Monthly archives: November 2019

Festive Extravaganza Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra: 18 December

Blackstory Partnership, in partnership with Town Hall Symphony Hall Birmingham, brings to you the Festive Extravaganza of classical music by the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. They have limited amount of discounted tickets for NHS colleagues.

For more information about the event please click here.

Note: for reduced tickets please see contact details listed below: 

Mykel: 07572 428 160
Garry: 07594 325 579
Email: Blackstoryparntership@gmail.com

Heartbeat: Femi and friends road to nowhere provides hope for homeless

Visitors to Sandwell General Hospital’s main reception on 28 October would’ve got a bit of a surprise to see members of our organisation pumping bike pedals as fast as their legs could go.

The cycling fundraiser saw Project Support Officer, Femi Kuforiji and his colleagues taking on a 136-mile static bike cycle. That’s the equivalent of travelling from West Bromwich to London on static bikes!

Femi works within the Widening Participation team. Collectively, the team aims to provide work experience and enrichment opportunities for young people that aren’t in employment or education. They are behind the Live & Work apprenticeship. This tackles youth homelessness by providing work opportunities within the Trust and accommodation in the nurses’ quarters close to Sandwell Hospital.

The cycling effort raised £949 for Your Trust Charity and St Basils. The funds will go towards supporting the homeless in and around the Sandwell area via the Live & Work project.

“Live and Work offers young people who are at risk of homelessness affordable accommodation and an apprenticeship within the hospital,” explained Lawrence Kelly, Project Manager for the Widening Participation team. “We’re also expanding the programme to increase capacity. So we’re going to be creating a youth village coming soon in early 2020.”

Respiratory: Relocation of our respiratory ward

From today (Wednesday 20 November) the hospital beds to care for patients with respiratory conditions will all be located at City Hospital, creating a respiratory hub on wards D15 and D17.

Patients with a respiratory illness that means they need to stay in hospital for longer than two days will stay in the hub at City Hospital.

Clinic appointments with respiratory specialist clinicians will continue at both Sandwell and City Hospitals, and the respiratory team will continue to see patients every day who are admitted to the assessment unit or other wards at Sandwell Hospital.

For further information contact our respiratory service on 0121 507 2664 (select option 4).

For more information including patient information leaflets, respiratory pathways for Sandwell patients, important documents and FAQs, please visit our  respiratory connect page.

Getting to equity – leading the leaders: 27 November

The leading the leaders event is open to nurses in the Midlands of BME heritage who work in the NHS at Band 7 or above or an equivalent role in other healthcare settings. The event is the launch of a proof of concept project to identify sponsors who can work with people from BME background so that the sponsor can use their position of power and influence to help advance the career of people who take part in the programme.

The interactive launch day will be delivered by Common Purpose and is designed to:

• Encourage participants to think of themselves as leaders, whatever their level – especially through the lens of Leading Beyond Authority (LBA).
• Expose participants to external contributors to hear their personal reflections on leadership and LBA – both positive aspects and navigating challenges.
• Help delegates reflect on their own personal leadership – in relation to ‘sources of power’ and the power of networks.
• Create an opportunity for participants to build trust, support each other and also consider practical next steps, relating to the role of sponsors, through peer coaching sessions with external senior leaders/sponsors.

The event will be held at  Millennium Point, Birmingham, B4 7XG, United Kingdom on Wednesday 27 November, 9.30am – 4.45pm.

For booking and information please visit https://www.events.england.nhs.uk/events/getting-to-equity-leading-the-leaders.

World Antibiotic Awareness Week: Growing risk of Antibiotic resistance

On Tuesday we covered the over usage of antibiotics and the detrimental effect it can potentially have on patients.

Antibiotic resistance is an everyday problem in all healthcare settings across the UK and Europe. The spread of resistant bacteria in hospitals or community healthcare settings is a major issue for patient safety:

• Infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria increase levels of disease and death, as well as the length of time people stay in hospitals.
• Inappropriate use of antibiotics may increasingly cause patients to become colonised or infected with resistant bacteria.
• Few new antibiotics are being developed. As resistance in bacteria grows, it will become more difficult to treat infection, and this affects patient care.

Research published in 2018 shows that 33,300 patients die each year due to antibiotic resistant infections in Europe.

If we don’t change how we prescribe and use antibiotics, by 2050 there is likely to be an additional 10 million deaths each year worldwide due to resistant infections, with an associated economic cost of £66 trillion.

Heartbeat: The imaging team say a fond farewell to John Courtney

John Courtney, Principal Physicist, retired at the end of September after 40 years’ service.

John qualified with a maths and physics degree from the University of Warwick and, a master’s degree in medical physics from the University of Aberdeen. He soon became established as someone valuable to have on the team. As a trainee, he ran the embryonic nuclear medicine service at Sandwell Hospital.

A long, successful career unfolded. John worked in the medical physics department at the neurosciences centre. He was influential with the introduction of the first CT systems and, in diagnostic x-ray equipment quality assurance, dose optimisation and radiation protection. As if that wasn’t enough, John also trained and became a laser safety advisor.

Over the years John took on many extra responsibilities. He gave one-to-one tuition to radiologists. For the past three years, he was a member of the Royal College of Radiology Physics Education Board. Keen to inspire the next generation John visited schools highlighting science careers to pupils.

John is best described as someone that would never say no. He is warmly remembered for his helpful attitude and pleasant, mild manner. He leaves a big gap to fill and the team is grateful for his selfless dedication and commitment.

World Antibiotic Awareness Week: Antibiotics are being overused, especially IV antibiotics

On Monday we covered antibiotic resistance and we also hosted awareness events at Sandwell and City.

In July, we carried out a point prevalence survey on antimicrobial prescribing and found that 35 per cent of our inpatients were on an antibiotic. This is similar to other local trusts and the picture nationally. As we approach the winter period, this number is likely to go up.

Antibiotic consumption is continuing to increase in secondary care, but we are starting to see a decline in antibiotic prescribing in primary care which is very good news.

In our survey, almost 20 per cent of the total inpatient population were on an IV antibiotic, but how appropriate is this really? How many were on IV treatment because no one thought to ask if it was still needed?

Imagine how much nursing time is consumed by preparing and giving all these IV doses – how much time could be saved on every shift if we asked ‘Does this patient still need to be given IV?’.

We could free up more time for patient care.

We could also save money because most IV antibiotics are 20-30 times more expensive than their oral equivalent.

Heartbeat: Wellbeing hampers boost morale on wards

Our paediatric units across the organisation have introduced wellbeing hampers to help support colleagues during the more demanding times of their shifts.

The hampers which are now in place at both paediatric units at City and Sandwell contain a variety of treats and confectionery from breakfast cereals and soups to tights and toiletries.

When patients are pouring through the doors it’s sometimes easy to forget to look after yourself. The new hampers provide a little treasure chest of treats waiting in the wings should someone need something to energise themselves.

Though very much a team effort, Joanne Wright, ward manager on Lyndon One ward has played a massive role in implementing the wellbeing baskets across the Trust. She said: “There are occasions where staff are very busy and will go the extra mile often sacrificing their own comfort. Whether it be something small like a snag in your tights or being at work and having something to tie your hair with, the wellbeing baskets can easily compensate for such things.”

The wellbeing baskets are self-sufficient in the sense that when a colleague takes an item, they then replace it ready for the next person. This means that everything is readily available and stocked up with all the essentials.

There has been lots of positive feedback about the hampers with clinical colleagues across the Trust praising the innovative idea.

“The baskets are a simple but effective idea and make perfect sense,” Cheryl Newton, Director of Nursing told Heartbeat. “I think going forward; they could potentially be introduced across many other areas within the hospital so that should there ever be someone in need, it’s only a hamper away.”

She added: “I have to also say a big thanks to all ward managers including Joanne Wright for having the perseverance in introducing the hampers. Without their initial kindness, none of this would have been possible.”

The role of managers in recruitment

Recruiting managers can now directly provide successful applicants with a firm written employment offer via a template which will be provided by the recruitment team.

The recruiting manager is required to provide a completed candidate checklist to the recruitment team in order to initiate pre-employment checks. This will commence immediately upon receipt of electronic copies of photographic identification (ID) from the recruiting manager which could take the form of a digital image taken during the interview process on a trust smartphone. In circumstances where a candidate has not provided photo ID on the day of assessment, the recruiting manager will need to inform the recruitment team who will then make contact with the candidate directly.

Pre-employment checks:

The recruitment team will undertake the following six pre-employment checks for new joiners to the Trust.

1. Verification of identity check
2. Employment history/reference checks
3. Professional registration and qualfiication check
4. Right to work check
5. Criminal record check (DBS)
6. Work health assessment

Recruitment office opening times:

The recruitment office can be contacted on 0121 507 5070 or at swb-tr.SWBH-Team-Recruitment@nhs.net.

See changes to how we recruit and the role of managers for detailed information.

Dance-a-thon – still time to donate

First off, thank you to everyone who supported Dr Nick Makwana, Group Director of Women and Child Health at his 12 hour dance-a-thon last Friday.

Nick was delighted with the support throughout the day and said: “It was an amazing feeling to have you all there and present and contributing to the causes that I was raising money for. I really wasn’t sure when I hit 7 hours if I would get to 12, but with your energy and enthusiasm I got to the end with no breaks!”

We still need your help

Today, Nick is currently £162 short of his £6,000 target.  If you came along and enjoyed yourself, or even if you were following on social media on Friday and haven’t had a chance to donate there is still time!

To donate please visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NickMakwana

Thank you all for your generosity and support.