Monthly archives: January 2021

COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 29 January

New:

• Oxygen monitoring for colleagues starts on Monday
• Could you step to our rescue?

Reminder:

• Roll up roll up – book in for your COVID jab
• Severe weather warning – how to book accommodation

1. New: Oxygen monitoring for colleagues starts Monday

You may have read how intensive self-monitoring with a pulse oximeter is advisable if you have COVID-19.

From Monday, our Community Services will be able to offer this to colleagues during weekdays.

If you wish to request an oximeter, you will need to have tested positive for the virus or be isolating with symptoms and be waiting for a test.

Colleagues can self-refer by emailing the following information:

• Name, DOB, NHS Number, telephone number, address for delivery of the equipment and preferred email for monitoring
• State you are a staff member and which service, team or department you work for.

Please email swbh.respiratoryservice@nhs.net to request monitoring equipment.

2. New: Could you step to our rescue?

Everyone is working flat out at the moment to provide patient care to some of our most critically unwell patients across our organisation.

As we face pressures like we’ve not known before, we are asking colleagues who may be able to help, to step forward.

We currently are looking for admin support and runners to carry out much-needed tasks on our ward areas in medicine, critical care and surgery.

Having this support will mean our clinical staff will be able to focus their attention on clinical issues.

There are two roles available:

• An admin role – answering the phone, transferring calls, photocopying – generally helping us keep our admin shipshape
• A runner – collecting meds, helping porters and being an all-round superstar.

Both roles are available voluntarily or as band 3 via the Bank, span over seven days and can be flexible to fit around your commitments. Some colleagues whose workloads have changed or reduced, can also discuss redeployment into these roles with their line managers.

One colleague who has stepped forward to help volunteer on the wards is portering manager, Zaheer Iqbal. He said: “I have stepped in and helped out our wards areas voluntarily. We’re all in this together and, if I can help to lighten the load on clinical teams, then I am more than happy to do so.

“The ward admin and runner roles are an ideal way colleagues can help support at this time of unprecedented pressure. I enjoy being able to help out and, if anyone out there is thinking they could too, this would be a great way for them to get involved.”

If you would like to assist and are able to support these areas during your contracted substansive time, please speak to your line manager in the first instance.

If you wish to support as a volunteer, or bank staff, please call the Trust Bank on ext. 3600.

3. Reminder: Roll up, roll up – book in for your COVID jab

Just in case you haven’t heard – slots for the COVID vaccination are available week commencing 8 February.

Colleagues can book in for their first dose of the COVID vaccination at the Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital between Monday to Thursday, 8am to 8pm.  To book call 0121 507 4112.

The hub will stop offering first doses after 11 February in order to support the allocation of vaccine supplies across the system so that priority groups are able to be vaccinated as quickly as possible. The facility will reopen in March to administer second doses. Staff who need to be vaccinated after 11 February, will be able to access an alternative vaccine centre. We will be issuing more information about how you can do this once the details are confirmed.

We are administering the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the hospital hub, based in the Education Centre.  If you have a proven anaphylactoid reaction to one of the ingredients of this, then you must contact your GP to request the Oxford/AstraZeneca as an alternative or you can discuss this further with Occupational Health.

4. Reminder: Severe weather warning – how to book accommodation

We are currently expecting severe cold weather, icy conditions and heavy snow from 6pm today until 9am on Tuesday 2 February.

This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Please refer to the Trust’s Severe weather plan.

It is now more important than ever, that colleagues make every effort to attend work as planned as we will continue to run a 24 hour service during this time.

Arrangements can also be made for 4×4 transport in exceptional circumstances. All requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis and staff should discuss with their line managers. Booking over the weekend, between 8am to 8pm, should be done through Kim Cross, by calling 07890615116 or emailing kimberleycross@nhs.net. Outside of these hours you should contact the duty manager to discuss options for securing a taxi (4×4) to come to work.

You will also be able to access hotel accommodation during this period if you are unable to travel due to the severe weather. Please click here to see the process colleagues should follow when booking a hotel room.

All areas should have business continuity plans agreed with their staff for cold weather, ice and snow. These should include:

• Working with colleagues regarding their ability to report for work if transport systems are affected
• Agreeing working arrangements for severe weather in advance, including potentially the need for staff to stay overnight.

Colleagues are expected to make every reasonable effort to attend work (including using public transport when they wouldn’t normally) providing it is safe to do so.

• If not able to reach their normal base, to attend an alternative base if that is easier to reach.
• To work from home (if applicable and agreed with their manager)
• Colleagues unable to attend work or work from home, to notify their managers ASAP and required to either take the day as annual leave or time in lieu (to be agreed locally).
• Colleagues who are able to walk in but are not rostered to work may be asked to support their work area. This is not mandatory and will be based on mutual agreement and rescheduling of work duties.

Please ensure that all staff contact details are up to date and that you have a plan in place so that you are aware of any issues at departmental level.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 29 January

It is no surprise that this week’s message contains another series of ‘thank you’s, beginning with the people who have set up, volunteered and worked at the Sandwell hospital hub which has been vaccinating thousands of people from the Education Centre facility since 29 December. You will know that this facility will be temporarily stepped down from 11 February. This is to enable our health system to focus the vaccine supply on where it is needed right now, which is in the many GP-led facilities across Birmingham and the Black Country so that those priority groups of patients and frontline workers can receive their first doses of the vaccine at the earliest opportunity.

Setting up the hospital hub within a matter of days was a huge achievement and my thanks to all involved. Many of you spent extra hours volunteering and being trained up in delivering vaccines to your hardworking colleagues and vulnerable patients. Estates, IT, nurse leaders and operational colleagues worked round the clock to transform our conference room into a fully functioning clinic open early til late, seven days a week. And thanks too, to the thousands of you who booked into a slot and received the protection from the first dose, as well as our fabulous booking centre.

Our vaccination programme is far from over. Your Health Partnership are continuing to vaccinate patients from the Whiteheath Medical Centre in Oldbury and the City facility in Sheldon Block that is run by three primary care networks in Birmingham remains. You can still book your appointment for w/c 8 February at the Sandwell site (call 0121 507 4112) and this facility will reopen in March to administer second doses of the Pfizer vaccine to all those who received their first dose there. Provision will be made for staff who need to be vaccinated but have not yet been able to arrange an appointment at the hospital hub. This is likely to be at one of the mass vaccination centres (Dudley / Birmingham) or one of the primary care facilities.

We announced this week that Richard Beeken will be joining the Trust as interim Chief Executive on a temporary secondment from his Chief Executive position at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. Richard joins us to provide leadership support until Toby is able to fully resume his duties and we are looking forward to welcoming Richard when he starts on 8 February. He took part in this week’s Team Talk and talked about how he was looking forward to getting to know the Trust and visiting different areas during his first few weeks, so do look out for him as he gets out and about.

I am really pleased to welcome colleagues from the military to provide us with much needed additional support to our highly stretched clinical teams. The 18 soldiers are helping with non-clinical activities including stocking up supplies and collecting equipment, that should free up time for clinicians to focus on delivering patient-facing care. We are one of 23 hospitals across the Midlands who are benefiting from this assistance and we are grateful for their help at this time.

Our clinical ward-based teams are continuing to experience sustained pressure from the number of patients who need to be admitted which has at times meant people waiting in our emergency departments for longer than they should while waiting to move to a suitable ward. The Covid safety arrangements clearly have an impact too here as patients will move to different areas depending on their test results and symptoms. Despite these complexities, the number of patients we are able to discharge each day has been high. Each discharge often take a lot of co-ordination, arranging the care that is needed at home or specialist equipment, as well as the support that needs to go with patients who are going to a care home facility. Getting these arrangements in place as early as possible is crucial in helping people go home earlier in the day. None of us want patients to have to arrive home in the evening or at night when it is cold and dark, particularly as the weather deteriorates. I know that colleagues are focused on making arrangements the day before discharge and this needs to be part of our daily rhythm, to understand which patients are going home tomorrow and what needs to done today to make that happen.

We will shortly introduce “contact wards” at Sandwell and City Hospitals should we be able to create the right capacity to do this. This means that (similar to the lilac stream we had previously) we are able to cohort together patients who have been in contact with Covid+ patients but who have had a negative test result. We continue with regular swabbing in our amber areas to ensure that we can quickly identify patients who become symptomatic and test positive and move them to a more suitable environment for their care.

I wanted today to reiterate the tribute to our colleague Surangi Liyanamana, who sadly died whilst in our care last weekend. I know that all those who cared for Surangi and her friends and colleagues at our Trust remain deeply saddened by her loss and our thoughts are with Surangi’s family at this difficult time. As ever, support is available to anyone who has been affected by this, or by anything in your professional or personal life. Please take time to see what is available and look into what might help you feel more able to face the challenges that you are presented with each day. Many people at this Trust have testified to being significantly helped by one or more of the services or resources that the Trust has made available. And do speak up if you are aware of something you would like, that is not currently available. Our exec team have shared out different clinical areas within our Trust sites to keep in touch and as a way of providing some regular contact and support. We very much want to listen to your experiences and learn about the support that would really make a difference to you.

Congratulations to this week’s Star of the Week, Ash Turner, who received his award today from Martin Sadler, our Chief Informatics Officer. Ash is our clinical research charge nurse and he has been instrumental in the Covid-19 trials that the Trust is participating in. Research continues to be crucial in the fight against Covid-19 and I am delighted with the part our Trust has been able to play in this field.

David Carruthers

Surginet – Overview and Future State Validation

The current IT theatres system ORMIS is due to be replaced in autumn 2021 with a new system called Surginet which directly integrates with UNITY. Over the last six months there has been significant work carried out by many clinicians and operational staff in the development and localisation of the system, workflows have been reviewed, optimised and standardised where possible. Anaesthesia records will move from paper-based records to electronic with vitals being captured electronically in real-time.

Future State Validation Week is an opportunity to review the surginet system and to see what has been localised for SWBH and how the future system will operate. The sessions will demonstrate the surginet system – how patients are scheduled into theatre, how pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative workflows will operate using the Surginet system. There are several sessions starting with an overview of the patient journey and will lead into more detailed sessions of the operative journey. There will be an opportunity to ask any questions that you may have.

You can join the Future State Validation Week using this link:

https://swbhnhs.webex.com/swbhnhs/onstage/g.php MTID=ec79b37b9fa8c3f6d2750a457c7d2d428

Password: Surginet

The Future State Validation Session agenda provides participants an overview of the objectives, session agenda items, and assignments that will be made during the solution session.

Surginet – Overview and Future State Validation

The current IT theatres system ORMIS is due to be replaced in Autumn 2021 with a new system called Surginet which directly integrates with UNITY. Over the last six months there has been significant work carried out by many clinicians and operational staff in the development and localisation of the system, workflows have been reviewed, optimised and standardised where possible. Anaesthesia records will move from paper-based records to electronic with vitals being captured electronically in real-time.

Future State Validation week is an opportunity to review the surginet system and to see what has been localised for SWBH and how the future system will operate. The sessions will demonstrate the surginet system – how patients are scheduled into theatre, how pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative workflows will operate using the Surginet system. There are several sessions starting with an overview of the patient journey and will lead into more detailed sessions of the operative journey. There will be an opportunity to ask any questions that you may have.

To join the session, use the following link

Date: Monday 1 February
Time: 9am
Event URL: https://swbhnhs.webex.com/swbhnhs/onstage/g.php?MTID=ec79b37b9fa8c3f6d2750a457c7d2d428
Event Password: Surginet

COVID-19 Bulletin: Thursday 28 January

New:

• Attention! Soldiers parachuted in to support colleagues
• Time stamping of COVID samples

Updated:

• COVID jab slots available in February

Numbers not statistics: This week (last week)

1. New: Attention! Soldiers parachuted in to support colleagues

We have welcomed 18 British Army soldiers who are joining us across City and Sandwell Hospitals.

As we see cases of COVID-19 continue to be consistently high, we are pleased to welcome the military personnel who will be supporting colleagues. The soldiers will be on hand to carry out non-clinical tasks such as stacking medicine trolleys, cleaning and doing laundry.

This support will make a very real and positive difference to the work we are doing to help turn the tide against COVID-19.

In practical terms it means that it will free up time for our clinical colleagues to continue delivering patient-facing care.

Brigadier AJ Smith, Commander Joint Military Command, West Midlands, said: “We remain in support of NHS Midlands as we have been for the last 10 months.  A force package of 370 military personnel is currently embedded in 23 hospitals across the Midlands providing medical and broader support to the amazing NHS Team as they continue to face this unprecedented challenge.

“The troops are drawn from 1, 4 and 5 Medical Regiments, 1st and 21st Signal Regiments and 1^st Yorkshire Regiment.”

We’d like to thank them for volunteering their time at our Trust over the coming weeks.

2. New: Time stamping of COVID samples

Time stampers have been installed at the entrances to pathology at City and Sandwell Hospitals. These should now be used to date and time stamp a sticky label, which is to be attached to the outside of the outer specimen bag.

This will be used to monitor the turnaround times delivered by the laboratory.
More information is included in the updated sample collection and drop-off guidance on Connect.

Please click here to view this.

3. Updated: COVID jab slots available in February

Thank you to all colleagues have worked hard to deliver the vaccination programme over the past month. We’re sure you will agree, it has been a great team effort and a vital part of our fight against COVID-19.

For those of you who haven’t yet received your jab, you can call the booking line to have your first dose week commencing 8 February.

In order to best manage vaccine supplies across the region it is likely that we will stop offering first doses to staff from the Sandwell Hospital Hub after 11 February. The facility will be re-opening in March to administer second doses. Please ensure that you call 0121 507 4112 to book your slot. Staff who need to be vaccinated after 11 February will be able to access an alternative vaccine centre and you will be advised how this can be arranged once the details are confirmed.

Please remember the following:

• We are currently only offering the first dose
• At your first vaccination appointment, a slot will be booked for your second dose to be administered 12 weeks later. Please note there is no flexibility on this.  This is following
  national guidelines and is mirrored in all other Trusts, GPs practices and vaccination centres.

The first dose offers good levels of protection and we can reduce transmission significantly in the community by giving more people the first dose and the second dose 12 weeks later.

Sharing the sad news of the death of colleague Surangi Liyanamana

Sadly we have to share the news that one of our colleagues passed away at the weekend. Surangi Liyanamana joined the Trust relatively recently and was a staff nurse at Rowley Regis Hospital, working on McCarthy ward since October 2020. Surangi died after a short illness and was being cared for at the Trust.  Our sincerest condolences are with Surangi’s family and friends, her team members and all those who worked round the clock to treat and care for her.

Surangi’s family wanted to share this photograph of her and have said that “she was always selfless and did the best for others.”

Surangi’s line manager, Lady Ann Ordona, has shared her thoughts at this sad time.

“Surangi came to work for us on October 26,2020 following a successful interview for a Staff Nurse Position on McCarthy Ward at Rowley Regis Hospital. Surangi had previously worked in an in-patient Intermediate Care unit. She wanted to increase her working hours and  ‘a bit of change’, were her words during her interview. Surangi was not with us for very long, however she very quickly became part of the team, not just on McCarthy Ward but across community wards.

“We are a family who work together in Primary Care, Community and Therapies and when we lose a family member we all grieve together. We are united in facing this difficult time and will always be grateful knowing that we have each other to lean on during this trying time.

“Surangi  has been a mother to her two beautiful children,  a friend to many but  will always be a colleague who is dedicated to her profession until the end days of her life.

“Surangi’s smile would brighten anyone’s day and that is how we will choose to remember her, always.”

This news is tragic for all who knew Surangi. You are reminded that the Trust has access to 24/7 support for those who want to talk or who would like some help. Please don’t hesitate to make use of this or talk to any of your line managers or Trust leaders.

Don’t delay getting your COVID vaccination – slots available today up to 3pm

If you are yet to get your first dose of the COVID vaccination you can do so by contacting the booking team on 0121 507 4112 to book into an available slot at the Sandwell Education Centre. There are slots available today up to 3pm.

Please note that this is only for those colleagues who are yet to receive their first dose. Secondary doses will be available 12 weeks following the first dose.

You will be asked some simple pre – screening questions when booking your appointment which are listed below:

1. Have you had any type of COVID-19 vaccination already?
2. Are you currently unwell with a fever?
3. Have you ever had a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food (such as previous history of anaphylactoid reaction or those who have been advised to carry an adrenaline auto-injector)?
4. Are you pregnant or planning to be pregnant within the next 2 months?
5. Have you had any other vaccinations in the last 7 days, particularly the flu vaccination
6. Have you had a COVID positive test within the past 28 days?
7. Do you have a bleeding disorder e.g. haemophilia?

If you answer YES to any questions you may require a more in depth consultation which will determine if we are able to offer you the Pfizer vaccine.

You may be advised to contact Occupational Health Department or your GP for further advice.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Wednesday 27 January

New:

• Increased bank rate for health care assistant shifts
• Oxygen supply for community patients
• Tell us if your LoW isn’t WoW anymore 

Updated:

• Slots for COVID jabs are still available
• Red bags are back in stock 

Reminder:

• Sharing is caring but please follow the rules

1. New: Increased bank rate for health care assistant shifts

With immediate effect we are temporarily increasing the rate for Health Care Assistant shifts booked through Trust Bank. We are doing this to encourage our own staff to cover shifts, recognising and valuing the significant contribution that you are making to support patients and colleagues at this time. It is important that you have time to rest but if you are able to do additional HCA shifts it would be greatly appreciated.

The basic bank rate for HCA Bands 2, 3 and 4 will increase by £3 per hour for all shifts up to 31 March 2021. This means that the new basic rates are:

• HCA band 2/3 = £14:50
• HCA band 4    = £15:10

Contact Trust Bank to book your shifts or to join, if you are not already registered.

2. New: Oxygen supply for community patients   

NHS E/I has issued guidance around the quantity of oxygen prescribed to patients in the community who have been discharged to Step-Down beds following admission for COVID-19.

To avoid any compromise with community oxygen supply, they should be prescribed oxygen at no more than 5L/min for 10-14 days. The focus is on Long-term oxygen therapy rather than ambulatory oxygen.

Where possible, colleagues should be proactive in their discharge planning to avoid requests for oxygen in less than a four hour window. This is because the oxygen provider will not have time to organise an essential risk assessment for the patient and their home.

Where known ‘cohorts’ of patients are being discharged to the same care home please try and provide advance warning, so that the oxygen provider technician can use their time more efficiently and productively.  Where physicians believe patients require more than 5L/min, discharging medics are asked to ensure the patient meets the critieria within the virtual ward SOP – the Monitoring You at Home (MYAH) service – and speak directly to their provider to ensure they have the capacity to provide this higher flow rate of oxygen.

The protocol for escalation if a patient’s 02 saturation drops is documented in the Virtual Ward SOP. Click here to see the document.

3. New: Tell us if your LoW isn’t WoW anymore 

Colleagues are being urged to report any issues with Laptop on Wheels (LoWs) or WoW (Workstation on Wheels).

Those that are not functioning can be reported to the IT Service Desk on ext. 4050 so they can be treated as high priority and get them back up and running.

If there are any LoWs or WoWs that are no longer required can they also be reported to the IT Service Desk so they can be redeployed to other clinical areas where they are needed. The team has also been patrolling areas to pick up any defunct kit.

4. Updated: Slots for COVID jabs are still available        

Talks are continuing with our colleagues across Black Country and West Birmingham regarding supply of the vaccination, however we do have availability for slots week commencing 8 February.

To make an appointment, colleagues should call the booking line on 0121 507 4112.

We’d also like to remind you, that those of you who have had your first dose are also able to report any reaction you have had to the vaccine by filling out an online form, via the Yellow Card Scheme website.

The scheme is run by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and is the UK system for collecting and monitoring information on safety concerns such as suspected side effects or adverse incidents involving medicines and medical devices.

If you wish to record a reaction to the vaccination, please click here.

5. Updated: Red bags are back in stock 

Red Alginate water soluble bags for infected linen, scrubs and uniform are now back in stock and are being distributed across the Trust sites. The red bags are put into the appropriate coloured laundry bag according to the Trust site before they are taken away to be cleaned.

6. Reminder: Sharing is caring but please follow the rules  

 We all like to help out where we can and car sharing is a perfect example of that. If you do need to share a car to get to and from work, please reduce the risk of transmission by:

• Driver and passengers to wear a fluid resistant surgical mask during the journey
• Share the transport with the same people each time where possible
• Minimise the group size at any one time
• Opening windows for ventilation
• Travelling side by side or behind other people, rather than facing them, where seating arrangements allow
• Facing away from each other
• Considering seating arrangements to maximise distance between people in the vehicle
• Keep your bags on your lap if possible.
• Avoid touching inside of the car/ vehicle if not necessary.
• Avoid long conversations, if possible.
• Wash/Gel your hand before & after the ride
• Cleaning your car between journeys using standard cleaning products – make sure you clean door handles and other areas that people may touch
• Avoid eating inside the car while sharing

Remember – car sharing is not permitted with someone from outside your household or your support bubble unless your journey is undertaken for an exempt reason. For example, if car sharing is reasonably necessary as part of your work as outlined.  

Wellbeing Wednesday – Confidential Helplines

Every Wednesday we bring you information about our health and wellbeing services.

This week the focus is on accessing confidential help and advice. We have an array of resources and services colleagues can access.

If you need help, advice or just someone to have a chat to, please take advantage of the services available.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Tuesday 26 January

In today’s COVID-19 bulletin

New:

• Continue to book your COVID jab
• Celebrities urge communities to save lives through vaccine

Updated:

• Hygiene is key to a sparkling clean Trust

 Reminder:

• Keeping well throughout the pandemic

1. New: Continue to book your COVID jab

You may have seen the national news this morning regarding the supply of the Pfizer vaccine in the UK. This may have implications for the vaccine programme that we run from the hospital hub at Sandwell.

We are talking to our colleagues across Birmingham and the Black Country to establish the best routes to continue working together as a system to vaccinate health and social care workers, vulnerable patients and others in the priority categories.  We will update you on the outcome of these discussions over the next few days.

In the meantime if you have an appointment make sure you attend as the clinic will be open until 8pm today and tomorrow.

In addition, we still have more than 200 slots available today and tomorrow so please book by calling 0121 507 4112. Some of you may have been contacted about bringing your appointment forward, you can do this by calling the booking line.

2. New: Celebrities urge communities to save lives through vaccine

One of Birmingham’s much loved sons – actor, writer and presenter Adil Ray – well known as Citizen Khan from the BBC sitcom where he plays the self-appointed leader and voice of Muslim Birmingham, has worked with fellow celebrities to produce a film dispelling some common myths around the COVID vaccine.

Recognising the volume of misinformation circulating about the vaccine, and worried that ignorance would discourage people to get vaccinated, Adil mobilised his colleagues to save lives by sharing their personal thoughts, experiences and beliefs about COVID in the following film.

He commented: “After taking part in the Stay At Home campaign last year, we felt that once again we had to do something to help.  Unfortunately we are now fighting another pandemic – misinformation, where communities who are ignored are preyed upon and voices that endanger lives are amplified.

“Whilst these communities must accept some responsibility too, and take the vaccine to save lives, we all must do what we can and come together to fight this deadly virus. We hope this video can help dispel some of the myths and offer some encouragement for everyone to take the vaccine.”

You can watch the film by clicking below:

3. Updated: Hygiene is key to keeping Trust clean

Keeping our sites safe and clean is a commitment that we all share. It is something that has never been more important. Evidence shows that a range of actions such as wearing PPE, keeping our distance in and out of work, hand hygiene as well as clean sites will help to significantly reduce the spread of infection.

A programme of e-learning – ‘Cleaning for Confidence’ – has been developed to support staff in ‘scrubbing up’ on their knowledge of good cleaning practice, as well as helping to reinforce other actions that help to stop the spread of infection. Colleagues are being asked to take the time to log in to the new training package that’s available through e Learning for Health.

To help us ensure everything is clean and safe to use, we’ve recently introduced ‘I am clean’ stickers (see photograph) in ward areas. The new stickers help build confidence in our practices and processes and they are a welcome sign to patients.

To find out more about the Infection Prevention and Control practices and programmes, contact ext. 5900.

4. Reminder: Keeping well throughout the pandemic

As we face the peak of the third wave, it’s important that you continue to take care of yourself and there are a number of ways to help you to do this at our Trust.

If you haven’t already discovered them, we have rest areas that you can use to relax and unwind during your shift. The list of these rest areas on Connect, but is not definitive, so please do speak to your line manager for more information about their locations.

You may also consider taking advantage of our energy pods to help you recharge. We have three state of the art energy pods available in AMUs based at City and Sandwell, and another within maternity at City.

The groups are also currently collating ideas regarding what you would like to see to aid your wellbeing. We have already had requests for items such as radios and massagers. If you feel that there is something that could really help the wellbeing of your team then please email swbh.wellbeing@nhs.net and the team will consider your request.

Temporary closure of staff gym facilities

Due to the continued high case rate in the community and the lockdown restrictions we have taken the difficult decision to temporarily close our gym facilities. This is to avoid any potential transmission.

The changing rooms and shower areas will remain open at Sandwell and we are looking to see if we can safely reopen the City shower facilities.

We realise that exercising is vital for our health and wellbeing so would encourage you to access online classes or apps to maintain your health and fitness or if you want to start a fitness programme.

The NHS publishes a list of apps that are useful for health and wellbeing and can be accessed here.