Monthly archives: May 2022
IT maintenance affecting multiple systems: 10 May – 11 May
Please be aware IT will be carrying out essential maintenance on Tuesday 10 May from 11.30pm overnight to Wednesday 11 May at 1am which will affect multiple IT systems. Please be assured Unity will remain available. The work is scheduled to begin at 11:30pm and should be completed by 1am.
This will result in the systems detailed below being temporarily unavailable for up to 60 minutes:
- iPM can be used as normal, however, brand new patients to the Trust should be allocated a prenumbered RXK label and iPM updated as per ED BC plans for new patients not already on iPM. The allocated RXK number will become the patient’s actual RXK number, and can be used immediately for ordering any diagnostic investigations via the BCP processes.
- Patients new to the Trust will not be visible in Medisoft – full BCP required.
- Orders placed in Unity will not go to radiology/pathology during this time but will be sent once the systems come back up – BCP required.
- New results will not be visible in Unity during this time but will be sent once the systems come back up.
- Inpatients admitted from ED will not show up in iPM until the systems are back up.
- Inpatients transferred between wards will show on Capman and Unity but not on iPM until the systems are back up.
- Inpatients discharged during this time will not show as discharged in iPM until the systems are back up.
- Any new baby registrations will not be able to be completed until the systems are back up – BCP required.
Colleagues will need to ensure they revert to BCPs for blood tests and imaging requests during this time. Other Unity functionality such as documentation and Meds Admin will not be affected by this activity. Desktop alerts will be issued from 10pm advising colleagues about the planned downtime.
Please be assured the activity will be closely monitored at all times.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Should you have any further queries then call the IT service desk on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050 for home workers
International Nurses Day 2022: 12 May
Thursday 12 May will see us celebrate International Nurses Day 2022. The awareness day is an annual celebration of the nursing profession, held on Florence Nightingale’s birthday.
As part of celebrations we will be recognising and highlighting some of Trust colleagues in the build up to International Nurses Day.
Today we feature Jamie Emery, Patient Involvement and Insight Lead talking about the fundamentals of care and Kulwant Khehra, Staff Nurse talking about being a nurse for 25 years.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 6 May
It’s great to recognise the work of all our midwifery colleagues this week as we celebrate International Day of the Midwife. Thank you for all you continue to do in supporting and caring for families right across our population. Maternity services continue to be under intense scrutiny. The work you do to keep women and babies safe, as well as support each other in delivering high standards of care, is greatly appreciated.
Next week we recognise our nursing colleagues during nurse’s week which is a further opportunity to thank individuals for their leadership, care, innovation and commitment as well as their support to multidisciplinary teams. It is only through effective collaborative working across all professional groups that we will be able to achieve our first strategic objective for Patients – to be good or outstanding in everything we do.
The week also coincides with Medicine and Emergency Care’s “Reset Week” which builds on the principles of a ‘perfect week’ and aims to reset standards in the Emergency Departments, wards and non-elective care services whilst reconfiguring to a new, more sustainable model. It is focused on ensuring that we get patient care right in our urgent and emergency care services and through to our wards with appropriate and timely discharge home. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on our usual processes for patient care and as we learn to live with coronavirus we need to revisit our previous standards to ensure we are focused once more on those things that really matter to patients, and to our provision of safe care.
During the Reset Week some business as usual commitments, non-essential meetings and reports will be paused alongside a planned reduction in elective activity to ensure that medical, nursing and operational support can be focussed on supporting discharges in outlier areas. Group triumvirate and senior leadership will be available on both sites to support with advice, guidance and escalations whilst the reset week progresses and the bed base is reconfigured. I know that everyone involved will enjoy being part of our reset week. It will no doubt expose some learning and areas for improvement. I am confident that patient experience will be better as a result.
It is also worth considering what else we need to reset as we live with COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic a number of different processes were established to support clinical teams in focusing on the most immediate needs of our patients. More than two years on, many of these processes will now revert back to business as usual including the line management activities that all managers are responsible for. Managers will need to make sure they are back on track with the basics of good management including budget management, recruitment, training & development and sickness absence. Our Trust has been really strong at those basics previously and next week is as good a time as any for those of us who are managers to reflect on what we need to do better at, as a manager of people.
Let’s make reset week a chance for all of us to consider how we move to the next stage of living with COVID-19, whatever our role within the organisation.
Richard Beeken
Dying Matters: A Good Place to Die
This national Dying Matters Awareness Week, (May 2nd-6th) communities across the country are coming together to talk about death, dying and bereavement. So it’s time to pause, reflect and say thank you for some of the amazing gems springing up across our SWB community as we work towards providing fundamentally excellent care for people as they come towards the end of their lives.
Identifying people in need: Thank you to every clinician who thinks ‘could this person have palliative care needs’ and uses the SPICT tool in Unity to guide & record their thinking. Special shout out to the clinical team on D15 & 17 who have been testing using this routinely for patients.
Documenting and Sharing Goals: Thanks you to every clinical team which have conversations with each other, patients and their loved ones about whether the Supportive Care Plan may help deliver excellent care for them. The General Surgical team have been doing incredible work coaching each other to understand how to use the Supportive Care Plan effectively in Unity to guide patient and their loved one’s care.
Preparation & Planning: Thank you to all the teams who ask ‘what’s important to you and where would you like to be?’. We have seen his increasingly across our elderly care wards who are increasingly doing holistic palliative and end of life care planning and working to enable more people to have choices about where they die. With special thanks to the ward end of life nursing champions who are spreading the word and supporting colleagues to deliver on excellent end of life care.
Regular Review: Thank you to our community wards medical & nursing teams who have discovered that using the easy to complete SCP daily shift review is a great chance to show how nurses provide a vital part of palliative and end of life care as well as the ward round function which can make ward rounds more efficient and help busy clinicians keep track of patient’s wishes and concerns.
Finally thank you to all colleagues clinical and non-clinical who watched the short film made here at SWBH about why every little step we can make to improving people’s experience and memories is vital.
Paul whose father died at SWBH is at the heart of the film and recently spoke at our hospital Trust Board meeting about his experience and reminded all there about how memories of how when people we love die live on with us and that we have one chance to get it right.
Resources, training information and support can all be found here
Recognising International Thalassaemia Day
The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia unit (SCaT) based at City Hospital will today be recognising International Thalassaemia Day which takes place on Sunday 8 May.
The theme for the awareness event is an open call to action to all supporters to promote awareness about thalassaemia and its global impact. But it is also calling for people to share essential information and knowledge to support the best possible health, social and other care of patients with this disease.
The theme seeks to inspire every individual to contribute, at the personal level, to the fight against thalassaemia and serves as a powerful reminder that everyone has a substantial role to play and a responsibility to act.
The SCaT unit will be holding a small event to mark the awareness day at the unit which is based on the first floor of the main City Hospital spine.
In the video below, Sister, Agnes Williams shares more about the awareness day and the care delivered in the SCAT centre.
Check out the latest edition of Heartbeat!
In the latest edition we announce the opening of our new multi-storey car parks plus much more including:
- New acute medical short stay unit opening at Sandwell
- Tackling sepsis with rapid improvement
- Our pharmacy team getting green
Do you have a submission for Heartbeat? Email swbh.comms@nhs.net with your news, stories and achievements to feature in a future edition or call us on ext. 5303.
Vaisakhi – celebrations at Sandwell and City
A Vaisakhi celebration will be taking place at City Hospital Chapel today (6 May) from 11.30am – 1.30pm and again at Sandwell Hospital Chapel on Monday 9 May. Drop in to meet our Hindu and Sikh Chaplains.
Vaisakhi, is one of the most important dates in the Sikh calendar. It is the Sikh New Year festival and is celebrated on 13 or 14 April. It also commemorates 1699, the year Sikhism was born as a collective.
For further information about the event, from the Chaplaincy team please call ext. 3552/4055.
COVID-19 Bulletin: Thursday 5 May
Numbers not statistics: This week (last week)
| Colleagues who have received COVID-19 1st Vac. | Colleagues who have received COVID-19 2nd Vac. | Colleagues who have received COVID-19 booster Vac. | Current number of confirmed COVID-19 inpatients | COVID-19 inpatients not vaccinated against COVID-19 | Total number of our patients who have died from COVID-19 |
| 89.46% (89.46%) |
85.32% (85.32%) |
57.18% (57.12%) |
106 (133) |
30.19% (21.80%) |
1,552 (1,541) |
Note: Percentages may decrease due to changes in the number of inpatients and in the number of staff members (starters and leavers).
1. New: The Lowdown on the COVID-19 vaccine, periods and fertility: Your questions answered
The Lowdown, in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, sat down with Reproductive Immunologist Dr Viki Male, and Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist Dr Fatima Husain, to discuss the latest research on the COVID-19 vaccine, fertility and periods.
This guide covers the latest evidence around the vaccine, including information on the main concerns of young women and people who menstruate and the effects of the vaccine on periods and fertility. The guide also discusses other external factors that can affect the menstrual cycle.
You can also watch the webinar for more insight from Dr Viki and Dr Fatima.
2. New: Change in supply of viral transport media (VTM)
There has been a change in the allocation of VTM to the Black Country and we have received the following update from Black Country Pathology Services.
For the last 18 months there has been a red-topped Remel MicroTest M4RT Transport tube used alongside a clear/white topped Viral Transport Medium (VTM) 3ml container for viral tests (including RSV and COVID-19). From this week a new container is being distributed, which is a green topped Sigma-Virocult Viral Transport Medium (VTM) 3ml container.
The testing procedure is the same and when you ask for the Red-topped Remel you will receive the new container. We have validated the new container to ensure that the results are the same as the current in-use VTM containers. Please continue to order in the same way.
3. Updated: Resource pack for managers
As you know, our COVID-19 guidance is regularly reviewed based upon the latest national guidance from the NHS and the UK Government, community cases, inpatients with COVID-19 and any outbreaks.
As we continue to live with COVID-19, the resource pack for managers has been updated and can be found on Connect.
Recent updates include Section 8 – Recruitment administration.
Click here for more.
4. Reminder: It’s World Hand Hygiene Day – remember our IPC measures
With it being World Hand Hygiene Day, it seems like an appropriate time to remind everyone about the importance of maintaining our infection control protocols.
We continue to see COVID infection within our communities, which inevitably risks outbreaks within our wards. This leads to increased pressure on our bed base, which is why we took the decision to maintain our current infection prevention and control measures to keep colleagues and patients safe.
We will continue to monitor the situation and make changes when we believe it is safe to do so, and in the meantime colleagues are advised to continue to follow our swabbing pathways for planned and unplanned admissions and current infection prevention control guidance which includes:
Social distancing: Please continue to abide by social distancing measures and always keep a minimum of 1 metre between you and those around you, including when you go for breaks and lunch.
Face coverings and masks: Colleagues and patients are also required to ensure they wear masks in communal areas in our hospital buildings and in rest areas. Colleagues are reminded to ensure they follow the correct PPE guidance when in direct contact with patients (on red and amber wards). You must also follow your individual risk assessment for PPE. Occasionally this will recommend a higher level of protection depending on your individual assessment.
Hand washing: This is an essential part of infection, prevention and control. All colleagues must wash their hands or use hand sanitiser on entering and exiting clinical areas. Please follow the WHO five moments of hand hygiene when in clinical areas.
Bare below the elbow: Please ensure that you are bare below the elbow whilst in clinical areas. This means your sleeves must be rolled up and any wrist jewellery (including Fitbits or similar devices) should be removed, prior to entering the area.
It’s important to dispose of PPE correctly
Our IPC measures extend not just to hand washing, social distancing and mask wearing but also the correct disposal of PPE. We have seen an increase in the amount of masks and PPE litter found discarded on the floor. You are urged to ensure you are disposing of any PPE in the correct bins to help minimise this problem.
If you need further advice, you can contact the infection control team on ext. 5900 or by emailing swb-tr.SWBH-Team-InfectionControl@nhs.net
5. Reminder: Lateral flow testing twice a week is a Trust policy
Thank you to everyone who has been testing regularly. As we have learnt over the last few years of dealing with COVID-19, asymptomatic testing in healthcare settings is critical to be able to manage infections. We must have a robust programme of testing and reporting to ensure we understand the spread of the virus. Lateral flow device testing lets us do this.
All colleagues are required to complete a lateral flow device test twice a week before coming in to work.
All completed LFD results must be reported on the Trust Lateral Flow reporting form which can be found by clicking here.
Please ensure you only report your test results on the Trust system and not to duplicate your submission on the national reporting system.
Colleagues are no longer required to confirm a COVID-19 positive lateral flow result with a PCR test.
Lateral flow device kits are free to NHS staff. You can order your lateral flow kit by visiting https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests. You will be prompted to set up an account using your NHS email address. Once set up please select “Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust” from the list and continue to place your order.
| Isolation guidance if you test positive
If you test positive you should follow the return to work guidance. All colleague who have received a positive COVID-19 test result, regardless of whether they have symptoms, are advised not to attend work for 5 days
Household Contacts Colleagues who are household contacts of a positive COVID-19 case will now be able to continue to work as normal if they remain asymptomatic and continue to test twice weekly. They will no longer be required to have a PCR test in order to return to work. If the LFD test is positive, then follow the above guidance. |
6. Reminder: Keep fit at Sandwell or City gym
As colleagues may be aware, the gym at Sandwell recently reopened. If you wish to use the gym facilities, simply register your interest with the wellbeing team and following an online induction you can commence using the gym, which is on the ground floor in Trinity House. The gym accommodates a maximum of two users at any one time and colleagues will be limited to a maximum of 40 minutes each.
At City gym, we’ve created the space you need to work out while keeping a safe distance. The gym has also been rearranged and clearly marked out for you to use safely, so it is easy for everyone to follow. The maximum number of users is five at any one time with the maximum gym time usage being one hour per visit, to allow other colleagues the opportunity to use the facility.
We’ve placed more hand sanitiser dispensers and wipes around both gyms so it’s easy to regularly clean your hands and equipment during your visit. We ask that you also sanitise your hands before entering the gym to keep yourself and others safe. For ventilation, colleagues will be responsible for opening windows whilst exercising and closing when finished.
Existing members: Your pass will already be activated ready for use.
For new members: Please contact Jatinder Sekhon, by emailing jatinder.sekhon@nhs.net or call 0121 507 3854 to complete your registration. The relevant forms can be found below:
Star Awards 2022: Employee of the Year
Do you know an individual who has an excellent attitude to work, colleagues and patients and has repeatedly gone beyond the call of duty? Do you know someone who has made improvements to the delivery of services or the patient experience, who has provided services to education and training or who consistently demonstrates the Trust’s values?
Why not nominate them for Employee of the Year at this year’s upcoming Star Awards!
Complete the online nomination form by clicking here.
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Nominations close on Friday 3 June.
Last year’s winners of this prestigious award was Julie Booth, Deputy Director of Infection Prevention and Control. Julie was recognised for being resilient, staying positive, and ensuring that our patients were receiving safe care based on the decisions that IPC had made and delivered during the pandemic last year. She proved she had the ability to respond to ever changing guidance with enthusiasm whilst raising the profile of IPC and making her team the ‘go to’ team for everything COVID-19 related.
Be sure to also check out this short video showcasing last year’s glitzy awards event.
If you have any questions, please contact the communications team on 0121 507 5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net.
Outlook 2010 has been disabled – Remember to use Office.com to access your emails
Office 2010 has now been disabled this means that colleagues must move to accessing their emails through Microsoft Edge from Office.com using their NHSmail email address and password.
Microsoft Edge can be found on your desktop with the following icon: 
Colleagues who require more advanced functionality and need to retain desktop applications will need to apply for special licensing which can be ordered by managers using the form below.
Office 365 Enterprise Licensing Request Form
Make the most of the virtual drop-in sessions if you need support finding your way round Outlook Online
Virtual drop in sessions are taking place 3 times a day Monday to Friday at 11am, 2pm and 9pm, and twice a day at weekends at 11am and 9pm. These sessions are an ideal opportunity for colleagues who have questions about how the new system works or just need a little support to join in and get some expert support.
Below is the schedule for the sessions, click on the time to join the respective session.
| Day | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
| Monday – Friday | 11am | 2pm | 9pm |
| Saturday and Sunday | 11am | 9pm |
For more information, advice and support refer to Connect or email the support team on swbh.sharepoint.migration@nhs.net.
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