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Monthly archives: October 2021

Apprenticeship team gets ranked ‘Good’ following full Ofsted Inspection

 

Our SWB apprenticeship team recently were ranked ‘Good’ in all categories following their most recent full Ofsted Inspection. If you wish to read the full Ofsted report, please click here.

The quality of education      Good
Behaviour and attitudes      Good
Personal development      Good
Leadership and management      Good
Apprenticeships      Good

If you are interested in career development through an apprenticeship training programme or employing an apprentice into your team please email swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net.

If you are interested in degree and higher level apprenticeships, please take a look at what is available by clicking here and if something is of interest please contact swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net for the next steps.

Online Grand Round: Transparency in death

 

We will be hosting an online Grand Round on Thursday 21 October 12.30pm – 1.30pm via Microsoft Teams.

The main topic will led by Lauren Wood, Mortuary Services Manager and focus on the need to encourage transparency in death.

If you wish to join this event, please click here.

Recognising Allied Health Professional day

 

Did you know today (Thursday 14 October) is National Allied Health Professional (AHP) Day?

The awareness day aims to raise awareness of all the allied professions across SWB and recognise the achievements of local services and their impact on patient care and population health.

To find out more about AHPs Day nationally, and its grass roots beginnings please visit the NHS England AHPs day web page.

Procurement team achieve Level 2 in the NHS Procurement and Commercial Standards

 

Congratulations to our procurement team for achieving Level 2 in the NHS Procurement and Commercial Standards. The standards were developed to assess a Trust’s procurement function in the following six areas:

  • Strategy and organisation
  • People and skills
  • Strategic procurement
  • Supply chain
  • Data, systems and performance management
  • Policies and procedures

There are 4 levels in the standards:

  • Level 0 – No accreditation
  • Level 1 – Building
  • Level 2 – Achieving
  • Level 3 – Excelling

The Trust was awarded Level 1 status in November 2019 and followed this up with a Level 2 assessment in February 2021 which was successful and highlights the improvement in procurement. Having Level 2 status puts us in the top 25 per cent of all trusts, with no trust to date having achieved Level 3.

Look out for further information about this fantastic achievement in the next issue of Heartbeat.

 

Have you visited the Wellbeing Sanctuary yet?

 

Managing our stress and mental health is as important as our physical health and the sanctuary is a place to do both.

Join us for some well-earned relaxation, a chance for a relaxing massage, mediation or a confidential chat. These are all complimentary services available to all our colleagues you can book several at once.

At the wellbeing sanctuary we are here to support you with the following Monday – Friday:

  • A confidential conversation – A totally private conversation to support you
  • Relaxation hypnotherapy – a chance to unwind and work on improving unhelpful behaviour
  • Single session therapy – a chance to work on something that concerns you
  • Meditation – unwind let go and escape to exotic places to unwind
  • Massage – Tracey really helps ease those tension spots to relieve stress
  • Mindfulness – helps you to relax in the here and now and it’s a chance to let go
  • Relaxation pod – massage from your head to the tips of your toes

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. To book please call 0121 507 5886/3854.

October is Speak Up Month

 

The pandemic has highlighted that speaking up has never been more important for the benefit of colleagues and patients.

October marks Speak Up Month, an opportunity to raise awareness and the difference which Freedom to Speak Up is making. This year the National Guardian’s Office is encouraging everyone to play their part to Speak up, Listen up and Follow up.

During Speak Up Month, at SWB we encourage managers to use this as an opportunity for discussion with their colleagues and teams. Speaking up is an important part of a culture that focuses on safety and quality, and we would like you and your teams to play a part in encouraging these conversations to be part of who we are and how we work.

The National Guardian’s Office, in association with Health Education England, has also developed an e-learning package which is freely available for anyone wherever they work. You can access it here: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/freedom-to-speak-up/) The first module, Speak Up, available for all workers, describes what speaking up is and why it is important. The second session, Listen Up, is aimed at managers at all levels and focuses on listening and understanding the barriers to speaking up. The final module, Follow Up, aimed at senior leaders – including executive and non-executive directors, lay members and governors – is coming soon.

Our staff network leads can also be contacted if you want to raise a concern. You can contact our staff networks using the details below.

Our Speak Up Guardians are part of regional and national networks sharing ideas and experiences, a wealth of experience and information to help you Speak Up. You can see a list of Freedom to Speak up Guardians and their contact details below:

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians:

  • Rosie Auld – Rosie is Head Orthoptist in Surgery though she works across all the Trusts’ sites. Email: rosieauld@nhs.net
  • Ian Galligan – Ian is a Technical Supervisor in Medical Engineering. Email: ian.galligan1@nhs.net
  • Sandra Kennelly – Sandra works in the community as a Clinical Team Leader/ Occupational Therapist with Primary Care, Community and Therapies. Email: sandra.kennelly@nhs.net
  • Harpal Tiwana – Harpal works in Primary Care, Community and Therapies as an Assistant Service Manager. Email: harpal.tiwana@nhs.net
  • Cheryl Newton – Cheryl is the Group Director of Nursing for Women and Child Health Group. Email: cheryl.newton@nhs.net

Heartbeat: Hello my name is… Demetri Wade

 

This month we introduce Demetri Wade who has recently been confirmed in his role as group director of operations in medicine and emergency care. The role will see him lead the operational delivery of patient care within the medicine and emergency care group.

Starting his NHS career clinically as a diagnostic radiographer, Demetri soon made the decision to pursue a future career in operational leadership. This is where his passion lies and he sought to more broadly influence the provision of high quality patient care and experience with a well-supported team.

Demetri said: “I have undertaken various clinical and operational roles and in addition to my current position have supplementary commitments with national regulators to improve care quality. This new role is wide ranging but in practice generally means putting the processes in place to ensure we have sufficient numbers of clinical staff, equipment and resources to support them, and governance and procedures for the specialities to provide services to patients.

“As an operational leader with a clinical background I put patients at the centre of my decision making and manage the practical delivery of services alongside providing the best care possible. I value my team and all colleagues within the group and SWB family very highly and consider the wellbeing, job satisfaction, development and contribution of all to be a primary focus of my role.”

Demetri’s passion for high quality patient care is highlighted through his work on leading preparations for the Midland Met, he continued: “I am leading our preparations for MMUH with the group leadership team and plan to deliver this with the support of colleagues and the project team. MMUH presents the opportunity not only to improve the environment for our patients, but also optimise the way in which care is delivered. There are also exciting improvements for staff with a learning campus to provide training and development and the ability to work in a building designed for best practice care delivery.

“I am most looking forward to helping the group on its improvement journey and continuing to work with colleagues that are passionate about what they do and providing high quality care and experience for our patients.”

Good luck in your role Demetri!

Join the Santa run on 12 December and help raise funds for Your Trust Charity!

 

Put on your Santa suit and challenge yourself to run, walk or cycle to raise money for the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital appeal om Sunday 12 December!

There are three distances to choose from all starting from our hospital sites and ending at the new super hospital building in Smethwick where participants will be able to enjoy some festive treats.

  • Starting site: City Hospital, Distance: 2km
  • Starting site: Sandwell Hospital, Distance: 5km
  • Starting site: Rowley Regis Hospital, Distance: 8km

Entry is £20 adults and £10 for children with both including a Santa suit. The suggested fundraising target is £50 for adults and £30 for children.

To sign up and find out more, please click here.

World Sight Day: 14 October

 

World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October aims to bring global attention on vision impairment, including blindness.

Globally, at least 1 billion people have near or distance vision impairment that could be prevented or has yet to be addressed. Vision impairment affects people of all ages, with the majority being over the age of 50. Vision impairment and blindness can have major and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities and the ability to access public services.

At SWB, BMEC is currently one of the largest eye centres in Europe and is constantly developing to meet the demands of our ever changing society. Our main focus is the treatment and care of patients with a wide range of eye problems from common complaints like cataracts to rare conditions which need treatments not available elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The centre offers a comprehensive and seamless ophthalmic service that is internationally renowned. The centre receives tertiary referral cases from throughout the Midlands and further a field. BMEC works on a Hub and Spoke Principle, BMEC being the hub, the spokes being Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Russells Hall Hospital and Solihull Hospital.

If wish to get in contact with BMEC, please call 0121 507 4440.

Critically Appraised Topic (CAT) Groups coming soon – sign up CAT day session to find out more!

 

The Nursing, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHPPS) Research Group in the Trust will be introducing CAT Groups within the Trust in 2022. This is based on the approach developed by Keele University. Topics for discussion are decided within the group (consisting of clinicians) and are generated from clinical practice. Evidence is considered and recommendations in practice are developed by consensus.

The benefits of such an approach are:

  • Helps develop evidence-based pathways for safe and effective patient care
  • Contributes to service improvements, research and development
  • Gaps in evidence will lead to developing a research question and possibly progressed to a research trial.
  • Facilitates learning within the organisation.

If this interests you and want to learn more, then sign up for a free CAT in Day session organised by Keele University on Thursday 11 November by emailing a.j.bratt@keele.ac.uk

The agenda for the session can be accessed by clicking here.

The NMAHPPS Research Group is working on a strategy and programme of activities to increase research involvement, including using evidence based practice, for our non-medical clinical colleagues. If you are interested in knowing more or getting involved, please contact Gina.Dutton1@nhs.net.

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