Monthly archives: December 2019
No parking permitted in BCPFT car park
We have received numerous complaints from Hallam Street Hospital (part of Black Country Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust – BCPFT) that colleagues are parking in their car parks.
Will all colleagues please note that the car parks for our Trust on that side of Hallam Street are as detailed in green on the aerial photo (below). Please do not use the car parks marked in red, these are not owned or run by us and you may be blocked in by a member of BCPFT staff who has left site to run a clinic and will not be able to move their car until they return to base.
Note: BCPFT will continue to monitor the situation and may issue tickets to any vehicles found in areas they are not allowed to park in and that do not have a BCPFT windscreen permit.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Get fit and healthy in the New Year – inductions at our free City and Sandwell gyms
We’re hosting gym induction days at our newly refurbished City Hospital gym (behind ED) and our Sandwell gym in Trinity House:
- City gym – Thursday 16 January, Tuesday 11 February and Thursday 27 February, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm
- Sandwell gym – Tuesday 21 January 11am, 12pm and 1pm
The gyms will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days week and are free for colleagues.
If you’re interested in signing up, please complete the following forms:
Upon completion forward the application to jatinder.sekhon@nhs.net or post to occupational health and wellbeing service. If you have any questions, contact the occupational health and wellbeing team on 0121 507 3306 option 4.
Bring your lunchbox to our restaurants and help us reduce usage of single use plastics
We are encouraging all colleagues to bring their own lunchboxes to our restaurants to help us reduce the usage of single use plastics across our sites.
This is part of our social value contribution to our environment and community.
Please see Bring your own lunchbox sheet for detailed information.
Note: If a colleague presents an inappropriately sized lunchbox, the catering team have the right to refuse and alternatively offer the meal in a disposable container.
Join in the chaplaincy carol services and festivities on Christmas Day
You are invited to join in the carol services and festivities:
- 25 December, Christmas Morning Service 9am, Sandwell Hospital Chapel 2nd floor.
- 25 December, Christmas Morning Service 11am City Hospital, Chapel 1st floor.
For more information please contact our chaplaincy team on ext. 3552/4055.
Two-way traffic lights on Lyndon for six weeks starting 6 January
Essential works will be commencing near Sandwell Hospital to replace an ageing gas main. Some traffic management will be in place for the duration of these works. There will be two-way traffic lights on Lyndon, at the junction with Lewisham Street, and Lewisham Street will not be accessible from Lyndon at all during this time.
A diversion via St. Clements Lane and Hallam Street will be in place (see map below). Work will begin on Monday 6 January 2020 and will take six weeks which will cause delay around this area.
We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.
Supporting attendance to work over the festive period
Message from Rachel Barlow, Chief Operating Officer
Dear colleagues,
Thank you to everyone who is working over Christmas and New Year to support our patients and colleagues. I know it’s a busy time for us all, so your dedication and hard work is very much valued and appreciated.
In order to ensure safety for our patients and the smooth running of our services, it is critical that colleagues who are due to attend work do so as planned. I want to remind you how we manage attendance in our organisation with some guidance to help ensure we are fully staffed:
- Attached is a script used in many groups to consistently structure the conversation when someone calls in sick.
- Medical colleagues reporting as sick must phone their consultant/consultant on call.
- Clinical/non-medical colleagues in patient facing wards and departments should:
- In hours: As per our policy, call the ward or departmental shift leader who will inform the senior leader managing attendance for the clinical group (after providing counselling and support). Group attendance leads are listed below.
- Out of hours: All sickness calls should go through the duty manager via bleep or switchboard to their mobile phone.
Each member of staff reporting in sick will receive a follow up phone call from a local senior leader (see the rota at the end of this message for your group lead) during the day time, ensuring everyone has the support they need, there are return to work plans, schedule a return to work interview date/time and where necessary, prompt access to occupational health.
There will be night to day handover between the duty manager and senior leader at group level by email to follow up sickness calls received at night, as well as a daily executive review of attendance and supportive intervention for any hotspot outlying areas.
- Short notice leave/requests for alternative leave or changes to the rosters should only be agreed if the full staffing requirements are met for the period.
Group attendance leads are detailed below.
Group Sickness Line Contact Details
Heartbeat: Baggies bring joy to the wards
West Bromwich Albion stars brought festive joy to the wards when they visited Sandwell Hospital handing out presents to young patients.
Footballers Gareth Barry, Sam Johnstone, Matt Phillips and Charlie Austin met youngsters in both Children’s Wards, where they also signed autographs and posed for photographs.
The event was organised in partnership with Your Trust Charity and serves to enhance the experience of patients, their families and staff.
Striker Charlie Austin said: “We are here to give presents out and to lift spirits as much as we can and bring joy to the patients.
“The reaction has been great and we were delighted to see the patients. They are going through a tough time. Being a parent, certainly, you know what it’s like when your child is in hospital, let alone it being at Christmas time, so to come and give gifts and see the smiles on their faces – well it means a lot to us. It’s fantastic that we can do something like this, just through football.”
Avnash Nanra, Ward Manager for Lyndon Ground, one of the areas the footballers visited, said: “Our young patients have loved meeting their idols and it’s perked them up. Being poorly at this time of year is never nice, so a visit from the Albion players is well received. It was so kind of the team and staff to give up their free time in this way, to bring some smiles to their young fans.”
Get your flu jab on site: Medicine jab-a-thon at City today
As our flu season continues into its 13th week we have administered a total of 4,333 vaccinations to colleagues with 3,656 of jabs being given to patient facing colleagues as of Friday 20 December.
We must remind colleagues that the flu vaccination does not give you the flu and it is vital that colleagues get the jab as it helps protect you, your patients and your friends and family.
Be sure to check out this video featuring Paula Gardner, Chief Nurse talking about the importance of getting your flu jab and reach herd immunity.
There will be a medicine jab-a-thon across City today in the following areas today:
- AMU
- ED
- D28
- D26
- D15/D17
- Cardiology
- D11
If you haven’t had chance to get your flu vaccination, be sure to meet one our vaccinators.
The flu prize draw has been extended so there is still time to win one of these fantastic prizes if you get your vaccination:
- £200 shopping vouchers
- 7” fire tablet
- Amazon fire TV stick
- Echo dot
- Tassimo coffee maker
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.
Have you had your flu jab elsewhere?
If you have had your flu jab at your local GP or pharmacy you still count towards our overall flu vaccination total!
Simply let us know by completing this short form by following the link: http://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/od/occupational-health-and-wellbeing-service/flu/had-your-flu-jab-elsewhere/
Note: If you have 8 or more colleagues who want their flu vaccination in your area or department you can organise a visit from our ‘Jab-in-the-hut’ by calling ext. 3803.
Latest edition of Heartbeat now online
The latest edition of Heartbeat is now available to view online.
This edition features the 2019 QIHD poster competition and the the Midland Met contract signing.
Heartbeat: Community nurses bring Christmas cheer to patients
Christmas is a time for joy and happiness and thanks to donations from Barclays Bank, community nurses from our Trust will be bringing a little Christmas cheer to some of our most vulnerable patients on Christmas Day.
To find out more about the plans, Heartbeat caught up with Community Matron, Denise Owen, she said, “For most of us at Christmas we’ll be surrounded by our families with piles of presents to unwrap and a feast to eat. As nurses working out in the community, we know that this often isn’t the case for many of our patients. Often we go out to patients and are the only people that patient will see that day and sadly, this is the same over Christmas.
“This year in the iCares directorate we decided to hold a charity raffle to use the funds raised to give patients seen by community staff on Christmas day a gift.
We contacted Barclays Bank and told them about what we would like to do, and they jumped on board donating raffle prizes and helping us fill almost 100 Christmas gift bags.
“The gift bags have a mix of items, from chocolates and biscuits to gift sets for men and women, there’s something in each for every one of our patients.”
Beaming with pride, Denise explained how the community has joined in with their efforts, “When we’ve been out buying all of the gifts, people have been stopping us to find out what we’re doing and making their own on the spot donations. People often forget that behind the door of every little bungalow will likely be one of our patients, some have family and friends nearby but many don’t. Hopefully, our little gesture brings a smile to their faces when we see them.”
If you’d like to join in with donating to a good cause, contact Your Trust Charity who can help you find a worthy cause, on ext. 4847.
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