Monthly archives: February 2022

#CheckWithMeFirst: Making a difference to survivors of sexual abuse and violence 

Survivors of rape and sexual assault are much more likely to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting in flashbacks, panic attacks, nightmares and depression.

Often when survivors of sexual assault need to visit a medical professional, memories can surface due to the nature of the examination and lack of control the person might feel. This can be so debilitating, that many survivors of sexual assault actively avoid seeking medical attention, making their condition worse. Survivors often make a choice not to disclose their experience of sexual assault or abuse to the authorities, and many survivors do not want their medical records to contain this information.

Three simple steps that healthcare professionals can take which make a difference to survivors’ experiences:

1. Check that the service-user is happy before proceeding with and during each step of the appointment/procedure.
2. Explain what you need to do at each step, and give the person opportunities to ask questions.
3. Reassure the person that they can stop the procedure at any time. Let them know that they are in control.

If you would like to take part in the training workshops, please find the booking instructions here: Training and support to become a trauma informed champion supporting survivors of sexual abuse

The workshops will be accessible to Trust colleagues and will cover trauma-informed practice, the prevalence of sexual abuse and how this impacts the way that survivors access healthcare services, handling disclosures, and how to refer survivors to specialist support.

Essential IT maintenance affecting Unity Reporting: Wednesday 16 February, 10.30pm

Please be aware essential database maintenance will be taking place on Wednesday 16 February affecting Unity Reporting (PI Explorer). The work is being carried out by our support vendor Cerner and is scheduled to begin at 10.30pm on Wednesday 16 February and should be completed just after midnight.

During this time Unity reporting will be unavailable; all other aspects of Unity remain unaffected.

The activity will be closely monitored by our support vendor and our IT support teams.

As always, should you have any further queries or experience any issues with Unity reporting after the maintenance then please do contact the 24 hour IT Service Desk on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050 for home workers.

COVID-19 Bulletin: Tuesday 8 February

1. New: Play your part by getting jabbed

England’s eight leading medical experts have come together to thank colleagues across the healthcare system for their continued hard work throughout the pandemic and stress the importance of being vaccinated against COVID-19.

In a letter addressed to all NHS staff, the eight, including Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Nikki Kanani, Medical Director for Primary Care and David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, reiterate how vaccines for the virus are safe and effective, with 10 billion doses given worldwide.

You can read the letter here.

Being vaccinated remains vitally important as it protects you and those around you by reducing the risk of infection.

Thank you to everyone who continues to step forward to have their jab, which remains the best way to protect yourselves, our patients and your loved ones. Vaccination appointments and walk-in sessions remain available through our Trust hubs and also in locations across the region.

Still need to get your vaccine? Visit one of our vaccination clinics:

2. New: Eligible children can now head to “Vaccination street”

Part of the vaccination hub at Tipton Sports Academy has been transformed into a mini “toy town” as it starts welcoming eligible 5-11 year-olds for their jab.

Nicknamed “Vaccination Street”, the area boasts colourful shop fronts and road markings and aims to put clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV)  young patients who attend the clinic at ease.

Six cubicles have been decorated by colleagues working within the centre, including the clinical and admin teams. They worked together, discussing their ideas to create the artwork.

Mel Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer, said: “The space looks incredible and will certainly help the children attending to relax whilst having their jab.

“Walking into a clinical environment like a large vaccination clinic can be a daunting experience especially if you are a child, so we hope this will really help.

“We’d like to thank colleagues for their amazing artwork and help in creating such a colourful and bright space.”

The parents of youngsters who are eligible are being contacted directly by the clinic’s staff to offer them an appointment, available between 3-6pm Monday to Friday and 8am-6pm on weekends.

3. New: Praise for Sandwell as infection rates fall

As infection rates start to fall across Sandwell, we want to thank each and every colleague for playing their part in following the Trust’s guidance around COVID-19.

Our strong Infection Prevention and Control policy is in place to help curb the spread of the virus, and it’s important that we all remember to continue to follow it so that we can protect our patients, ourselves and our loved ones.

We have seen a significant drop in cases across Sandwell, with it having one of the lowest rates in the West Midlands region.

Dr Lisa McNally, Sandwell Council’s director of public health, has praised the local community for their response.

She said: “Our contact tracing and outbreak response helped fight back against a very virulent strain of the virus. But none of that works without a great response from the local community.

“This isn’t the first time in the pandemic that Sandwell residents have responded positively to a surge in case rates. They listened to the advice and took the actions that they needed to take to keep themselves and their families safe.

“This battle isn’t over and the virus hasn’t gone away. But the people of Sandwell community should once again feel proud of how they rose to the challenge of the pandemic.”

4. Updated: COVID Vaccine FAQs on legislation

As you may know, a government review will take place around the Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment legislation.

The Government’s decision is subject to a parliamentary process and will require further consultation and a vote to be passed into legislation.

We have developed some FAQs regarding issues about the COVID-19 vaccine which you can read below:

Vaccine FAQs document.

At the present time we are continuing to confirm the vaccination status of all our staff. Please ensure that you confirm your status to the HR email advice line swbh.hr-advice-for-covid-19@nhs.net if we have written to you to say we have no record of you having first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Managers will also continue to have conversations with staff regarding their vaccination status.

We are expecting additional information on the review to come to the NHS in due course and we expect to take a consistent approach with other Trusts in the country, and particularly within the Black Country and West Birmingham Integrated Care System.

5. Reminder: Make the most of award-winning health and wellbeing services including how to request a staff room upgrade

When we think of good wellbeing, we think of feeling happy, healthy and well. But as people, our thoughts, feelings and circumstances change as we live our daily lives, and this may impact on how we feel, how we view ourselves, our goals and how we cope with challenges. It’s important to take time to think about personal wellbeing and to seek support if we aren’t feeling our best.

At the Trust we offer a variety of wellbeing services. Access the right support for you – here’s a reminder of what we offer:

Occupational health and wellbeing

You can access consultations with clinicians, free confidential counselling services, physiotherapy sessions or return to work assessments to get you back to work safely if you have been away through ill health.

Psychological support

As well as the free counselling service you can also access coaching conversations, mediation, stress and mental wellbeing risk assessments, help from trained mental health first aiders and REACT practitioners and the Thrive app. And, of course, you can find other mental health support through your own GP, or from any of the national services that are available. These are all linked on our intranet’s wellbeing pages.

Wellbeing services

The wellbeing team run a number of services to support colleagues including the Sanctuary (former Learning Works) and wellbeing hubs at City, Sandwell and Rowley. You can book treatments, access massage chairs, join a guided meditation or simply arrange to drop in for a coffee and a chat.

Annual leave

We encourage you to take your statutory entitlement of 28 days annual leave. You will be able to sell back additional leave you are not able to take, or carry some into next year, or both. We will share details of the scheme shortly. (Don’t forget there is an additional bank holiday in 2022…)

Supported team time-outs

Funding is available for teams to hold their own recovery times together. Most teams have already benefited from this. The final date to access Trust funds for team time-out is 31 March 2022.

Further plans to improve our wellbeing service

24/7 availability of food

Our catering services are open for staff and continue to provide a range of food options at subsidised rates. We have also arranged for some new smart fridges to be installed on a trial basis from Meals for the NHS. Good quality meals, drinks and snacks can be provided from the fridges 24/7. They are due to arrive soon on a trial basis so do let us know what you think of them. We are also looking to invest in vastly improved drinking water availability to ensure there is easy access for all.

Upgrades to staff rest areas

Does your staff area need a refresh? We are happy to receive requests for new furniture or equipment to improve rest areas and also requests for minor works such as painting and shelving. If your rest room needs a freshen up please complete the Staff Rest Room Refresh Request Form (Word) and email it to Dinah McLannahan, Chief Finance Officer Dinah.mclannahan@nhs.net.

We are continuing to explore how we can further invest in our wellbeing service and hope that you make the time for your own health and wellbeing needs. Access services via the Trust or elsewhere if you need some support.

Sonali Gupta tells us about her experience of using the massage chair at the new City Hub, Arches, first floor corridor A, Rooms 24-25.

“Having had the opportunity to sit on the chair and also get a in person massage was truly a very relaxing and calming experience. It helps one to reset and get back to work feeling refreshed.

“The virtual reality headset enhances your experience on the chair enabling you to switch off completely while making you feel like you have been transported to a different part world.”

6. Reminder: Keeping everyone safe through regular testing

Thank you to all colleagues who continue to do a weekly LAMP test. Regular testing is remains extremely important as it helps to keep everyone safe.

If you are not registered for LAMP you must do a lateral flow test twice a week. This is the national requirement and all staff must comply. With this in mind, please ensure you have adequate stock levels. Need to order lateral flow tests kits? Click here to order.

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.

Please be aware that as of 14 February, any colleagues registering for LAMP testing or those who are collecting new kits, will get labels rather than a request form.

Heartbeat: Neonates are latest team to launch safety huddles

The back end of last year saw the neonates team get on board the safety huddles train. Running seven a days a week straight after the board round, the huddles are led by the dedicated shift lead who ensures the huddles run effectively.

The safety huddles are attended by representatives from the multidisciplinary team which includes doctors, nurses, advanced neonatal nurse practitioners, pharmacists, ward clerks and ward services officers.

Ward Manager Chinazam (Chichi) Anyaebosim explained the importance of implementing safety huddles on the unit. She said: “The neonatal unit provides a wide range of services by different teams and involving many external agencies. It is incredibly important for us to be able to provide the latest update to the carers of our babies with great consistency, from the front door to after discharge.”

Chichi told us that the safety huddles have been very well received. “Plenty of the benefits have been realised immediately. Safety huddles strengthen the communication among individual teams continuously. Everybody brings in something useful at every huddle. For example, all medical and clinical teams ensure the latest update regarding the care of our babies are fully communicated to Kath Laise our ward clerk, so that she can have a very clear overview across the whole unit enabling her to disseminate this critical information to carers, other departments within the trust as well as the external agencies.

“The increased pressure from COVID-19 leads to plenty of last-minute changes and staffing issues from various teams. Safety huddles have been a great platform for us to ensure that everyone on duty is on the same page,” Chichi added.

Kath couldn’t agree more. She said: “Due to the complexity of the services our unit provides, it has always been challenging to update everyone with the latest state of all the babies under our care. Safety huddles have been a great platform for me to gain an overview of the whole unit effectively.

“The past two years have been beyond challenging to many of us. The safety huddles give me an opportunity to support my team members, babies and their families further, to provide a good service in a forever changing period of time via great team efforts.”

Dr Penny Broggio, Consultant Paediatrician, Clinical Lead for Neonates said: “Safety huddles have helped improve communications hugely, enabling the team to identify risks and to initiate mitigation more proactively. Safety huddles are a fantastic platform for us to enhance our collaboration and cohesiveness. Our patient flow has improved since the launch of the huddles.”

Rasekhuta Phil Velempini, Matron Neonates further explained: “Safety huddles have initiated a changing mind-set to the team leading to a more cohesive and supportive working environment. Colleagues are feeling more comfortable in making suggestions/ asking questions to improve patient care.”

The membership of the neonatal safety huddles is growing with the new Neonatal Community Outreach Team (NCOT) already agreeing to join the daily huddles. The NCOT team leader and Chichi have even agreed the specific NCOT elements to be part of the neonatal safety huddles checklist. Occupational therapy is joining the huddles soon too.

Neonates has started looking into the introduction of the long-term quality improvement projects to enhance patient safety as well as utilising the electronic screens to promote the ‘single source of information’ across the unit with great transparency and timeliness.

National Apprenticeship Week

This week is National Apprenticeship Week. The annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships aims to shine a light on the amazing work being done by employers and apprentices across the country.

To celebrate the awareness week, we will be promoting and sharing content about our apprentices and their fantastic contributions and efforts.

Be sure to check out this short video featuring Kieran McEntee, HCA, Lyndon Ground talking about his experiences as an apprentice.

Want to get in touch with our apprenticeship team? This week each member of the team will have a dedicated timeslot where you can catch up and have an informal chat about anything apprenticeship. Also be sure to get involved with the theme of day!

If you are interested in any 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.

#CheckWithMeFirst: Supporting the survivors of sexual abuse and violence

In an effort to support survivors of sexual abuse and violence workshops are now available for frontline patients facing colleagues which aim to give colleagues the tools they need to support patient with a new trauma informed approach.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales 2020 estimated that 1.6 million people aged 16 and over had experienced rape or sexual assault, although less than one in six reported what had happened to them.

However, despite the prevalence of rape and sexual abuse in society, the impact of sexual trauma is often not adequately dealt with during professional training. It is estimated that one in six people in the UK have experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault and those people are much more likely to have several profound, long-term effects and medical complications for the rest of their lives.

The #CheckWithMeFirst programme highlights some of the challenges that survivors face when accessing healthcare services and outlines some of the key messaging of our trauma-informed campaign for healthcare professionals.

If you would like to take part in the training workshops, please find the booking instructions here: Training and support to become a trauma informed champion supporting survivors of sexual abuse

The workshops will be accessible to Trust colleagues and will cover trauma-informed practice, the prevalence of sexual abuse and how this impacts the way that survivors access healthcare services, handling disclosures, and how to refer survivors to specialist support.

Please use the link below to sign up to sessions via Google Form. Click here to sign up for your sessions

Sad passing of Elisabeth “Lizzie” Mugabe – funeral details

It is with great sadness that one of our much loved colleagues Elisabeth “Lizzie” Mugabe (known to most of her friends and colleagues as “Lizzie”) passed away on Sunday 30 January.

Lizzie originally trained as a nurse in Zimbabwe where her nursing career began in 1989. After qualifying she went on to nurse patients in casualty, medical, surgical, neurosurgical, orthopaedic and max fax wards where she worked her way up to the role of senior sister.

Lizzie then moved to the UK and settled in the Midlands. She joined theatres at City Hospital in March 2002 and later transferred to Sandwell Theatres as part of orthopaedic reconfiguration of services.

Lizzie was popular amongst her colleagues who worked in the recovery where she cared for patients following their surgery. Both patients and colleagues appreciated her gentle caring attitude. Lizzie has left a lasting impression and legacy on many nurses that she helped support, train and mentor through her time here at SWB.

Lizzie was tremendously hard working, compassionate and always ready to help everybody. She will be sadly missed.

Funeral details: The service is scheduled for Saturday 12 February at St Michael’s Catholic Church, West Bromwich, 260 High Street, B70 8AQ. Mass will run from 11.30am – 1pm though attendees are expected to be seated by 11.15am. Light refreshments will be served immediately after mass in the church hall. The nearest car park is Astle retail park pay and display (the machine only takes coins).

National Apprenticeship Week

This week is National Apprenticeship Week. The annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships aims to shine a light on the amazing work being done by employers and apprentices across the country.

To celebrate the awareness week, we will be promoting and sharing content about our apprentices and their fantastic contributions and efforts.

Be sure to check out this short video featuring Richard Beeken, Chief Executive praising our apprentices.

Apprenticeship FAQs: Some colleagues have preconceptions about the word ‘apprenticeship’ so be sure to check out some of our myth busters to clarify any concerns you may have – Apprenticeship FAQs.

If you are interested in any 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.

Training and support to become a trauma informed champion supporting survivors of sexual abuse

Become a trauma-informed champion and help empower survivors of sexual violence accessing healthcare services.

The Survivors Trust is running a trauma-informed campaign to raise awareness of the challenges survivors of rape and sexual abuse face when accessing healthcare services and to provide healthcare professionals with the tools and resources needed to confidently engage with and best support their patients.

As part of the campaign, The Survivors Trust is offering front line patient facing colleagues the opportunity to join two free, CPD-accredited trauma-informed workshops and access a suite of useful online resources to help them to encourage their teams to adopt a trauma-informed approach to sensitive practice.

Colleagues wishing to attend should sign up to one Session A (first session) and one Session B (second session). We recommend that colleagues give themselves at least a week between the two sessions to give them time to reflect on the discussions held in Session 1.

Please use the link below to sign up to sessions via Google Form. Click here to sign up for your sessions

Sessions will be held via Zoom. After you have submitted your form, The Survivors Trust will be in touch with further information, including a link to join the session.

If you have any questions, please email us at: nhs.checkwithmefirst@thesurvivorstrust.org.

RCPCH Podcasts: Child health and paediatrics

Dr Chizo Agwu, Consultant Paediatrician – Clinical Lead,  Charlotte Avann, Consultant Paediatrician and Lizbeth Hudson, Paediatric Diabetes Specialist Nurse were recently invited on to the RCPCH Podcast to talk about their quality improvement project in child health and paediatrics at the Trust. Programme 6 – Improve Time in Range was hosted by Matt Oultram, RCPCH Quality Improvement Project Manager and Karina Green, RCPCH Audit Project Co-ordinator.

If you would like to check out the episode and find out more, please click here.