Monthly archives: June 2021

Has your mandatory training safeguarding Level 1 expired?

A number of colleagues have both safeguarding adults Level 1 and safeguarding children Level 1 training which is due to expire this month. If you are going out of date for this training in June you only have until close of play today to complete it before you show as ‘out of date’.

Previously this was covered by a leaflet attached to payslips however it will now need to be completed via e-learning to comply with national standards.

You are urged to check your records and ensure that this training is completed as soon as possible to avoid going out of date.

This training can be completed via e-learning in ESR:

The courses you need to complete are listed below:

• 381 e-learning – safeguarding adults Level 1
• 381 e-learning – safeguarding children Level 1

For more information on how to access and complete the e-learning please click here

Job of the week: Transformation Business Partner

Are you interested in a secondment opportunity at Dudley Group NHS Trust to support our Transformation agenda within the Surgery, Women and Children Division? Then you should consider applying for our Transformation Business Partner position.

They’re looking for an individual to join them until the end of March 2022. You will be someone working in either a band 7 clinical or operational role currently, preferably in a transformation/service improvement/CIP focused environment, and ready to step up and utilise your skillset and experience in a band 8 position.

You will need to have an existing qualification in project management (Prince2) or at least be working towards a planned/booked exam this summer.

Closing date for applications is Tuesday 6 July. The working week is 37.5hours, Monday – Friday 8am-4pm though there is flexibility to work from home two days a week on a team rota. Please click here to apply.

For more information, please email Dara.Bradbury@nhs.net. If you wish to speak someone about the role, you can call Dara Bradbury on 01384 456111 or ext. 3114.

Transfusion practitioner team survey

The transfusion practitioner team are encouraging all nurses, doctors, midwives and allied health professionals to complete a short survey regarding the transfusion practitioner team that will allow them to improve the service.

The aim of the survey is to find out how much colleagues know about our transfusion practitioner team and more importantly, the services they provide.

If you wish to complete the survey, please click here.

Note: The closing date for the survey is Friday 16 July.

Occupational health telephone issues – please email department

occupational health service are currently experiencing intermittent issues with their telephone service. Our telecommunications team are continuing to work to resolve the ongoing issue, however, you may experience difficulties and long delays if trying to call occupational health. With this in mind, to avoid delays, please email occupational health at swbh.ohreferrals@nhs.net should you need to get in contact with the team.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Unison event at Sandwell, 11am – 2pm

Unison are hosting a second event at Sandwell today (Thursday 24 June) until 2pm where colleagues can find out more about the services they offer.

Join the team in the courtyard gardens from 11am – 2pm.

Note: If you choose to sign one of the campaign postcards you can collect your voucher to claim a  free ice cream courtesy of SWBH UNISON.

For more information please call 07375380589 or email swbhunison@outlook.com

North and South bridges being replaced above M6, Junction 10 – expect delays: 2 July – 5 July

Between Friday 2 July – Monday 5 July, the north and south bridges are being replaced above M6, junction 10. Though M6 will not be closed, during this period you should expect severe delays when using M6, junction 10 and surrounding areas. We ask that colleagues try to avoid this area if possible as there will some delays for most of the weekend locally.

Please see below for further details:

• This is the first of four full weekend closures with two new bridges to have span’s lifted and two old bridges to be demolished. Other works will be communicated ahead of time.
• The M6 will not be closed, as Highways England are operating an up and over.
• As a result of the works expect at least 1- 2 hours delays with diversions in place with miles of tailback expected

Heartbeat: Clinic for menopausal bleeding offers one trip for patients

A one-stop clinic for post-menopausal women which cuts down the number of appointments a patient has to attend has been developed by the gynaecology team.

Despite the post-menopausal bleeding clinic (PMB) being a condensed service, it has not compromised the care delivered by clinicians but instead improved it.

Tiff Jones, Sister, said: “Traditionally, women attending for this issue would be seen several times, but this new way of treating patients means that they will spend around an hour and a half at the hospital and will see us once.

“We’d like to stress that this has not compromised the care we deliver in any way – in fact, it has made it better.

“We have always had sessions clinics dedicated to the care and investigation of women who bleed after the menopause, which is the main sign of womb cancer. A patient is considered post-menopausal one year after the natural cessation of periods, so if she bleeds from the vagina after this time, it warrants further investigation.

“Traditionally, a woman would attend for a pelvic ultrasound scan which would be followed by a consultation and biopsy if required. She would then have a further appointment for a hysteroscopy camera investigation, and she may then need a theatre date for treatment.

“As a team, we wanted to do better for our ladies, and new technology enabled us to do this. Mr Ayman Ewies is our Consultant Lead Clinician and, he has been instrumental in moving the service forward.”

Tiff added: “To ensure we could deliver a complete one-stop clinic, we also invested in the training of a specialised nurse hysteroscopist. It enables us to provide sessions around the busy consultant rota and backfill consultant clinics when they are on annual leave to ensure the service continues to be delivered no matter what.

“The development and expansion of this service allows us to see women as we previously did with the investigation starting with an ultrasound scan, but also with specially equipped rooms, new technology and highly trained staff across the team.

“We can now deliver all the necessary investigations and procedures, therapeutic and diagnostic treatments in one visit avoiding the need for theatre settings and general anaesthetics.

“For the majority of women, this new service ensures the patient only has to attend one hospital appointment. It increases the speed at which we can perform required surgeries and obtain histology results. We hope to eliminate any delays in treatment pathways and target times, but our main focus is to make our ladies journey more complete in just one visit.

We always want to be the best team that we can, to support our women every step of the way.”

Works around City Hospital during June

Throughout the rest of June there will be building works to the City Road and Western Road junction:

• Footway widening works on junction of Western Road and Dudley Road – these are the continuation of the works which have been on going to the former Wester Road garage. The works are currently being undertaken and should be completed by 18 June. These works will have no effect on traffic/pedestrian movement.
• Outbound carriageway widening – works to include demolition of brick wall and hoardings, excavation for new carriageway / footways, installation of ducting for service diversions within the proposed footways. These works will in general be off line i.e. will not have an affect on the existing carriageway/footways however implementation of footway closures /diversions and lane closures will be put in place in order to remove the existing brick walls. These works will be ongoing for the remainder of this year.
• Footway improvements works between the hospital’s entrance off Dudley Road and the junction with Western Road.
• Works to Windmill pub –  these works will take around four weeks to complete and will not have any affect on traffic/pedestrian movements. While these works are on going  temporary site accommodation will be installed on the highway verge to the side of the pub.

Though there will be a team present who will control flow of pedestrians and vehicles when necessary, we ask that colleagues please be mindful and remain vigilant when accessing City Hospital and the surrounding areas on foot and by car.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Staff Side: Issues with parking at City Hospital

Message from Staff Side Collective

Staff Side have had some reports regarding parking spaces being limited at certain times of the day at the City Hospital Site. Staff Side want to work with staff and management to come up with a short term solution until the new car park work is completed. Management have asked us to indicate the extent of any parking issues.

Could colleagues who have been experiencing any car parking issues lately please contact staff  side through our confidential staff side email address (swbh.unioncollective@nhs.net), indicating which car park you have been experiencing issues with, the time of day it seems to be occurring and indicate if this is having an impact on your working day.

Those of you who may not have experienced any personal issues with obtaining a car parking space but may have experienced visitors being unable to park, could you indicate how many times this is happening and at what particular time of the day it is occurring as well as any possible impact it is having on your service.

World Continence Awareness Week

World Continence Awareness Week aims to raise awareness of incontinence related issues.

Did you know around 14 million people in the UK suffer with some form of bladder condition and 6.5 million with a bowel condition? In addition to this, 1 in 8 of us live with an overactive bladder. This is a health concern for so many, who often suffer in silence.

Continence care webinar series

Nursing Times will be hosting a series of five free webinars throughout World Continence Awareness Week aimed at clinical colleagues to help develop knowledge and more importantly improve the quality of continence care. To find out more and join the sessions, please click here.

Our continence service is an open access service for residents who have Sandwell GP. During a holistic assessment they look at lifestyle changes and health promotion and can discuss appropriate therapies including pelvic floor exercises, bladder retraining and medication as well referral onto other services. If you are interested in joining the association for continence advisors or want to contact the service please email continence.team@nhs.net for further details.