Monthly archives: December 2021

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 10 December

You will by now be very aware of the government announcement on Wednesday night to bring “Plan B” into effect to aim to slow down the transmission of COVID-19 and particularly the Omicron variant. I wanted to make it extremely clear what our response to this announcement is, so that you understand your responsibilities and have clarity of the guidance I expect you all to follow to help protect ourselves and others at this time.

1. Working on site

When we are working on site it is absolutely essential to ensure we adhere to our infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance which means wearing a mask at all times in shared spaces and keeping a distance of 1m+.The ONLY exception to this is when eating and drinking. I expect everyone to take responsibility for yourselves and challenge your colleagues and others who are not complying. We need to all work together to keep safe.

2. Work from home

Essentially, if you can work from home, please do so. We know that most of our clinical roles will require on site working on a full-time basis and your ability to continue attending on site to support colleagues and care for patients is greatly appreciated. I expect all managers to lead by example, working from home for some of their working week and to make an extra effort to keep in touch with team members who are working from home more frequently.

3. Face to face meetings

Any face to face meeting from Monday 13 December should be changed to a virtual meeting unless it is actually essential for this to be face to face (such as clinical huddles). 1:1 meetings are acceptable between colleagues who are on-site

4. Christmas get togethers

Regrettably, I must emphasise that there should not be any on site Christmas parties this year. We know there are risks of transmission when people meet together and it is easy to lose sight of our restrictions when socialising together. Please ensure that you don’t attend or arrange Christmas get togethers within our healthcare environments. Where you have work events outside of our premises please ensure that you are cautious and follow the national guidance. As NHS employees we have a duty to set an example and ensure we don’t put ourselves or others at unnecessary risk.

It is essential that we all follow this important guidance. As our area’s main healthcare provider, we need to be the ones setting the example.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Heartbeat: Research internships creating valuable experiences and opportunities

Research is a massive part of the future of our NHS and is vital in eradicating disease and improving health in our communities. Whether we are clinical or non-clinical, we are encouraged to participate in research in one way or another; this could be through research trials, studies or internships. Trupti Lakha, Specialist Podiatrist in Diabetes was the first podiatrist at our Trust to be successful in participating actively in research – a great achievement for the department and the Trust itself. She explains how studying as part of the NIHR Clinical Academic Internship Programme (CAIP) has helped her develop skills and experience to expand research ideas, improve patient outcomes and make service improvements.

Trupti explained: “Seeing the impact of research around COVID-19 and how research could benefit people in a positive way sparked my interest in applying for the NIHR Clinical Academic Internship Programme (CAIP) at the University of Birmingham.

“Research advances have impacted our lives locally, nationally and globally. So, I was honoured to be accepted onto such a highly sought after course.

“Meeting the other successful interns highlighted that podiatrists involved in research are rare. The internship programme enables allied health professionals (AHPs) to promote, develop and expand their research ideas to further improve patient outcomes, make service improvements and medical health advances within their own speciality and further afield.

“The course begins at the same point in the academic calendar like any other degree (September- October) and runs for 12 months with protected study time. The course covers salary costs for study undertaken away from clinical practice and is open to both full time and part time staff members.

“Collaboration and support from my manager helped me to complete the course to my full potential by giving me the space to progress and fulfil course objectives. Supervisors are allocated to each intern and course leads were at hand to support throughout the programme. Due to the COVID pandemic, the course was delivered virtually with an individual in-person presentation at the end.

“Not only did I gain valuable experience and opportunity, but also Masters level credits. Completing the internship, has given me the confidence to take the next step in a journey toward fulfilling a career path in clinical academic research. Changes within the field have opened doors for AHPs to become clinical research practitioners when previously; the title was job specific towards nurses and midwives only.”

Recently, the importance of research has never been highlighted more so now, than ever with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) investing millions of pounds to expand and upgrade existing research infrastructure across the country. Evidence suggests that research active departments provide improved, positive patient outcomes as evidence based practice improves health.

Trupti continued: “Sharing ideas with likeminded people and knowing that my work will be a step towards making someone’s life better makes pursuing my interest in research all the more important.”

Ward bay closures due to COVID-19

Due to confirmed cases of COVID-19 on D11(Winter bay) and Lyndon 5 (bay 4), there are now bay closures in effect on both wards.

To minimise the spread of the virus, all colleagues are reminded of the importance of our infection control procedures, with a particular focus on hand washing.

Visiting on Lyndon 5 and D11 is now limited to end of life patients and exceptional circumstances only.

For more information please contact ext. 5900 or email swb-tr.SWBH-Team-InfectionControl@nhs.net or refer to guidance on Connect.

Festive Friday’s

Join in with festive Friday’s and help raise funds for Your Trust Charity

Christmas is coming and that means festive Friday’s are here! Why not glitter and sparkle and spread the joy by wearing your favourite festive wear on one or more of the below dates and support Your Trust Charity by donating just £2.

Friday 10 December
Friday 17 December
Friday 24 December

To donate text FESTIVEFRI to 70085 to donate £2.

Note: If you work in a clinical area you must ensure you are bare below the elbow and continue to wear PPE when required.

For more information please email trustcharity@nhs.net

16 days of action against domestic abuse

16 days of action against domestic abuse aims to raise awareness of abuse and sign post people across the borough to vital support services. The decision to make the 16 days between 25 November – 10 December was so that three other major events could be recognised: International Human Rights Defenders Day (29 November), World Aids Day (1 December) and the anniversary of the Montreal École Polytechnique Massacre (6 December). This is so that the connection between human rights and domestic abuse could be highlighted.

Domestic abuse and children and young people:

The impact domestic domestic abuse can have on children and young people can be catastrophic. Sadly one in five children are exposed to domestic abuse. Be sure to check out Daisy’s story in the video below:

support regarding domestic abuse and when it involves young people and children, please click here.

Please call 0121 552 6448 for a direct line to a range of support services in the borough.

Note: In an emergency you should always call 999.

For more information please email n.reid-lyon@nhs.net or joannetoovey@nhs.net.

It’s not too late to get your vaccination!

Vaccines are the best way to protect yourself, friends and family from winter viruses so you can enjoy the festive season safely. You need to get your flu jab and COVID-19 booster vaccination for maximum protection while spending time with loved ones this festive season.

When and where to get your jabs:

City: The City vaccination hub in Sheldon Block is open seven days a week between 8am – 6pm for walk-ins.
Sandwell: The next pop up clinic will take place on 16 December at the Berridge Suite between 9am – 4pm.

Note: You can also book a vaccine on the national booking website.

Be sure to also check out this short video featuring Anne Hayes, Research Nurse who talks about the devastating after effects the virus can have. Protect yourself and your loved ones by having the vaccination.

Essential Maintenance to SWBH Trust Reports System this evening (Wednesday 8 December) from 7pm

Please be aware that essential maintenance will be taking place this evening Wednesday 8 December from 7pm to the supporting infrastructure and software for the SWBH Trust reports system. This forms part of the rebuild to services following the IT Incident and should take around 1 hour.

During the maintenance, SWBH Trust reports service will be unavailable for up to 30 minutes from 7pm this evening. The activity has been scheduled at this time to try to minimise impact and works will begin at 7pm and should be completed by 8pm.

Please do call the 24 hour IT service desk if you have any queries accessing reporting after the maintenance on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050 for home workers.

16 days of action against domestic abuse

How does domestic abuse impact the workplace?

Sandwell Council has compiled a wealth of valuable information on the helpful, practical information for employers and employees on the councils website.

The Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse website has a range of resources to support employers. There is also a toolkit from Business in the Community which can help employers deliver their duty of care in relation to domestic abuse.

Local services are there to help:

Please call 0121 552 6448 for a direct line to a range of support services in the borough.

Note: In an emergency you should always call 999.

For more information please email n.reid-lyon@nhs.net or joannetoovey@nhs.net.

Do you know who is who? Recognising your colleagues by their uniform

Can you tell what role a person does in the Trust just by looking at their uniform?

We have put together a simple graphic which helps you with just that.

We ask that all colleagues, both clinical and non-clinical take a couple of minutes to familiarise themselves with the below.

Note: If you are struggling to view the graphic above or wish to download a copy for your ward or area, please click here.

Heartbeat: Difference makers honoured at Sandwell

The Star Awards weren’t the only accolades being dispensed at our organisation this year as two members of the Trust were honoured for their work around trying to make the NHS a better place.

Tying in with Black History Month, ‘Make A Difference’ awards are presented by both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and NHS organisations – a unique opportunity to recognise and reward nursing staff who support others and have made a real difference to patients and/or colleagues.

Sol Jeewa, Pastoral Lead, and Shakila Rasool, Practice Development Senior Sister were both recipients of the trophies in a small ceremony at Sandwell Hospital’s Education Centre on 20 October.

“Peers and colleagues nominated those who had really done some outstanding work in forwarding our push for equality, diversity and inclusion,” explained Director of Midwifery Helen Hurst, who hosted the award presentation.

Handing over to Cathy Brown, she presented the first award to Sol Jeewa.

“Sol, as our pastoral lead for our internationally recruited nurses has certainly had to hit the ground running given all that has occurred – and certainly wasn’t aware of all he would end up having to do. It’s been an extremely tricky balancing act, but a challenge Sol has risen to. He truly has made a difference and we couldn’t have done it without him.”

Group Director of Nursing Amber Markham presented the second award to Shakila Rasool and spoke of her role in helping the critical care team move forward from an incident.

“I was the one who nominated Shakila for this particular award. Why? Because she did something really brave: she helped stand up for what is right. She helped call out an incident of racism within critical care and supported all the junior nurses within the team, some of whom were worried about raising such a concern. As you know, speaking up is important to our Trust, Shakila supported them through the whole process right up to a hearing and she really champions or EDI agenda in critical care. She has been phenomenal.”

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Monthly archives: December 2021

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