Monthly archives: May 2022

Are you interested in Trust leadership training?

There are still limited places available on our Trust leadership development courses covering a range of topics including:

• Coaching skills for managers
• Managing conflict between colleagues
• Uncomfortable conversations
• Essential leadership skills

These courses are open to all colleagues with an interest in leadership and you don’t need to be a manager to attend.

Courses are all online interactive workshops based and can be booked by self-enrolment using ESR. You will need to search for the word ‘Accredited’ and then view the Accredited Manager’s classes. All courses and dates with availability are listed. You will be sent a link for the course prior to the course start date by the trainer.

To find out more about all the courses please click here or email richard.burnell@nhs.net.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 20 May

As I write my Friday Message I reflect on the fact that today is International HR Day.  Who even knew there was an International HR Day?  I certainly didn’t. But there is and, in keeping with the spirit of reflecting on International Day of the Midwife and International Day of the Nurse last week, I reflect on why good HR management is important in any large organisation.

HR stands for Human Resources.  When I started in the NHS they were known as “the personnel Department” and had a limited scope.  Times have changed.  We call our HR service in SWB the People & Organisation Development team.  Led by Frieza Mahmood, our Chief People Officer, the team provide a range of support and interventions across the whole employee life cycle, from recruitment and induction, through to policy development and advice to line managers and employees, to retention and personal development, through to resignation and retirement.  In addition, our People & OD team have the added challenge of helping us to recruit the new roles we need to open the “Midland Met” successfully, as well as manage the change and consultation process for those of who whose roles and workplace is going to shift radically, once the new hospital opens.

So, they provide a vital service.  One which is often overlooked, often criticised.  This is because there is nothing more deeply held than the connection of an employee to an organisation, the vehicle that provides them with their means of earning a living.  The vehicle which will successfully or not, make a colleague feel engaged and valued.

So why is our People & OD service important?

• They monitor the culture of the organisation and of teams within the Trust.  Whilst we all own the culture of our Trust, our People team monitor it and draw conclusions about how to improve it
• They own the talent management and succession planning methods we deploy
• They deliver the recruitment function.  The nuances of this process, making sure it is inclusive, fair and transparent, is essential to our values
• They research and help us to implement innovative ways of both engaging and developing staff, to help retain the talent we have in a competitive and stretched clinical workforce market
• They lead on team building and other cultural interventions that help “nip in the bud” deteriorating atmospheres or cultures in departments
• They coach managers and advocate for staff in the employee relations process
• They keep me out of jail by ensuring I comply with employment law

Friday 20^th May is International HR Day.  We would be lost without them.

Have a good week.

Richard

Do you have a patient with a food allergy or food intolerance?

If so, are you aware that we offer allergy free patient meals for levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 diets including a selection of protein, vegetarian and vegan options that are available to order through the patient menu iPad?

To access the meals click on the relevant diet level with allergy free title and this will take you to the meal choices. Please see allergy menu sheet for details.

For more information please email jane.owen1@nhs.net

Recognising our colleagues in people and organisation development

Today is International HR Day – a day set aside to recognise the contribution of human resources and people professionals all over the world. This year’s theme is about leading a future that will be more inclusive, flexible, participative; one which will benefit workers, organisations and society as a whole.

At SWB we are taking the opportunity to recognise the colleagues who work in our people and organisation development directorate. In the video below some colleagues share the reasons they love their job and Richard Beeken, Chief Executive also pays tribute to the significant contribution that people and organisation development colleagues make to our workplace.

Teamtalk: 25 May

TeamTalk is our monthly Trust-wide team briefing, it’s an opportunity for colleagues to hear about what’s happening in our organisation as well as putting their own questions forward.

Everyone is encouraged to join in with TeamTalk sessions, they’re not simply for managers. Sessions take place once a month and are hosted online – so colleagues who are ward based, working from home or simply want to stay up to date can join in.

TeamTalk sessions last an hour and are equally divided between updates from the organisation and an opportunity for colleagues to pose their own questions to the executive team.

The next session will take place on Wednesday 25 May from 1pm. Everyone is welcome to join. Please ensure you are able to access a computer with speakers or headphones to enable you to participate.

Click here to join the meeting

If you are yet to return your feedback on last month’s topic which focussed on ‘Conducting a meaningful PDR with team members’, please ensure you do so as soon as possible to subtan.mahmood@nhs.net

If you have any questions about how you join the briefing please email swbh.comms@nhs.net.

Emergency iPM maintenance taking place this evening Wednesday 18 May between 7pm to Midnight

Please be aware emergency maintenance is taking place affecting iPM this evening from 7pm through to midnight Wednesday 18 May to allow urgent updates to be applied to help address recent performance issues and to apply a fix to resolve issues affecting printing of appointment letters.

iPM will be available for use during this time; however, colleagues will be prompted within iPM at some point between 7pm and midnight to log out of iPM and then be able to log straight back in for the updates to be applied.

Desktop alerts will be issued from 6pm advising of the maintenance and at completion. 

Please be assured the activity will be closely monitored by our support vendor and IT Support teams.

Emergency iPM maintenance taking place this evening Wednesday 18 May between 7pm to Midnight

Please be aware emergency maintenance is taking place affecting iPM this evening from 7pm through to midnight Wednesday 18 May to allow urgent updates to be applied to help address recent performance issues and to apply a fix to resolve issues affecting printing of appointment letters.

iPM will be available for use during this time; however, colleagues will be prompted within iPM at some point between 7pm and midnight to log out of iPM and then be able to log straight back in for the updates to be applied.

Desktop alerts will be issued from 6pm advising of the maintenance and at completion. 

Please be assured the activity will be closely monitored by our support vendor and IT Support teams.

Heartbeat: Wave goodbye to… Ava Harris, Kim Walker and Michele Tucker

With almost a century dedicated to the Trust – farewell to Ava, Kim and Michele.

In April’s Heartbeat we waved goodbye to Ava Harris, Kim Walker and Michele Tucker, Health Care Assistants (HCAs) at the Birmingham Treatment Centre (BTC), as they spent their last days in outpatients before heading off for retirement. Leaving behind them just under a century’s’ worth of experience combined, these ladies leave the outpatients department for some well-deserved rest. We caught up with them to find out more about their time at the Trust.

Ava’s journey began 42 years ago in 1979 when she joined at the skin hospital as a catering assistant. She then moved to the eye hospital in the city centre as a catering assistant and then came back to City Hospital as a HCA in outpatients. For Michele and Kim, they joined the Trust 26 years ago in 1995. Michele started working at Rowley Regis OPD and then moved to Sandwell and finally over to the BTC.

Both the people and the role have meant these ladies have thoroughly enjoyed their time working at our Trust. Michele said: “I have loved my job working with many different people and doing a variety of clinics. I have made many good friends over the years.” Kim added: “I have seen many changes and met a lot of lovely people during my time here.”

Although they have had some great times here at the Trust and have met some wonderful people, it hasn’t been without its challenges. “For me, my biggest challenge was definitely the pandemic, it gave me severe anxiety,” said Michele. “The pandemic was a huge challenge for me too, especially going to work on the wards which is very different to what I do in outpatients,” echoed Kim. “But going with a great group of girls from OPD really helped as we all support each other,” she continued.

We asked what they would have done if their career path hadn’t led them to SWB. For Ava that would be working as a nursery nurse or another role in the care sector, and for Michele it would have been working with children or animals. Commended for their passion and dedication to their roles at the Trust, Sister Jaz Verdi shared some kind words about Ava’s, Kim’s and Michele’s time in outpatients, she said: “We say a fond farewell to three of our highly thought of HCAs. They have shown dedication and commitment throughout their time working for the Trust and in outpatients. They have worked tirelessly and professionally caring for patients, their knowledge, expertise and presence will be sorely missed. We wish them all the very best for their retirement and the future ahead.”

The ladies didn’t part without leaving some great advice. Ava said: “Study and learn as much as you can and never be afraid to try new things. Michele added: “Some advice for my younger self would be to be more assertive and not be afraid to take on more challenges”.

Their plans for retirement sound idyllic with Kim spending more time with her husband and grandchildren and going on lots of holidays, Michele plans to enjoy time with friends, start some new hobbies and look after her new grandson. For Ava, she can be found getting green fingers in the garden or traveling to see much more family now that COVID restrictions have been lifted.

We wish these ladies all the best and a happy retirement!

Maintenance affecting the Pathology service: 19 May, 6am – 8am

Please be aware that essential IT maintenance is taking place on Thursday 19 May between 6am – 8am which will affect the Pathology service at Sandwell and City.

During the maintenance, Unity will remain fully available; however, from 6am to 8am on Thursday 19 May colleagues will need to revert to requesting Microbiology tests and Blood Bank requests on paper forms as well as on Unity.

Paper requests will be required to process pathology samples during the maintenance period and as soon as the maintenance is complete, orders will be booked in electronically and reported through to message centre ready for endorsement. Colleagues can continue to make ICE requests during the downtime but there will be a delay receiving results. 

Urgent results will be phoned to the affected users during the downtime.

The activity will be closely monitored, and desktop alerts will be issued from 4am advising colleagues of the need to revert to business continuity plans (BCPs) for requesting Microbiology tests and Blood Bank requests during the maintenance.

Should you have any further queries then please do call the IT service desk on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050 for home workers.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 13 May

Happy International Nurses’ Day for yesterday! I thoroughly enjoyed visiting colleagues on the wards at Sandwell yesterday to share my appreciation for your commitment to our patients and each other. Nurses’ Day comes in the middle of International Day of the Midwife (last Thursday) and ODP Day tomorrow. I hope you have all enjoyed either thanking or being thanked by colleagues and patients for your extraordinary service, night and day.

Over the past week our new fundamentals of care approach has been very much at the forefront of my mind as we begin discussing how best we will ensure that we are delivering the first of our three new strategic objectives: “Patients – to be good or outstanding in everything we do”. This week has been a great opportunity to engage with staff about this approach and we have also involved members of the public with an 80 strong event at the CAP Centre in Smethwick, ably led by Jayne Salter-Scott.  You will be hearing more about the fundamentals of care approach over the next few weeks and months as we shape the delivery plan. I am really pleased that it has been received well and that colleagues are eager to work together and deliver safe, high quality care, using our emerging standards. Uniquely in the NHS, we have partnered with a leading international organisation so there will be plenty of opportunity to learn from others and bring best practice to all our services within Sandwell and West Birmingham.

Delivering the fundamentals of care consistently is absolutely vital. It is by having a strong foundation of care standards that we can safely grow, innovate and become world leaders in care quality.  Without getting the fundamentals right, any pretence we have to be an innovative, excelling Trust will be just that – a pretence. I see excellence in many parts of our Trust, but I don’t always see consistently good care for every patient no matter what care they need. We can and will do better. We are already beginning to turn the dial in one life-changing area – Sepsis. I am pleased to report that we are no longer an outlier for deaths from sepsis. The Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator for deaths from Sepsis has reduced steadily for the past months that we have data for and our recent focused week on Sepsis should continue to have a positive impact. Every patient whose Sepsis is identified and managed quickly is a potential saved life. Thank you for continuing to be vigilant in the delivery of this fundamental aspect of care.

Our staff networks spent Wednesday sheltering from the near biblical rain in Sandwell Courtyard to raise awareness of their role and to encourage more colleagues to join a network. I am told that new members were recruited to every network which is great news. Our Trust is a fantastically diverse community serving a wonderfully diverse population. Our staff networks provide challenge and support as we continue to ensure we are inclusive, fair and welcoming to all colleagues and patients. We continue to aspire to be a Trust where all staff’s lived experience is one of fair and inclusive treatment by their colleagues.

Have a good weekend.

Richard.