Monthly archives: June 2022

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 3 June

On 6 February Her Majesty The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service. To celebrate this anniversary, events and initiatives will take place over a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June and I know many of our services, wards and departments are looking to get in to the swing of the celebrations in honour of a great public servant.

While many will be enjoying the festivities, the four-day weekend does bring challenges for us and the rest of the system. This is why our urgent care provision must be as resilient as it can be so that we may be able to cope with any increase in demand. Our urgent care response is hampered by ambulance activity coming in to us from other systems and because some of our same day emergency care services are developing and not yet fully established or fully invested in. This approach is key to our acute care model for the Midland Met, so making these early strides in this space is important.

I can report that all the groups and essential support services have put together a comprehensive weekend plan outlining services that are in place over the weekend and the staffing that is in place to support this.

The plan also describes a number of contingencies should non-elective/urgent care demand exceed our capacity. We have a Week 1 plan (the week leading up to and including the bank holiday weekend) and a Week 2 plan (as previous bank holidays have shown that it is the week after the bank holiday that generates the most pressure – none of us are looking forward to Tuesday 7^th June, that’s for sure).

Extra clinical staff will be on site during the bank holiday period as will a matron for both medicine and emergency care and surgical services. These colleagues will support patient flow and also support teams to maintain quality and safety.

Throughout this last week we have sought assurance from partners such as our local authorities to ensure they will have sufficient resources in place to respond to any requirements we might have. Our improving relationships with social care colleagues, particularly in Sandwell, has aided that assurance process. In addition, the Black Country CCG has given us assurance that there will be additional GP capacity across the coming days to support our community and hopefully avoid unnecessary attendances to our urgent treatment centres and emergency departments.

Daily, tactical level system calls involving ambulance colleagues will be held for all trusts in the Black Country, enabling us to escalate any concerns that we have to system leaders and ensure all trusts understand each other’s positions.

Thank you to colleagues who have put these measures in place to ensure we can be as responsive as we can be as well as continue to deliver safe, quality care.

If you are working over this Jubilee weekend – thank you. We hope you enjoy the small selection of Jubilee materials that we have provided to help you celebrate where you work.

As part of the Jubilee celebrations the Together coalition is celebrating its national Thank You Day on Sunday 5 June. The day calls on people across the country to come together to celebrate The Queen for 70 years of service, and to say a great big thank you to friends, family, colleagues, communities and organisations who have worked so hard over the last 12 months. We encourage you to join in and share your personal thanks with the hashtag #ThankYouDay, remember to tag in our Trust too. Find out more here.

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend and I do hope that all of you get some time to enjoy at least part of it.

Star Awards 2022 nominations close this Friday!

Each year we host our annual Star Awards ceremony to highlight and recognise those who go above and beyond within their roles. Our 2022 ceremony will take place on 7 October at Aston Villa Football Club in true carnival style.

Nominations are open until Friday 3 June, so get thinking about those colleagues who have gone above and beyond this year, been part of something extra special or made a positive difference to the way we work or the quality of care our patients receive.

For the first time in four years, we have taken the decision to streamline our award categories as our organisation enters a fresh chapter with our new strategy focusing on People, Patients and Population and the development of new values and behaviours. The number of shortlisted nominees that go through to final judging has been increased from three to four.

Be sure to also check out this short video showcasing last year’s glitzy awards event.

You can see the full list of award categories and their criteria on Connect, here.

Nominate your deserving colleagues below

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Complete the online nomination form by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please contact the communications team on 0121 507 5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net.

Drug safety notice: Supply disruption of Inhixa 40mg and 80mg pre-filled syringe injections

We have recently been informed by manufacturers that there are currently supply constraints of Inhixa 40mg and 80mg pre-filled syringe injections.

All clinical colleagues are reminded to be mindful when selecting Inhixa strengths and utilise the strengths available to make the dose needed. For further details please see Inhixa information sheet.

For more information please contact the pharmacy department on ext. 5263/3783.

Join in #ThankYouDay this Sunday!

As part of the Jubilee celebrations the Together coalition is celebrating its national Thank You Day on Sunday 5 June.

The day calls on people across the country to come together to celebrate The Queen for 70 years of service, and to say a great big thank you to friends, family, colleagues, communities and organisations who have worked so hard over the last 12 months.

We encourage you to join in and share your personal thanks with the hashtag #ThankYouDay – don’t forget to tag @swbhnhs. Find out more here.

Be sure to also check out this short video featuring colleagues from across the Trust thanking those who have supported them in past year.

Are you interested in completing a nursing associate apprenticeship?

Are you are interested in completing a nursing associate apprenticeship, as an applicant you will need:

• Evidence of achieving the required numeracy and literacy standard (functional skills level 2 Maths and English or GCSE at C/4 or above).
• Confirmation of support from your line manager for the duration of the programme.
• Contracted to work a minimum of 30 hours per week.
• Confirmation from your line manager that you will train at a Band 3.
• Evidence of achieving satisfactory attendance record.
• Confirmation from line manager that a permanent Band 4 position will be available on completion of programme.

Note: Applications close on Monday 6 June.

If you wish to apply or would like more information, please email swbh.nursingassociates@nhs.net.

Celebrating Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee

On 6 February this year, Her Majesty The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service. To celebrate this anniversary, events and initiatives will take place over a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June.

Jubilee materials to help you celebrate

Thank you to colleagues who will be working during the Jubilee weekend. We have provided a small selection of items to help you celebrate where you work. The packs contain, bunting, balloons and selfie photos frames. Please ensure your pack is collected from stores at City/Sandwell between 1pm and 2pm today.

You may wish to supplement these materials by supporting our cancer services who are selling Queen Diamond Jubilee flags (which would have gone to landfill) and are hosting a competition for the best flag for the Queens Platinum Jubilee. The flags are £2 each and can purchased by calling 0121 507 2776. If you wish to be part of the flag competition, send a picture of your designs to Jennifer.donovan@nhs.net which will be judged on Tuesday 7 June. The winner of the competition will have the opportunity to pick from peach gin, bridges gift bag or a soap and glory gift set.