Monthly archives: November 2019

Single patient use slings and slide sheets

Single patient use slings and slide sheets are now available.

The new equipment is now part of the Trust’s moving and handling mandatory training programme.

All areas must start ordering this new equipment. Any remaining washable slings or slide sheets should be placed in laundry where they will be kept and removed from use.

Some clinical areas are materially managed and will automatically have slings and slides sheets ordered through top up.

If your area is not materially managed and you need more information on how to order your slide sheet please contact the procurement office on ext. 4938.

The training team from the suppliers will be visiting clinical areas to provide training over the next two weeks with support from the moving and handling team.

Be sure to check out the video for more information.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 1 November

Yesterday was going to be EU Exit Day and Midland Met contract signature, and tomorrow is the rugby world cup final, even without Wales.  There’s not much to say on the third point beyond thanking Hallam staff for having the game on TV for anyone coming off shift.  Brexit arrangements have been deferred until January 31^st, and thanks too to those in teams like supplies and estates who had worked hard on the required food and fuel contingency plans.  You will appreciate that next week public services enter an election purdah period.  But certainly suitable to encourage anyone not yet registered to vote on December 12^th to do so and a simple link is provided below to help you:

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Arrangements to complete Midland Met in 2022 are moving ahead.  Following government approval of the business case which reconfirms the funding and gives us permission to sign a contract, we continue to negotiate detail of the design, risk transfer and costing with Balfour Beatty.  I was delighted to hear that Balfour will be sourcing all of their local recruitment work through our Learning Works team, as well as adopting the Trust’s #smokefree model.  I am hopeful we will see work kick off this side of Christmas.  Next week at the Trust’s Board we will probably confirm contract award for the Facilities Management provision of estate services to support the new hospital, which you may remember is to be both our main distribution centre for all sites.  Our new hospital has robot enabled movement of goods and services through discreet and separate corridors.

If you have chance to read Heartbeat you will have seen details about our work on Car Sharing.  This is not an option for everyone but it will work for some people and some times.  Across the West Midlands Combined Authority we are working to cut journey volume by about 30% to the level of car use seen in major European cities.  If this might work for you, you can download the Faxi app at https://get.faxi.co.uk/swbh-nhs.  Meanwhile we met with planning officers this week on both our new car parks, as well as work we are trying to stimulate about regeneration work up the Dudley Road.  Far from this having nothing much to do with health, you will know that air pollution is a major health issue and one that we can play a part in addressing.  The Clean Air Zone in central Birmingham is now expected to start in July 2020, and you can find details on the council’s website about where it is sited and which vehicles it affects.

Hopefully last week’s TeamTalk has now been shared with you, and if not there is a short film from me, here on Connect, that summarises the key themes.  One topic in there is our grounds and gardens review, and the work we are doing to promote physical fitness and mental wellbeing. The gym at City, refurbished and open 24/7, goes free to use from today, alongside the one in Trinity House at Sandwell. And on Saturday mornings at Sandwell we are supporting on site Slimming World sessions for visitors, patients or staff colleagues.

As we think about winter in the NHS, and our new ward arrangements from later this month, I know vacancies, recruitment and retention are front of many minds.  Rightly so, as being fully staffed is absolutely the crux of our strategy for the organisation, and lies at the heart of any quality improvement work we want to do:  A settled team, able to learn together.  That is why we support key worker programmes like our Live Work project, which this week was profiled at the first Sandwell Care Leavers’ Forum awards for young people about to exit the care system into adult life.  But it is also why we have focused, at your suggestion on Speak Up day 2018, on flexible working opportunities.  It is very clear from exit questionnaires and other feedback that we are still not always, consistently, getting there on this, or on Reasonable Adjustments, which are a related issue.  Tomorrow we have a specific recruitment fair in Medicine and Emergency Care targeting applicants who want flexible working arrangements and you can expect continued emphasis, ideas and fuss about this topic in the coming weeks.  There are lots of NHS organisations around us, and we want to distinguish ourselves in various ways – one of those ways being recognising that no one succeeds at work if there is not balance with home.

Attached to this week’s message is the note I promised last week on changes to how we recruit and the role of managers. We are determined to make it quicker, easier, and smarter to get hired here and join us sooner rather than later.  Anyone offered a job should feel welcome and wanted.  Earlier in the week I hosted a small lunch for a group of new starters in the Trust who has been with us less than six months.  That is something I will do every few weeks.  The reason that I am doing that is that I want to see for myself the gap between what we promise and what new starters sometimes experience.  That is why next week’s Board has a paper reviewing our arrangements for Local Induction in the Trust.  What struck me in listening to Hayley’s lunch group was how passionate and committed people are, and how the passion of this Trust and our commitment to social values is a key part of why people stay and why people join.  I was also struck though by the work that we need to do as leaders to make sure that corporate backbone functions truly help those giving care to our communities, and also the steps I need to take to make sure that our intentions, messages, vision and strategy gets through and makes sense whether one is working in orthotics or orthopaedics, paediatrics or primary care.  The way to do that will be to better support middle managers in organisations, both clinical and non-clinical, to be able themselves to translate whole Trust ideas into local relevance.

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that our colleague, Donna Coates died suddenly on Monday evening. Donna started working with us in October 2016 after joining from the Birmingham Community Trust. She led the admission avoidance ACP team, community matrons and case managers and leaves behind a tremendous legacy. As a passionate clinician, improving patient experience was always her main focus. However, she also greatly influenced her colleagues through her dedication to training and mentorship and under her leadership we now have a team with greater clinical skills and experience, including a fully qualified team of ACPs. Donna developed the admission avoidance service to provide support in our AMUs and worked closely with WMAS to ensure that patients were cared for in the most appropriate place. Donna had collaborated with staff across our local health and social care system, working closely in particular with GPs and colleagues from acute medicine.

#hellomynameisToby

Competition winner – 2019 Birmingham international tattoo

Congratulations to Fiona Rochelle, specialist midwife on winning the family ticket for four to Birmingham International Tattoo on Saturday 23 November at Arena Birmingham!

Fiona correctly answered “Who composed the music to Land of Hope and Glory featured in the Grand Finale” with the answer being “Edward Elgar.”

Fiona was one of many who answered the question correctly and was drawn out as the winner.

Thank you to all of our colleagues who took part in the competition and to the NEC Group for kindly donating the tickets.

For more information regarding staff benefits on offer please contact amir.ali1@nhs.net.

Bonfire themed menu: 5 November

Hallam restaurant, Arches, Boaters and Rowley Coffee Pot will be offering a Bonfire themed menu on 5 November so be sure to drop by for a bite to eat.

Heartbeat: Midland Met takes a big step forward

Saturday 12 October saw us take step closer to the opening of the Midland Metropolitan Hospital following an announcement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

It means the Trust can work towards completion of the construction contract with preferred bidder Balfour Beatty so that they can restart work on the super hospital, based in Smethwick. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, said “It is absolutely right that the Midland Metropolitan Hospital is completed so that doctors and nurses working for our NHS across the West Midlands can deliver excellent care in brand new, state-of-the-art facilities.”

The news has been welcomed by Toby Lewis, Chief Executive. He said “Midland Met is a vital regeneration project for Smethwick, and part of the wider Commonwealth Games development across Birmingham, including Perry Barr.

“We are working hard to open the hospital in 2022, and getting Balfour Beatty on site from December 2019 alongside our new Facilities Management partner, is a key step in that journey. Today’s announcement by the Treasury is hugely welcome news. We are working round the clock to conclude commercial close, and the agreement of the Final Business Case and appointment of a Preferred Bidder is the last national approval hurdle overcome.”

“The promise from Government in February 2018 was that no local NHS funds would need to be diverted to remedy the national collapse of Carillion. That promise has been honoured in full, which has the overt support of all local stakeholders from across political divides.

“We very much wish to deliver on the dividend across Sandwell and west Birmingham that uses the opening of the long-awaited new specialist acute hospital to release workforce time and NHS funds to better support primary, mental wellbeing and preventative services locally.

“Our integrated care plans for local neighbourhoods are at the forefront of work in the Midlands to create a sustainable future NHS, and we look forward to delivering real change and better outcomes for the communities that we serve.”

Latest edition of Heartbeat now online

The latest edition of Heartbeat is now available to view online.

This edition features our 2019 Star Awards as well our board leading by example with the flu vaccination.

Fraud awareness month – an introduction from Dinah

This month marks the start of fraud awareness month which promotes openness and honesty about fraud. It also aims to raise awareness and share good practice in tackling fraud and financial crime.

Below is a message from our acting director of finance, Dinah McLannahan:

According to latest estimates, fraud, bribery and corruption costs the NHS £1.29 billion a year – enough money to pay for over 40,000 staff nurses, or to purchase over 5,000 frontline ambulances. This is taxpayers’ money that is taken away from patient care and falls into the hands of criminals.

It’s crucial that colleagues and members of the public are aware of the potential for fraud and bribery offences to occur and know how to report them, to ensure vital NHS resources are protected.

During November the Trust will be supporting fraud awareness month. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness of fraud and bribery in the NHS and highlight some simple things that can be done to prevent it.

Our Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) has prepared a whole host of materials to raise awareness, including posters, leaflets, and table displays; bulletins, videos and newsletter articles; and training materials.

What you can do to help

I would be very grateful if you would take a moment to read the various communications that will be issued during the month and do not hesitate to contact our LCFS, if you wish to find out more information.

It is easy to report fraud, bribery or corruption affecting the NHS. You can contact our LCFS, Sophie Coster on 07436 268747 or via sophie.coster@rsmuk.com; call NHS Counter Fraud Authority via their 24-hour reporting line on 0800 028 4060 (powered by Crimestoppers), or report online via https://cfa.nhs.uk/reportfraud.

Thank you for supporting this important initiative. NHS Fraud: Spot it, Report it, Together we stop it.

Heartbeat: Thank Crunchie for Dr Nick!

Telling his story to Trust Board, sixteen year old Jasim Talib was only four months old when he was diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy after being rushed to hospital following a severe reaction to porridge.

He explained: “Throughout my childhood I was always acutely aware of food, and the danger of eating the wrong thing. Primary school was very hard as I felt left out, as I couldn’t have hot school dinners, but had the same sandwiches every day. Holidays were hard too, as I had to take an extra suitcase of dairy free food I could safely eat, and hot food choices abroad meant a diet of chips as they were the only things that were considered safe from dairy.

“Chocolate treats were a big problem too during my childhood, as parties and school events invariably produced chocolate bars as prizes, so if I ever won anything I was unable to eat it, but brought it home for my parents.

“However all that changed when Dr Nick Makwana told my mum about a treatment to cure my dairy allergy, which sounded good, but at first I was nervous, as I’d lived my whole life staying away from dairy. But it was exciting too, so I started the treatment which took six months to cure me. It began by me drinking milk that was diluted with water. Gradually the amount of milk was increased until I could drink a whole glass. That was amazing. I couldn’t get enough of it! Then, Dr Nick suggested I try to eat something dairy, and I knew immediately what I wanted to try. A Crunchie! It felt like I’d been waiting all my life for this taste, and it was wonderful! Crunchies are now my favourite chocolate bar. “It is thanks to Dr Nick that I want to become a paediatrician like him, and help other children like me. He changed my life so I’d like to follow in his footsteps.”

Anonymous NHS Staff Survey – Take the chance to have your say

The annual NHS Staff Survey where millions of colleagues across the country feedback on their services and how they feel about working for their organisations has launched.

The national survey is mandatory for all NHS organisations and the results inform national initiatives that can help support improvements in staff experience and wellbeing. It allows our Trust to see what issues people raise and understand how to make improvements. Importantly we are also able to benchmark our results against other organisations. This helps see where we excel comparted to other, similar organisations and also where we are not as good as some other Trusts. Looking at those Trusts that score more highly than us in certain areas will provide a good way for us to learn from other high performing organisations.

The results are also used by NHS England to support national assessments of quality and safety. The Care Quality Commission uses the results to inform their Intelligent Monitoring work to help to decide who, where and what to inspect.

This year, every member of staff will be given the opportunity to have their say.

Surveys have now been distributed predominantly through email with a small number of colleagues receiving papers copies through the post to their home addresses. Everyone is urged to take part as the survey is a unique opportunity to see how we compare to other Trusts on things like working environment, staff morale, job satisfaction, and management support.

The results will be reviewed and acted upon so we can make our organisation a great place to work.

If you are one of the first 100 people to respond you could win £200 worth of shopping vouchers. There will also be further opportunities to win; with £50 worth of shopping vouchers being available to six lucky winners!

Not received your survey?

Check your inbox. The survey has been sent from survey@quality-health.co.uk the subject is – Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 2019 NHS Staff Survey: Invitation

Still no survey?

Check your junk mail folder just to be sure. If you definitely haven’t received the invitation then email swbh.comms@nhs.net

Note: The survey will be open until the end of November.

Fighting flu by coming to you – look out for our flumobiles

Our flu season continues to be a success with us having administered a total of 2,432 vaccinations to colleagues with 1,967 of jabs being given to patient facing colleagues as of Friday 25 October.

We are pleased to confirm that the ‘Flumobile’ will once again be visiting our community sites.

Below are some confirmed dates and times for clinics.

Community flu clinics – please note that arrival times are approximate

Monday 4 November
3pm – The Lyng, West Bromwich, B70 7AW – onsite for 30 minutes

Tuesday 12 November
11.10am – Rowley Hospital, Rowley Regis, B65 8DA – onsite for 50 minutes

Please note:

• Colleagues must show their Trust ID card to be eligible for their flu vaccination
• Times of arrival are estimated and depend upon conditions at the time
• No appointment needed, just drop-in when the Flumobile is at your base

Are you refusing your flu vaccination due to personal or religious beliefs associated with pork? If so please be aware that there are no porcine products contained within the adult flu vaccination on offer at our Trust.