Monthly archives: September 2019
Message from Martin Sadler, Chief Informatics Officer: Update on Unity go live
Overall the new Cerner IT system, Unity, is working well with our IT infrastructure. It is important to acknowledge and to keep reporting issues that you are experiencing.
This email explains what is being done with those issues.
- You will be aware from other messages that we have changed the arrangements for Tap and Go so that login to Unity is now through a desktop icon. Automatic enrolment has been de-activated in order to ensure that ORMIS and Lorenzo IPM users can access both systems.
- Cerner have implemented changes to automatically log off Unity sessions by a user that have been inactive for three hours or more. We apologise for a mistake which meant that this change between 7pm and 8pm tonight was poorly communicated and in particular if you lost unsigned documents. Remember it is important to sign, and not just save documents, or other users will be unable to see them.
- We are making further changes to our IT infrastructure in the main spine at City Hospital which is where the bulk of slow-paced reports have been received.
We want to emphasise that overall our IT infrastructure is holding up well to the new systems based on the improvements that have been implemented over the last six months. Please do not assume if you are experiencing slow speed that it is inevitable or nothing can be done. Please do log incidents on ext.4050. As the above list demonstrates we are taking active steps to optimise the use of your network.
Martin Sadler, Chief Informatics Officer
Trust-wide Unity implementation update – Sandwell, Rowley and Leasowes are going live on Unity
All sites going live by end of today
As well as rolling out across City Hospital, more than half the wards at Sandwell and Rowley Regis are now live. Clinical teams across all sites continue to be supported in the following ways:
- Through the informatics service desk on ext. 4050 if you cannot log in to Unity
- Through digital champions, super users and floorwalkers, who can help resolve or escalate any issues. Please call ext. 4050 to log a request for help.
If you’ve forgotten how to do a particular task in Unity, there are pocket books you can refer to. These simple guides will take you through the process step by step. There are also standard operating procedures and quick references guides on Connect.
For more information about going live with Unity please visit the all about go-live section on Connect or email swbh.unity.queries@nhs.net
A few common issues have been picked up so far. Please take note of the following:
Tap and Go
We are making some refinements to Tap and Go that will further improve access.
- Log into a Tap and Go computer using your smartcard, and enter your pin, which will take you onto the desktop home screen
- You should then see the Unity icon, which will take you straight through to your Unity profile when you click on it. If you cannot automatically see the Unity icon, shut down and restart your computer. Once you log in again the Unity icon will appear on your home screen
- When your work is complete and you need to move on, please sign and save your work and close the Unity browser
- Move on to a new machine and repeat the process when required
Barcode scanning
Colleagues are reminded that when carrying out medication administration, patient wristbands must be scanned ensuring that the long barcode next to the RXK number is scanned and not the square QR code in the centre of the wristband.
To ensure the correct bar code is read, colleagues are advised to either cover the square bar code when scanning or to scan down towards the bar code until the code is read.
Results endorsement
Results for tests such as radiology and pathology returned after 16 September will be logged within Unity. However, if results for tests were returned before 16 September, you will find these in CDA/CSS
BCP
Areas should only have BCP active for ordering radiology as ICM is currently offline. No other BCP should be enacted without escalating to site leads.
Sandwell, Rowley and Leasowes are going live on Unity!
Our wards at Sandwell, Rowley and Leasowes that have gone live on Unity include: Sandwell ED, AMU A, SAU, Lyndon Ground, Lyndon 1, Lyndon 2, Newton 3, Critical Care and Leasowes.
Lyndon 1 was one of the first wards to go live today and their ward manager Jo Wright shared her thoughts on the change over.
“We went live at 8 o’clock this morning and it has gone extremely well. There were a few teething problems but we’re just working our way through it at the moment with the support of the floorwalkers. At the moment it’s quite calm and going well”
“We’ve used the IT helpdesk and we’ve also got the floorwalkers down straightaway when we have identified a problem so there’s been lots of support.”
“There were a few teething problems but once we get into it we’ll be absolutely fine. It looks quite straightforward and we’re just having a play with it at the moment and getting used to it. Until we’ve actually gone onto the system and played with it a few things haven’t been identified. We’ve identified a few problems this morning but they’ve been sorted straightaway.”
Reminder: Documenting samples when collecting bloods in Unity – remember to mark samples as collected
Remember when you are collecting bloods you must first print the label then take the blood sample and finally, mark the sample as collected within Unity.
Follow the steps below when collecting bloods to ensure they are documented correctly in Unity.
- In the specimen collection window within Unity, please click on the drop down list and select print label. Note: for microbiology, histopathology and blood transfusion samples you will need to print a requisition at this point too
- After printing the label, you must remember to mark sample as collected
- Ensure you have completed both steps above before signing for the order.
- To ensure the lab can process your results for endorsement, the steps above need to be followed.
For detailed information, please follow the attached QRG:
Prescribing: Remember to use generic names for drugs when you are prescribing
Please remember when are prescribing drugs through Unity, you must use the generic names for the drugs rather than the brand name. Unity has been prepopulated with the formulary based on generic drug names.
For example, when ordering drugs, you would use the name Sodium Valproate instead of searching for Epilim.
First winner of shout-out competition
The Unity go-live fortnight will be a demanding time for everyone in the Trust and it will be important to work together. If you notice anyone going the extra mile to help their colleagues with Unity please take the time to submit a shout-out via Connect.
Each day during the two weeks of go-live there will be a prize of £20 worth of Love to Shop vouchers on offer for the best shout-out.
Today’s winner is Fiona Boddy at AMU in City who sent in a shout out for Vicky O’Sullivan and Emma Ward,
“For coming on unity go live night on AMU at City, as chilled calm and collected as they always are and working there usual brilliant magic to get our patients in the right places, supporting their colleagues and making us all smile”
Congratulations Fiona and well done Vicky O’Sullivan and Emma Ward.
Trust-wide Unity implementation update – ED and all wards at City are live
Congratulations to everyone.
ED and all wards at City Hospital are now live.
What you need to know – common issues
A few common issues have been picked up so far. Please take note of the following:
- Administering medication: Remember you must scan the wristband with the RXK number underneath when administering medication.
- Patients must have a completed discharge process in Powerchart and CapMan – not in IPM. It is not possible to complete the CapMan process until the Powerchart entry has been made.
- An issue has been identified where undoing an encounter in ED causes the system to delete the whole encounter, including all documentation, as though the patient never presented. A pop up will now appear to alert you of this issue.
- Tap and Go: Most users are not experiencing a problem with Tap and Go, but if you use ORMIS or Lorenzo IPM you need to launch those applications before opening Unity. For this reason we may tomorrow switch off auto loading of Unity once we have loaded a Unity icon onto every desktop. ORMIS and Lorenzo must be launched first, followed by Unity. We expect that by 6pm on Sunday all of our desktops will have the Unity Icon.
Daily Unity bulletins covering common issues since go-live can be found here.
How to get support
Don’t worry if you get stuck or aren’t sure what to do – plenty of help is at hand.
- If you cannot log in to Unity then call the informatics service desk on ext. 4050.
- If you have any other issue with Unity, please speak to a colleague wearing a green Unity t-shirt in the first instance. If your query requires urgent escalation, they can do this for you
For the next fortnight, as well as digital champions and super users, there will be floorwalkers who can help resolve any issues. If you would like the support of a super user or floorwalker, please call ext. 4050 to log a request and the team will allocate appropriate resources to help.
If you’ve forgotten how to do a particular task in Unity, there are pocket books you can refer to. These simple guides will take you through the process step by step. There are also standard operating procedures and quick references guides on Connect.
For more information about going live with Unity please visit the all about go-live section on Connect or email swbh.unity.queries@nhs.net.
Trust-wide Unity implementation update – more than half the areas at City are now live on Unity
We are pleased to confirm that Unity is now live in more than half our ward and other areas across City Hospital – with 12 wards complete (ED, AMU1, AMU2, D5, D7, D11, D17, M1, NNU, EGAU, Critical Care and AMAA). We are currently on track to complete City go-live today.
Thank you to all staff in these areas for your patience and hard work. D5 was the first ward to go live, and pictured bottom left are Stephanie Coates, Laura Taylor and Hannah Brookes in their green Unity t-shirts.
How to get support
Don’t worry if you get stuck or aren’t sure what to do – plenty of help is at hand.
- If you cannot log in to Unity then call the informatics service desk on ext. 4050. We presently have just 45 open Unity calls which are unresolved.
- If you have any other issue with Unity, please speak to a colleague wearing a green Unity t-shirt in the first instance. If your query requires urgent escalation, they can do this for you
For the next fortnight, as well as digital champions and super users, there will be floorwalkers who can help resolve any issues. If you would like the support of a super user or floorwalker, please call ext. 4050 to log a request and the team will allocate appropriate resources to help.
If you’ve forgotten how to do a particular task in Unity, there are pocket books you can refer to. These simple guides will take you through the process step by step. There are also standard operating procedures and quick references guides on Connect.
For more information about going live with Unity please visit the all about go-live section on Connect or email swbh.unity.queries@nhs.net.
What you need to know – common issues
A few common issues have been picked up so far. Please take note of the following:
- In order to work with Unity, the Abbott Blood Glucose Analysers require docking to pick up new settings. Please ensure all Abbott Blood Glucose Analysers have been docked today
- Results for tests such as radiology and pathology returned after 16 September will be logged within Unity. However, if results for tests were returned before 16 September, you will find these in CDA/CSS
- Areas should only have BCP active for ordering radiology as ICM is currently offline. No other BCP should be enacted without escalating to site leads.
How to use Tap and Go
Tap and Go is a new system to help colleagues log in to Trust computers with a simple tap of a smartcard.
When you have enrolled, all you need to do to log in to a Tap and Go computer is to tap your smartcard on the reader and enter your pin.
The video below will guide you through the login process.
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If you have issues with enrolling or logging in using Tap and Go you can continue to login manually by pressing the ‘Esc’ button on your keyboard and entering your network login details manually.
To be clear, Tap and Go may be conflicting with certain smart card rooted IT applications (including ORMIS and ED). This was tested and worked before go-live. We are confident we can resolve it, so using the workaround is a temporary measure – sorry.
For all other IT issues, please contact the IT Service Desk on ext. 4050.
A view from colleagues – AMU1
AMU1 was one of the first areas to go live with Unity at 5am. Ward clerks Victoria O’Sullivan and Emma Ward, pictured below, shared their experiences.
“It’s been fine,” said Victoria. “It hasn’t been as busy as normal so it’s enabled us to get on and work out the system. We’ve had help from the Unity team who’ve been down as well. We’ve had good support from them.”
“I think now that we’ve got on and started using Unity it’s not as scary as we thought it would be,” added Emma. “We’ve only had to phone and then a floorwalker’s come to help. We had someone with us going through some of the steps this morning.”
Shout-out competition
The Unity go-live fortnight will be a demanding time for everyone in the Trust and it will be important to work together. If you notice anyone going the extra mile to help their colleagues with Unity please take the time to submit a shout-out via Connect.
Each day during the two weeks of go-live there will be a prize of £20 worth of Love to Shop vouchers on offer for the best shout-out. The prize will be split equally between the person who submitted the shout-out and the person who received it.
Share your Unity stories
The communications team will be out and about during the Unity go-live fortnight, collecting pictures and videos from different departments, but if you think there’s something that we’ve missed then please get in touch. Whether it’s an example of good team work, supportive colleagues, or anything else of interest, just let us know.
Email swbh.comms@nhs.net with any stories you think we should cover and be sure to include as much information as possible.
The Oracle system is back online
The Oracle system is now back up after undergoing a scheduled quarterly routine maintenance. Finance and procurement would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. The team are not expecting any issues as a result of the upgrade that will impact on the Trust, and will be monitoring the system to ensure it is working as expected.
Blood Glucose Analysers need to be docked
In order to work with Unity, the Abbott Blood Glucose Analysers require docking to pick up new settings. Please dock all Abbott Glucose analysers in the desktop dock immediately.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 20 September
Congratulations to our staff on D11 and D26, who got stunning feedback from Tuesday’s unannounced Care Quality Commission visit. This week has also seen each clinical group present to the executive on work done this summer and to be done before Christmas. There are some really clear plans to address risks in dermatology, in neonatal services, and in the continued nursing staffing challenge we share with the rest of the NHS. Perhaps the most immediate improvement work is in Imaging where we are determined in October to get all scans done and reported on the same day for inpatients.
Life does and will go on around Unity. Across the whole of the region hospitals and their A&E departments are seeing high rates of arrival and admission. Thank you as ever to everyone playing a part in safely coping. Discharge is still the key step we need to get consistently right if we are to do that without feeling so fraught. Improvements can be about doing our best work more consistently through our MADE events, or new projects like the rehab collaboration we are discussing with commercial partners. I want to be clear that Unity does not stop us doing other things, and so I am delighted that this week the new Female Genital Mutilation service we are going to provide across Birmingham was formally announced – we are one of a handful of new national expert centres.
But Unity is immensely important. Optimising the product, connecting it through HIE to general practice, and next year giving patients remote access to their records is properly transformational. Before that the Go Live fortnight needs to be what it says on the tin. A fortnight, no more, and one in which we find the very best ways to use the new technology to work well together. Electronic prescribing is a big change for us. Results acknowledgement of both imaging and laboratory tests, inside 3 days for all inpatients and 3 weeks for outpatients, is a change too. Both are safety measures. Having a ward-based task list should make handover easier and help to manage pressure on overworked people – in the end our IT needs to save not steal time. Especially time to care.
All week we have been putting out messages and explanations for both what is going on and how to get help. That does not stop because we start Go Live at 3am on Saturday 21 September. If anything it is even more important during a massive change that we communicate well, assume the best endeavours of one another, and work to find solutions. I published yesterday the decision structure to do that. 4050 remains your key number to get help, including clinical insight, and (out of hours) the route for any bank or agency arrivals without a log in. The bank office will cover this in the day.
It sounds obvious but we need, from day one, to adopt the habits that will work best and not set about finding workarounds. Unity is a shared clinical record for much of what we do. In time it will be a shared record for even more. If we all use the system, and use it in similar ways, it will work best for all of us. That is why it is really important that you electronically sign your work in Unity. If you do not do that no-one else can see that work.
Super Users and digital champions are absolutely central to the coming few days. In your area by tomorrow their names should be on the wall. I published a picture on Monday of the T-shirted heroes with armbands. It is these colleagues who will be the gateway for you to get help and advice, and will be able to translate what we know into what you do. Like any translator, they need a willingness from us to listen and to learn. New IT systems are frustrating. It is human to blame the system for my own lack of knowledge. Go Live fortnight is our chance to take what we know, understand what we do not know, and find someone within a couple of hundred yards of where you work who can help and does know. There is nothing inevitable about chaos from tomorrow. There is every reason to expect success and surprises. We need to calmly manage the latter and use the coming two weeks to move towards the former.
Lots of clinical colleagues have given up time, wit and energy to making Unity a probable success. Sharon, Ash, Roger, Cliona, Leong, Nick, Pun, Ed, and Lydia among many others deserve our thanks. Unity will give us all data and intelligence about the work we do that allows us to see the very best of what we do, to compare it to others, and to improve. Unity Go Live tomorrow has probably come too late for the 2019 QIHD Poster Competition (entries close in a few weeks – we are up to 75 but welcome more) but I am sure in 2020 we will see our improvement journey digitalised at long last: Fingers crossed!
All about go-live: https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/trustindigital/unity/all-about-go-live/
Unity – what you need to know about the go-live fortnight
The implementation of Unity starts in the early hours of Saturday morning and we will be going live in three stages:
- Saturday 21 September – City Hospital
- Sunday 22 September – Sandwell General Hospital, Rowley Regis Hospital and Leasowes
- Monday 23 September – outpatient and community sites
For a detailed timetable of when all areas are expected to go live, please visit Connect or consult the Unity go-live weekend booklets which have been distributed across the Trust. There are also guides to transcription, system closures and transfers during go-live. There is also a specific ED transfer guide.
After all the hard work and preparation that has been put in over recent months, we are hoping that the next few days will run as smoothly as possible. But don’t worry if you get stuck or aren’t sure what to do – plenty of help will be at hand.
- If you cannot log in to Unity then call the informatics service desk on ext. 4050
- If you have any other issue with Unity, please speak to a colleague wearing a green Unity t-shirt in the first instance. If your query requires urgent escalation, they can do this for you
For the next fortnight, as well as digital champions and super users, there will be floorwalkers in your area to help resolve any issues. If you’ve forgotten how to do a particular task in Unity, there will also be pocket books you can refer to. These simple guides will take you through the process step by step.
For more information about going live with Unity please visit the all about go-live section on Connect or email swbh.unity.queries@nhs.net.
Raising a clinical concern related to Unity during the go-live fortnight
The escalation of all issues related to Unity (technical, operational and clinical) is set out in our go-live fortnight plans. If you have a problem with your login call ext. 4050. If you have other issues get help from your Floor Walker, Super User or Digital Champion. If they can’t resolve the issue or you still have clinical concerns your Floor Walker / Super User or you can call ext. 4050 who will also track and escalate clinical concerns into the operational and site leads.
Staffing changes during the go live fortnight
As sites go live with Unity close management of staffing in all areas is a priority. The central sickness absence line will report absence, that hasn’t been resolved, to the group operational leads that are based in each hub as the sites go live (City – Postgraduate Centre Dining Room and Sandwell Education Centre Conference Centre). Group operational leads will discuss with site leads and wards / departments and redeploy staff as appropriate. Hit teams will report into the hubs once live and capacity offices prior to go-live.
Ensuring that temporary staff have Unity logins
Colleagues booked through the Trust Bank (agency or bank) will have been given Trust and Unity logins by the bank. The bank can arrange these during their working hours (8am – 6pm, every day including the weekend). Out of hours logins can be arranged through the IT Servicedesk on ext. 4050.
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