high number of incidences that he and his colleagues are called to which involve a person with a mental health issue.

He thought that the team would benefit from some in depth training in order to help them deal with what can be a very challenging aspect of the role.

Taking the opportunity to try to better equip himself and his colleagues, he managed to secure funding in order for the team to undertake an intensive Level 3 Principles in Mental Health course. Over a number of weeks the course sought to provide students with a better understanding of the role of mental health.

“The courses that we had been on previously only scratched the surface, they were only things like one day seminars. I wanted something that meant we could dig a little deeper,” Lance said.

The course covered a range of topics including coping mechanisms, root causes and how to deal with people who may be suffering with mental illness.

Lance added: “The nature of our job means that we can be called into A&E where a patient may be in the middle of a mental health crisis. And the course has helped a lot dealing with that.”

The team is already very skilled in approaching challenging situations but the course has allowed them to build on existing experience.

Santokh Sagoo, Security Manager, also attended the course, he said: “When you get a deeper knowledge of a subject, when you understand what a person is going through and the reasons behind it, you gain empathy for people. That leads to treating people with more humanity.”

Getting physical with a service user is a last resort and it is traumatic for everyone involved, including for members of the security team. Training is a way of equipping the team to de-escalate a situation before it gets to that point.

“Any course that you do is holistic, it’s not just that you learn but it gives other skills. We gained academic skills, because it was at the level of an A- Level, this upskills us in all aspects of our work. I think it’s important to highlight the benefits of ongoing training for staff groups at our level as it increases aspirations and drives engagement and ownership because staff feel more valued as people,” Santokh commented.

Reducing our reliance on single use plastics: Clinell wipe buckets

Part of the chief executive’s monthly column in Heartbeat this year is focussed on our plans to change our use of single use plastics.

The next plastics reduction initiative on our ‘bucket’ list requires your help. When ordering the Clinell wipes, please can colleagues only order the refill wipes themselves that are placed inside the bucket container and not the bucket each time. The bucket should have multiple uses. In doing this, we can save money and also significantly reduce the amount of plastic waste we dispose of.

Do you have any other ideas to help us reduce our reliance on single use plastics? Send them to Fran Silcocks, Sustainability Officer francesca.silcocks@nhs.net.