Monthly archives: November 2021

Unity requesting for Microbiology and Blood Bank now back online

Unity requesting for Microbiology and Blood Bank is now back online and departmental business continuity plans for requesting Microbiology and Blood bank tests can now be stood down.

However, colleagues are asked to input orders in to Unity and to send printed requisitions with samples for Microbiology and Blood bank.

Further details of changes to service provisions and contact details can be found in the attached documents:

Don’t miss out – have your say in the NHS Staff Survey!

There are less than two weeks left to have your say in the national staff survey. Everyone in our workplace is being given the opportunity to take part.

How motivated do you feel about coming to work?
How safe do you think our organisation is?

You can tell us what you think about this and a lot more. All it takes is 15 minutes of your time.

You will have received an invitation to take part via email. Some colleagues will get paper surveys delivered directly to their home addresses.

This week and next, colleagues from communications and informatics will be visiting clinical areas to support the completion of the survey. Managers are urged to encourage and make arrangements for teams to share their views.

Do take the time to share your views. Senior managers will use the results to make improvements locally.

Louise Wilde, Head of Midwifery recently completed the survey as she feels it is important to do this in order to influence change.

If you have any queries please email swbh.comms@nhs.net.

Fraud Awareness Week: NHS finance chief sentenced for fraud

This week as part of Fraud Awareness Week, we’re bringing you some cases from across the country where people have been caught committing fraud.

A former Director of Finance, Stephen Day (51, of Queich Mill, Blairgowrie), was sentenced to 11 years and five months’ imprisonment for a series of serious fraud offences (Leeds Crown Court, 15 April 2021). The total loss to the NHS amounted to £88,000.

From November 2012 to January 2013, Mr Day fraudulently occupied three full-time senior NHS positions at once. He obtained the roles through two employment agencies, who were both unaware of his deception.

Mr Day worked as a full time director of finance for both Merseyside CSU and South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula Clinical Commissioning Group between 1st November 2012 and 14th January 2013, fraudulently earning a combined salary of £2000 a day.

In December 2012, Mr Day accepted a third simultaneous NHS director of finance position, with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership Trust.

To cover his tracks, Mr Day used a range of excuses for his numerous absences, from needing to “work from home”, to receiving “cancer treatment”. On one occasion, he said that his father had died.

Greater Manchester Police later launched their own investigation into Mr Day after receiving four separate allegations which amounted to over £1.3 million in suspected fraudulent activity.

Mr Day pleaded guilty to 12 charges of fraud and theft, including three counts relating to the NHS. He is to serve a minimum of half of the sentence in prison, with the remainder on licence.

The full article can be found on the NHS CFA website here.

All suspicions of fraud or bribery should be reported to the Local Counter Fraud Specialist Sophie Coster (Tel: 07436 268747), Chief Finance Officer Dinah McLannahan; or NHSCFA via 0800 028 40 60.

Notice Fraud November: In this November issue we focus on current fraud trends across the NHS, providing you with some useful insights into current fraud risk areas and details of some recent fraud investigations. Click here to check it out.

Education centres unmanned on 18 November

The education centres at both Sandwell and City will not be manned on Thursday 18 November as the team will be off site on their team away day. A limited number of pre-booked meetings will go ahead as scheduled in the centres. Rooms will be open for these meetings and IT set up in advance. The rooms will be locked when the meetings end.

Note: The library team will be on hand to direct visitors if required.

If you need to contact the team please email swb-tr.SWBH-GM-MEC-Reception@nhs.net and a member of the team will get back to you upon their return.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Drop in sessions at City to trade pagers to mobile phone bleep system

The mobile device management team will be at City Hospital on the below dates from 10am – 2pm supporting colleagues who have pagers to be upgraded to the new mobile phone based bleep app that is currently being rolled out to our Trust. Colleagues who hold a bleep can drop in to one of the sessions to have their aging bleeps traded in for a brand new mobile phone with the new app installed.

Wednesday 24 November, tutorial room 4, Postgraduate Centre
Thursday 2 December, surgical skills room, Postgraduate Centre

Note: This roll out will not affect emergency bleeps at this time.

For more information please contact the mobile device management team on 0121 507 5134.

COVID and mental health webinar: 2 December

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are hosting a special COVID and mental health webinar on Thursday 2 December, 11am – 12.30pm. The webinar will have a host of clinical experts from across NHS to provide an update on the pandemic, how to keep safe and better ways of looking after your mental health. There will be a Q&A opportunity to put questions forward to all the panel members.

For further details and to join, please click here.

Flu myths – solved!

Do you have a question regarding the flu jab, or are you unsure about whether you should head to a pop-up clinic to get vaccinated? Fear not, we are here to clear up some myths that you might have heard.

MYTH! This is not true. The viruses that cause flu can change every year, so you need a vaccination each year that matches the new viruses. The vaccine usually provides protection for the duration of the flu season that year.

If you need to book either your flu or COVD vaccine you can do so by clicking here.

Alternatively, you can visit one of our vaccination hubs on site:

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 at Sandwell will be held on 24 November in the Berridge Room.
A pop-up clinic is also operating at Rowley Regis Hospital, where no appointment is needed. The next pop up at Rowley is due 25 November, with walk-ins able to come in to Westwood ward from 9am – 4pm. Colleagues will also be able to get their vaccinations at Tipton from now and throughout December.

Note: COVID-19 boosters are also available and safe to have alongside the flu jab. There must be at least six months (182 days) between your second dose of your COVID-19 jab and your booster.

Do you have any other myths that need busting? You can contact the vaccine hub on 0121 507 4404.

Trust security update

We heard the terrible news of an explosion at Liverpool Women’s Hospital that occurred on Sunday 14 November. Our thoughts are with all involved.

This incident is currently being led by Counter Terrorism Police and is continuing at pace.

Incidents such as this are very rare and there is currently no direct threat to our Trust or the NHS as a whole. We would however urge all colleagues to remain calm but vigilant.

Further advice on the actions to take during such incidents can be found here.

Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) awareness e-learning is available via the security web pages on Connect.

To report an incident please contact the security team on ext. 2222. If it is an emergency please call the police on 999.

Fab Change Day 2021

This year, Fab Change Day takes place on Wednesday 24 November. It’s an opportunity to share and celebrate the work that has been done by you, your ward or your service to deliver services during a pandemic.

Fab Change is about capturing your work from the last year and ensuring it is celebrated, and that the learning isn’t forgotten. We also want to ensure that the things you have done to support your colleagues and the often small changes you have made to services and care for patients during the last year are shared, learned from and taken forward into the coming year.

You can read all the fab stories on the Fab Change website by clicking here or follow along on Twitter by using the #FabChange21

If you believe you have a fab story to share please contact library services on ext. 3587 or email swbh.library@nhs.net and they can upload it online on your behalf. This could be a written piece, a poster or presentation about any small or large change made during the pandemic that lead to an improvement for colleagues or patients.