Monthly archives: December 2020

City car park adjacent to pathology closure: 21 December

On Monday 21 December we are closing the City carpark adjacent to the pathology department to get access for a crane to be bought in for essential works to be carried out for the mortuary.

The works should take no longer than one day and as soon as the works are completed the area will again be open as normal.

Plenty of additional City parking is available at the rear of Summerfield House, around Brookfield House, at the rear of the old Laundry building and in the Sunken Gardens car park.

Note: The area will be barriered off during Sunday 20 December in the evening by the estates team meaning there will be no access to this car park on the Sunday night.

For more information about these works please email stephen.coles@nhs.net.

Time to order a little Christmas cheer!

Our medical illustration team have created a little Christmas cheer for colleagues to purchase for their children this year. The specially designed Children’s Christmas boxes are now available from the medical illustration team. Each box is jam packed with festive activities ideal to engage children over the seasonal break. Priced at only £25, the Christmas box offers great value and includes;

• Family framed illustrative print
• 2021 Calendar
• Personalised letter from Santa Claus
• Stickers
• Naughty or nice chart with stickers
• Children’s puzzles and games
• Christmas arts and crafts
• Colouring and crayons

For more information please email swbh.midesign@nhs.net or to order download the form below to complete and email in.

Christmas Box Order Form 2020

Heartbeat: Hello my name is… Aner Marcelo

This month we say a warm welcome to Aner Marcelo, Hotel Services Manager.

Hailing from the Philippines originally, Aner has had a long and successful career both in the Philippines and the UK. Speaking to Heartbeat, Aner told us about his extensive career. “My background in the hospitality industry comes from the UK and back home. Over the years I have held numerous positions, everything from being a factory worker to various managerial roles. I took on these positions whilst studying long-distance and raising a family at the same time. Juggling family and work commitments over my career has been something of a balancing act, but it’s all been worth it.

“I have various qualifications, including hotel and catering management, human resources (CIPD), a law degree and facilities management. These qualifications are from different UK universities and what they’ve all taught me is how to take a hands on approach in dealing with situations. I have had to deal with some difficult customer service situations in both public and private sector roles, all of which have given me lots of valuable experience and transferable skills.

“My current role is as Hotel Services Manager working across the whole of the organisation. I work with lots of different colleagues in various teams which I enjoy. I also look after colleagues working within hotel services that work both day and evening shifts. I think it’s that variety that makes this role so rewarding. I get to meet lots of different people and no two days are ever the same. Ultimately we are here to ensure that we support our internal and external customers and provide a high standard of cleanliness, always putting our patients at the heart of everything we do.”

Outside of work, Aner is very much a family man. Married to Lorraine from Cornwall he likes to live a quiet life. “My beautiful wife, Lorraine, is the heart of our family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Cancer services’ Christmas pop-up shop

Cancer services have now opened their Christmas pop-up shop in the Berridge Room, courtyard The shop will then remain open every weekday up until Monday 21 December from 10am – 2pm.

Good available at the shop include:

• Calendars
• Gift wrapping
• Toys
• Sweets
• Crackers
• Christmas badges
• Earrings
• Clothing

Shoppers will get 10 per cent off all Christmas clothing and anyone who spends over £10 will get a free roll of wrapping paper and a packet of tags.

Note: Due to COVID-19 card payments will be accepted or exact change in a bucket.

For more information please email jennifer.donovan@nhs.net

Network upgrade at City Telephone Exchange taking place 17 December from 11pm

As part of our ongoing work to improve the network links across all sites, there is an essential maintenance taking place on Thursday 17 December from 11pm affecting the City Telephone Exchange at City Hospital.

The work is scheduled to begin at 11pm and should be completed by 12:30am on Friday 18 December.

We do not envisage any impact as we will have resilience in place. In the unlikely event that issues do occur this may result in City not being able to place internal Bleeps and put emergency calls out at all sites for up to 10 – 15 minutes at approximately 11pm. This will not affect Sandwell or Rowley internal Bleeps. The Switchboard team are fully aware. 

Whilst this impact is unlikely we would advise colleagues to have BCPs in place for utilising radios during this time. Please can colleagues therefore ensure they collect their radios by 10pm and return them to the Security Control Room after use.

Please be assured the activity will be closely monitored at all times.

Please call the 24 hour IT service desk if you experience any prolonged issues after this time on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050 for home workers.

DoLS and MCA training session: 13 January, 9am – 11.30am

We will be hosting a DoLS and MCA training session on the Wednesday 13 January from 9am -11.30am. The training will be provided virtually via WebEx.

The training is aimed at patient facing roles for band 5 and above Year 3 student nurses are also welcome to join the session. The topics the training will include criteria of a DoLS, who needs a DoLS, how to complete a DoLS form and where a DoLS form is sent. The training will also cover the Mental Health Act 2005 and lastly flow charts on how to access and complete MCA and DoLS via Unity.

For booking details and information please call ext. 2669 or email r.begum19@nhs.net.

Note: The WebEx joining details will be sent via email a week prior to the sessions once people sign up by contacting r.begum19@nhs.net. This is so all the training materials can be distributed alongside the WebEx details.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Tuesday 15 December

If a message is in the bulletin, then it means all colleagues need to know about it. It is your responsibility to read the bulletin every day and if you think of a way to improve the bulletin, please let us know by emailing swbh.comms@nhs.net.

 All the messages that are published in the bulletin are signed off during our daily Trust tactical meeting, and you can find the latest information about our COVID response on Connect here. Please take the time to keep yourself updated and safe.

1. New message: Opportunity for colleagues who are very high and high risk to receive COVID-19 vaccine

Just over two weeks ago we informed you of the roll out of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust being announced as the first hospital hub in the Black Country and West Birmingham to start administering the vaccination.

The order in which people will receive the vaccine is decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and they have advised that age is the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19. Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay, will be among the first to be vaccinated. Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust are working with care home providers to book their staff in to vaccination clinics. Appointments not used for these groups are being made available for healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from COVID.

Some of these vaccination slots are now being reserved for SWB colleagues. Our occupational health team have already started to contact colleagues who were deemed very high or high risk as part of their COVID risk assessment. In order to book you will require your NHS Number – which you can find on any letter or document you have received from the NHS, including prescriptions, test results, and hospital referral or appointment letters. If you cannot find your NHS Number at home, you can ask your GP practice to help you.

If you believe you are very high or high risk and have not been contacted by occupational health, you can contact the team on swbh.occyhealthcovidvaccine@nhs.net.

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

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust have produced guidance on the vaccination programme which you can see on Connect. Further information is also available in the FAQs.

We will soon share further information on how colleagues traveling to Walsall for their vaccines can claim time back for their time and travel arrangements

2. New message: D25 – now set up as a step down unit from AMU2

We are piloting D25 as an AMU step down at City Hospital for patients who have been triaged through the red stream and have had a negative COVID swab result. Colleagues are to use this step down unit for patients who have been through the red stream on AMU 2 at City Hospital and had a negative result. Patients can move from D25 to the Amber base wards once they have had a second negative swab result 72 hours after the first swab.

Any known contact of a positive patient will need to isolate for 14 days (irrespective of the negative result).

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

3. New message: Are you putting your swabs in the correct bin?

We must remind all colleagues that COVID swabs must be put in the COVID bin found outside the pathology departments across both City and Sandwell. You should not put blood samples in these bins as it will result in a delay in blood results.

4. Updated message: Swabbing update for patients in red areas

We know that the evidence for the duration of viral shedding varies in severely unwell and immunosuppressed individuals, and that this patient group can continue to shed viable virus for longer with a real risk of cross transmission. Hence it is important that we minimise the movement of patients out of red areas in acute settings unless clinically necessary.

Before moving patients who are persistently or intermittently COVID positive, please discuss plans to move the patient to an Amber ward with infection control or microbiology so they can advise on any potential risk. If a patient develops new COVID-19 symptoms after a 90 day period, they should be treated as a re-infection and must be isolated and tested again.

If the patient is improving (Afebrile for two days and is showing improved respiratory symptoms) but unable to go home for other medical or social reasons then they could stay on the Red ward.

After 14 days following a positive COVID-19 test, and with complete resolution of symptoms, if the patient needs to be transferred to an Amber ward for a longer stay in hospital due to rehab (stroke and neuro pathways) 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.

If repeat testing remains positive after 14 days, the patient should routinely be tested after a further seven days if they remain in hospital.

Transferring patients to nursing homes

• All nursing/care home residents must be swabbed 48 hours prior to discharge before discharge from hospital and the discharge swab summary must state the swab result.
• If the patient is discharged from a Red ward to a care home/EAB bed or home with domiciliary care please advise 14 days isolation.
• If the contact /exposed patient are discharged from an Amber ward to a care home/EAB bed or home with domiciliary, please advise 14 days isolation.

Latest edition of Heartbeat now online

Check out the latest edition of Heartbeat online now.

What can you expect to find inside this issue? Well, for starters we hosted our very first digital Star Awards ceremony. Plus, we’ve got all of this:

• Fab Change 2020 and the implementation of teledermatology
• Trust shortlisted for four top HSJ awards
• Your Shout Outs and our Stars of the Week.

You can email famena.nawaz@nhs.net if you have an idea for an article. If you prefer to have a chat (we love a good natter), you can call us on ext. 5303.

Until next time.

CQC – find out what an inspection involves

The quality assurance team will be hosting sessions for colleagues to find out more about what exactly a CQC inspection involves. You will be able to find out where to get support and information, ask any questions you may have, and also to talk about how our quality improvement can help you as part of our journey to becoming outstanding.

Please see details of sessions below:

Drop in session:

• 11am – 2pm, Tuesday 15 December, lobby area outside the conference room, Education Centre, Sandwell.

For more information please call Ruth Spencer, Associate Director of Quality Assurance on 07970 993948 or email ruth.spencer10@nhs.net.

A useful RTT 18 week user information guide

The below guide will walk you through the basics of pathway management using the national RTT (referral to treatment) codes.

RTT 18 week user information guide

If you are unsure of a pathway you are managing and need some guidance then please refer to this guide to ensure that the patient is being managed accordingly and the trust are complying with the national standards.

For more information please contact markwhitehouse@nhs.net.