Monthly archives: December 2020

Message from David Carruthers, Acting Chief Executive – Appointment of Frieza Mahmood as Chief People Officer

I am delighted to be able to announce that we have appointed Frieza Mahmood to the executive director position of Chief People Officer, succeeding  Raffaela Goodby who had left earlier in the year for a post at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals.

Many of you will know Frieza already as deputy director of people and organisational development, a post she has successfully held and delivered on for the last 20 months at our Trust, and we were delighted to be able to offer her the formal director role after competitive interviews last week.

As you can imagine, the breadth of the role is wide with a major focus on development and implementation of a people strategy for sustainable and transformational services in the Trust, developing an inclusive and open culture, ensuring organisation wide change supporting our objectives and strategic goals in attraction, retention and engagement. With the MMUH development progressing well, these aims become all the more important and exciting and I hope that you will join with me in congratulating Frieza on her well-deserved appointment and commit to working with her in delivery of the key objectives of the role.

Frieza will take up the position formally in the new year at a date to be determined shortly.

Star of the Week – James Chapman

Our Star of the Week this week is James Chapman, porter.

James was nominated for his work being “chief swab collector” at Sandwell Hospital. He always has a smile on his face, greeting everyone he meets and being really friendly. In such a difficult time when people are stressed and generally down, he is guaranteed to make you feel better if you pass him in the corridor.

James in an important member of portering and plays a vital role in boosting the morale within his team.

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.

Access to counselling service during the festive period

Should colleagues both clinical and non-clinical require access to a counselling service during the festive period over Christmas please text KPG to 85258.

This service is affiliated to the national SHOUT text line which was set up by Prince William and lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Neurology in-patient referrals – use the new referral form

For any neurology in-patient referrals please use the new in-patient neurology referral form on connect.

We have been successfully using this since the start of the pandemic.

Note: Please make sure you are clear on what the clinical question is that you’re asking, as ‘neurology review’ is not a question.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 18 December

Urgent appeal – Have you taken Sundstrom filters from City Hospital by mistake?

Does your filter look like this?

If so, DO NOT use it in your Sundstrom mask.

Infection control colleagues have discovered that some Sundstrom filters have been taken from the City Hospital fit testing hub. These filters are not P3 filters but are vapour/gas filters for the Sundstrom masks and will offer no protection when dealing with COVID-19 positive patients especially AGPs.

If you have the Sundstrom filters pictured above you must not use them as you are putting yourself at risk.

If your filter looks like the one above please contact infection control who will be able to provide you with the correct filter. You can contact the team on 07970023316.

Please share this message with your colleagues.

1. New message: COVID-19 vaccine extended to colleagues working in high risk areas

Colleagues working in areas with high risk exposure are now being given an opportunity to have the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

Staff working in ICU, neonatal ICU and respiratory/NIV hub have now been contacted to book for a vaccine. It is anticipated that from next week colleagues working in our emergency departments will also be offered available appointment slots. Those who are eligible can book through the SWB booking team on ext. 4112 where the team will talk you through a series of questions to confirm your eligibility. The booking team are also able to help you access your NHS Number (if you do not know it).

If you believe you are very high or high risk and have not received an invitation to get the vaccine, please contact the team on ext. 4112.

If you have not completed your COVID risk assessment you can still do so via this link http://sw-web04/CovidRiskAssessment/CovidRA.aspx

For more information about the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine please visit our connect page.

2. New message: Patient information labels must be placed inside the COVID-19 sample bags

The pathology team are receiving COVID-19 sample bags with the labels detailing patient information on the outside of the transport bag.

Colleagues are reminded that any labels detailing patient information should be placed inside the sample bags (whether they are blue or purple bags) as they are required for the laboratory colleagues to process the samples correctly.

3. Updated message: Do the right thing and bring back your scrubs

We must remind colleagues to return scrubs that they have stored or stockpiled at home. It is essential that colleagues abide by the rules and think of others by returning their scrubs. If everyone does this we will have enough to go round so that each time a colleague needs scrubs they can have a newly laundered pair.

Currently we do not have sufficient sets of scrubs to meet the increase in demand as many have disappeared, been worn or taken home, contrary to Trust policy.

All used scrubs must be placed in the blue trollies situated on the links and in departmental areas so they can be laundered and put back in to circulation.

Harsher penalties will be introduced should you not return scrubs. You will be challenged if caught in person or on camera arriving in or leaving the hospital in scrubs. There is no special circumstance that allows ANY colleague to disregard this rule.  

No scrubs rules:

• No scrubs should be stockpiled in lockers – they must be laundered regularly on site
• No scrubs should be binned, they should be deposited in to the blue trollies situated on the links and in departmental areas
• No scrubs should be worn outside the hospital or while travelling to and from hospital or taken home for laundering. By doing so you are putting yourself, your family and the public at risk

4. Updated message: Visiting arrangements for inpatients

As you know, our Trust has restricted all visiting unless in exceptional circumstances, or for patients who are at end of life, those who lack mental capacity or children. The Women’s and Child Health Group now have new arrangements in place to allow limited visiting on postnatal wards, a partner to accompany scanning appointments and an additional birthing partner.

Due to the tier 3 restrictions for Birmingham and the Black Country that are a result of high community infections, rate of rise and impact on the NHS, we are retaining a ban on general visiting. Should our local area move to a tier 2 or tier 1 alert level then different visiting arrangements will apply. These arrangements are set out here.

We expect to relax the restrictions on 24 and 25 December to allow visiting, which would be in line with the tier 2 arrangements. We may change this decision depending on the numbers of COVID patients in the hospital, community cases and any hospital outbreaks, however we very much hope that we can allow limited visiting during this period to support our patients and their families. In these circumstances, the appropriate PPE must be worn by the visitor that will be supplied by the Trust. Each ward should only allow a maximum of 30% of the patients to have visitors at any one time, and each bay the same (a maximum of 30% visitors at any one time.) Patients who are nursed in beds in bays must not have visitors whilst their immediate patient neighbour has visitors.

Plans are being worked with the groups and further information will be shared next week.

5. Updated message: Plan ahead as there is limited availability for fit testing over the holiday period

Fit testing is available as normal until 23 December, at Sandwell (Meeting room Hallam Restaurant) and at City (upstairs old Physio OPD).

Fit testing during the holiday period is as follows:

Funding for nurses who are trained overseas

Health Education England are providing funding for nurses who trained overseas but may need English language support.

As part of the application, applicants are asked to identify which of two options they wish to apply for:

Option A – exam funding only: This option is for individuals who already have strong English Language abilities and feel they are ready to sit their English Language Exam without any further education/training.  For these individuals, the Trust will initially be required to pay for their English Language Exam (see below for costs), the cost of which will then be reimbursed to the Trust by Health Education England.  The candidate will also be able to access some online training materials to prepare them for their exam at no extra cost.

Option B – education programme and exam funding: This option is for individuals who feel they will need further study before taking their English Language Exam. For these individuals, the Trust can claim a fixed amount of £400 per person from Health Education England to procure a formal English Language Training Programme from a local provider (the Trust can combine funding for all applicants in the Trust so a Trust-wide programme can be procured if desired). The Trust will also need to pay the English Language Exam fee out of the £400 per person allowance.

Please see attached form below and well as guidance.

IEN Candidate Application Form

UKOTN Project Guidance

Please return completed forms to UKIEN.English.language@hee.nhs.uk no later than 5pm on Friday 31 January.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 18 December

It’s been great to see how well Your Health Partnership, the primary care network that has been part of the Trust since April, have done in delivering the COVID-19 vaccine. I know that they are really pleased and proud to be among the first wave of GP surgeries vaccinating their patients and, despite the complexities of the vaccine, they have managed to book in and vaccinate hundreds of people in the higher risk categories. Well done to everyone involved. It has been a real team effort.

Walsall Manor continues to be the hospital hub for the Black Country and we have this week been able to secure appointments for high and very high risk staff (based on COVID risk assessments) to receive their first doses of this vaccine. In coming days we expect to be able to continue offering this out to more staff, beginning with those who are most exposed to the virus for instance those who frequently carry out aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). When we will become a hospital hub is not yet known but we expect it to be early next year. Thank you for your patience. The vaccine will be available to all health care workers, so when you are contacted and offered a slot please make every effort to book your appointment and attend. If you have any questions about the vaccine you can read the FAQs here and if there are questions that haven’t been addressed please let me know and we will get back to you.

Thank you for your continued commitment to our patients during these difficult times. The tiers for our areas were confirmed yesterday with little change across the country. Sandwell and Birmingham remain in tier 3. Although there has been an overall reduction in community cases, we have seen cases rise over the last few days which is obviously cause for concern. Critical care remains under continued pressure and I am grateful to Nick, Becky and all the team for continuing to care so well for these patients who are very unwell.

Whilst we remain in tier 3, we have decided to allow limited visiting over the Christmas period. The detailed guidance will be in the COVID bulletin. I am sure this is the right thing to do, to enable one visitor, with the right PPE and after been screened, to be with their loved one. But, it clearly creates more risk and we need to make sure that visiting is controlled carefully. This means visitors being allocated slots at different times, adhering to social distancing, only staying for a short amount of time (30 minutes or less) and following our infection prevention and control policies. All of us, who are in when visitors are permitted, have a duty to ensure that those we see are following this guidance. What is really important is that all staff follow it too, or we won’t set the right example and it will be difficult to enforce.

I’ve really enjoyed continuing this week to take part in the star award presentations to the winning teams and individuals. All of the nominees and winners have been incredible and I know my exec colleagues have felt privileged to give out these awards in person, even though we couldn’t hold our usual glittering star awards event. With the vaccination programme underway I feel confident that next year we will be able to hold our awards with an “in person” event but we’ll continue to allow everyone to take part virtually in some way. My thanks to Carl Bellamy for his work in running a digital awards ceremony for our apprentices. There are some wonderful examples here of people who have achieved great things whilst learning on the job. These individuals are a real inspiration to many of us and I’m sure will continue to progress well in their careers.

The Christmas spirit remains alive and well at our Trust, although we are doing things differently. Our community continues to be generous and I wanted to particularly thank Key Construction, who are building the GP surgery at the Sandwell site for their generosity in donating construction toys for the Sandwell nursery children.

More gifts will be out next week for our patients who are in hospital or being visited at home. Being unwell at any time is not good, and can be particularly difficult at this time of year, with the additional restrictions and anxieties due to COVID-19. We hope our Christmas gifts can help bring a smile to those who need it this year.

Our Star of the Week is James Chapman, Porter, who was nominated for his work being “chief swab collector” at Sandwell Hospital. He was nominated for always having a smile on his face, greeting everyone he meets and being really friendly. The doctor who nominated James said that “in such a difficult time when people are stressed and generally down, he is guaranteed to make you feel better if you pass him in the corridor”. Thank you, James, for the important work you are doing and the way you go about it, boosting the morale of our stretched teams.

David Carruthers
Acting Chief Executive

Looking after your wellbeing: A welcome break for colleagues

Many colleagues will be working over the Christmas period caring for our patients. We know it can be a stressful time so it is important that you take a break. The Trust has expanded the Wellbeing Sanctuary onto both City and Sandwell sites, in a bid to offer more colleagues the opportunity to take a break away from wards and clinical areas. These new spaces are open to all colleagues, and provide a place to chill out, relax, unwind and recharge your batteries from 21 – 24 December and 29 – 31 December from 8am to 4pm week days.

The wellbeing rooms are located at:

• Conference Room at Sandwell Education Centre
• The Dining Room at Post Graduate Centre City

Free refreshments including tea and coffee and individually wrapped biscuits and snacks will be provided. Relaxing background music will be playing to help colleagues switch off, enjoy the moment, and get the most from their break. On using the rooms you’ll be expected to adhere to current IPC rules including social distancing, using hand sanitiser and wearing face masks appropriately.

Wellbeing together:

Be sure to check out the winter 2020/21 of wellbeing together newsletter by clicking here.

This edition includes:

• How are you feeling?
• Yoga
• Mental Wellbeing and assessments
• The sanctuary
• Occupational Health
• Thrive app
• Working from home – Improve your sleep
• External services
• Urgent support!
• Trust Counselling Service
• REACT

Look out for window display décor arriving to wards today and next week

Clinical based colleagues should expect a small delivery of Christmas window decals and posters today and early next week.

Supplier have recommended the individual vinyls are dipped in soapy water before applying to the window as this make them adhere a lot quicker and more easily.

Any pictures of completed windows would be appreciated so we can send to the supplier and thank them for providing the decals. All pictures can be sent to amanda.winwood@nhs.net.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Thursday 17 December

Urgent appeal – Have you taken Sundstrom filters from City Hospital by mistake?

Does your filter look like this?

If so, DO NOT use it in your Sundstrom mask.

Infection control colleagues have discovered that some Sundstrom filters have been taken from the City Hospital fit testing hub. These filters are not P3 filters but are vapour/gas filters for the Sundstrom masks and will offer no protection when dealing with COVID-19 positive patients especially AGPs.

If you have the Sundstrom filters pictured above you must not use them as you are putting yourself at risk.

If your filter looks like the one above please contact infection control who will be able to provide you with the correct filter. You can contact the team on 07970023316.

Please share this message with your colleagues.

Numbers not statistics: This week (Last week)

1. Repeat message: COVID-19 swabbing changes in line with national guidance

All acute admissions must be swabbed in ED even if they are readmissions.

 Amber wards – All patients on an Amber ward must be swabbed on the day of admission and again on day 3 and day 6. This change means repeat swabbing every 5 days is no longer required.

Colleagues are advised to have a lower threshold to swab symptomatic patients and also consider patients with mild and atypical symptoms.

Red wards – Patients on Red wards don’t require any further swabbing unless the patient needs to be transferred to an Amber ward for a longer stay in hospital due to rehab (stroke and neuro pathways). This would normally be after 14 days following a positive COVID-19 test, with complete resolution of symptoms. The patient would need two negative swab results 24 hours apart or one negative lower respiratory sample e.g. sputum, to be considered an acceptable risk to stepdown to an Amber ward.

COVID-19 outbreaks – In cases where there is an outbreak in a clinical area, surveillance screening should take place for patients as well as for staff on the advice of the infection control team.

Exposed/contacts of positive patients – Contacts of positive patients will need to be swabbed every 3 days until they have completed 14 days of monitoring.

Nursing discharges – Nursing home/care home residents must be swabbed 48 hours prior to discharge from hospital. The discharge summary must state the swab result.

Please note – If clinical suspicion is high, continue to treat as suspected COVID-19 even with a negative COVID-19 swab result and consider repeat COVID-19 testing. A sputum sample is preferred for repeat testing. If you are unable to obtain sputum send combined throat/nose swab 72 hours after initial negative result.

2. New message: Cosmetic facial hair and FFP3 respirators

If you have been fitted with an FFP3 mask and have then grown a beard afterwards – you will not be getting the protection you need.

Colleagues are encouraged to ensure that hair does not cross the respirator sealing surface. For any style, hair should not cross or interfere with the respirator sealing surface. If the respirator has an exhalation valve, hair within the sealed mask area should not impinge upon or contact the valve.

See the guidance in the graphic below:

3. Updated message: Need a rapid swab? Please use the blue bags – for now

We are almost out of purple bags, so as a temporary measure, colleagues who need urgent COVID tests to be processed are being asked to use the blue bags along with the urgent stickers.

It is the responsibility of wards to ensure that they have adequate stock of COVID-19 swabs and sample 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.

Urgent samples: Please ensure that the ‘Urgent 2 Hour TAT’ sticker is attached to the outer blue transport bag and is hand delivered to pathology reception

4. Repeat message: Remember to go with the (lateral) flow – input your results

Thank you to all of you who have submitted your lateral flow test results onto Connect so far. Lateral flow tests are designed to help to identify any asymptomatic COVID positive cases and helps ensure we are playing our part in keeping patients, fellow NHS workers and our families safe.

Thousands of frontline colleagues have received the self-testing home kits, however only a relatively small percentage of results have been submitted so far. Recording these results could help to save lives, so it’s really important that each time you use the test your results – positive or negative – are submitted.

You can upload your test results here via Connect, but only when you are on the Trust network.

The initial roll out of self-testing home kits for colleagues has now been completed. If you haven’t yet received a kit and work in a patient-facing area, please speak to your service lead and ask if they have included you in the submission that they have made for additional kits required.

Important information for managers distributing kits:

 Please return your completed collected kits proforma to sandwell.adminhub@nhs.net along with the number of additional kits required.

5. Repeat message: Remember to go with the (lateral) flow – input your results

Many staff will be working over the Christmas period caring for our patients. We know it can be a stressful time so it is important that you take a break. The Trust has expanded the Wellbeing Sanctuary onto both City and Sandwell sites, in a bid to offer more colleagues the opportunity to take a break away from wards and clinical areas. These new spaces are open to all colleagues, and provide a place to chill out, relax, unwind and recharge your batteries from 21 – 24 December and 29 – 31 December from 8am to 4pm week days.

The wellbeing rooms are located at:

• Conference Room at Sandwell Education Centre
• The Dining Room at Post Graduate Centre City

Free refreshments including tea and coffee and individually wrapped biscuits and snacks will be provided. Relaxing background music will be playing to help colleagues switch off, enjoy the moment, and get the most from their break. On using the rooms you’ll be expected to adhere to current IPC rules including social distancing, using hand sanitiser and wearing face masks appropriately.