Monthly archives: August 2021

Teamtalk Staff Briefing: September 2021

TeamTalk took place yesterday (Wednesday 25 August) where colleagues were briefed on national and regional updates as well as the latest news regarding COVID-19.

If you were not able to make the session you can download a copy of the briefing presentation below and watch the TeamTalk video.

TeamTalk September 2021

Heartbeat: But first …. a drink

One of the biggest challenges faced in ward environments is ensuring that patients remain well hydrated. The simple task of ensuring that a patient has enough to drink can have a significant impact on their clinical outcomes, recovery times and overall experience. Whilst jugs of water can be plentiful, how do we ensure that patients take the time to hydrate? This is the focus of the latest campaign set to spread across our Trust in four simple words – but first….a drink.

Confused and disorientated patients can quickly deteriorate if they do not take in enough fluids and this can complicate their hospital stay with kidney infections and constipation. We can all make a difference by following a simple rule, when you interact with a patient who is able to drink safely, take a minute to offer them a drink before you move on to the job at hand.

To find out more about the campaign, Heartbeat spoke to Deputy Medical Director, Dr Chizo Agwu, she said: “Whilst we always ensure that patients have access to jugs of water and their fluid intake is recorded, we can often forget that patients can become confused and disorientated when they are in our care, and simple things like having a drink can simply slip their mind.

“Likewise, in a hectic ward environment where we are all focused on our clinical tasks it is easy to forget the basics and assume patients are hydrated, whilst there might be a refreshing jug of water within arm’s reach of them, are they actually remembering to take a drink?

“We want to ensure that we build a culture in our organisation where regardless of your role on the ward, when you meet a patient we take the opportunity to ensure their basic needs are taken care of. In the case of fluid intake, simply taking a moment to offer the patient a drink (after confirming that they are able to drink safely), checking they have a supply of fresh water or simply brewing them up a cup of tea can be play a pivotal role.

“We want our colleagues to care for our patients holistically, and understand that everything we do has an impact on their care, their experience and their safety.”

Colleagues in community wards have taken the initiative a step further by applying a traffic light system to patient jugs denoting whether a patient has been taking enough drinks to keep well hydrated or needs further support. Sharing her thoughts on the work, Matron, Justine Irish said: “But first a drink and the traffic light system for the water jugs was introduced following a UTI mortality project group meeting that I attended. It was mentioned that a few trusts had implemented the idea to tackle avoidable UTIs and encourage hydration amongst at risk patients. So I thought this ties in really nicely with our nutrition and hydration work, and our safety huddle actions and priorities so let’s give it a try.

“Facilities have been very supportive and as imagined, staff at Rowley are always very eager to try anything that increases the quality and safety of care we afford our patients. The process is quite simple, if you see a patient’s water jug with a red lid at 1pm, you should be looking at your patient’s input, they may have had a few milky drinks that count towards their fluid intake but once they have taken in 750mls or more we can move them to a green lid.”

Functional skills Maths and English courses available for Trust colleagues

Do you want to achieve your Maths or English functional skills? The Trust can offer you the opportunity to gain Maths and English qualifications via the following routes free of charge.

Option 1:

Maths and English courses via online/remote learning sessions delivered by Halesowen College supporting you through to take the examination/s. This will be on Wednesdays for 2 hours for a typical duration of 12 weeks. All classes will be online using Microsoft Teams so students will need a suitable device and internet access to join the sessions. Full details will be provided by Halesowen College about how to access and use this once students are enrolled.

Option 2:

Registration and access to an e-learning portal named ‘BKSB’ where colleagues can independently learn the requirements of Maths and English to prepare themselves to take the examination/s. Mock Examinations are available to support this method of learning when you are ready to be entered for them.

To express your interest to enrol or if you have any questions, please email swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net or call 0121 507 6425 by the Wednesday 1 September confirming which choice of learning you would prefer (option 1 or 2).

Patient safety notice: Potent synthetic opioids implicated in increase in drug overdoses

In the past three weeks there have been an unprecedented number of overdoses (with some deaths) in people who use drugs, primarily heroin, in some parts of the country.

The adulterated heroin used may be paler in colour than usual and may become darker than usual when dissolved for injection (“cooked up”).

There is good evidence from reports that naloxone, the ‘antidote’ to opioid overdoses, works in these cases.

Those in contact with heroin users should be alert to the increased possibility of overdose arising from ‘heroin’ containing synthetic opioids, be able to recognise possible symptoms of overdose and respond appropriately.

We ask all clinical colleagues to bring this safety issue to the attention of everyone and share the potent synthetic opioids patient safety notice.   

Making your way in research – free webinar series

The 70@70 Senior Research Nurse and Midwife Research Leader Programme Midlands Hub is hosting a series of free webinars across the coming months suitable for those involved in clinical or academic research, writing for publication or anyone wanting to find out more.

This series is aimed at all nurses, midwives, AHPs, pharmacists and healthcare scientists.

For further details please see Making your way in research

For more information and booking please email h.moore1@nhs.net.

Transfusion practitioners virtual Q&A session: 2 September

Our transfusion practitioners will be hosting virtual Q&A sessions around everything blood transfusion from 10am – 12pm and 1pm – 3pm on Thursday 2 September.

Join the sessions to find out what the blood transfusion team do and how they can help you.

If you wish to join either digital session,

• 10am – 12pm Session: Click here to join the meeting
• 1pm – 3pm Session: Click here to join the meeting

Click here to find further details on the blood transfusion Connect page.

For more information please email swbh.bloodtransfusion@nhs.net.

ICS health and wellbeing survey

The Integrated Care System (ICS) are developing a website which colleagues and associates can use to find information about common health and wellbeing concerns. The website will act as a central point for health and wellbeing needs, exclusive for Black Country and West Birmingham ICS staff and associates, including health, social care, and local authority staff groups.

To develop the website, NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU) are hosting a survey to understand colleagues views on health and wellbeing.

If you wish to complete the survey please click here.

Note: This survey is open to all colleagues working  for health and care providers across the Black Country and West Birmingham Integrated Care System (ICS). The survey closes on Friday 27 August.

Visionable upgrade: 25 August

An upgrade to Visionable, our virtual consultation system is due to take place between 5.30pm on Wednesday 25 August to 9am on Thursday 26 August.  During this time period, the system will not be available for use.

This latest upgrade will give us greater reporting capabilities together with some user enhancements such as improved Wi-Fi connectivity, upgraded audio from mono to stereo, changes to how you view your appointments in the ‘Live Clinic’ and more.

You do not need to take any action to benefit from the upgrade as this will be rolled out to your device when you log in the next day.

If you have any queries about this upgrade or are interested in hearing more about what Visionable could do for you, please email Roy.aston@nhs.net.

Heartbeat: Distinction all round for Chloe Burling

We have many high flying apprentices across SWB and Chloe Burling falls perfectly into this category having recently attained a distinction in her Level 2 customer service practitioner apprenticeship.

Chloe Burling who was described as “being able to adapt her approach to meet the needs and expectations of her patients” in her Highfield apprenticeship assessment, supports the phlebotomy department with an array tasks and duties. However to become more efficient at her job, Chloe felt it was vital she complete an apprenticeship.

She said: “I thought completing an apprenticeship whilst working in the phlebotomy department would be a great opportunity to kick start my career within the NHS and the Trust; and give the foundations to work towards my goals.

“During my apprenticeship I have learnt the best ways to communicate with my colleagues and patients effectively. I’ve also trained in the area of phlebotomy and I’ve gained more knowledge and understanding of how the organisation works as a whole.”

Chloe has faced challenges whilst completing her apprenticeship and working full time but knows it will prove beneficial.

She added: “Trying to balance working full time with apprenticeship work and learning how to manage my time to stay on top of all the apprenticeship work was initially difficult however, the phlebotomy team and the widening participation apprenticeship team were always super supportive with anything I needed.

“If I was to give advice to anyone who was unsure about completing an apprenticeship I would just say if it is something you think you want to do then just go for it and don’t be scared. Help is always available and the support network whilst completing your studies is fantastic.”

Our phlebotomy department have really embraced the apprenticeship programme and are extremely supportive as in helping our apprentices achieve success.

This is no more evident than with Chloe whose improved skills reflect positively on the department and ultimately improve the service. Chloe played a key role in helping implement the appointment system in phlebotomy during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suki Atkar, Phlebotomy and Reception Manager works closely with Chloe on a daily basis believes she has grown into the team due to being keen to learn and continuously working hard.

Suki said: “Chloe is always willing to learn and adapt especially during the pandemic.”

The phlebotomy team are real advocates of apprentices, especially encouraging development of customer care skills as these are skills that are vital in a department where there are many encounters with different stakeholders on all levels.

When asked about ‘growing your own’ phlebotomy felt this was fundamental, for the team’s success.

Suki added: “Growing our own means we are able to mould apprentices to meet specific needs whilst meeting service expectations.

“If an apprentice grows within the team they form good working relationships with their colleagues and with other members of staff within the Trust. They also build an excellent rapport with the patients over time. This has shown over the last five years or so of having apprentices in the phlebotomy team who have remained with the department after completing their apprenticeship.”

If you are interested in completing an apprenticeship in 2021 please email swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net. We also have an array of degree and higher level apprenticeships available so if this is of interest to you, please get in touch.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 20 August

Summer days, light nights and staycations are upon us. 18 months into the pandemic, we have all found ways to adapt and make the most of these unusual times.

We must remember that COVID-19 has not gone away. As you’ll have seen in recent updates, we are experiencing consistent COVID admissions and a reluctance among some to have the vaccine. We are having to expand the capacity in our hospitals to safely care for patients with COVID-19 that at times means changes at short notice. Thank you for your readiness to support our surge plans and your flexibility in our response to COVID-19.

All colleagues are urged to follow COVID guidelines – sanitise your hands and keep a sensible distance from people in public spaces.

Thank you for your continued dedication.

1. New: Recording of COVID related absence in ESR

In the unfortunate event that a member of your team has to be off sick due to a positive COVID-19 test, has COVID-19 symptoms or in a rare case has had a reaction to the COVID vaccine, line managers need to log the absence correctly in ESR.
If the related reason is added correctly to ESR, the sickness does not get counted as an episode by HR and the employee’s pay and entitlement to sick leave are not reduced in any way. Please do not record an absence if they are working from home.

Should they receive a negative result but remain off sick please close the COVID related sickness and open a new sickness absence without COVID in the related reason.

Managers must ensure absence is recorded accurately on ESR see the guidance on Connect and on e-rostering – for guidance click here.

2. New: Wellbeing Hubs at Sandwell, City and Rowley

Wellbeing Hubs are now available at Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis.

Focusing on ensuring that colleagues have a good day every day, the new hubs aim to help improve mental health, relieve stress, build resilience and restore balance.

Recognising that colleagues need to be able to access services easily, the new hubs are set to provide much needed health and wellbeing for colleagues closer to their work base.

Services in the new wellbeing hubs include:

• Confidential chat – an opportunity for colleagues to offload and talk about anything which is troubling them
• Meditation
• Relaxation POD (massage chair).

The wellbeing hub is completely confidential, all services and treatments are free of charge for Trust colleagues and delivered by trained wellbeing coaches.

The wellbeing hubs are a regular service weekly across all the sites listed below between 8am – 4pm:

• Every Monday in the Jayne Wright Therapy Room, Trinity House, Sandwell
• Every Wednesday in the therapy room Archer, 1st floor, Rowley Regis Hospital
• Every Friday in the therapy room, City Gym

To book a session contact the wellbeing team on 0121 507 5886 or 0121 507 3854.

3. Updated: Join the weekly saliva testing programme to protect your patients and loved ones

 Did you know we currently offer a weekly testing programme for all colleagues that allows you to get reliable results on COVID testing through a completely pain free and non-invasive test?

You can register for LAMP testing and book in to a kit collection slot for the weekly test, which requires you to spit into a tube in the morning before you brush your teeth or an hour after you have eaten.

When you arrive at work, you can deposit your sample into a red collection box. Many of these are positioned around our acute and community sites. And within 24-48 hours you will get a text message confidentially sent to you alerting you to your results.

For a full list of drop off points and for details on how to register, click here.

Packaging samples

In order to help processing at the labs, please make sure that samples are correctly packaged:

	Peel label off the request form and attach it vertically to the outside of the pot, avoiding any overlap so that all details including the barcode can be seen clearly.
	Fold the request form in half top to bottom, then fold again but not quite in half so the patient details show. Put the request form inside the larger bag, in the sleeve for the request form, ensuring that your patient details are visible.  Then place the sealed smaller specimen bag into the outer larger bag sleeve marked LAMP SPECIMEN, sealing the sample sleeve closed, keeping the sample secure

For more information click here.

4. Reminder: Visiting restrictions continue

We are still seeing increasing numbers of COVID-19 positive patients admitted to our hospitals.

Whilst we all wish to return to pre-COVID times, we must not lower our guard, we must stay cautious.

Our current arrangements for colleagues, patients and visitors at the Trust will continue. We must ensure we are able to continue to protect our patients, public and each other. These arrangements will remain in place in line with national guidelines for the NHS.

This also means our visitor guidance will stay in place across all our health services to ensure patients and staff are protected.

As a reminder, in all areas visiting inpatients is permitted for one person at a time for patients who are at end of life and those with limited mental capacity, one parent/guardian of a child as well as other exceptional circumstances. Please make a reasonable local judgement regarding the time you allow for each visit.

Please continue to encourage the use of mobile devices/tablets for families to keep in touch with their loved ones.

5. Reminder: Still on the fence about getting your jab?

Community Services Lead for Sandwell, Ruth Williams is warning people about the dangers of Long COVID – which manifests after the original COVID-19 virus has infected the body. It is not known who will suffer Long COVID or how long it lasts, as Ruth explains some sufferers who attend our community Long COVID clinic have improved then suddenly relapsed with full blown symptoms.

With no cure on the horizon, Long COVID is a risk for those who stay unvaccinated, with potentially life changing consequences.

If you are still unsure about getting vaccinated please talk to a trusted medical colleague or get the facts from reputable sources such as the Red Cross or the NHS.

You can still get your jab
The City Hospital vaccination hub in Sheldon Block is open from 8am – 6pm daily for both walk-ins and bookings via the national booking website.

You can also still get vaccinated at:

• Tipton Sports Academy vaccination centre – open from Monday to Sunday, 8am – 7.30pm OR
• At the Saddlers Shopping Centre, Walsall

6. Reminder: Monitoring You At Home (MYAH)

A reminder about a unique project for confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients monitored via a virtual ward by our clinicians in the community.

Patients referred to the Monitoring You At Home (MYAH) service via their GP or from within the Trust are given an oximeter to measure their oxygen saturation levels for early signs of hypoxia.

COVID-19 mainly affects the lungs and causes a viral pneumonia that can lead to low oxygen levels. By measuring the oxygen levels using the oximeter probe that sits on the patient’s finger, clinicians are able to identify early when a patient’s health deteriorates and can recommend corrective measures.

The programme, rapidly closing in on its first anniversary, is for patients who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and who are not unwell enough to be admitted to hospital but still need to be monitored with oximetry. Those under MYAH are given instructions on how to record their oxygen saturation and their pulse as well as keeping a check on general symptoms.

You can refer your patients to MYAH via Connect

7. Reminder: Discharge to assess hub (D2A)

The D2A team conduct daily reviews of patients requiring discharges and also put plans in place for those patients who could potentially be discharged.

The team will help with patients on the following pathways:

• Pathway 1 = Support to recover at home; able to return home with support from health and/or social care.
• Pathway 2 =  Rehabilitation or short-term care in a 24-hour bed-based setting.
• Pathway 3 = Require ongoing 24-hour nursing care, often in a bedded setting.
• Pathway 4 = End of Life pathway.

All wards are encouraged to use the D2A service for support or queries relating to discharge. Usual processes are unchanged but responses are swifter so please ensure your patients are prepared for discharge as soon as they are declared medically optimised.

You can contact the team on 07815 647936, from 8am to 5pm, 7 days per week.

8. Reminder: We have #ZeroTolerance for colleagues suffering abuse at work

Readers of Heartbeat will have seen that our Chairman, Sir David Nicholson wrote last month about the troubling rise in COVID-19 misinformation, which has brought with it a marked increase in abuse and harassment that colleagues are subjected to whilst trying to do their job.

He wrote of his concerns about reports from colleagues who are being abused by patients ill with COVID, who are denying the virus exists. But regardless of the reason for this abuse, as a Trust and a wider NHS we absolutely will not put up with it. And, to be very clear to those who think they can get away with it, we have created posters which state categorically that we will not hesitate to call the police if we feel threatened.

Education is the way by which we address misinformation, and so as a Trust we continue to work both with mainstream media and our own social media channels to share the truth and be a trusted information source for our communities. You can support us by sharing our content from any of the following:

• https://twitter.com/SWBHNHS
• https://www.facebook.com/SWBHNHS
• https://www.instagram.com/SWBHNHS
• https://www.youtube.com/swbhnhs1
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/swbhnhs

9. Reminder: Visit the sanctuary

Would you like to take 30-90 minutes to look after yourself? We very rarely take the time, so why not book now!

Our Wellbeing Sanctuary gives you the chance to de-stress and relax in a confidential safe place.

The sanctuary has a variety of offerings including:

• Massage
• Chill out downtime over a tea/coffee and a biscuit
• A chat – a listening ear to hear anything you want to talk about in confidence
• Meditation
• Mindfulness
• Relaxation hypnotherapy
• Music therapy

Note: Social distancing measures are in place and PPE and sanitisation is provided on site.

To book please contact the wellbeing team on 0121 507 5886 to book your free session.

The sanctuary is only a 5 minute drive away from City Hospital and a 10 minute drive away from Sandwell Hospital (Learning Works on Unett Street, Smethwick, B66 3SY) with free secured parking right outside.

For further details please see daily sanctuary information sheet.

Additional support, if you need to talk to someone in confidence:

• Counsellors: The NHS direct counselling service: 0800 06 96 222 (7am – 11pm, 7 days a week)
• Bereavement support:0300 303 4434 (8am – 8pm)
• Trouble sleeping: Click here for help and guidance
• Just need a confidence conversation?  Book a one to one at the wellbeing sanctuary by calling 0121 507 5886
• REACT practitioners: Talk to colleagues who have been trained to have a confidential conversation with you near to where you work. Email wellbeinghub@nhs.net to find out who is your nearest REACT practitioner
• SHOUT service: Text SHOUT to 85258 confidential TEXT support
• Chaplaincy team: All our chaplaincy team are trained listeners and people who care for you. You can email causer@nhs.net or call either 0121 507 3552/4055 or 07972 572854 to get in touch with the team