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Monthly archives: July 2020

Free access to Black Lives Matter collection

 

When a scholarly publisher endorses the statement that Black Lives Matter, especially in the context of current societal tensions it needs to do more than just echo it. As a result, Springer Nature have selected a freely available collection of content relevant to some of the issues that have led to the use of this singularly powerful statement.

They hope that the collection will help readers gain from research insights, not least in the history and social science of racism and police violence. The collection includes Journal articles and eBooks surrounding the issues of social inequality and systemic racism, policing race and civil unrest, gender, racism and oppression and health disparities.

The books in the freely available collection has been added to our library holdings and can be found by clicking here.

The journal articles and other resources can be found at https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/campaigns/black-lives-matter

For more information please contact swbh.library@nhs.net.

Local road closures and disruption in Sandwell

 

Due to local roads being resurfaced across Sandwell, there will be many road closures and severe delays throughout the day. Please be mindful of the delays and plan extra time to travel to and from Sandwell Hospital as your journey may take longer than expected.

Unity tip of the week: Request Tissue Viability assessments through Requests/Care Plans

 

This week’s tip of the week comes from Rebecca Vivian, Tissue Viability Nurse and is:

“Request Tissue Viability assessments through Requests/Care Plans. Ensure the skin/wound assessment is completed on Assessments/Fluid Balance.”

We are encouraging colleagues at all levels across the Trust to suggest any quick wins or top tips they have for using Unity in their ward, area or department.

All suggestions are welcome so please get in touch! The best suggestions will be featured in our Unity Tip of the Week every Wednesday on Connect.

If you have a tip of the week please send it to swbh.unitytips@nhs.net.

Heartbeat: PET Scanner rolls in to City Hospital

 

No, it’s not a scanner for your dog, it’s the latest addition to the imaging team’s growing arsenal of cutting edge technology, the combined Positron Emission and Computerised Tomography Scanner.

Earlier this month the long-awaited PET/ CT scanner rolled in to view and parked itself outside the imaging department at City Hospital, the unassuming lorry hiding within it a scanner that is set to transform the offering of the imaging department.

Positron Emission Tomography Scanners are unique and innovative scanners that use a small amount of radioactive tracer material to diagnose, evaluate and treat a variety of diseases including cancer, heart disease and neurological amongst others.

To find out more about the new scanner, Heartbeat spoke to Bill Thomson, Consultant Physicist and Head of Physics and Nuclear Medicine. He said “What’s great about PET scanners is that they give us an insight into changes within the body at a cellular level and so it’s one of the most useful diagnostic or treatment information available. This is a very important milestone for the nuclear medicine service our patients can receive.

Although operated by Alliance Medical, our imaging medical staff will authorise the PET/CT referrals.

Also, there is potential for PET/CT reporting of the scans, and Alliance is going to install a dedicated PET/CT reporting station in nuclear medicine.

This will be an important aspect for future recruitment of consultant staff, as well as allowing training in this modality for current trainees.”

Drug safety notice and supply issues

 

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

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

Heartbeat: Cancer services go nuclear during COVID-19!

 

When COVID-19 arrived at our doors we knew right away that one of the most vulnerable patient groups at our Trust would be our cancer patients. After months of radiotherapy and chemotherapy their immunocompromised bodies would stand little chance of battling COVID-19. Immediately work began to see how we could continue supporting these patients but in a safe environment, away from the risks of infection in an acute hospital.

With the looming threat of COVID-19, we took the decision to shield our cancer patients by immediately moving their treatment to two external sites, The Priory for gynaecological surgery and Solihull Parkway for breast cancer surgery. To find out more about the work that went in to safeguarding our cancer treatments we caught up with Bill Thomson, Consultant Physicist and Head of Physics and Nuclear Medicine, who told us about a new process being used to ensure surgery offsite goes smoothly.

He said: “When our surgeons operate on a cancer patient, sometimes the patients need a radioactive tracer injection near the tumour site. The tracer lets the surgeon pick up the sentinel lymph nodes using a small radioactive probe and to identify the nodes which should also be excised at the surgery. Currently, this is used for some breast cancer surgery patients and also for some vulval cancer surgery.

“Normally, this injection is done on the morning of the surgery on-site at City Hospital. However, to ensure our patients would be able to have their surgery, we set up a procedure whereby a patient visits nuclear medicine the day before surgery for their injection and they can still go to have their surgery the next day with the tracer still being detectable.”

He added: “We have worked closely with private hospitals to ensure processes such as risk assessments, storage and disposal of swabs were put in place. It has been a real team effort, but it has all been worth it to ensure patients can still undergo their surgeries with minimal disruption.”

Tina Robinson, Group Director of Operations – Surgical Services, told us: “We have completed 174 operations up until 13 May offsite. Being able to work collaboratively in this way has meant that patients have still been able to receive the essential surgeries they need. We’re grateful to all of the hospitals we have been working with for their support.”

Alert: IT and email scams

 

We are continuing to see an increase in scams exploiting remote working arrangements and urgent need for goods and services as a result of COVID-19.

Fake emails often (but not always) display some of the following characteristics:

  • The email contains spelling and grammatical errors.
  • The sender’s email address doesn’t tally with the trusted organisation’s website address.
  • The email does not use your proper name, but uses a non-specific greeting like “Dear customer”, “Hi friend”
  • A sense of urgency; for example the threat that unless you act immediately your account may be closed or patient safety may be compromised.
  • A prominent website link. These can be forged or seem very similar to the proper address of the known company, but even a single character difference means a different website.
  • A request for personal information such as username, password or bank details.
  • You weren’t expecting to get an email from the company that appears to have sent it.
  • The entire text of the email is contained within an image rather than the usual text format.
  • The image contains an embedded hyperlink which if clicked would divert to a bogus site.

What should you do if you have received a scam email?

  • Exercise caution when dealing with any unsolicited emails.
  • Check the sender’s email domain by hovering your mouse over the sender’s name.
  • Do not click on any links in the scam email.
  • Do not reply to the email or contact the senders in any way.
  • Do not open any attachments or download content or images if you are prompted to do so.
  • Permanently delete the email.
  • Report any concerns to IT security and/or your Local Counter Fraud Specialist team.

For more information please see IT scams information sheet.

Special offers and discounts for colleagues

 

Colleagues have been inundated with kind offers of support from a wide range of companies – from discounted taxi rides, to dedicated supermarket shopping times, to free food and discounted products.

NHS England and NHS Improvement is working to verify these offers and bring them into a single place, so that Trust colleagues can take advantage of them. The link below includes all of the offers that they have been able to confirm so far across supermarkets, food, transport and other miscellaneous items.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/nhs-staff-offers/

Note: Queries about offers should be directed to the individual company making the offer. We are not responsible for the offers listed on this page or content on third party websites including when offers expire and change.

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

Star of the Week – Anita Kaur

 

Our Star of the Week this week goes to Anita Kaur, Nursing Associate.

Anita is a band 4 nursing associate who worked in diabetes prior to COVID-19. She was redeployed during the pandemic to support the community teams to prevent hospital admissions due to diabetes complications.

During her redeployment she has demonstrated all the Trust promises and has always put her patients first. She is always receiving positive feedback from her colleagues in the community as well as patients and their families.

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the BAME community and with such a high prevalence of diabetes in the BAME community, it is vital that Anita’s work is recognised especially because Anita has poured her heart and soul in to her work whilst at risk herself due to her ethnic background.

Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and beyond the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the Week by clicking here.

Chaplaincy services support continues to be available to colleagues

 

Your chaplaincy team wants to make themselves available to you throughout July and beyond. Some of  you have experienced things you never thought you would have to during the pandemic. You may have had to support, patients, families, and colleagues more than you normally would. Them team don’t want to erase all you have been through however they want to offer support to you. With this in mind, the team are offering informal sessions where you can join them for a cuppa and cake.

Chaplains will be available for a cuppa and cake on:

  • Thursday 23 July, 1pm – 3pm, Sandwell Chapel
  • Friday 24 July, 1pm – 3pm, City Chapel
  • Thursday 30 July, 1pm – 3pm, Sandwell Chapel 
  • Friday 31 July, 1pm – 3pm, City Chapel

Note: Social distancing rules will be in place for all of the above occasions. 

For more information the team can be reached at City on ext. 4055/bleep 5015 and at Sandwell on ext. 3552/bleep 5182.

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