Monthly archives: February 2021

Job of the week: Acting Senior Capacity Manager

We have an exciting and challenging opening from March for an Acting Senior Capacity Manager (8a) role.

The role of Acting Senior Capacity Manager (8a) requires applicants to have several years’ experience of managing patient flow in the acute setting; to be able to work alongside senior management to deliver safe solutions for our patients and demonstrate leadership for the Trust. This senior role includes undertaking other projects to enhance and establish patient flow pathways and to support our COVID strategy response and recovery and the quality agenda and fulfil the post essential requirements.

The post holder will also undertake the role of tactical commander at the outset of an incident playing a pivotal role in co-ordinating and communication actions.

If you feel this is a role you are enthusiastic about and have the right skills please send all expressions of interest which should be one A4 sheet of paper outlining:

What you would expect to gain from this opportunity
What you feel you would bring to the role and the team
Your experience and any relevant qualifications.

Please also see Senior Capacity Manager Job Description and Senior Capacity Manager Person Specification.

If you are interested in this role, please send your expression of interest to caroline.rennalls@nhs.net by Monday 15 February.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Wednesday 3 February

1. New: **The other COVID-19 battle we face**

We continue to battle not just the virus inside our services but misinformation outside of it. As you know, there is a lot of false information being spread not just about vaccinations and the COVID-19 vaccine but there continues to be elements of the population who persist in denying the reality of the impact of Coronavirus.

Our latest message to combat this, is a video we’ve filmed inside of the ICU at City Hospital which was made in partnership with the Black Country and West Birmingham CCG. It features the first-hand account of our own Dr Nick Sherwood and Chief Medical Officer of the CCG Dr Masood Ahmed as well as West Bromwich Albion club legend Brendon Batson discussing the importance of vaccination.

For those staff members that use social media we ask if you could share this important message, either via the YouTube video above or by liking and sharing the supporting messages that can be found on our official Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram accounts. If you are not already following our five main social media accounts please consider doing so.

If you come across false information regarding COVID-19 please report it to the social media platform using the report function. If this also directly involves our Trust please immediately bring it to the attention of the Communications Team via swbh.comms@nhs.net.

2. Reminder: Swabbing pathway changes

As always, we are constantly evaluating our procedures and recommendations to see what provides the best outcome. Sometimes this results in change: as a result of guidance from outside the Trust, in reaction to the changing situation in our local community, as a necessity due to altered supplies or the availability of our clinical partners, and of course our own findings as a healthcare Trust.

Our existing guidance relating to the swabbing pathway are the latest to receive an update.

In summary, the sensitivity of a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test is around 80 per cent. With this in mind, colleagues must look at the clinical presentation with swab result when deciding how to stream a patient. For example if the swab is negative but the clinical presentation is highly suggestive of COVID-19 they must be streamed onto a Red ward or for patient presenting with low suspicion of COVID-19 and in Red stream initially, with subsequent negative swab result must be transferred onto a Contact ward (Newton 3) while they await a further PCR test.

You can find the COVID-19 Infection control patient risk stratification table below. Both it, and the guidance in full can be found on the Connect swabbing pathways page. Please ensure all staff are aware of both these important documents so we ensure our patients are cared for in the right place.

3. Reminder: Scrubs – Don’t take your work home with you

Colleagues must 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.

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.

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. Reminder: Let’s talk about mental health

Managing our stress and psychological health at this time is as important as our physical health. Taking care of basic needs and employing helpful coping strategies are top priorities.

The Trust offers a range of support including one to one counselling, referral to mental health practitioners as well as helpful advice through the Wellbeing Together newsletter. But it is important that you decide what the right support is for you.

Remember, it’s ok to not be ok, and if you aren’t, there is support available to you.

An example of this is Frontline19 – an independent UK nationwide service delivering psychological support to those who are, or have been on the frontline of COVID-19. The service can ensure you get the right help quickly and easily and is free and confidential. So, if you need someone to talk to, they can put you in touch with a therapist and you can take it from there.

Some common themes healthcare professionals request support for include:

Worrying and over-thinking a situation and its consequences
Poor concentration on other things and easily distracted
Feelings of anxiety
Feelings of panic
Irritability
Restlessness and fidgeting
Sleep disturbances
Poor daily functioning and difficulty carrying out routine tasks
Avoidance of usual tasks and routines
Feelings of helplessness and loss of control or incompetence
Fatigue and muscle ache

To get started all you need to do is fill in a short online form. Pairing usually takes seven days or sooner if possible. Visit https://www.frontline19.com/ for more information.

Welcome Richard Beeken

As you may be aware, 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 from next Monday (8 February). Richard joins us to provide leadership support until Toby is able to fully resume his duties and we are looking forward to officially welcoming Richard next week. Click on the link below to see a short message that Richard has recorded for all colleagues. If you so see him around be sure to say hello!

World Cancer Day

Today is World Cancer Day, which is a global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). The cancer services team has produced the video below to raise awareness about the event, but also to reassure patients that the Trust is there to treat and support them.

Jenny Donovan, Cancer Services Manager, along with Emma Hunstone, Macmillan Community Facilitator, are joined by breast cancer survivor Tina Harper, Jo Harvey, Macmillan Advanced Clinical Practitioner, and Ameena Muflihi, Community Cancer Champion, who all speak about the importance of seeking help and attending GP or hospital appointments.

Emma said: “By raising awareness, we’re working together to reassure our patients that we are there for them. We have shared the video on the SWB Cancer Support Facebook page and also across the Trust’s social media platforms in the hope that we can reach as many patients as possible.

“We would urge colleagues to also share across their own networks too, to help us ensure we get the message out there.”

Created in 2000, World Cancer Day has grown into a positive movement for everyone, everywhere to unite under one voice to face one of our greatest challenges in history.

You can watch the video below:

You can follow SWB Cancer Services by clicking here.

Heartbeat: The Great Paediatric Bake Off

What do you get if you take a doctor, a dietician, a handful of excited young children, their parents and a Zoom class? You get the recipe for success as our paediatric team recently discovered.

With all that has gone on this year, sometimes it’s easy to let the more fun and engaging activities that we have all previously enjoyed take a back seat. Determined that this year, some of our young patients would get to enjoy something fun but also educational, Dr Charlotte Avann and Prinith de Alwis Jayasinghe, a dietician hosted a cook along with a difference.

Dr Avann explained: “We do social events every year for our children with diabetes. This event was for children with type 1 diabetes, it’s a chronic illness, which can be difficult to manage. The common misconception that Type 1 diabetes is caused by poor diet is not true, but after diagnosis, children do need to be very careful they understand what they are eating. We used this session to educate parents and children alike about the condition and how they can best manage it by understanding what carbohydrates they are eating.

“These events help the children see that diabetes should not limit them. We make them as much fun as possible so that the children are engaged and so that they not only have fun but remember the hints and tips to help them lead healthy lifestyles. This year we have had to do things differently – this was our very first virtual event.”

To help get the event off to a flying start, the team sent the families premade packs that contained all of the ingredients that they needed, premeasured and ready to go. “We decided to do this because we did not want any families to be left out because they could not afford or did not have time to get their ingredients,” Prinith told us.

It turned out to be a great move as on the day everyone was able to get stuck in and enjoy the class. All connected virtually with the team based at Sandwell hosting the event, the step by step cookery class was very much a family affair. Mums and dads helped their children preheat their ovens; add in their ingredients one by one until the muffins were ready to eat.

In between whilst the muffins were cooking, Dr Avann and Prinith used that time to share educational tips such as how to measure out carbs correctly.

Dr Avann explained: “Many of our families do not do a lot of home cooking. We used this opportunity to signpost the families to a website that is full of healthy but tasty recipes. As well as being fun, we also used it as an educational opportunity, to go over how to carbohydrate count in baking. Type 1 diabetic children have to carbohydrate count before everything they eat to calculate the correct amount of insulin to give themselves. It can be tricky in baking as you need to work out the carbohydrate content of each ingredient. So we did this all together while the muffins were in the oven.”

The event was a roaring success with lots of positive comments from the children and indeed the parents that took part. With lots of thumbs up from everyone participating, one child even shouted across the class that they wanted to be the next Gordon Ramsey and another said she’s ready to take on the Great British Bake Off!

The event was such a success that Prinith told us the diabetes team are busy planning another social just in time for Christmas. “We are currently planning a Zoom Christmas party for children under 12. We have a Christmas party every year, but unfortunately this year it will have to be virtual too but, we are looking forward to it.

“I enjoyed this session so much that it inspired me to try baking these muffins at home. I hope our children enjoyed it as much as we did and continue cooking.”

Tribute to Ameta Rooplal

On the 29 January we sadly lost one of our nursing colleagues, Ameta Rooplal who worked at City Hospital. This news has been absolutely devastating for her family and all her colleagues who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Her sister Carol and nursing staff shared their thoughts and reflections at this sad time.

Ameta was one of four siblings and grew up in a loving home in Trinidad. Her sister Carol recalls that Ameta wanted to become a nurse following her experience as a patient, and wanted to help and care people back to health.

In 1996 she graduated as a Nurse in NIHERST in Trinidad and has worked as a staff Nurse for the past 20 years. During this time Ameta married and had a daughter, but later was head hunted by the NHS to work in the UK. She moved to England in 2000, to continue her nursing journey at City Hospital. This was such a difficult decision as she was very close to her family, but later her sister joined her in the UK.

She was strong in her faith as a Christian and regularly undertook charity work with her local church. Her sister Carol recalls:

“Every week before her night shifts she would help distribute food to the homeless at Birmingham New Street Train Station and she did this religiously as she strongly believed in putting others before herself. This translated into her job as a nurse; she was a shining light to everyone who knew her.”

She worked in a variety of areas including AMU, Theatres, Endoscopy, and Gastroenterology and more recently in the Respiratory Hub. Throughout her career Ameta also worked as an agency nurse and over the years she made many great friendships, and supported colleagues in so many ways across the organisation.

Ameta was such a generous, selfless, thoughtful and kind person and genuinely cared about all of her patients and colleagues. She went above and beyond to help others and would often work extra hours to support her team. She was a shining light to everyone who knew her. She bought a calming feeling to the areas she worked in and loved by all who knew her

One staff member recalls, “I remember being a scared, shy, newly qualified nurse and Ameta took me under her wing showing patience, support and understanding. She was a great role model.”

Ameta dedicated many years to the NHS and she will be dearly missed by her family especially her mom, friends and colleagues. Words don’t do her justice; she was a real Life Angel and she will be deeply missed by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Dr Nick’s sixth #Dance4Wellbeing – check out this short teaser!

A new month, a new #Dance4Wellbeing. Dr Nick Makwana has got his dancing shoes on again but this time is joined by Kayleigh Dickens, Sister from paediatrics. Be sure to look out for the full routine coming soon on Connect.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Tuesday 2 February

1. New: Guidance on dealing with patients with possible SARS-COV-2 Variant of Concern (VOC) including South African variant

You will have seen in the news that the new South African (SA) variant (B1.351) has now been detected within the WS2 post code in Walsall.

Colleagues must be aware that this variant could potentially be in other areas as well.

People at risk include:

Those who have been in or transited through any of the countries listed within the travel ban to the UK and who develop symptoms of COVID-19 within 10 days of departure or transit (or date of sampling for a positive SARS-CoV-2 test if asymptomatic)
Contacts of individuals described above.

If you suspect a patient could potentially have this variant, they should be streamed to a Red ward as soon as possible and should be managed in isolation in a single room with en-suite bathroom facilities, and with appropriate infection control procedures, for the duration of their isolation period.

You are also advised to notify the inflection and control team on ext. 5900 as soon as possible as well as notify the public health teams at Sandwell PHCOVID19_Enquiries@sandwell.gov.uk or Birmingham BCCCOVID19@birmingham.gov.uk.

Colleagues should continue to follow current IPC advice and use the recommended personal protective protection (PPE) for individuals on the high risk (Red) pathway. Our current PCR assays are expected to be able to detect Variant of Concern (VOC) and should continue to be used for testing patients with suspected COVID-19 infection.

To see a list of countries included in the travel ban due to variant strains please visit the government website.

2. New: Advice for colleagues living in the WS2 post code

Those who live within the Walsall area will no doubt have concerns, which we share and are aware of. For now all colleagues who live within the identified affected areas please continue to attend work as usual, unless you begin to display any of the known symptoms associated with Coronavirus or have had contact with a confirmed positive case of COVID-19.

Should you begin to display any symptoms or have contact with a confirmed case please speak to the swabbing team on 0121 507 2664 (option 5) and arrange an urgent swab test. We must reiterate you should isolate pending the results of this swab test. Please have a lower threshold for arranging a test in case of any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.

It is vital for all colleagues, particularly within these affected areas, to stringently complete the at home self-testing with lateral flow kits. Please ensure a lateral flow test is completed on those days you are due to attend work. Should your lateral flow test provide a positive result then as per the instruction above please arrange for a PCR swab test to be completed and isolate until the results are available.

For those that live in the WS2 area we are aware that some schools have written to parents to say that their school is now closed to all pupils including those of key workers. If you are impacted by any school/nursery closures as a result of the South African variant, you should urgently contact your manager to discuss your options.

Any changes to this process will be communicated in future bulletins.

3. Updated: Extra slots available for jabs next week

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. Updated: Annual leave carry over

Further to previous guidance about annual leave for the year 2020/21 we have updated our guidance which means that:

Any colleague who has been unable to take their annual leave entitlement due to the impact of COVID-19 on our services, has the opportunity to carry over up to 10 days. This must be agreed by the line manager and documented (updated on ESR, rostering system or other leave booking system. The line manager will need to agree that it has been impossible for the individual to take their leave during the 2020/21 leave year.
Colleagues who have more than 10 days annual leave entitlement remaining may be able to carry over up to 20 days. This will need to be agreed by the line manager, approved by the Group triumvirate, or departmental lead, for corporate areas and signed off by the relevant Executive Director. The expectation is that the leave that is carried over will be taken during 2021/22 at a time agreed with the line manager and service manager. There may be opportunity for colleagues to be paid for some of this leave entitlement should colleagues prefer. Any carried over leave must be documented on ESR/eRoster or other leave booking system.

The line manager must agree that carried over leave is due to the impact of COVID-19 on the services that the Trust provides and the need for staff to be at work and not on leave. It is not to be carried over because people have had holiday arrangements disrupted due to for instance, travel restrictions. All annual leave carry over discussions must be completed by 28 February and added to ESR, eRoster or the relevant annual leave booking system.

Please note: Usual arrangements apply for those with accrued annual leave relating to sickness absence, maternity, paternity or other leave.

5. Reminder: Waste disposal during COVID-19 – waste streams (clinical, offensive and domestic)

The Trust is currently experiencing high volumes of waste that has not been segregated correctly and cardboard which has not been broken down. This is having a major impact on collections and disposal of clinical and offensive waste in particular; not only within the Trust but also for our waste contractor.

Within the orange bags there is evidence of plastic bottles, packaging and general domestic items going into the incorrect waste stream. Cardboard is being left on the floor of cupboards and not broken down, and is not only causing a health and safety issues but preventing staff accessing the bins to dispose of waste correctly.

Domestic waste including packaging and office waste should not be placed into Orange/tiger bags.

All cardboard boxes should be flattened and either placed into the domestic waste bins or in a cage to await collection.

Waste disposal should always follow the rules of segregation:

Healthcare infectious clinical (Orange bag) this includes COVID waste
Offensive (Tiger bag waste) healthcare non-infectious including PPE when not on a Red ward
Domestic (Black bag waste and cardboard).

Failure to follow segregation will result in waste not being collected and disposed of correctly.

PPE in offices should go into black bag domestic waste.

Sharps bins should remain in the wards and departments until collected. Under no circumstances should these be placed into the waste cupboards or left outside of wards.

For further details regarding waste segregation, please see waste descriptions information sheet. For more information please contact dawn.hall@nhs.net.

Disposal of Masks:

We must remind both clinical and non-clinical colleagues when leaving work it is essential that masks are disposed of safely when finished. In non-clinical areas they can be disposed of in a black bag waste bin. PPE disposal process in clinical areas remains unchanged. Remember to maintain frequent handwashing/sanitising at all times. Please do not attempt to flush your used mask down the toilet as this will cause a blockage in the drainage system.

Heartbeat: Bringing AI to the SWB mix

Exciting news! Our Trust has partnered with a University of Oxford spin-out company called Brainomix to support our acute stroke service using artificial intelligence (AI).

Artificial Intelligence technology is a set of algorithms and is used to make sense of a variety and large volume of clinical information more quickly than a human. The presentation of acute ischaemic stroke in the emergency department can be difficult for non-specialist clinicians.

A stroke is when the blood supply to the brain is affected. This is a medical emergency, and, urgent treatment is essential. A stroke is usually due to either a blockage or if the blood vessel supplying the brain is weakened and burst. The sooner a patient receives appropriate treatment – damage is less likely to occur.

Strokes are usually treated with medicines to prevent and dissolve blood clots, reduce blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels. The implementation of the AI to support our clinicians was led by Dr Bahadar Bhatia, Dr John Morlese and Dr Sissi Ispoglou, with hosting support from the Informatics Infrastructure team.

When a possible stroke patient attends the emergency department, they are assessed and referred for a CT medical scan of their head. After the patient has had their CT medical scan, their images are sent to AI, which processes these images within a few minutes, sending its findings to the stroke doctors to review.

A notification may be sent to their mobile phone to inform them that the AI findings are ready for their review alongside their images. The system will provide augmented intelligence for detecting the extent of large vessel occlusions and perfusion within collaterals. This approach provides prompt findings to aid the stroke doctors with the clinical management of the patient.

Dr Ispoglou noted the different angle in viewing these AI findings. She said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to take the care we provide for our stroke patients to a different level. The program will not replace knowledge, clinical skill and common sense. It will, however, support us to make better decisions and ultimately help our patients, with a particular focus on those that have significant clot type of stroke and can benefit from clot busting or clot removal.”

In addition to this, Dr Bhatia has been leading several AI projects with IBM Watson, with another live clinical AI system for a number of chest and abdomen conditions expected early next year.

Dr Sarah Yusuf, Group Director for Imaging, added: “Brainomix eStroke is the first clinical AI solution implemented in real-time within the Trust.

“Brainomix is part of a wider Trust level AI strategy to improve efficiency and patient care. There will be further clinical AI solutions implemented in the future ready for MMUH. Our strategic aim is to embed technology solutions to improve patient pathways and information flow within the hospital and with our strategic partners.

“Imaging is central to the emergency management of stroke patients. Accurate and timely CT head reports are essential to reduce door to needle time for thrombolysis. Brainomix will improve the speed of diagnosis of acute stroke and the clinical management of patients that can have thrombolysis.

Dr John Morlese, a Consultant Radiologist, said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to give our patients such excellent care. We will soon implement a CT brain perfusion model that will aid delivery of life saving thrombolysis to patients who wake up with an ischaemic stroke. Thank you to Dr Bhatia for his diligence in bringing this to fruition.”

LGBTQ+ History Month

LGBTQ+ History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements.

At our Trust, we are proud to have an active LGBTQ+ group. Throughout February, we will be sharing some content to help celebrate the month and raise awareness. If you would like to find out more or read up on all things LGBTQ+ then head over to the intranet to find out more.

Visit https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/staff-networks/lgbt/ to find lots of useful resources, podcasts, websites and support groups.

You will also find an array of information and events online to attend virtually this month. You may wish to check out these sites for more information:

Happy #LGBTQ+HistoryMonth

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