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Monthly archives: December 2019

Deck the halls with boughs of holly – Christmas decorating competition 2019

 

This December we invite you to take part in our annual Christmas decoration competition. This is your chance to turn your area into a winter wonderland that Santa himself would be proud of.

It’s time to channel your inner Buddy, gather your Christmas elves and decorate your area! Let our Trust shine bright this festive season. You can never have too many baubles, lights or garlands on display!

All areas taking part will be visited and the judges will be on the lookout for the best-dressed areas. We have £100 in vouchers up for grabs in the following categories:

  • Gold award for the most beautifully decorated ward or department
  • Frankincense award for the most over the top decorations
  • Myrrh award for the most imaginative or unusual decorations
  • Star award for the best environment for patients this Christmas

On 20 December the judging panel will be visiting City, Rowley Regis and Sandwell Hospitals, as well as our community sites to choose the winners.

Note: £50 will be available towards receipted cost of materials. This can be collected from the Finance Office, City Hospital and General Office, Sandwell Hospital.

If you’d like the judges to see your entry please email katherine.bayley@nhs.net by Friday 13 December. You will need to provide your name, contact details and location to ensure the judges visit your area.

 

Drug safety notice: Slo-phyllin capsules being discontinued and Emerade recall

 

Merck, the suppliers of Slo-phyllin (theophylline) capsules, have reported that due to manufacturing issues from their supplier, the manufacture of this product has ceased immediately, and will be discontinued. There are several alternative preparations available for our patients.

Please see Slo-phyllin drug safety notice for further information on managing this supply issue.

Emerade recall

Emerade pens have been recalled by the MHRA due to the known issue regarding failure to activate. Emerade stock held by patients is not being recalled, and patients and caregivers in possession of Emerade pens need to be informed of updated safety information about the risk of failure to activate. Most Emerade pens will activate as normal and patients are advised to continue to follow existing advice to carry two in-date pens with them at all times. Prescribers should prescribe adrenaline pens (autoinjectors) of another brand, until this error has been corrected and ensure that training is provided for the alternative brands. Jext is currently the alternative brand available in the trust.

Please see Emerade recall sheet for further information about this recall.

For more information please contact the pharmacy department on ext. 5259.

Self-care – making ourselves happier and healthier

 

We all know it’s important to look after ourselves, but we often find it difficult to find the time given our busy lives. We might even feel guilty for spending time on ourselves, particularly if we have other people who rely on us. Yet good self-care is so important for our physical, mental and emotional health – put simply, it helps to make us happier and healthier. This is why we are encouraging everyone to take a moment to reflect on their current self-care activities and look at ways they can be improved.

In most cases incorporating better self-care activities into our lives is easy to do, inexpensive and doesn’t require a lot of time. In the main it will probably just involve small tweaks and small additions to what we currently do. What is needed however, is the commitment to actually doing something, as it won’t just happen by itself.

To find out more about some of the main areas of self-care and some example activities of how we can improve our self-care in these areas, read our ‘self-care introductory briefing. We also have a personal self-care assessment template, which we’d encourage you to complete. It’s only basic, but it’s a starting point for us to review our current practices and highlight to us where we might want to focus moving forward. Both documents are available on:

 https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/od/occupational-health-and-wellbeing-service/self-care/  

We will be providing regular briefings on different self-care topics and activities moving forward.  We hope you will find these useful in your journey to improved self-care – you deserve it.

For more information please contact Jatinder Sekhon on ext. 3306.

Neurophysiology cake sale: 11 December

 

The neurophysiology team will be hosting a cake and samosa sale to help raise funds for Your Trust Charity.

The cake and samosa sale will take place on Wednesday 11 December from 10am – 1pm in the neuophysiology reception area (City site not BTC). This is on the 2nd floor when taking the stairs/lifts opposite Arches café.

For more information please contact a.simons@nhs.net.

Building work starts to deliver our new integrated children’s ED and PAU service at City Hospital

 

Building work to create a new integrated unit within City ED has now started at City Hospital. The integration of the two units will allow the children’s ED and paediatric teams to deliver a joint service in a dedicated single unit that will be accessible 24/7. This will ensure children and young people who attend our emergency department at City Hospital continue to receive round the clock high quality care, with early specialist assessment and treatment.

The works will create some changes to other services including:

  • Creation of a new waiting area for the X-ray rooms in ED (this work will start in January)
  • Creation of a route for the construction team to access through the building across the corridor between ED and the entrance by Arches – this work is taking place this week and use of the route by contractors will be supervised
  • Reduction of seating at Arches from mid-January for the duration of the works. On completion of the works there will continue to be some reduction in the seating area but with a new seating bar. We will provide further information in the New Year regarding temporary seating provision during the building period.

The building works to create the new integrated children’s ED and PAU are expected to continue until spring 2020.

 

Infection Prevention: Flu activity has increased above baseline levels

 

National surveillance indicates that influenza activity has increased above baseline threshold levels in the past week, with a step change in both sample positivity and admissions at a national level.

Please continue to consider influenza in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with respiratory illness, and if they are judged to be a possible case then send a flu swab and isolate them pending the result.

The microbiology department will now accept samples received for flu testing from inpatients without any requirement for additional discussion to take place.

Further information is available on the intranet at the following links:

http://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/infection-prevention-control/key-organisms/influenza/

http://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/infection-prevention-control/fit-testing-guidance/

World of Work to give opportunities for unemployed  

 

World of Work (WoW), a unique work experience placement programme designed and funded for job seekers and unemployed people aged 25 plus is now being delivered by our organisation thanks to a successful bid made through Birmingham City Council.

To be eligible for the scheme individuals need to meet the referral criteria and live within the Birmingham and Solihull catchment area. Led by Liza Gill, Volunteer Service Manager, the programme aims to attract 150 unemployed or job-seeking residents. Over a year they will be separated into five groups. Each cohort will attend an eight-week training programme. Over that time they’ll be upskilled to help them approach the world of work with confidence.

Launched on 4 November, so far 16 people have enrolled in the first training programme. They will benefit from a thorough induction, a work experience placement as well as interview and CV workshops. There will also be the opportunity to benefit from further education, training or to even join an apprenticeship. There’s even the possibility of joining our in-house Trust Bank agency. Everything has been planned to help attendees apply for future job roles.

An innovative project steering group has been formed by Eddie Edmead, Major Grants Manager for Your Trust Charity and incorporates several representatives from key departments around our organisation. Eddie led the way securing funds for this project, working closely with Birmingham City Council, Department of Works and Pensions and the European Social Fund.

He also ran one of the very first sessions and said: “We are enthusiastic about this new and exciting venture. We’re looking forward to achieving some great outcomes with the work placements within our Trust, as well as potentially with partnership service providers”.

Liza Gill, Volunteer Service Manager, added: “We’re thrilled to see this programme launch. A lot of hard work has gone into it from all involved. We’ve got a comprehensive training plan in place for all attendees. We’ll also be offering tailored support throughout to help achieve the best outcomes”.

If you’d like any further information, please contact Liza Gill on 0121 5074891. Alternatively, please email lizagill@nhs.net.

Referring to the alcohol team

 

The alcohol team are no longer visiting the wards daily to seek out patients.

Please refer patients with alcohol related issues via Unity. For urgent referrals only, please bleep the alcohol team on 5134.

Free pilates classes at Sandwell – no classes in December

 

Please note: No pilates classes will be taking place at Sandwell during December. The classes however will resume in the new year.

Take charge of your own health and wellbeing and join our free pilates classes – suitable for all levels of ability, experience and ages.

The classes will be held in the Berridge Room (formerly Courtyard Training Room), Sandwell Hospital from 4.45pm-5.45pm on the following dates:

  • Tuesday 7 January
  • Tuesday 14 January
  • Tuesday 21 January
  • Tuesday 28 January
  • Tuesday 4 February
  • Tuesday 11 February

For booking and more information, please contact Jatinder Sekhon on ext. 3306 option 4.

Planned maintenance: Network upgrade at City Hospital taking place from 10pm tonight (Tuesday 3 December)

 

There is a planned upgrade of the network infrastructure taking place between 10pm and 10.30pm tonight at City Hospital which will result in a short 5 minute period of network disruption for colleagues at City Hospital attempting to access the internet or external sites.

This upgrade work will not affect access to Unity or other internal system and colleagues should be able to continue normally.

However, colleagues are reminded to ensure that they are aware of their business continuity processes and the location of their downtime boxes in the event of any other unexpected downtime.

You will be informed by a desktop alert 15 minutes before work begins and once again when the upgrade has been completed.

Any issues should be escalated to  your line manager who will in turn inform the Duty Manager.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.


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