Monthly archives: March 2020

COVID-19 staff survey: Vital information

We are collating information from every colleague on their carer responsibilities including childcare arrangements and whether you have underlying health conditions.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU AND ALL YOUR COLLEAGUES FOLLOW THIS LINK AND COMPLETE THIS SHORT SURVEY – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ZKQVTZN

This will enable the Trust to consider alternative support should that be required as well as whether certain colleagues can be redeployed into different roles.

The closing date for completed surveys is today (Wednesday 18 March) at 3pm.

COVID-19 bulletin: Tuesday 17 March

The Trust is now publishing a daily bulletin. This will take all guidance and information and tell you which changes we are implementing when and how. Please use this bulletin and daily cascade arrangements within clinical groups to guide local action. Remember KINDNESS is our watchword in implementing these changes.

1. What PPE should I be wearing in different parts of the Trust?

We have produced a simple guide to the PPE you should be using if you are entering different clinical areas within the Trust. The guidance does change, so this replaces anything previously advised.

This includes what to wear if accessing clinical departments where there are patients who are either confirmed or suspected as having COVID-19. Please see the guide attached. Do not wear PPE in corridors and public areas.

This may be particularly useful for porters, ward service officers and pharmacists who need to access different areas across the Trust. If you are a line manager in a department that does not usually use email please put copies of this guide into handover meetings and on noticeboards.

It is important to remember our usual infection control practices still apply, including that uniforms should be covered when moving to and from our sites, and the correct disposable of linen for laundering.

2. Should I be coming to work right now?

If you have symptoms you should self-isolate. Beyond that our guidance has not yet changed from Monday, except that the time period has been re-extended to 14 days.

Tomorrow we will issue guidance for those in early pregnancy. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are due shortly to amplify announcements made yesterday. We expect the focus to be on helping you keep working but supporting many women in this situation to work remotely. We apologise that the position nationally could be considered confusing.

You will have heard or seen comments about essential travel and social gatherings. This does not include preventing people travelling to work. However, we will issue guidance tomorrow on how we will be supporting home working for some staff from later this week. None of our change arrangements will prevent you being paid or affect your leave allowances this year or next.

If you work for us and are over 70 years of age, do continue to come to work, but we will be talking to the 48 of you individually about circumstances and assistance.

This is an especially concerning time for some bank workers in our Trust. We are changing some bank pay rates to help guarantee you income if you work a certain number of shifts for us in the next five weeks. We will also meet statutory obligations and offer you testing as required below. We are working with our interpreting teams to ensure that we make good provision to support you in the coming weeks, even when outpatient appointments are cancelled. A specific letter will go to all interpreters this Friday.

3. What digital platforms can I use help with remote working?

We are going to be working from home and remotely. We will not support any choice of platform, but will support certain key platforms.

For instant messaging and group chat we are encouraging the use of WhatsApp on mobile devices. Please note that patient identifiable information should never be used outside closed clinical Trust systems.
We have enough Cisco WebEx conference call licences for people who organise meetings and want to do virtual meetings. The attendees do not need to download anything to attend and it integrates with Outlook (your email system). The IT service desk on 4050 can remotely install this for you.
People working remotely should download MyConnect from the official app stores as we will be using this to communicate updates. Search for SBWHMyConnect.
You can forward your desk phone to a mobile by typing #9 and the mobile number. ##9 will cancel this request.
NHS mail and ESR are available from any computer with internet access – you do not need to be on the Trust network.

If you have a laptop that you do not use or that needs upgrading, now is the time to hand it in. Thank you to those of you who have already done so. Remember that the service desk on 4050 is still running 24 hours a day.

4. Are we offering tests to healthcare workers and if so, how do I access this?

We will test you if you have symptoms. We can carry out an effective test on the third day of your symptoms starting. Before that the test is not effective.

To access this test please contact occupational health and they will arrange for an appointment. The test results make take up to 72 hours but we will aim to expedite this.

If you are at home when your symptoms develop, or someone you live with develops symptoms, then please do not come to work. Self-isolate – the time period has been re-extended to 14 days.

5. Where do I get more information about what is going on?

The best way to get information is via this bulletin. In addition we are putting material on Connect and on My Connect. We would like as many staff as possible to download My Connect because if you do need to work from home or be off work it is the easiest Trust-wide communications channel we have. It includes both text and video.

Our Chief Executive and clinical colleagues will be doing one hour Question and Answer sessions tomorrow Wednesday 18 March:

Conference Room, Education Centre, Sandwell General Hospital: 10am – 11am
Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Postgraduate Centre, City Hospital: 12noon – 1pm

Tomorrow we will release details of “I have got a question” email addresses to help us tackle your detailed questions. As per Toby’s Covid all-colleague emails, if you are unsure please contact him direct.

On Thursday we will try and release information about training aimed at preparing clinical staff to work in unfamiliar areas. Nationally this will start in the days ahead as we prepare for further escalation of the inpatient effects of Covid during April.

Incident investigation training at Sandwell: 4 May

The patient safety team have developed incident investigation training, in particular for investigating moderate and serious incidents. This training will take place on Monday 4 May, 10am – 4pm in the Sandwell Education Centre conference room.

Note: This training is aimed at colleagues who will become serious incident leads with the expectation that they will help investigate at least two serious incidents per year.

The ideal person to be an serious incident lead will need to be:

Interested in patient safety
Senior clinician/manager/nurse
Pro-active investigator
Able to lead a investigation team
Ability to support the collection of statements and interview staff

Spaces are limited on this training to 25 delegates. Additional training will be available later on in the year.

If you are interested in reserving a place on this training or would like to find more, please contact sindeepchatha@nhs.net.

Poison Prevention Week

Every year in the UK there are around 160,000 NHS emergency department presentations as a result of poisoning; this could be due to self-harm, drug misuse, medication errors etc. Therefore there is the need for healthcare professionals to access up-to-date information about the effects of these substances and their clinical management.

The National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) provides this information via the internet database TOXBASE as well as a 24-hour telephone advice line manned by specialists in poisons information, supported by consultant clinical toxicologists. The Birmingham unit of the NPIS is located at City Hospital with 10 specialists in poisons information and two consultant clinical toxicologists.

Poison Prevention Week aims to raise awareness of poisoning and highlight the dangers of poisonings for people of all ages.

To celebrate the week, each day we will be offering tips around poison prevention and staying safe.

Today’s tip is:

Always read product labels and follow any directions. Buy products with child-resistant packaging, but remember nothing is child-proof.

Paracetamol is the drug that the NPIS is most commonly contacted about. This can be due to intentional overdose, however on many occasions it is due to therapeutic errors for pain relief such as dental pain. Please ensure that the dosing recommendations for medications such as paracetamol are always followed, and for children ensure that they are being given the correct dose for their age/weight.

Keep all household medications in a safe place away from children, especially where these can be accessed easily like dosset boxes.

For more information or if you would like assistance with the use of TOXBASE please do not hesitate to get in touch with michael.beech@nhs.net or e.moyns@nhs.net from the national poisons information service.

Heartbeat: Wave goodbye to… Dr Chilvers

Recently we said farewell to Consultant Anaesthetist and Director of Medical Education, Dr Julian Chilvers.

In 1993, Dr Chilvers graduated from Leicester Medical School. Having joined our organisation in 1995 as a Senior House Officer at City Hospital, he’s gone on to have a successful career. Dr Chilvers recalls his early days well and commented: “I was surprised by the amount of trauma that City Hospital treated at the time including shootings and stabbings. I learnt a lot from my early years working here at the Trust.”

Between 1998 and 2003, Dr Chilvers worked as a registrar on the Birmingham School of Anaesthesia, rotating to City Hospital before becoming a consultant at SWBH in 2003 specialising in obstetrics, trauma, orthopaedics and regional anaesthesia.

In 2009, Dr Chilvers took up the position of postgraduate clinical tutor at City Hospital. In this role, he had responsibility for the welfare and training of all junior doctors. “I developed my interest in medical education as a trainee by becoming an advanced life support instructor in 1996. This interest in education continued as a consultant. I became a college tutor in anaesthetics in 2004 up to becoming a clinical tutor in 2009 and then director of medical education in 2018.”

More recently Dr Chilvers has developed an interest in global anaesthesia and education. “In the last 2-3 years, I have developed an interest in global anaesthesia and education. Following a trip to Uganda in 2017, I have travelled to and helped to deliver training programmes in India and Tanzania.”

Over his time working as a postgraduate clinical tutor, Dr Chilvers has worked closely with Dr Saket Singhal, a fellow consultant and his counterpart at Sandwell Hospital in medical education. When reflecting on their working relationship as postgraduate tutors he commented: “In 2009 we were both appointed as postgraduate clinical tutors with joint overall responsibility for the welfare and training of all junior doctors at SWBH. This required us to work closely together for many years in several aspects of junior doctor training.”

Dr Singhal added: “Since 2017 Julian’s role has changed to include responsibility for postgraduate doctors and undergraduate medical students in his role as director of medical education (DME). For several years he has also been the foundation lead for the West Midlands Central School, an important role within Health Education England.

“In my role as head of academy for the undergraduate academy, I have valued the support and advice that Julian has been able to give me since he took up his role as DME. I will very much miss his support and friendship when he leaves.”

Karen Parry, Postgraduate Manager also worked closely with Dr Chilvers over the past ten years during his time in medical education. She commented: “Dr Chilvers has played a major part in the leadership and development of medical education at the Trust and provided excellent support for our junior doctors. It has been lovely working with him and he will be greatly missed by the medical education team.”

Thank you for your contribution, Dr Chilvers.

Mandatory training e-learning refreshers

Time is running out for all colleagues to ensure they are 100 per cent compliant for all of their mandatory training – please don’t leave it to the last minute!

The majority of mandatory training can be completed quite quickly via e-learning. All colleagues should complete their training before they go out of date – to do this for e-learning please look for the guidance notes at the following link for more detailed information: https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/learning-development/mandatory-list/

If you have queries please email: swbh.landd@nhs.net

COVID-19 bulletin: Monday 16 March

All staff survey: Vital information

We are collating information from every colleague on their carer responsibilities including childcare arrangements and whether you have underlying health conditions.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU AND ALL YOUR COLLEAGUES FOLLOW THIS LINK AND COMPLETE THIS SHORT SURVEY – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ZKQVTZN

This will enable the Trust to consider alternative support should that be required as well as whether certain colleagues can be redeployed into different roles.

The closing date for completed surveys is 3pm, Wednesday 18 March.

2. Chief Executive meeting for colleagues

Two staff meetings are being arranged led by Toby Lewis for any questions or queries about the pandemic on Wednesday 18 March as follows:

10am, Conference Room, Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital
12pm, Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Postgraduate Centre, City

Both of these meetings will be recorded so that colleagues who can’t attend can see and hear the discussions and will not last longer than 1 hour.

3. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and cleaning

The Trust approach to PPE has not changed. Colleagues should ensure they use the correct PPE as listed below.

Patients who have tested positive for coronavirus:

Gloves
Long sleeve gown
FFP3/respirator hood
Face visor
Hijab wearers will need to cover with disposable theatre hat to ensure full coverage
All staff required to wear scrubs
Strict hand hygiene

Patients who are suspected of being positive for coronavirus:

Gloves
Plastic apron
Surgical mask
Strict hand hygiene

You must ensure that you follow these guidelines for all areas where there are patients who are confirmed positive or suspected positive for coronavirus.

Please ensure that you declutter and tidy up your areas to make them easier to clean.

4. Community response

During this pandemic it is vital to ensure we do what we can to look after our most vulnerable in the community. Community groups, friends and neighbours are actively establishing a community response in many areas including:

COVID 19 Mutual Aid Group – Bearwood Sandwell

https://www.facebook.com/groups/647032279173318/

Sandwell – Helping each other during the Coronavirus

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2861466323907055/

Birmingham Community Solidarity: Coronavirus Response

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3234138479933658/

The Active Wellbeing Society (AWS)

https://twitter.com/TAWSociety/status/1239217002906091520

The Birmingham Strong Fund

https://bhamstrong.com/

NishkamSWAT

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/homeless-charity-pledges-continue-help-17928671

The below postcard (download the postcard by clicking the image below) is being used in many towns and areas so please think about whether you want to use this in your street or get involved in local arrangements near where you live.

5. Leave arrangements

At this moment, the Trust is not cancelling leave of absence but we expect to make decisions regarding this by next Monday. Employees will not be out of pocket on any cancellation expenses in the event we have to change your arrangements.

For guidance on other workforce issues please look at our previously published Frequently Asked Questions. Any requests for equipment to enable home working should be made to martin.sadler1@nhs.net.

Poison Prevention Week

The National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) provides this information via the internet database TOXBASE as well as a 24-hour telephone advice line manned by specialists in poisons information, supported by consultant clinical toxicologists. The Birmingham unit of the NPIS is located at City Hospital with 10 Specialists in poisons information and two consultant clinical toxicologists.

Poison Prevention Week aims to raise awareness of poisoning and highlight the dangers of poisonings for people of all ages.

To celebrate the week, each day we will be offering tips around poison prevention and staying safe.

Today’s tip is:

Keep medicines and household products in their original containers and in a different place than food/drink

Keep medicines, household products and liquids such as de-icer, antifreeze and oven/drain cleaners in their original packaging and never decant them into drink bottles as this is a common source of toxicity reported to the NPIS.

Mixing bleach with hot water or with other cleaning chemicals such as lime scale removers can result in toxic gases like chlorine being generated which can cause severe lung injury.

Another common enquiry received by the NPIS is regarding descalers being left in kettles overnight and used to make drinks or for cooking. When using a descaler always make sure everyone else in the house is aware and thoroughly rinse before use.

Heartbeat: In a league of their own!

The League of Friends work within our organisation to not only support our Trust but our local community. Collectively they raise funds to help make a positive impact on patient care. The funds raised from the local shop, donations, the sale of teas and coffees, among other things, provide additional services and facilities for patients, visitors and colleagues within our organisation.

Over the years, the League of Friends has donated significant amounts to our organisation. Examples of donations include part-funding a FibroScan machine for the gastroenterology team and providing a bladder scanner for the stroke unit.

You’ll have undoubtedly met some of the volunteers that work in our local shop in the reception area of Sandwell Hospital. Did you know that four of them have devoted a combined total of 129 years between them? We caught up with Barbara Lissimore, Joan Devaney, Val Morris and Janet Dearn to find out more.

Janet was introduced to the League of Friends by a former treasurer. She explained: “I was a school secretary for 27 years and a teacher at the school was also a treasurer with the charity. She suggested that I should get involved. Four members of my family had been part of the League of Friends before me so it felt natural for me to get involved.”

She added: “I’ve dedicated 38 years to volunteering for The League of Friends and I previously held the positions of Vice-Chair and Chair for 20 years. I now volunteer one day a week and I love it just as much as when I joined. It’s great to see the money we raise put to good use. One of the things I recall us funding was a bus stop for dementia patients. We had a full-size replica of local bus stop created and patients would sit at it when they needed some time out to calm down.”

Speaking to Heartbeat, Barbara said that she began volunteering after her husband passed away. “A friend suggested that I should join the League of Friends after I lost my husband. Since joining I’ve become a part of the committee and one of the most rewarding parts of the role is seeing how the money is spent. It’s just wonderful to see how it makes such a difference in the local community.”

Similarly, Val has volunteered for 24 years and began doing so after she too lost her husband. She commented: “Becoming a volunteer was a lifeline – you feel that you’re doing something good. I work in the shop every Friday and I’m proud of the people I work with and especially of the work the committee does. I’ve also met some lovely people over the years.”

Joan has been a part of the League of Friends for 40 years. Acting as the secretary and being part of the committee keeps her busy but she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I enjoy helping others and seeing the projects and equipment making a difference. I recall us funding a tablet with a camera in it for the gastroenterology team a few years ago. At the time it was considered cutting edge as it took photos of the intestines as it travelled through the body.”

Having donated over a century to our workplace we’d like to thank Janet, Joan, Val and Barbara for their hard work and dedication.

Extended opening hours in transport from 1 April

From 1 April, the transport department will be extending their opening hours to 7.30am – 6.30pm. If you wish to contact the team please call ext. 3869.

Reduced shuttle bus service until Thursday

Due to unforeseen circumstances there will only be an hourly service from 12pm on the shuttle bus service until Thursday 19 March. Prior to 12pm, the shuttle buses will be operating a normal service. Please see reduced timetable from 12pm below:

City to Sandwell, 12pm
Sandwell to City, 12.30pm
City to Sandwell, 1pm
Sandwell to City, 1.30pm
City to Sandwell, 2pm
Sandwell to City, 2.30pm
City to Sandwell, 3pm
Sandwell to City, 3.30pm
City to Sandwell, 4pm
Sandwell to City, 4.30pm
City to Sandwell, 5pm
Sandwell to City, 5.30pm – This will be the last shuttle

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

← Older items Newer items →

Monthly archives: March 2020

Sidebar