Monthly archives: July 2020

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 3 July

David Carruthers, Medical Director

Toby is away

A special weekend is ahead as the NHS reaches its 72^nd birthday on Sunday. Last year we introduced our smoke free sites and this year is all about thanking our communities for their support to the NHS during the pandemic. Four of the sites across our Trust estate will light up blue between 8pm and 11pm from Sunday and for the rest of the week (City, Leasowes, Rowley and Smethwick). On Sunday at 8pm we would encourage all of you to put a light in your windows to say thank you to all those who have stood with us. New gardens will appear on our sites too thanking people for their support, which we are happy to say we no longer need. This film will go out on our external channels on Sunday so please share it widely.

Last night we held our Annual General Meeting, being, I think, one of the first Trusts to do so this year. Around 80 people joined into the webex with Non-Executive Directors connecting remotely and the executive team and Chairman visible from the Sandwell Education Centre.

Thank you to everyone who took part and sent in questions and comments. I had the opportunity to present on the Trust’s achievements during the past year which has certainly been an extraordinary and unprecedented 12 months – and not just about our response to COVID-19. It is easy to forget the other milestones in our year that included a huge transformation in ways of working with the introduction of Unity; our sites becoming smoke-free; reconfiguration of respiratory services; taking on GP practices; renaming Midland Met coinciding with work restarting on the site, to name but a few.

Our annual report is now published so do take a skim through that. You will see that we have also used this year’s publication to report back on our 2020 vision, the five year strategic plan that we published in 2014 following engagement with our teams, partners and patients. There is so much to be proud of during the year and in the past five years. I hope you feel, as I do, that this Trust is a great organisation to be part of with clear ambitions that go right to the heart of transforming people’s lives for the better.

Next week I will be presenting our quality account to the Sandwell Overview and Scrutiny Committee who have welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback. Although this document is a statutory requirement and often feels quite prescriptive in the elements we need to include it is great to see this account of our quality standards – an honest reflection on what we do well and what we still need to do to continue to improve.

Congratulations to Star of the Week, Eoin Dore, who has been nominated by several people for his work supporting wellbeing for colleagues, particularly our medical workforce. The toll that the coronavirus is having on all of us is becoming very apparent, perhaps more so now than when we were in the peak of the pandemic. People are making good use of our health and wellbeing support and also the Sanctuary that is housed in the Learning Works building opposite Midland Met in Smethwick. My plea to all of you is to make use now of the support that is on offer. You don’t have to feel in a bad place to take advantage of all that is available. Often, just taking some time to reflect and talk can help to stave off more serious ill-health. It is ok to not be ok and it is also ok to get support even if you think are doing well.

Remember that this is your LAST CHANCE to send in a nomination for the Trust’s annual star awards. The nominations will be open until midnight so please spend a few minutes getting those online forms sent in. Many individuals and teams deserve that recognition.

Drug safety notice and supply issues

We are having number of issues with the supply of a variety drugs due to shortages. Please see below information sheets regarding various drugs and instructions to follow due to supply issues.

• Fluticasone proprionate nebules shortage information sheet
• Allevyn gentle border dressings recall information sheet

For more information please contact the pharmacy department (City ext. 5263, Sandwell ext. 3783).

Heartbeat: Procurement delivers on PPE challenge

When COVID-19 struck and hospitals across the country began frantically scrambling for gloves, gowns and masks, the procurement team at our Trust were hard at work phoning suppliers and building their own supply chain to ensure we could continue protecting our patients and staff.

Whilst our Trust often holds local stocks of common Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the unprecedented scale and impact of COVID-19 brought with it challenges that had never been imagined, but nevertheless challenges that were wholeheartedly taken on by the procurement team.

With the disastrous thought of ‘what if we run out?’ running through their minds, the team quickly took on the task not simply of sourcing the vital protective equipment but also the task of ensuring it went to the right departments.

To find out more about the procurement response to COVID-19, Heartbeat caught up with Chief Finance Officer and interim ‘Tsar of PPE’ Dinah McLannahan. She said: “COVID-19 is an incredibly challenging virus for our clinical teams to manage. We knew that the only way to keep them safe was to ensure that we had adequate supplies of equipment and PPE for them to be able to focus on their job of keeping patients safe and well. Stocks of PPE unfortunately very quickly became scarce, not just locally or nationally, but internationally, so our teams had to work very hard to make sure they scoured every one of our suppliers to keep stocks coming in.

“Alongside the issue of ensuring an uninterrupted supply of PPE, the team also worked to develop a dashboard which allowed us to not only map the current usage rates of critical PPE but also to forecast usage against our deliveries.

“The ever-changing supply chain also brought with it the challenges of aligning the needs of our staff with the supply of equipment.

One of the critical elements of PPE is the assurance that it works as intended. With masks, this is determined by fit testing where staff wear a mask and a machine is used to check the seal and ensure it is doing its job. When particular masks became short in supply, our teams went ahead and supported additional fit testing sessions so that staff could go to work, safe in the knowledge that the equipment they had was keeping them safe from COVID-19.”

Dinah added: “The procurement teams have done an amazing job to keep this critical piece of our COVID-19 infrastructure going. We’ve had some close calls, but through their hard work, we’ve managed to keep everything going. Thank you to not only the guys in the procurement offices but also all of our colleagues who have been out on the ground managing the stock and supporting the distribution across our organisation.

Arches late openings: 6 and 7 July

Due to essential maintenance works, Arches Cafe will be opening at 11am on Monday 6 July and Tuesday 7 July. Coffee Culture Boaters and BTC will be open as usual. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Breakfast and salad bar reopening:

Both the breakfast bar and salad bar have been reopened due to popular demand. To help keep everyone as safe as possible, we must remind colleagues

1. Sanitise your hands before handling any of the utensils
2. Maintain social distancing at all times

Trust retail outlets opening days and times:

Please see opening days and times of our retails outlets below.

We are encouraging all customers to take away any products they buy rather than eat at the restaurants in groups of more than two people. Our outlets are also only accepting contactless payments.   

Pulse Secure: Please remember to accept the upgrade

Following the recent upgrade to Pulse, we now need colleagues to ensure they allow the installation to take place on their machines.

If you have not yet done so, please click on the ‘Upgrade’ button when you are presented with the ‘Software upgrade for Sandwell Pulse VPN’ window.

This is an official pop up,safe to accept and will ensure that your service is up to date with the latest software.

The upgrade should only take a few minutes to complete but will mean you momentarily lose connection to the network.

If you have any further queries then please contact the IT Service Desk on ext. 4050.

Communicate better with WebEx

Have you discovered the benefit of using WebEx meetings and teams yet? Our updated guides provide new information on functionality and also some top tips in getting the most out of each.

• WebEx Teams QRG
• WebEx Meetings QRG

WebEx Teams is a great way to instant message colleagues without needing to know their phone number. With our new more remote ways of working these WebEx tools are great ways of communicating and collaborating with anyone across the Trust.

So if you don’t have an account call the IT support desk on ext. 4050 today to get yours activated.

Last day to get your Star Awards nominations in!

Today is the last day to get your Star Awards 2020 nominations in!

Many colleagues, both clinical and non-clinical have worked tremendously hard over the last 12 months especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the launch of Unity last September. This year’s Star Awards recognise colleagues who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in caring for patients, relatives, those in our communities and other colleagues.

There are a total of 21 award categories this year, including the 2020 vision prize for integrated care pioneer of the year award, the Award for Equality and Diversity Champion and Excellence in research prize.

You can get your nominations in today by visiting the link below:

https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/communications/star-awards/

Don’t have regular access to a computer?: Why not complete a paper nomination. You can make a paper nomination by printing and completing the nomination form and sending it back to the address as stated on the form.

Star Awards 2020 nomination form

If you have any questions regarding the Star Awards, please contact the communications team on 0121 507 5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net.

NHS Anniversary this Sunday

There is a simple way to enhance the care we provide and that’s by delivering it with kindness. Our patients tell us they appreciate it, and our communities have shown it back to us throughout the pandemic, so this year our 72nd NHS anniversary is all about kindness.

We’re using our anniversary on Sunday to say thank you to all those who have helped us, with our #SWBshinealight campaign. We’d like to encourage all colleagues to support the initiative on Sunday by lighting a lamp or lantern in your window on Sunday evening from 8pm – 11pm.

As a Trust we’re lighting up buildings across our four main sites, shining blue light on the walls from 8pm on Sunday, and you’ll soon see our new permanent floral displays being installed with a rainbow of colours, brightening up our grounds and helping us remember all those who have been affected by the pandemic. Huge thanks to our hard working colleagues in our estates team for their efforts in helping with both these projects.

If you are able to get involved on our anniversary please put a lamp in your window this Sunday, and if you do, please send us a photo so we can post it on our social media channels. You can send your photo by email to swbh.comms@nhs.net post on social media using the hashtag #SWBshinealight or tweet us @SWBHnhs, tagging Your Trust Charity @SWBHCharity.

ESR downtime this week

There will be a limited period of downtime on ESR this Saturday (4 July). This is required to carry out essential maintenance work.

Users are advised that the ESR production service will be withdrawn at 8am on Saturday morning, in order to carry out essential ESR Production maintenance.

This period of downtime for the ESR production service is approximately 90 minutes with service expected to return at 9.30am on Saturday.

Heartbeat: Tip of the week helps to optimise Unity

We may have launched Unity last September, but for the past few months, we have focused on optimisation in the form of our Unity Tip of the Week.

Since go-live, Unity has revolutionised the way the majority of our clinical colleagues work across our Trust.

However, we found many end-users were not utilising all of the benefits of Unity which is where the Tip of the Week concept originated from.

“Unity can be simple to use, but the challenge is to enter structured data, such as medications, in the correct location to get the full benefits from the system,” said Ash Sharma, Chief Clinical Information Officer.

“With this in mind, we came up with a method to allow colleagues to share their learning from our EPR.”

Unity Tip of the Week allows users to share quick wins or top tips they have for using Unity in their ward, area or department which enhances the user experience for all.

“Over the past couple of months we have been receiving numerous fantastic tips from the labelling of blood bottles to easier ways of accessing GP records in Unity,” said Leong Lee, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Clinical Safety Officer.

“All of the tips so far have made a massive difference to the user experience. They have resulted in staff being able to complete processes faster whilst learning better and more efficient ways of working.

“Since we introduced this initiative in March optimisation of Unity has become clearer allowing us to make the most effective use of our EPR. This has benefitted us enormously in the current situation with helping clinicians have virtual consultations, for instance.”

Though Unity Tip of the Week has been an initial triumph, Leong wants to maintain the success of the project and is urging everyone to continue submitting their tips.

“Colleagues are reaping the rewards of our EPR, but we believe there are many more opportunities for us to optimise Unity, which is where we need your help. I’m encouraging colleagues at all levels across the Trust to suggest any tips. All suggestions are welcome, no matter the size or complexity!”