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Monthly archives: October 2020

Financial wellbeing support for colleagues

 

We aim to support our colleagues with their financial wellbeing wherever possible.

We have a variety of offers that you are able to engage with personally, or signpost colleagues to who may need this support. These include a free phone telephone support line, a Whatsapp support service and a web based chat support service.

Please see Financial Wellbeing Support for All Our NHS People information sheet for further details.

For more information regarding staff benefits at the Trust, please contact amir.ali1@nhs.net.

Knowing me, knowing flu – get your goody bag today

 

Chiquitita you and I know getting the flu vaccine early on is the smart thing to do. To those of you who have been early adopters of the flu vaccine this year, you may have been given a voucher by your Flu-Per Trooper. If so, you can now redeem it for a goody bag filled with treats.

Colleagues can exchange their voucher for a goody bag on Thursday 29 October (between 2pm – 4pm) and Friday 30 October at Sandwell Hospital. Visit Corridor A of Trinity House, call ext. 4855 and one of the team will be happy to assist you.

News of how to collect a goody bag if you are based at City Hospital will be advertised in the bulletin next week.

Note: There are only a limited number of goody bags available on a first come, first serve basis for those of you been given a voucher by your Flu-Per Trooper

Hasta Mañana

TeamTalk today

 

TeamTalk is our monthly Trust-wide team briefing. The next session will take place today (Wednesday 28 October) at 1pm.

Please ensure you are able to access a computer with speakers or headphones to enable you to participate.

Details on how to login are as follows:

If you have any questions about how you join the briefing please email swbh.comms@nhs.net.

Heartbeat: Eye theatre goes under the sea

 

Great care isn’t simply defined by having a team of experts at hand, the environment in which care is delivered has a surprisingly significant impact on patient experience and satisfaction, none more so than when children are involved.

Whilst all of our spaces are clean and tidy, there are always things we can do to make them that much better. Whilst form and function take centre stage, it’s easy to forget that some of the patients using our facilities will be young, scared and in desperate need of some engaging, enlightening and altogether eye-catching surroundings, simply to take their mind off of why they’re at the hospital.

Recently following a paediatric service review at the Birmingham and Midlands Eye Centre (BMEC), one of the recommendations made highlighted the need to make BMEC eye theatres more welcoming for young patients in particular. With this request, the BMEC team sprang into action calling on support from Your Trust Charity.

Jim Morrissey, Acting Theatre Manager alongside his team took on the challenge of transforming the space.

He said: “Though fully functional, many parts of BMEC were looking a little plain and generic and needed a little spruce up. We were keen to bring in elements of distraction therapy to put some of our young patients at ease.

“It’s a difficult and sometimes distressing time for children to come into hospital for an operation, and whilst we would love to put them at ease by explaining how good we are at our job, it probably wouldn’t have much effect. However, we know that distraction therapy is proven to be beneficial, taking their mind off why they’re here and getting them cool, calm and collected, ready for our team to make them better.”

Answering the call for help from Your Trust Charity was Amanda Winwood, Fundraising Manager. She said: “The team at BMEC were fantastic in taking on the challenge of redecorating their space. It didn’t take long for us to develop an underwater theme to immerse our young patients in as they make their journey from the waiting room into theatres. On the way to the theatre, they also have hot air balloons, clouds and planes to take them on their journey.

“All it took to transform the space was a bright idea from the BMEC theatres team, a lick of paint and a few favours called in from our colleagues in the estates team, and in no time at all, the new space was ready!”

She added: “With traces of the NHS blue that we’ve all come to recognise and love, it’s all now part of our underwater landscape that surrounds BMEC theatres, putting a smile on everyone’s faces and boosting their spirits.”

Jim was thankful for everyone’s efforts and said: “On behalf of everyone at BMEC, I would like to say a massive thank you to Your Trust Charity and everyone who has offered a helping hand in bringing our new space to life, redecorating and ultimately enhancing the experience of everyone using our services whether that be patients, their families or colleagues.”

Compliments – local reporting

 

The complaints team have developed a portal available to colleagues to input their local compliments received at ward level, to provide a more rounded and fuller picture of feedback for each ward.

The portal is available when logging into incident reporting from Connect. Click the orange complaints & compliments box and then look for compliments (orange box) on the left hand side.

Colleagues need to only specify via drop down boxes:

  1. What ward they are from
  2. What form the compliment takes (i.e. card, or box of chocolates etc)
  3. Who it came from such as ‘from a patient’

Note: A report has been developed and is available via safeguard reports to enable local staff to review activity in their area. This will also include any compliments logged corporately.

For further details please see the video below:

If you are unable to access the form or would like more information, please contact caroline.burgin@nhs.net.

Unity tip of the week: When performing outpatients clinic click on ‘Seen by’ in Scheduling using your role before seeing the patient

 

This week’s tip of the week has been suggested by Catherine McGrath, Rheumatology Consultant:

When performing outpatients clinic click on ‘Seen by’ in Scheduling using your role before seeing the patient and then “Finished” after the consultation to communicate to other healthcare professionals doing the clinic that you are seeing/have finished seeing the patient.

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.

Bed maintenance at Sandwell starting 2 November

 

To ensure as many beds as possible are checked before the end of this year, Drive Devilbiss are sending a team of engineers to our sites to as part of the annual bed maintenance programme.

They will start at Sandwell site on Monday 2 November. Please allow them access wherever possible.

Note: Once they have finished at Sandwell they will move on to City and Rowley sites. 

If you experience any issues or for more information please email diane.alford@nhs.net.

Heartbeat: Wave goodbye to… Dr Bill Thomson

 

After a 49 year career within the NHS, of which 36 years have been spent as our Head of Physics and Nuclear Medicine we say goodbye to Dr Bill Thomson.

Taking time out of his busy schedule to speak to Heartbeat, Bill told us how his career began. “I graduated from Edinburgh University (also my home city) with a first class honours degree in Physics in 1971. Having enjoyed a summer job in medical physics, I decided to go to the University Hospital of Wales, which at the time was a brand new hospital about to open to patients.

“I was able to pursue a PhD using a new whole-body counter system, very accurately measuring radioactivity in patients. With a large haematology research department, I developed gamma spectra computer analysis techniques that led to routine and research studies of iron kinetics, blood loss, iron absorption, vitamin B12 absorption and total body potassium and electrolyte studies. I also developed a new technique for red cell volume measurement. Renal analysis was another area where I developed a new technique and presented on at conferences recently.”

In 1984, Bill joined our organisation and took on the head of department position. Together with Dr Harding, the consultant at the time, they carried out many investigations around radiation protection in nuclear medicine, an underdeveloped area. Some of this work was used in the 2002 national guidance notes and his interest in this work continues. He has provided updated regulations for the new guidance document due in 2021, and lectures on the national Endocrinologist ARSAC training course. His radiation protection interest continues, and he has developed a new model for dose estimation from radioactive contamination, and given invited presentations at three national conferences this year.

Perhaps one of Bill’s defining career moments has been his work on the krypton generator service which was just developing in 1984. “Over the years this has grown into the unique national service that it now is. It supplies the country with krypton gas generators, generators for lung ventilation imaging; a vital part of the V/Q study for pulmonary embolus (PE) diagnosis. Along with ensuring the continued development of the service, Bill has developed dosimetry models, and also other techniques for using krypton gas effectively.”

His interest in radioisotope measurements also led him to develop a filter system for the accurate measurement of I123 and In111. He had to overcome strong resistance from the National Physical Laboratory. But they now endorse its use and he helped write their guidance document on isotope calibrators. A company now markets these filters, calling them the Thomson copper filter.

Bill has a long history of professional involvement. He was on the Council of the Hospital Physicists Association in the late 1970s. He also represented them on the national Whitley Councils in the 80s, chairing the group for scientists. He was chair of the regional committee for physicist training in the late 1980s and was a national assessor through the 90s. Bill was a member of the national ARSAC committee for ten years from 2002, the national government body that regulates the administration of radiopharmaceuticals and certification of consultants. Bill was also an honorary senior lecturer at Birmingham University for 12 years from 2001 and ran the nuclear medicine syllabus of their Medical Physics MSc.

Bill told us how proud he is to have been a part of so many organisations over the years. “Professional involvement in all these groups has been such an honour for me. I’ve had the chance to pursue my passion and support individuals and groups along the way. One thing I look back on fondly is being awarded the Normal Veall medal from the British Nuclear Medicine Society in 2014 for an outstanding contribution to the science of nuclear medicine.”

Bill is pleased to have been part of such an active department. He has shared over 500 papers, presentations and posters at conferences and, it is something the team will continue to do after his retirement. Asked what he’ll be getting up to, he said he’d be looking into further developments of computer programmes, and playing classical guitar. He was hoping to spend more time with his grandchildren, but plans have been put on hold for now due to COVID-19.

“I have many interests. I was until COVID-19 hit, indoor climbing and playing racquetball every week. Despite a serious climbing fall in the Swiss Alps 10 years ago, I still love mountaineering and climbing, particularly in Europe and the UK, and I have a strong interest in photography. I have been up five 5000m unclimbed peaks in the Tien Shan range (Kyrgyzstan). I also love skiing and ski mountaineering but have moved over to hut-to-hut ski touring in Arctic Sweden and Norway, in the last few years going solo. In March this year, I had to dig a snow hole to survive the night as I was hit with a sudden big storm, with the temperature at -10C in a remote area between huts.”

From all of us at the Trust – thank you, Bill, and here’s to a very happy retirement.

Are you asking your patients their ‘ethnic category’ when they use our services?

 

There is a national requirement to increase the percentage of ethnic codes recorded on our Trust systems against our patients. Colleagues are reminded of the importance of asking patients their ethnic category when they attend the Trust as an inpatient, outpatient, direct admission or if they attend ED.

The ethnic category is contained within the patient details page within IPM, the tab is labelled as “sensitive” but this is where the ethnic category should be recorded.

Please see below image for details.

Who are our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians?

 

We have a variety of Speak Up Guardians across the organisations – their details can be found below:

  • Rosie Auld – Rosie is Head Orthoptist in Surgery though she works across all the Trusts’ sites. Email: rosieauld@nhs.net
  • Ian Galligan – Ian is a Technical Supervisor in Medical Engineering. Email: galligan1@nhs.net
  • Rachel Clarke – Rachel is Deputy Directorate General Manager for Primary Care, Community and Therapies. Email: clarke10@nhs.net
  • Sandra Kennelly – Sandra works in the community as a Clinical Team Leader/ Occupational Therapist with Primary Care, Community and Therapies. Email: kennelly@nhs.net
  • Harpal Tiwana – Harpal works in Primary Care, Community and Therapies as an Assistant Service Manager Email: tiwana@nhs.net
  • Sue Whalen – Sue is a Consultant in Sexual Health in the Primary Care. Community and Therapies Group. Email: whalen@nhs.net

I’m a doctor, how can I best raise a concern?

Any of the routes to raise a concern are open to medical colleagues. In addition, Christine Wright and Dr Vaishnavi Kumar have a role to support doctors in raising concerns. Christine is a Haematology Consultant and is the Guardian of Safe Working for the Trust. Vaishnavi is our Chief Registrar. They can be contacted by email at christinewright1@nhs.net and vaishnavikumar@nhs.net.

Please see FTSU September 2020 Guardians leaflet for more information.

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