Monthly archives: June 2022

Online e-learning modules on ESR for end of life care training now available

Did you know the results of the national audit of care at the end of life (NACEL) 2021 for SWB highlight the need to improve on the following key priorities of care:

1. Early identification and use of an individualised care plan for the dying
2. Communication with patients and their families
3. Experience of care for families and significant others

What next?

The end of life care QI project is focused on equipping all colleagues with resources and support to provide better care for patients who could deteriorate and die. The ESR end of life care training module is now available in your ESR account as an additional competence but be sure to keep an eye on the communications bulletin for training opportunities!

Star of the Week – Sarah Clarke

Our Star of the Week is Sarah Clarke, senior sister.

Sarah is new to both the ward manager role and the Trust but has joined us with lots drive and positivity. In the short time she has been in the role she has provided support and motivation to the team. She has taken the safety huddle concept and introduced a key message under structed headings. These happen every day including weekends and they include wellbeing Wednesday, feedback Friday and safety Sunday which all add an additional element to promote colleague wellbeing with relevant governance information and safer patient care standards.

In two months her team have become empowered to communicate better, smile and laugh with the patients and positively accept incidents happen and address these with action and resolve.

Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and beyond the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the Week by clicking here.

NHS Midlands greener summer Roadshow: 13 July

The Midlands Greener NHS team have been working to arrange a regional virtual roadshow for NHS organisations and their people to find out more about the NHS carbon ‘net zero’ target – and how everyone can play their part in creating a greener NHS right here in the Midlands.

The event which will take place on Wednesday 13 July, 1.30pm – 3.30pm, will celebrate the work of the Midlands NHS over the last 12 months.  Focusing on provider and system green plans and exploring how we can all support in the implementation of these plans and is designed for anyone with an interest in creating a greener NHS.

The regional roadshow will also be a chance to find out more about the national and regional work that’s already underway to help ‘green’ the NHS, as well as hearing how NHS people across the East and West Midlands are bringing that work to life through examples of good practice.

To find out more and join this free event, please click here.

Overnight road closure of Western Road: 27 – 30 June

Western Road will be closed on Monday 27 June – Thursday 30 June from 8pm – 6am in order for the road to be resurfaced.

Diversions will be in place however any colleague who needs to access City Hospital during this period will need to plan for delayed when travelling.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 24 June

I was so pleased to see this week that we have been able to support health care services in Ukraine by donating some supplies (gowns and continence consumables) that are surplus to requirements. With thanks to our procurement and supplies team who have worked closely with Dr Tania Herbert, a GP in Coventry and the West Midlands Coordinator for Medical Aid Ukraine to get this arrangement sorted. The lorryload of goods, packaged and loaded with help from our kind colleagues in receipts and distribution, left City Hospital on Monday and will be of great use to clinicians who are working in the most challenging of circumstances.

Our Trust Annual General Meeting takes place on Wednesday 6 July, 4pm – 5.30pm – everyone is welcome! This year we are once again holding this as an online meeting. Although our IPC guidelines are now relaxed the number of people with COVID-19 in the community and testing positive in our hospitals, seems to be on the increase and, as a healthcare provider, it is sensible for us to be cautious and avoid an event that could spread the infection. The benefits of a virtual meeting, are of course, that people can join from wherever they are and I would encourage you all to join us and hear about the Trust’s achievements during the year which by the way are all down to you, our fantastic workforce. You will hear about our financial performance and the regeneration opportunities that we are seizing, in partnership with others, so that the communities in the areas surrounding Midland Met can benefit. And there is an opportunity to ask any questions of the Trust Board. You can register for the MS Teams meeting here.

Preparations continue to progress for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Many colleagues are playing their part in this sporting event with clinical and medical support as well as volunteering to welcome the spectators and athletes. The Games will bring people from across the world to Birmingham and Sandwell, to enjoy the various sporting events taking place. As well as sport, the Commonwealth Games has a cultural programme and City Hospital is very proud to host an arts project, Abundance, which is a beautiful garden play space on the grassed areas in front of the Birmingham Treatment Centre. Abundance was created by Spectra, a neuro diverse arts organisation, in partnership with Your Trust Charity and its grand opening is tomorrow from 1pm. To attend the opening shows tomorrow please register here. Massive thanks to everyone who made this happen including our estates team and the BTC management team. The garden is open up to 3 September so please do pay a visit.

Next week we move into a new month and during July we will, once more, invite you all to complete our regular Pulse quarterly survey. Thank you to everyone who has completed these surveys over the past year. The surveys are important. They often come around quickly but hearing how you feel about this organisation is so important. These surveys will only take five minutes to complete – and you should be being given the time to complete them. They are deliberately short and enable us to check, on a regular basis, whether the things we are doing against our “People” strategic objective (one of our three Ps) are making a difference. We don’t expect to see change happen overnight but hope that through the investment in things like our new car parks, our health and wellbeing support and additional recruitment to fill vacancies, you are supported in your daily work. Please complete the survey when it drops in your inbox or if you receive a paper copy – through regular feedback we will learn how to make things better. It is an important part of our “Speak Up” programme.

As always – thank you.

Dinah McLannahan, Chief Finance Officer

Richard Beeken is away

Abundance launches tomorrow at City

The Commonwealth Games are just around the corner, and we’re getting into the swing of things with the launch of Abundance.

For those of you onsite at City Hospital, you may have already seen a glimpse of the garden space unfolding as arts and community groups have worked together to create a garden play space that celebrates nature in an urban setting.

Your Trust Charity is supporting this project and investing in arts, education and heritage programmes as part of the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, which is currently under construction.

Abundance is just one of the projects the Trust will support to enrich local communities. Everyone is welcome to visit and enjoy the space.

If you are onsite tomorrow, you can take part in the opening, which will be commemorated with three performances, at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.

The performances will be inclusive and include interactive elements – BSL and audio descriptions will be available.

Abundance will be supported by artist residencies – the hope is that the garden will flourish and grow over the summer.

Abundance will be open from 25 June – 3 September, 10am – 6pm daily. To reserve your space at the opening ceremony, please click here.

Living with COVID-19 Bulletin: Thursday 23 June

COVID-19 has tested the resolve of colleagues across the NHS and continues to impact services, however it is clear that we now need to plan for the long term and change our approach to dealing with COVID-19.

On Monday 20 June we moved to our next stage of stepping down more of our restrictions to ensure that our response remains reasonable and proportionate to the risk.

We continue to monitor the situation to ensure we keep our patients, visitors and colleagues safe.

1. New: Rise of COVID-19 cases may see return of mask wearing

As you may be aware, there has been a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases within our community and we are seeing an increasing number of people testing positive in our hospitals.

For now we are keeping our current IPC guidance in place, but we will review this regularly based on the number of cases, outbreaks and staff absences with the virus.

This does mean that we may need to return to mask wearing for colleagues working within clinical areas to keep everyone safe.

If it is decided to take this course of action, we will alert all colleagues.

But in the meantime, please follow our current IPC guidance and remain vigilant. Colleagues are reminded that they can choose to wear fluid-repellent surgical masks (FRSMs) in all areas if they choose.

Below is a reminder of situations when masks are required:

• Masks still to be accessible for those who choose to wear them or when mask wearing is in-line with an individual risk assessment.
• Masks should be worn when caring for a COVID-19 confirmed or suspected positive patient alongside PPE appropriate to the task being undertaken. This includes within the side room where there is a COVID-19 positive patient (not within the rest of the ward if patients have not tested positive for COVID-19) and within a red ward.
• Respiratory care pathways/wards (including wards with outbreaks of respiratory infection).
• Areas where there are untriaged patients whose COVID-19 status is unknown such as A&E, Urgent Treatment Centre and primary care (GP practices).
• Haem-oncology wards such as SCAT, D12, Medical Infusion Suite.
• Renal wards.
• When undertaking an Aerosol Generating Procedure (AGP) and patient is of unknown status or COVID positive then a FFP3 fit tested mask should be worn.
• Where there are outbreaks of COVID-19 or respiratory outbreaks such as flu.
• Ensure appropriate mask/PPE selection in line with the task that is being undertaken or as required to support transmission-based precautions.

Masks no longer need to be worn in the following areas, unless it is the staff member’s preference or requested to do so by a patient or staff member:

• Clinical areas apart from those listed above.
• Non-patient facing areas such as laboratories, education centres and offices.
• Corridors and other public areas.
• Outpatients.

Wearing of Masks – Patients:

• Patients with no respiratory symptoms including in outpatient clinics and waiting areas are no longer required to wear a surgical mask.
• Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients should be offered a mask if clinically able to tolerate on admission and on transfer to other clinical areas.

2. New: City COVID vaccination hub to reduce opening hours 

From Monday 27 June, the COVID vaccination hub at City Hospital will no longer be open Monday to Friday. Instead, colleagues can visit a daily pop-up clinic in the Birmingham Treatment Centre and other pop-ups around the Trust sites, including at Sandwell, Rowley and within the maternity department at City. More details on timings for these will be shared through the daily bulletin.

The City Hospital vaccination hub will remain open at weekends between 9am-5pm for five to 17 year-old patients for both walk-ins and booked appointments, by calling 119.

3. New: What to do if you’re in contact with a positive COVID-19 case and not wearing a face mask

Due to the step down of surgical face masks in some wards and areas, colleagues should follow the below actions if they’re not wearing a face mask and have contact with a positive case of COVID-19.

• Daily lateral flow test to be taken for seven days
• Fluid resistant surgical masks to be worn for seven days

 Note: If an inpatient is has had contact with a positive colleague who was not wearing a face mask, they would also be a contact and would need to be monitored for symptoms and lateral flow tested daily.

4. Reminder: Visiting/attending appointments

Our current visiting arrangements are to continue as followed:

• Patients can now receive up to two visitors per day for one hour. A child can attend as one of the two visitors and remains the responsibility of the parent/guardian.
• Visiting appointments must continue to be booked with the ward, as they are currently. Visiting hours are between 11am–7pm.
• Patients attending the Emergency department or outpatient clinics can be accompanied by a visitor.
• Visitors are asked to refrain from attending sites even for appointments if they are unwell and experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
• Visitors are no longer required to wear masks with the exception of high-risk areas such as haem-oncology, respiratory care wards, neonatal and where confirmed/suspected patients are cared for (see above list).

Visiting in maternity

• From Monday 27 June, additional visiting will be allowed in maternity services following a risk assessment.
• One birth partner can visit between 9am and 9pm.
• Additional visitors, which can include siblings, will be given an allocated two-hour time slot on arrival at the ward. No more than four people are allowed at the bedside at one time.
• Flow-charts for visiting arrangements for M1 and M2.

Neonatal visiting where the parent(s) are known to or suspected of having COVID-19

• Arrangements are in place to allow safe visiting for babies on the neonatal unit when one or both parents have or may have COVID019. This includes admission of the baby to an isolation unit, joint visiting for up to two hours and strict IPC arrangements to reduce risk of transmission within the unit.

For the full guidance please click here.

5. Reminder: Long term effects of COVID-19

NHS Black Country and West Birmingham CCG have put together a short video featuring Dr Mohit Mandiratta around the post-COVID-19 syndrome known to many as long COVID, as for some people COVID-19 can cause symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection has gone.

Watch the short video below for more information.

6. Reminder: COVID-19 testing arrangements

Colleagues are reminded below of the latest testing arrangements:

Colleague Testing – Lateral flow testing to continue for all patient facing staff twice weekly, however weekly lateral flow testing is now not necessary for non-patient facing staff with immediate effect.

Patient testing – Continue with current arrangements of testing on admission and on day three, seven and 13.

Contact Patients – Do not move asymptomatic contacts from their bed/ward and monitor contacts as per the recommended testing pathway.

COVID-19 positive patients – Continue with current arrangements of lateral flow testing at day six and seven or at times of capacity concerns where a site / sites are at level 4. In these circumstances lateral flow testing can be done at day four and day five.

Accessing support – it’s okay to ask for help

We all go through difficult times in our lives and many of us have experienced significant challenges over the past two years that have impacted on our mental and physical health. Our Trust has a range of schemes that can support you with your health and wellbeing. All services are strictly confidential and many colleagues benefit from regular use or have been helped with additional support at times of distress.

If you don’t know what help you need, contact our Occupational Health service (0121 507 3306 – swbh.ohreferrals@nhs.net) for advice. They can talk to you about your concerns and provide you with assessment, support or onward signposting. The Trust has a confidential counselling service accessed through the occupational health team. It is independent and staffed by accredited counsellors who can talk to you over the telephone or arrange a face-to-face session. We also have a Trauma Therapy and EMDR specialist available within the Occupational Health Service. Managers can request team-based psychologist sessions and de-briefs.

Our on-site wellbeing hubs at City, Sandwell and Rowley Regis are places to relax and unwind. You can also arrange a conversation over a cup of tea/coffee, or book a relaxing treatment at these sites or The Sanctuary. You can book an appointment by ringing 0121 507 3306 option 4.

Managers can request wellbeing coach attendance at team wellbeing sessions, events and away days.

Your colleagues and friends may be just the right people for you to talk to if there are things that are worrying you.

Don’t suffer in silence.

For more information about what’s on offer please see the occupational health and wellbeing service page.

Work experience offer closed until February 2023

Due to high demand, our work experience offer is now closed until February 2023. When we reopen for expressions of interest in February, all information will be available on our external website under the “Work For Us” section.

Note: Local schools and colleges will be notified in advance of openings and students will be encouraged to apply for available and suitable placements.

For more information please email nicola.smith16@nhs.net.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Make, bake and donate to help Your Trust Charity

To celebrate the 74^th birthday of the NHS, Your Trust Charity will taking part in the NHS Big Tea and offering colleagues at our Trust the opportunity to treat themselves to some delicious bakes and cakes.

Last year, the funds raised from events such as NHS Big Tea helped us to deliver pop-up wellbeing hubs for our colleagues across our sites, as well as supporting our patients living with and beyond cancer with an incredible volunteer led befriending service. Your support will help us to do even more for our staff, patients and families, and best of all you get to enjoy cake whilst doing so.

Colleagues at Sandwell Hospital will enjoy their big bake sale on Tuesday 5 July, closely followed by colleagues at City Hospital on Thursday 7 July. Full details of the locations of the Big Tea bake sales will be shared in the communications bulletin.

How can you help?

If you are a budding baker or a master chef who wants to share their bakes, cakes and treats with colleagues, we would love for you to support our charity by donating some of your creations. You can deliver these to us at either:

• Trust Charity Office, Corridor A, Trinity House Ground Floor, Sandwell, 9am – 10.30am, Tuesday 5 July
• Charity/volunteer hub opposite Arches café, main spine ground floor, City, 9am – 10.30am, Thursday 7 July

If you’d like to make, bake and donate, please email trustcharity@nhs.net or call 0121 507 5196 to book in your delivery.