Monthly archives: November 2021

Heartbeat: Hello my name is… Dan Conway

We recently welcome Dan Conway to the Trust as he joins us as Associate Director of Corporate Governance / Company Secretary. In a system as large and complex as the NHS, having a strong understanding of what is meant by good governance and clear aims to achieve corporate and clinical objectives is key to both shaping and maintaining a high-performing organisation. Dan previously worked at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust and is looking forward to experiencing a new healthcare sector. He hopes to grow further within his specialty while supporting his new team and helping the Trust improve.

“I spent 10 years at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust of which the last six years were in the company secretariat department. I progressed from a board support officer, to a deputy company secretary finally becoming a company secretary,” said Dan.

“Within my new role I should be seen as the conscience of the organisation by being be the interface between different elements of the board, the first point of contact for non-executive director’s and a trusted advisor to board members and senior management. I’m here to ensure the Trust and the Board meets all codes of corporate governance that sets out best practice principles and processes to contribute to better organisational performance and provide safe, effective services for patients.”

Dan’s hopes his experience and knowledge he will bring to the role will have a positive impact on SWB. He continued: “I bring a broad experience of providing board level advice on governance, compliance and corporate and strategic risk management. My knowledge will help lead and shape best practice and drive the governance agenda forward.

“Good corporate governance is never a task complete. As the Trust evolves, so does governance as it strives to meet the demands of an ever-changing healthcare system. Good governance is inclusive. I hope to make the Trust governance arrangements simple and effective, and support the organisation to become the best it can be.”

Aside from a breadth of knowledge on all things corporate governance, Dan has a passion for West Bromwich Albion and a love for golf. Welcome to the Trust Dan!

Fraud Awareness Week: £66,000 recovered from fraudster

Throughout Fraud Awareness Week we will be highlighting the most reported frauds across the NHS, providing some guidance on preventing these and identifying when you should report your concerns.

Aled Meirion Jones repaid over £66,000 defrauded from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and other hospitals in South Wales. He repaid the money on the very last day set by the court, to avoid spending two years behind bars.

Between 2017 and 2019, Jones had stolen and altered cheques received from funeral homes across South Wales, worth £33,235.40. The cheques were for doctors who had certified cause of death forms, prior to a person’s body being released for cremation.

The handwritten cheques were made out to the appropriate doctor but the payee details were amended by Jones and paid into his own bank account.

Jones also submitted exaggerated claims for working hours and false claims for locum shifts not worked, to several health boards totalling £33,148.07.

The fraud was first revealed thanks to a tip-off to NHS Counter Fraud Authority’s fraud and corruption reporting line (0800 028 40 60).

Having repaid the money in time, Jones’ sentence was suspended for two years but he was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work in 12 months. A mitigating factor in sentencing was that Jones had a gambling addiction, which was designated as a medical condition.

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

Essential network maintenance affecting bleep system: 18 November, 10.30pm

Please be aware IT will be carrying out essential maintenance to the Trust’s Bleeps paging system on Thursday 18 November from 10.30pm to Friday 19 November at 12.30am. This is required so that we may carry out a planned controlled fail-over of the bleeps system to allow our support vendor to ensure the system is working correctly following some recent issues.

From 10.30pm on Thursday 18 November, the bleep system at all Trust sites will be temporarily unavailable for approximately 60 minutes so colleagues are advised to utilise radios during this time. Please collect radios by 8pm on Thursday evening 19 November and kindly return them to the security control room once the maintenance has completed.

The activity will be closely monitored and desktop alerts will be issued from 6pm to remind colleagues and at completion.

Note: This will affect all staff working the night shift of Thursday 18 November.

Please do call the 24hour IT service desk if you have any queries on this on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050.

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

There are now only 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.

Over the next two weeks 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.

Gemma Charles, Infection Prevention and Control Nurse Advisor recently completed the survey as she enjoys working at SWB she wanted her voice to be heard.

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

Fraud Awareness Week: Conviction for £800,000 NHS and HMRC fraud

Throughout Fraud Awareness Week we will be highlighting the most reported frauds across the NHS, providing some guidance on preventing these and identifying when you should report your concerns.

Conviction for £800,000 NHS and HMRC fraud

Essex IT manager, Barry Stannard (53 of Chelmsford, Essex, previously of Hadleigh, Ipswich), was sentenced to five years and four months’ imprisonment for defrauding the NHS and HMRC of over £800,000 (Chelmsford Crown Court, 30 June 2021).

Stannard was Head of Unified Communications at Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust (now Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust).

He had submitted a ‘nil return’ declaration of interests form to the Trust but was actually the director of two companies. These companies received large sums of money from the Trust over at least seven years, because Stannard was submitting and then authorising the invoices.

No products  or services invoiced for by these companies were ever provided to the NHS.

Stannard also charged for VAT with a registration number that didn’t belong to his companies. The VAT he charged the NHS totalled £132,000 and was never passed to HMRC.

The fraud was identified after the Trust ran a data matching exercise on its payroll and accounts payable records, alongside Companies House records.

Stannard pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation and two of  cheating the public revenue. The total amount defrauded over a seven-year period was £806,229.80.

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

Stars of the Week: Lynda Jones and Paul Quibell-Smith

Our Stars of the Week are Lynda Jones, Ward Service Officer and Paul Quibell-Smith, Senior Charge Nurse.

Both Lynda and Paul went above and beyond to safeguard the wellbeing of a patient.

Lynda and Paul were commended for demonstrating our care promises in the care of our patients.

Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and beyond the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the Week by clicking here.

Do you know how to contact the patient safety team?

We would like to introduce colleagues to the new patient safety team who are based In Trinity House in the governance department at Sandwell.

Should you have any generic queries you can contact the team by emailing swb-tr.RiskManagement@nhs.net

Should you need to contact the team directly about a specific query about a particular area, please see contact details below:

James Bielby, head of patient safety and risk:

• Direct dial: 0121 507 4974
• Mobile: 07929 653159
• Email: robert.bielby@nhs.net

Alex Thomson, patient safety manager for medicine, imaging, pathology and pharmacy:

• Direct dial: 0121 507 4850
• Mobile: 07929 653028
• Email: alex.thomson6@nhs.net

Julie Goodwin, patient safety manager for surgery, PCCT and women child health:

• Direct dial: 0121 507 4885
• Mobile: 07814 228478
• Email: Julie.goodwin16@nhs.net

Claire Richards, patient safety facilitator:

• Direct dial: 0121 507 2346
• Email: claire.richards14@nhs.net

COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 12 November

Numbers not statistics: This week (last week)

1. New: National policy announcement on frontline mandatory vaccination for health care staff

Colleagues may have read or heard about a new government policy which will affect all frontline colleagues regarding compulsory COVID-19 vaccination. Whilst we are yet to receive the detailed national guidance on what this means for our staff, it is nevertheless a clear signal that vaccination is expected for all NHS staff, particularly those providing direct patient care. Please see attached letter for more information.

Thank you to the vast majority of our staff who are up to date with their COVID vaccinations and boosters, we appreciate your diligence. We will provide more detailed guidance on our Trust approach once we have received and reviewed the national guidance, but in the meantime we continue to urge you to book your COVID vaccines/booster jab or walk in to the following hubs:

• 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 in the Sandwell Education Centre.
• 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.

There must be at least six months (182 days) between your second dose of your COVID-19 jab and your booster. Any queries please call the vaccine hub on 0121 507 4404.

If you are concerned and need support and information about vaccination please contact Occupational Health on 0121 507 330

2. New: COVID-19 Self isolation exemption protocol

We have amended the staff self-isolation protocol as a means to ensuring patients who are in urgent and life threatening situations have the best opportunity to get the treatment they need. The amended protocol is attached, but in summary this means that in the event a colleague has been identified as a contact of a positive COVID-19 and the individual lives directly (same household) with a positive COVID-19 case, they will be asked to not come to work unless there is a clinical need that may result in sight loss, cancellation of urgent cancer operations and life/death situations. An urgent risk assessment process should be completed and a return to work should be considered in circumstances where there is a risk to health or safety, or the safety of providing continuing clinical or care services resulting from staff absence and alternative options have been explored and there is no alternative available. Fully vaccinated (14 days post vaccination) frontline NHS and care staff in this case, if identified as a close contact in your household of a positive case, could be asked to leave self-isolation in order to attend (including travelling to and from) work.

The decision to allow staff to attend work should be made on a case by case basis, after a COVID-19 Self-isolation Exemption Decision Assessment has been completed by an individual(s) line manager, and then only after authorisation by the Director of IPC or Deputy Director IPC (on call manger out of hours). In order to mitigate the increased risk associated with this exemption, the risk mitigation process flow chart must be followed.

3. New: Easing of visiting restrictions from 17 November

From 17 November 2021 we are easing our visiting restrictions to allow inpatients in amber areas to receive one visitor for up to 30 minutes per day. Patients can nominate two individuals who can visit for the duration of their stay, ideally from the same household. Visitors must use hand sanitiser and wear a face mask on entry. They must also show evidence of a negative lateral flow test result taken that same day to be checked on entrance to the building. All visits must be booked in advance by telephoning the ward to allow wards to limit the number of visitors on a ward / bay at any one time. All visitors must be free of COVID-19 symptoms, and must not attend if they are a household contact of a COVID-19 positive case. We regret we are unable to allow visits by children (under 16 years) or those who are immunocompromised.

For more information see the visiting information here.

The current visiting arrangements for paediatrics, maternity and ICU remain in place. Our usual exemptions apply for inpatient children, those at end of life and people who lack mental capacity.

Red and green areas, where visiting is current not allowed should ensure you have robust systems in place to community with relatives / next of kin and to support communication between patients and their loved ones.

We will review visiting arrangements weekly based on a risk assessment taking into account COVID-19 case rates in the community and numbers of COVID-19 cases in our hospitals.

4. New: Point of Care Testing LIAT – Are you an authorised user?

Colleagues are reminded that only trained users within agreed departments are to use the POCT LIAT rapid testing systems. Only departments such as ED, Paediatrics, Surgery (pre-assessment) and Endoscopy are currently approved.

Colleagues should not loan or borrow access barcodes with others.

Misuse of these critical machines is leading to breakdowns and failures that ultimately impact on patient care. Please remain vigilant and refer to the microbiology team if you have any queries.

5. Reminder: Spit in a tube rather than a stick up your nose

LAMP – it’s a completely pain free testing system that just needs you to remember to take a saliva sample by spitting in to a tube first thing in the morning.

LAMP testing is pain free and remains one of the least invasive tests we have for COVID-19 whilst also being incredibly accurate. You just need to remember to take your sample before you brush your teeth or have your breakfast. Alternatively, if you forget, you just need to leave an hour before taking a sample.

Collection slots for testing kits can be arranged by calling 0121 507 2664 and selecting option 6 to register and book a kit collection slot  Mon – Fri 8am – 6pm

When you have taken your sample and 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.

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:

6. Reminder: Celebrating safely and behaving responsibly

Christmas will soon be upon us and whilst we’re not going to take on the role of the Grinch,  we do need to remind colleagues to please remain mindful that we are still operating in an uncertain time where COVID is still rife in the community and we are still battling to protect our patients.

For now our rules regarding masks, social distancing and limitation to visiting remain in place. And whilst colleagues will be keen to arrange get togethers, please keep this in mind.

We want to be in a position where we can enjoy Christmas so there are a few basic rules we need to ensure we all follow when getting wards and departments trimmed up for Christmas:

• 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

And whilst our rules don’t apply out in the community, we ask that colleagues use their common sense, their skills as clinicians and avoid risky environments. Continue to wear masks when your indoors and in crowded spaces and remember to wash and sanitise your hands regularly.

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

7. Reminder: Taking time out with your teams

Taking time out is important for mental and physical wellbeing, particularly after a difficult period with the pandemic.

Many teams have already taken advantage of the opportunity to have team time outs – stepping away from the work environment to reflect on experiences.

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to, you have until the end of March 2022 to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Time out can take a range of formats, but in order to help managers, the Trust is happy to consider centrally funding reasonable costs associated with these time-outs.

This could include:

• Hire of an external venue
• Facilitator/external speaker costs
• Transport to external venue
• Refreshment costs (no alcohol)
• External team building activities
• Backfill costs

Get your thinking caps on and have a think about things you and your team might enjoy while taking some well-deserved time out.

How was your time out?

We want to hear your stories and see your photos so we can share and inspire other colleagues. Email your stories to swbh.comms@nhs.net.

Visit Connect for more information on team time outs including criteria and how to apply.

Please ensure you have agreement from your group director before submitting requests.

8. Reminder: Comin’ home for Christmas (with the help of D2A)

No one wants to spend Christmas in the hospital, we want as many of our patients as possible to be supported to go home, spend time with their family and to take their time to recover in their own surrounding. Might sound like wishful thinking but it’s a task that the Discharge to Assess (D2A) team  would happily take on to make sure we have our social care partners ready and waiting to take over supporting our patients at discharge.

D2A is a ‘home first’ model and is a postcode blind system, so the same processes apply from a ward perspective for a Sandwell patient as they would for a Birmingham patient.  And critically, it doesn’t focus on the provisions available and instead looks to identify the actual needs of the patient.

D2A also introduces a new language around Medically Fit for Discharge,  which now becomes known as ‘Criteria To Reside’. This is not simply a change in language but about changing a mindset and really challenging each other and clinical teams to justify the criteria keeping the person in hospital.

For patients who require ongoing support from health or social care services after they have completed their acute medical treatment, D2A allows them to be discharged within 24 hours and their needs assessed in the community – usually their own home. This means they have more meaningful assessments e.g. climbing their own stairs, or making themselves a cup of tea in their own kitchen – things we can’t replicate in the hospital environment.

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.

The Integrated Discharge Hub team are on hand, from 8am to 8pm, 7 days per week and can be contacted on 07815 647936.

Fraud Awareness Week

Throughout Fraud Awareness Week we will be highlighting the most reported frauds across the NHS, providing some guidance on preventing these and identifying when you should report your concerns.

Identity theft/fraud:

Throughout Fraud Awareness Month we will be highlighting the most reported frauds across the NHS, providing some guidance on preventing these and identifying when you should report your concerns.

Identity theft happens when fraudsters access enough information about someone’s identity (such as their name, date of birth, current or previous addresses, place of work etc) to impersonate them.

Identity fraud is when the details obtained are used to commit fraud, by: opening bank accounts, obtaining credit, taking over accounts, impersonating you at work to purport to authorise transactions.

Preventing Identity Theft

Any information used to identify your or your family, or that is used to answer any of your security questions should be closely guarded.

• Do not give out information over the phone.
• Never divulge your PIN or passwords.
• Never click on links on any suspicious emails or text messages.
• Do not write your personal information on social media.
• Ensure any sensitive paperwork is shredded and old phones or computers are properly disposed of when no longer required.
• Secure any online accounts with strong passwords that cannot be guessed.

If you receive any unusual payment or change of bank detail requests from colleagues, managers or suppliers, you must verify this with a known contact, using a previously known telephone number. Fraudsters may take over email accounts or mask the sender’s email address. Any person making a genuine request will allow security checks to take place.

Reporting concerns

It is easy to report fraud, bribery or corruption affecting the NHS. You can contact:

• Our LCFS, Sophie Coster on 07436 268747 or via coster1@nhs.net.
• Chief Finance Officer, Dinah McLannahan via mclannahan@nhs.net.
• NHS Counter Fraud Authority via their 24-hour reporting line on 0800 028 4060 (powered by Crimestoppers), or report online via https://cfa.nhs.uk/reportfraud.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 12 November

This week has been a tough one.  If its been tough for me, it will have been tough for all of you, I am sure.  I am sure the general public are getting fatigue and suffering from information overload about the pressures on our NHS, but nobody understands the nature of those pressures and the reality of them better than all of you and, with winter pressures starting to bite, the situation is getting worse.  The news around the NHS has been dominated this week by senior leader’s concerns and fears about urgent care pressures being leaked from internal staff meetings to the press.  It has also been dominated by the physical manifestation of a system under strain – deteriorating ambulance handover waits at hospitals and the consequent inability of the crews of those ambulances to respond to category 1 and 2 calls in a timely manner.  Health outcomes for those needing ambulance support when in respiratory distress or having suffered a fall, are deteriorating as a result too.

One of my “extra curricular” roles is to Chair the Black Country Urgent Care Board and as such, I am asked to oversee the production of a systematic and thorough approach to the mitigation of patient safety risks in urgent care through a system winter plan.  I have this week, also been working with Trust Chief Operating Officers, including our very own Liam Kennedy, to produce some more radical proposals about how hospitals might be able to better handover patients from ambulance crews and get those crews back on the road.

Our system and Trust winter plan focuses exclusively on how we mitigate patient safety risks within emergency departments, acute medicine, within community teams, within social care and within GP surgeries.  The times when one part of the system can point to another and say “they’re under less pressure than us” are long gone.  Whilst I am relatively assured that initiatives like frailty intervention, community rapid response increase in capacity, contingency beds re-opening etc will help us to mitigate the worst of the pressure which is expected in mid-January, nevertheless we will still be working at levels of bed occupancy and spill-over demand which will test us hugely when keeping patients safe this winter.

We will manage this period if we stick together, holding our Trust Promises at the forefront of our minds when interacting with each other and with patients and carers.  Blame or incivility will not help us or your patients.  There will also be times when as a leadership team, we may need you to step out of the normal boundaries and procedures that we have had long established.  This may make you uncomfortable, but you can be assured that we won’t request those changes of you without having done a comprehensive assessment of risk and our request will always be made in the interests of those patients who we are not caring for adequately, in their hour of need, in their most acute phase of illness.

Finally, I was pleased to join a simple and highly effective remembrance service this week at Sandwell General.  It reminded me that no matter how anxious or angry we may be at the moment about the pressures we are under, we still have freedom of speech, freedom of movement and a parliamentary democracy in our country.  Our forefathers fought for it.  We must cherish it and cherish each other during difficult times.