Monthly archives: November 2020

Bed maintenance now starting at City

As part of our annual bed maintenance programme we currently have a team of engineers from Drive Devilbiss on site at City Hospital.

Due to the current demand on our services it is essential that we have as many of our beds in a fully serviceable condition as possible.

When the engineers visit your ward, please ensure they are able to access and check as many beds as possible.

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

NHS mail issues and workarounds

There are currently a number of known issues resulting from the NHS Digital email migration which are being reported Trust wide.  Whilst NHS Digital are working on providing a permanent solution we list some workarounds which may help in the interim.

Outlook web access: Limited functionality when using Internet Explorer to access http://portal.nhs.net. Users may experience the service crashing or error stating there is a problem. A workaround for this is to access NHS Mail via Google Chrome Internet Browser

Accessing shared calendars and mailboxes: If you are experiencing issues with access to these areas please try and access via http://portal.nhs.net in the interim.

In addition we are receiving an increase in the number of phishing and spam related incidents we would also like to signpost users to report phishing and spam emails are directly to spamreports@nhs.net.

For more information please visit https://support.nhs.net/knowledge-base/reporting-cyber-threats/.

NHS Supply: Sterile latex gloves and disposable razors

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic there are currently supply issues with all brands of sterile nitrile gloves. The gloves being offered as an alternative are latex and not nitrile.  Therefore please be aware of this if you see gloves you don’t usually have or that are in different packaging they may contain latex. The procurement team will be providing caution notices to go into storerooms advising colleagues.

Disposable razors – MRA170:

Following a clinical incident the Trust has made the decision to remove all disposable razors (MRA170 – plane talking brand in packs of 25) whilst an investigation takes place.  Please order MRA033 as an alternative and remove all stock of MRA170. Materially managed wards and departments will automatically receive the alternative razor and the procurement team will remove and collect stocks of MRA170.

If you have any queries concerning any of the above issues please contact Lisa Southall on ext. 4938.

Heartbeat: Tiniest patients and parents reunited through VCreate

A brand new video messaging service has been reconnecting worried parents with the little bundles of joy being cared for in our neonatal unit at City Hospital.

When the happiest moment of your life suddenly takes an unexpected turn and your newborn needs urgent and intensive care you would be in no better hands than those of the team within the neonatal department at City Hospital. And as much as you would want to spend every waking moment next to your child, there are going to be occasions when you have to step away, look after siblings or simply get some rest. It’s these moments where parents often feel they miss key moments, and it’s an area where VCreate is making its mark.

VCreate is a secure online video messaging platform designed to reconnect parents and their babies who are being cared for in hospital. When parents are away, and the babies are in the care of colleagues in the neonatal unit, they can capture, create and securely share short videos with parents, ensuring they don’t miss a moment.

Neonatal Discharge Planning Sister, Nicole Miles was a key driving force in the introduction of the new platform in the Trust. Sharing her thoughts she said: “VCreate finally gives us a safe way to document and share those crucial little moments in a baby’s early life. One of the most important things we try to facilitate is for parents and their newborns to interact and have their time together and this platform helps us do that even when the parents aren’t here.

“Often parents have other children they have to look after and need time to rest themselves. And when they’re not here, we can continue looking after their babies, filming, photographing and sharing their precious moments with them.

“Most parents expect the pregnancy to last for 40 weeks and to walk away from the hospital with a baby in their arms. When it doesn’t go to plan, it can be a scary and traumatic time. This technology goes a long way to helping calm their nerves, with the steady stream of pictures and videos providing them with much needed emotional support and reassurance.

“The platform has been especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic where we have had to be extra cautious, whilst parents have been able to visit, unfortunately, siblings and grandparents have not. VCreate has given us the means to give parents a lifeline into the hospital to see how their baby is at any time and share their development with their family.”

COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 6 November

To keep up to date with the pace of change we will be sharing a bulletin on a daily basis. There’s a lot of change taking place at the moment so please make sure you catch up with the latest bulletins throughout the week, as even if some points seem familiar you may very well find the details have been updated a great deal.

As we enter our first weekend of second lockdown restrictions, we must ensure we look after ourselves and others within our community. Make sure you keep in touch with those you love and your neighbours. People may well be feeling anxious, lonely and scared at this time. Thank you for looking out for one another.

Summary of key points

• Updated guidance on shielding 
• Admissions Infection Prevention Control Pathways 
• New face mask posters 
• Don’t delay, get FIT tested today! Note change of Sandwell clinics
• Main spine engineering works at City site this weekend

1. Updated guidance on shielding

We have updated our process on what to do in the event of receiving a shielding letter. Please see the flowchart here detailing the options for employees identified as being Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) and in receipt of a Formal Shielding Notification Letter from your GP, specialist clinician or Department of Health and Social Care.

2. Admissions Infection Prevention Control Pathways 

We have updated the infection prevention and control pathways for both planned and unplanned admissions. The pathway for unplanned states that all acute admission patients must be swabbed in ED even if they are readmissions. If the patient is re-admitted within 28 days use the last swab result on the system along with clinical presentation to decide the stream for the patient, pending the new swab result.

All patients admitted for elective treatment and on a green low risk ward should be re-swabbed every 5 days.

3. New face mask posters 

Colleagues may have noticed new posters going up across the Trust to remind people that face masks are compulsory in both clinical and non-clinical shared areas. If you need copies of the poster for your area please email swb-tr.SWBH-GM-MIorders@nhs.net

4. Don’t delay, get FIT tested today! 

Do you wear the Alpha Solway, or 3M 1863 mask?

If so, due to a change in our stock, it is important you act NOW to get fit tested for a replacement. It is critical that colleagues stay up to date with the availability of masks that they have been fit tested for, so if you wear the Alpha Solway, or 3M 1863 mask please ensure you book into a face mask fit testing clinic as soon as possible. If you need a fit test, for a silicone or disposable FFP3 mask in stock (3m 1863+ or 9330+ mask), these are your options:

• Non-urgent – please call ext.5050. There is currently a wait time of approximately one week, you will be asked when your next shift is and your appointment will be offered to you on that basis. Please ensure you book in good time, and please attend your appointment – we have too many DNAs!
• If you need urgent on the day testing, contact the IPC team on 5195 and they will facilitate the earliest possible test for you or your staff member.
• There are two machines in the bungalow behind City ED. If you have a fit tester in your team, you can book out the machines via the IPC team on 5195 to fit test your teams.
• Fit testing will be changing at Sandwell effective at 11am on Monday, 9 November. You will now be seen in the Hallam Restaurant in the room to the right as you enter the building. If, however, you have an appointment on Monday from 8am – 10.30am, please report to the physiotherapy department as planned.

Please help us to ensure that a lack of planning does not become someone else’s emergency, by planning ahead as much as possible and ensuring you attend all booked appointments. If you cannot attend the appointment you have been given for your fit testing, please ensure you cancel your appointment in good time.

 5. Main spine engineering works at City site this weekend 

Colleagues are advised that works to replace the dryer on the Surgical / Medical Air plant serving the Main Acute Spine will take place this Saturday, 7 November. The plant provides medical air for Critical Care, Windmill Theatres (and SA7) and all wards located along the main spine corridor. The work will involve isolation of the plant for approximately 6 hours, from 8.00am, during which time medical air for the main spine will be provided by the Maternity medical air plant, with no interruption of supply planned. Critical Care and D16 medical air supply also have a dedicated Medical Air Emergency Service Manifold (ESM) with 120,000litres capacity which will automatically cut in in the unlikely event of failure of supply.

For more information please call the estates helpdesk on 0121 507 4444 or contact Stephen Kingscott, Estates Operational Manager (Mechanical Services) on 07870 504414.

Star of the Week – Kathryn Laise

Our Star of the Week this week is Kathryn Laise, Ward Clerk on our neonatal unit.

Kathryn is a key member of our the neonatal unit who is always willing to help and always has a solution to any problem.

During the implementation of vCreate, Kathryn has enrolled numerous parents and supported the unit massively. She always has a smiling face to meet parents and visitors.

She is an invaluable asset to the nursing and medical team on the neonatal unit.

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.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 6 November

As you can see from the data we publish weekly in our covid bulletin, the number of patients with Covid-19 being admitted to our hospitals continues to rise rapidly and the infection rate in both Sandwell and Birmingham are reaching very high levels. On Wednesday the NHS as a whole moved to a level 4 incident level – the highest level – indicating the seriousness of this second surge on the NHS right across the country. The new national lockdown is now being enforced, once again putting restrictions on our daily lives. It is really important that this lockdown has an impact on reducing transmission of this virus, so that we can slow the rise of patients who need hospital admission. Nevertheless, we would not expect to see a slowing down for the next two to three weeks.

These are indeed tough times and I want to thank you all for your commitment to our patients, and for the way you are putting your patients first, coming into work, supporting your colleagues and continuing to provide the care that is so greatly needed. Everyone in this Trust is part of our Operation Mary Seacole response. Those of you not on the frontline still make an essential contribution. Thank you to those of you who are shielding too and staying at home. Your contribution is no less valuable and I hope you are feeling supported and are able to continue with some work at home.

Just as we expect the public to comply with the lockdown restrictions, we must make sure that we, who set an example to our wider population, also comply and follow the national and our own infection prevention and control guidelines.

Our mask policy has changed. It is now mandatory to wear a mask in ALL Trust buildings, not just in clinical areas. The only exception is occasions where you may work in a room or office alone.  Social distancing at work and frequent handwashing is also essential. We need to limit transmission at work as much as at home, keeping ourselves, our colleagues and our patients safe.

Yesterday we held our Trust Board meeting in public. The daughter of one of our patients joined us to share her story about the care of her father who died at home following a stay at Sandwell Hospital. Her experiences were particularly difficult to hear and we are looking into what went wrong with her father’s care. But one of the elements of her story, that I know we must address, is communication with relatives who are unable to visit their loved ones. We have regrettably had to maintain our visiting restrictions, which I believe is the right thing to do, due to the rising cases in Sandwell and Birmingham. However, you will of course know that these restrictions have a significant detrimental impact on patients and relatives. Yesterday’s story brought home how difficult it can be to get information about patients’ conditions while they are in hospital. I want to encourage every ward to give serious thought to whether your communication channels with relatives are robust enough to reduce anxiety and share vital information on their loved ones care, treatment and wellbeing. And also, the channels of communication between patients and their loved ones – we have ipads and mobiles phones in place on our wards so if you don’t know where they are, how to use them or whether they work, get in touch with our IT service desk on 4050. We must find ways to get this better for our patients and families. Some of you I know are doing this brilliantly. Critical Care have a clear process in place so relatives know what to expect. Neonates too have a good digital solution available. Is there more you could do? Or could you share how well you are doing this so others could learn? Get in touch with me to let me know your ideas.

We also heard from Rachel Barlow, Director of System Transformation, about the acute care model for Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. It is great that the building project is to date only reporting a three week delay in progress that it hopes to make up over the coming months. Getting the build back on track, during this pandemic, with safety measure to protect the contractors is a great achievement. We were visited this week by Birmingham MP Liam Byrne who expressed his support for the new hospital and the regeneration work that the Trust is leading with partners for the surrounding areas.

Rachel shared with Board members the results of recent engagement with our clinical teams that has contributed to the development of our acute care models for adults and children. This model requires significant transformation in clinical pathways, services and teams that must not be underestimated. Midland Met is not a relocation programme – it is a large scale transformation, significantly affecting the majority of our patient services. We are in a good place. We have done large scale transformation before and I have no doubt we will succeed once more. The transformation journey ahead has been mapped out and we are aiming to achieve 70% of the changes in the acute care model before we move in. Further engagement workshops are being scheduled and we know that service leaders are thinking through how they best use their team times to progress the changes they want to see.

We spent October marking a number of important topics including the different routes to speaking up and I want to thank everyone who has taken the opportunity of Speak Up Month to raise a concern. Every concern is taken seriously and will be addressed. If you feel you haven’t had feedback on your concerns please escalate it. Huge thanks to our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who have taken on this vital role on top of their substantive, already busy roles. The support they provide for individuals in raising concerns is greatly valued. If you want to find out more about our Guardians and how to contact them please see our Connect speak up page. We are now recruiting more people to be Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. For more information on the role and how to apply visit Connect.

Congratulations to Star of the Week Kathryn Laise, Ward Clerk on our Neonatal Unit at City Hospital. Kath was nominated for being a vital part of the team, always being willing to help and finding solutions to any problems. She has supported parents with using vCreate, the system to enable mums and dads to view their newborns even when they are not present on the unit. The team want to ensure Kath is thanked and recognised for her fantastic contribution.

Stay safe this weekend and remember our health and wellbeing offer (including taking part in Dr Makwana’s November dance – see photo above!). It is ok to ask for help or just to access support even if you feel fine. With kindness and support for one another we will be able to get through this next stage of the pandemic.

David Carruthers, Acting Chief Executive

Road works commencing on 16 November which may affect travel to City Hospital

For at least 14 days from Monday 16 November, there will be carriageway resurfacing on Winson Green Road from Lodge Road to Heath Street.

Note: These roads will be fully closed between the hours of 7.30pm – 6am during this 14 day period.

Though diversions will be place during the works, we advise colleagues to plan in advance and allow extra time when travelling to and from City Hospital during this 14 day period.

Please see Road works near City information sheet for further details.

For more information please email dave.horner@kier.co.uk.

Are you interested in our mentorship study?

Are you a qualified mentor/ sign off mentor with at least 12 months experience? Have you read the New Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) new Practice and Proficiency standards?

If so, we are looking for participants to take part in this study!

Why take part?

To explore your experiences of mentorship and how existing mentors and sign off mentors interpret the new standards for practice and proficiency.

What will I need to do? 

Take part in an interview about your experiences of mentoring students in clinical practice and how the new guidance impacts on the mentorship you provide.

If you are interested in taking part or want to find out more please email Laura.Hodgetts@bcu.ac.uk.

Colleagues who park at New Square – please remember the multi-storey closes at 10pm

We must remind all colleagues who park in the multi-storey cark park at New Square that it closes at 10pm.

Note: Should you ever be in a situation where the gate to the multi-storey car has been locked or you need to get in touch with the New Square security team, you can call them directly on 0121 647 7045.

New Square security staff do patrol in and around the area of the car park and CCTV is in operation however please be sure to have a read of the safety tips for travelling to and from work in the dark.