Monthly archives: November 2020

Star Awards 2020 Award for Equality and Diversity Champion – Alison Byrne

Huge congratulations to Alison Byrne, specialist midwife in winning this year’s Award for Equality and Diversity Champion!  

Alison provides holistic care, support and advice for women who have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She has worked in the NHS for 33 years and this year she will have worked 27 years as a midwife, 18 of those as a specialist running the services.

Star Awards 2020 Fundraiser of the Year – Nick Makwana

Well done to Nick Makwana, consultant paediatrician and group director of women and child health on this year’s Fundraiser of the Year!

Dr Nick Makwana has been with our Trust for 13 years. Reflecting on the last 12 months he said one of his greatest achievements as completing a 12 hour dance-a-thon and raising £7,500 for charity.

Star Awards 2020 Excellence in Education Prize – Clair Millard

Huge congratulations to Clair Millard, specialist bowel screening practitioner on winning this year’s Excellence in Education Prize!

Clair passed away suddenly in September this year at the age of 36. She was the heart and soul of the bowel screening service, dedicating herself to her role which she had carried out for eight years.

Star Awards 2020 Prize for Innovation – Junior doctors’ wellbeing hub/sanctuary

Well done to the Junior doctors’ wellbeing hub/sanctuary on winning this year’s Prize for Innovation!

An enthusiastic and creative team has emerged this year to spearhead wellbeing initiatives. While the remit of this particular team has been junior doctors, they have sought to expand the initiatives to reach all staff groups where possible. The aim has always been to enhance and promote a culture of compassion and connectedness within the Trust – where ordinary human needs are recognised and staff are empowered to deliver excellent care from the starting point of knowing that they themselves are cared for.

Star Awards 2020 Volunteer of the Year – Kamal Deep

Huge congratulations to Kamal Deep on winning this year’s Volunteer of the Year!

Kamal has been a volunteer at our Trust for three years. She first thought about volunteering when her mother was admitted with a fractured knee and knew then; she wanted to give back.

Star Awards 2020 New Leader – Maria Atkinson and Amirah Sheikh

Well done to both Maria Atkinson, clinical director paediatrics and Amirah Sheikh, service manager, community medicine/NHS graduate management trainee on winning this year’s New Leader award!

Maria joined the Trust in 2010 as a paediatric consultant and has worked in various management roles including college tutor, risk lead and child death lead.

Amirah has been on placement in our organisation for over a year establishing a c-card scheme and domiciliary care service, setting up community clinics across five sites, designing a STI photo-screening service and building relationships with community based partners.

Star Awards 2020 Digital Leader of the Year – Joanne Bryer

Huge congratulations to Joanne Bryer, digital midwife in maternity on wining this year’s Digital Leader of the Year award! 

Joanne has been with the Trust for 22 years. She qualified in 2001 and worked as a community midwife before taking up her current role in 2013 for the implementation of BadgerNet.

Star Awards 2020 – watch live at 12.30pm

Slightly later than planned, you can watch our awards ceremony this afernoon via YouTube from 12:30 today by clicking here! Join us online at 12:30 this afternoon and enjoy the show! Send your comments on Twitter using #SWBHawards20. You can also see us on Instagram and Facebook search for @SWBHnhs.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Thursday 26 November

Many colleagues will have noted that both Birmingham and Sandwell have been placed under Tier 3 restrictions, which will take effect once the second lockdown ends on Wednesday 2 December. This means the communities we serve will be living under the highest level of restrictions. Those restrictions are due to be reviewed on a regular basis. Thanks to Birmingham City Council for allowing us to share their easy to understand infographic, to show at a glance what you can and cannot do. You can view an enlarged version of the infographic in detail by clicking the image of it below:

If you have an idea to share about how to improve the bulletin, please let us know by emailing swbh.comms@nhs.net. All the latest information about our COVID response is published on Connect here. Please take the time to keep yourself updated and safe.

Numbers not statistics: This week (Last week)

1. Updated message: Enhanced bank rates

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that we have published our enhanced bank rates over the past two weeks and wanted to share the update on AHP bank rates that have also been reviewed. We can confirm that the uplifted rate from April 2020 (an additional £2 per hour) will remain in place for all AHP bank shifts and, in line with the other bank rate enhancements, is in place up to 8 January 2021. The bank rates will be reviewed again prior to that date. Thank you to everyone who continues to support the Trust by joining our Trust Bank. There is now a fast track process in place for colleagues who are not currently registered with the bank for you to register should you wish to do so. To join the Trust Bank please call the Bank on 0121 507 3600 or e-mail swb-tr.trustbankrequest@nhs.net for a pack.

2. New message: Following ‘an apple a day’…Exercise is Medicine!

We’ve all felt the burden of restrictions adopted during the COVID19 pandemic which has increasingly impacted our patients, loved ones and our own physical and mental health. Although most people are aware of the benefit of maintaining regular physical activity and exercise in their routine as an effective strategy to minimise the long-term impact of the pandemic on our health, sometimes it is hard to get motivated. So we thought this great infographic, shared by our colleagues in physiotherapy, would help you choose where and how to start or even progress your activity. You can view an enlarged version of the infographic in detail by clicking the image of it below:

There are tips designed to help you shift out of a less active routine and into regular physical activity. We hope it will be useful either for your own motivation or to help encouraging others. If you find it of benefit, please share your stories with us at swbh.comms@nhs.net.

3. Updated message: Purple bags = rapid labs

Colleagues are reminded to use purple sample bags for urgent COVID tests, as they will be processed as a priority. It is the responsibility of wards to ensure that they have adequate stock of COVID-19 swabs and purple bags for the weekends and out of hours. If you need these bags out of hours they can be collected from D18 at City Hospital and the Bryan Knight Suite at Sandwell. The labs are open until 10pm Monday to Friday meaning if you submit samples up to 8pm they will be processed the same day, however they are only open to 5pm at the week-end and there is no overnight service so rapid swabs are not processed overnight but will be done the following working day.

If you have an urgent sample:

• Place the correctly labelled specimen into a clear specimen bag and sealed fully
• Repeat this process, using the second larger clear zip locked specimen bag
• Add this doubled bag specimen to a purple urgent COVID-19 sample bag
• The purple urgent bag can now also be posted into the COVID-19 drop off box

Further information on processing samples can be found on Connect by clicking here.

Add on testing for biochemistry now resolved

Further to yesterday’s communication regarding the problem with the add on requesting in Unity system for biochemistry, this is now completely resolved. Please revert back to the usual way of requesting add-ons.