Monthly archives: October 2021

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 29 October

By Dinah McLannahan, Chief Finance Officer

Dear colleagues,

Last week Richard’s message was very brief, but to the point;

• Please get your COVID booster jabs done ASAP
• Please get your flu jab done ASAP
• Please complete your staff survey return ASAP

I do hope you have been able to act on this request this week, and if not yet, have imminent plans to do so. I saw a league table of flu vaccine uptake in our region this week – nationally uptake is at an average of 34% according to that data – we are at 28%, and 9^th from the bottom. The HSJ also reported on COVID vaccine uptake and we featured as one of 16 Trusts nationally where fewer than 5 in 6 colleagues have had both initial dose vaccines. We aren’t proud of this performance and regularly discuss what we can do to improve it. If there is something you think we are not doing, let us know by emailing swbh.comms@nhs.net.

Protecting yourself, your families and friends, your colleagues and our patients becomes even more important as we head in to what is almost certain to be one of the toughest winters for the NHS. We continue to plan and implement initiatives and schemes that will help us manage the inevitable challenges ahead. You will all have seen in the news the risks around the cost of energy at the moment. Did you know our Trust has a budget of c£6.6m per annum for electricity and gas? The risks around prices at the moment means that could increase to over £10m – a cost pressure of nearly £4m. We will see what transpires with the market and perhaps the NHS will be compensated for these pressures – but in the meantime, recognising we do have some very energy inefficient buildings, please “do your bit” by turning lights off and saving electricity where possible, closing doors and windows (subject to ventilation needs), and don’t have the heating on if it’s not needed!

Continuing on with the energy theme, next Wednesday the Midlands Greener NHS team are staging a regional virtual roadshow for NHS colleagues to find out more about the NHS carbon ‘net zero’ target – and how everyone can play their part in creating a greener NHS right here in the Midlands. It runs from 1.30pm to 4.30pm. You can secure your place at Midlands regional roadshow by booking-on via clicking here.

The event will mark ‘one year on’ from the NHS becoming the first health system in the world to set an ambitious net zero target and will coincide with the UK hosting COP26, the UK’s international climate change conference. It will also be a chance to find out more about the national and regional work that’s already underway to help ‘green’ the NHS, as well as hearing how NHS people across the East and West Midlands are bringing that work to life through examples of good practice from across medicines, estates and facilities, procurement and the supply chain, travel and transport and PPE.

October is Black History Month and yesterday Unison in conjunction with the equality, diversity and inclusion team and the BME Staff Network hosted a special Black History Month event at Miller’s Restaurant. Of course we can together celebrate Black history all year round and I would strongly encourage this approach – for all of our wonderful diverse workforce. Tonight I am so proud and delighted to be representing our Trust and attending a dinner and awards ceremony to celebrate Black History Month and reward and recognise the achievements of our Black Caribbean / Black African frontline heroes from the Black Country and West Birmingham Trusts and their efforts during the COVID 19 pandemic.

Have a great week 🙂

#bekind

COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 29 October

1. New: Act now to get protected

Dr Nick Sherwood, Intensive Care Consultant, and Emergency Planning Clinical Lead took a few minutes out of intensive care yesterday to record this important message for all colleagues. He wanted to urge everyone to get their COVID booster and flu vaccination shots as soon as possible. Watch his clip to see why.

It couldn’t be easier to get vaccinated as we are operating walk-in clinics for the COVID booster jab and flu vaccination at various sites across the Trust.

What you need to know

If you would prefer to have your flu and COVID vaccination separately, you can split your jabs by booking two separate appointments. You can also let us know when you attend a walk-in clinic.

COVID-19 boosters will be Pfizer and those eligible include those who have had their second dose (including Pfizer or Astra Zeneca) and have no contraindications to the Pfizer vaccination.

We are currently unable to offer the Astra Zeneca vaccination as a booster. We have a clinical pathway in the approval process which will mean that those not eligible for Pfizer will be able to receive the Astra Zeneca vaccine once our pathway is approved.

If you are unable to have Pfizer, the vaccine team will discuss alternative options with you. Please pop in to the hub or call the team on 0121 507 4404.

There must be at least six months (182 days) between your second dose of your COVID-19 jab and your booster.

Note: The Sandwell vaccination hub will close permanently after Sunday 31 October but pop up clinics will be held on 5, 10 and 24 November in the conference room in the Sandwell Education Centre.

The City vaccination hub will remain open seven days a week where colleagues will be able to receive their flu jab and COVID booster. A pop-up clinic will operate on Monday at Rowley Regis Hospital, where no appointment is needed. Colleagues will also be able to get their vaccinations at Tipton from now and throughout December.

Prefer to book an appointment?

You can book an appointment at the clinics below this weekend:

Any queries should be directed to louise.brown25@nhs.net or mary.parker8@nhs.net

2. New: Respiratory Hub celebrates updated ward status

Pictured outside D17 are Franky Davi, Staff Nurse, with Sisters Sandy Verdi and Abbie Millard, who are all delighted that the Respiratory Hub was able to go amber/red earlier this week after being red throughout the pandemic.

Please watch the video below to hear how they are feeling.

3. New: Have your elf a merry little Christmas

December is fast approaching, and once again, thoughts turn to how best to celebrate Christmas across our organisation.

We must acknowledge that Christmas will be different to previous years and be ready to adjust our plans as winter unfolds. That said, we are happy to share our plans to enjoy the festive season at SWB.

Infection control remains our top priority, and we have made some adjustments to last year’s guidance to help areas celebrate Christmas locally. Please note should we experience any outbreaks, all decorations will need to be removed and disposed of.

This is what areas can do this year providing the following guidance is adhered to:

• Christmas trees can be displayed
• All decorations and trees must be flame retardant
• All decorations, including lights, must be wipeable and cleaned before being displayed
• Decorations cannot be in any area where clinical procedures take place, e.g. bays/side rooms on wards
• Decorations should be limited to a single area on wards to ensure effective cleaning can take place
• Decorations attract dust – do not suspend them from walls and ceilings
• If a ward is closed due to an outbreak of an infection, e.g. Norovirus, you must dispose of all  decorations

For more details please see the Christmas information sheet. Any further queries should be directed to the IPC team on ext. 5195.

4. New: Product recall – Obisk brand face masks – type IIR

We have recently received a product recall concerning a brand of Obisk type IIR face masks affecting both ear loop and tie back. Only five batch/lot numbers are affected which are listed below and they can be found on the side of the box.

• 101000345
• 101000346
• 101000348
• 101000349
• 101000350

For further details please see Obisk blue tree face mask information sheet.

Please check any stock you may have of these face masks. If you find any of the five affected batch/lot numbers, please ensure you isolate them and call Lisa Southall on ext. 4938.

5. Updated: Trust Bank rates

Earlier this year we reviewed our pay rates for shifts undertaken via the Trust Bank. Our preference was and remains to try to fill shifts where staff are absent due to ill health or vacancies, via our own Trust Bank rather than via agency. This is because we have greater assurance over the quality of care from our own colleagues who are used to our systems and processes.

We recognise that colleagues are understandably keen to know what our plans are as we head into winter. Our current rates are under review, but remain as they are for now and we will provide an update in the next few weeks.

6. Updated: Patient visiting arrangements

Since the start of the pandemic, we have restricted visitors into our hospitals to protect our patients, the public and each other.

Our current arrangements at the Trust are under review and we are planning to reintroduce phased visiting arrangements. We will share a more detailed update in next week’s COVID bulletin.

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.

7. Reminder: Join the saliva testing programme to protect your patients and loved ones

Did you know saliva testing (known as LAMP – Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification) is a speedy and less invasive way of detecting COVID-19?

You can book 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.

You can find drop off points and more information by clicking here.

If you are still unsure how to complete your LAMP test, be sure to check out the step-by-step guide in the video below.

Even if you are vaccinated it is vital that you register and carry out the weekly tests as they will help identify if you’re asymptomatic. Your saliva sample is ONLY used to test for COVID and is disposed of after testing.

The weekly saliva test is an easy way to help us all ensure we are remaining safe and playing our part in the battle against COVID-19.

Uptake of the weekly saliva test is monitored to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect our patients, the public and each other.

The latest data by group is below:

8. Reminder: Wellbeing Hubs at Sandwell, City and Rowley

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 will include:

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

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

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

• Every Mondays at Jayne Wright Therapy Room, Trinity House, Sandwell
• Every Wednesday at Rowley Regis Hospital – therapy room Archer, first floor, Rowley Regis Hospital
• Every Friday in the therapy room, City Gym
• Monday – Friday at the Sanctuary, Unett Street, Smethwick B66 3SY.

Further details of schedule will be available shortly but if you would like to register your interest and book in to one of our first sessions contact the wellbeing team on 0121 507 5886 or 0121 507 3854. Alternatively, you can email Jatinder.sekhon@nhs.net.

Unity Clinical systems and processes affected by clock change on 31 October, 12.45am – 1am

Clocks are set to go back this month on Sunday 31 October, please be assured Unity will remain fully available. However, because all of our systems are not yet aligned we are asking you to take note of the following:

For up to 75 minutes:

• New patients will not be able to be registered on iPM (Lorenzo) and FirstNet – full BCP required.
• Medisoft will not show new patients – full BCP required.
• Radiology/pathology orders placed in Unity will be queued and not delivered until 1am GMT. – BCP required.
• New results will not be visible in Unity during this time but will be sent once the systems come back up.
• Inpatients admitted from ED will not show up in iPM until the systems are back up.
• Inpatients transferred between wards will show on Capman but not on iPM until the systems are back up.
• Inpatients discharged during this time will not show as discharged in iPM until the systems are back up.
• Any new baby registrations will not be able to be completed until the systems are back up.

Colleagues will need to ensure they revert to BCPs for blood tests and imaging requests during this time. Pathology iLAB will be enabled. Other Unity functionality such as documentation and Meds Admin will not be affected by this activity. Desktop alerts will be issued from 6pm reminding colleagues about the planned downtime.

Please also be aware that if a clinical action was scheduled to take place between 1am to 1:59am on Sunday 31 October, you may see the message below, highlighting an inconsistency in times.

Ambiguous time message

This dialog could appear for some users after the time change occurs.  Please note this is not an error and perfectly normal.

If a clinical action is scheduled to occur during the duplicate hour (from 1.00am to 1.59am) a user could potentially get this popup.

Select “Daylight”    If the action is to take place in the FIRST 1.00 to 1.59 hour

Select “Standard” If the action is to take place in the SECOND 1.00 to 1.59 hour

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

Complaint training session: 24 November

A complaint training session has been arranged to take place on the below date:

• Wednesday 24 November, 12pm – 1.30pm

The training will cover the Trust’s expectations if you are contacted by the complaints team and complaint regulations all colleagues need to be aware of.

Note: Further dates will be scheduled for 2022.

To join one of these sessions and for more information please contact maureen.robinson3@nhs.net.

Limited library service: 2 November

On Tuesday 2 November our library and knowledge service team will be taking a recovery day meaning both City and Sandwell libraries will be operating a reduced service.

The service will resume as normal on Wednesday 3 November. Should you need to contact the service please email swbh.library@nhs.net.

Note: 24 hour access and self-service kiosks will remain available in both libraries.

Updating NHS Identity Agent from 1 November

On Monday 1 November, the IT team will be deploying an update to the NHS Identity Agent that is currently deployed on computers across our Trust. The NHS Identity Agent is used by clinical systems to authenticate users and allows you to login to systems using your smartcard. This is a requirement from NHS Digital to ensure the Trust is compliant with the latest release for security reasons.

The update process will begin on Monday 1 November and be steadily pushed out to computers across our organisation over a period 10 days as per rollout schedule below. The update should automatically begin and once complete will require colleagues to reboot their machine before it can be fully applied.

Proposed rollout schedule:

• Machines with Name like SWBH_______0 – deployed on Monday 1 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______1 – deployed on Monday 1 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______2 – deployed on Wednesday 3 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______3 – deployed on Wednesday 3 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______4 – deployed on Friday 5 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______5 – deployed on Friday 5 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______6 – deployed on Monday 8 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______7 – deployed on Monday 8 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______8 – deployed on Wednesday 10 November
• Machines with Name like SWBH_______9 – deployed on Wednesday 10 November

Unity and supporting systems will remain online and accessible throughout this update, however colleagues will need to be prepared to reboot their computers when prompted.

To allow the update to push out to devices overnight, please ensure you do not switch the power off at the plug, simply logout of your account when you leave.

For laptop users based in the office the update will take effect as normal when logged on. 

For laptop users that are working remotely continue to connect via Pulse Secure VPN for the update to take effect.

The update will be closely monitored by the IT team and colleagues are asked to ensure they report any other issues they experience during this upgrade to the IT service desk. The service desk team are available on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050.

Join the pensions webinars

Webinar sessions will be held in October and November to update colleagues on the recent changes to the NHS pension scheme. Places are limited (20 per session).

We have arranged for an independent pensions consultancy with specific expertise in this area to provide these overview sessions for you.

The sessions will cover the intricacies of both the Annual and Lifetime Allowances, how to understand your Pension Savings Statement, how to determine if you have a tax charge and how to plan for the future.

Objectives:

• To help you understand the HMRC rules around pension savings and tax
• To understand how the NHS Pension Scheme interacts with the HMRC rules
• To leave with seven key steps/actions for you to follow to set out your own pensions tax position.

Booking:

If you would like to attend a session, there are webinars running on the below dates:

• Monday 8 November
• Thursday 18 November
• Wednesday 24 November
• Thursday 2 December

You can book via this link https://calendly.com/pen-gageltd/sandwell-and-west-birmingham-pensions-tax-webinar

Note: that all sessions are to provide guidance and education, not offer financial advice.

Further information on changes to pensions can be found by clicking here.

Get your vaccinations this week!

Did you know we are operating walk-in clinics for the COVID booster jab and flu vaccination at various sites across the Trust?

Now more than ever, it’s really important that we are all protected not least because we are expecting the next few months to be particularly challenging.

Be sure to check out this video featuring Shaun Thein, Respiratory Specialist Registrar talking about being vaccinated.

There’s the potential for a severe flu season, combined with increased COVID-19 transmission, long COVID and the usual winter illnesses circulating that we avoided last year due to lockdown restrictions.

There are also those patients whose treatment plans were regrettably disrupted due to COVID-19 who may need more care.

So with all these factors in mind, we’ve made it as simple as possible for you to protect yourselves and everyone around you as winter approaches.

You can also book an appointment at the clinics, which are listed below with opening times.

Both vaccinations are perfectly safe to have together. Should you not wish to do this, you can split your jabs by booking two separate appointments or just make it clear when you attend a walk-in clinic.

COVID-19 boosters will be Pfizer and those eligible include those who have had their second dose (including Pfizer or Astra Zeneca) and have no contraindications to the Pfizer vaccination.

There must be at least six months (180 days) between your second dose of your COVID-19 jab and your booster.

Note: The Sandwell vaccination hub will close permanently after Sunday 31 October but pop up clinics will be held on 5, 10 and 24 November in the conference room in the Sandwell Education Centre.

The City vaccination hub will remain open seven days a week where colleagues will be able to receive their flu jab and COVID booster. A pop-up clinic will operate on Monday at Rowley Regis Hospital, where no appointment is needed.

See below table for opening times.

Prefer to book an appointment? Using our easy self-booking system you can arrange an appointment to have your vaccinations at a time and date to suit you. You need your NHS number which you can find on the NHS app or you can book via the following links:

• Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
• NHS website

Receiving your COVID booster/flu jab elsewhere?

If you receive your COVID booster and/or flu vaccination elsewhere please ensure that your place of work is recorded as Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust on the system. This will help to keep your occupational health records updated so that you do not receive further correspondence about the vaccinations.

If you have any other questions regarding the vaccine please contact occupational health on 0121 507 3306.

Colleagues should also be aware that we are now offering walk-in and booked appointments for 12-17 year-olds at the City hub.

 Boost your immunity this winter – get your flu jab and COVID-19 booster.

Do you know about the Intellicentrics portal for supplier representatives?

The Trust has notified suppliers that they are introducing a best practice programme which requires suppliers to demonstrate compliance throughout all departments of the hospitals. This is to supports colleagues and patient safety in their dealings with company representatives so that policies and processes are not unwittingly bypassed and aims to ensure that Trust standards for the care of patients are maintained when company representatives are present.

Please see Intellicentrics portal information sheet for further details.

For more information please contact the procurement team on ext. 4956.

Wellbeing Wednesday: Menopause support programme

In the Trust’s continued effort to support health and wellbeing, we will be gradually increasing the range of resources available to our colleagues over the coming weeks and months.

All managers are particularly encouraged to take part in the sessions to help them understand menopause and how to support staff members who are going through the change.

As part of this effort, in partnership with our STP organisations a series of sessions on menopause are now available to colleagues who may wish to access these for widening their knowledge on a personal level. You can access the information and find out more by clicking here.

Details of the next two session are listed below:

• 27 October –  menopause in the workplace: How an environment of acceptance and openness about menopause can help to create an improved culture change. Hear about how seeking the right support can help to increase productivity in the workplace.
• 18 and 24 November – is it just hormones? Explore the major factors contributing to strained personal and working relationships. Discuss the direct and indirect impact of hormonal changes and how this may present.

Please also see the menopause guide regarding menopause by clicking here.

Missed the last session? You can check it out by watching the video below.