Monthly archives: June 2022
Pharmacy drug safety notices
We have three drug safety notices from our pharmacy department which clinical colleagues should be aware of. We currently have no supply of potassium chloride (Sando K) 12mmol effervescent tablets until further notice and we are out of stock of all brands and strengths of aciclovir injection until Monday 20 June.
Please see information sheets below for further advice and alternatives:
For more information please contact the pharmacy department on ext. 5263/3783.
Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Digital Conference 21 – 23 June
The sixth annual Chief Allied Health Professions Officer’s (CAHPO) conference will take place virtually this year on 21, 22 and 23 of June.
The aim of the conference is to introduce the next AHP Strategy for England and will form the basis of our new AHP Strategy.
The conference will include a session on each new area of focus on the strategy alongside sessions on other key subjects.
These include:
- Strengthening and promoting the AHP community
- Anti-racism
- People first
- Optimising Care
- Social justice and reducing health inequalities
- Greener AHPs
- AHPs in Integrated care systems
- Implementation of the next AHP strategy
If you wish to join this event digitally throughout the above dates or find out more, please click here.
Would any of your patients benefit from a smartphone or Geobook tablet?
Black Country Connected are offering people who live in the Black Country and West Birmingham the chance to borrow a SMART mobile phone or Geobook Tablet for three months with support to use it. They will also give recipients details of a free basic IT skills course being offered by Walsall/West Midlands colleges.
Note: If you think the device has had a positive impact on the person who is given it, they may be able to keep the device at the end of the three-month programme depending on their circumstances.
To find out more about this project or if you believe any of your patients benefit from this initiative please click here.
In case you missed it: Young people’s healthcare and transition summer newsletter
In case you missed it, the young people’s healthcare and transition summer newsletter is now available digitally. You can access the newsletter by clicking here.
For more information please email kelly.edie-fisher:nhs.net or call 07773053702.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 17 June
This week I had the privilege, along with a few other colleagues, to attend the NHS Confederation annual conference and expo in Liverpool. The first time there has been such a face to face get together for three years.
When you attend such events, you usually expect four things out of it:
- Connecting with old colleagues or friends again
- Making new connections which may add to your Trust’s future service provision or benefit staff experience
- Listening to Secretaries of State for Health on their “vision” for the future
- Learning things or being inspired by others
On the last point, I attended one session which really struck a chord with me. It was hosted by the renowned British Nigerian broadcaster David Olusaga and was a talk about how the NHS and immigration to the UK are symbiotically intertwined – one would not be successful without the other.
The NHS came into being, only 12 days after the first of the Windrush generation entered the UK. The biggest problem in 1948 when the NHS began and now, is workforce shortage in key clinical roles. Without immigration, we would never have met the needs of the NHS then and without it now, we would be in an even more parlous state. 33% of the medical workforce in the English NHS are from outside the UK. 100,000 nurses came from the Indian subcontinent to the NHS between 1948 and 1973 alone.
Despite these undeniable facts and the reliance we have on colleagues from abroad, the response of government is often counterintuitive. The response of their colleagues to their arrival can so often be discriminatory and ignorant. To illustrate these two points, government response in the 1950s to the poor welcome and discrimination was to “limit” the numbers of immigrants entering the service. Government response now (culture wars, anti-wokery, anti EDI expertise in the NHS) is also likely to be counter-productive. Likewise, in a recent survey conducted by the BMA, over 50% of doctors from outside the UK have suffered such abuse, microagressions or discrimination, that it has negatively impacted on their mental health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the health inequalities and poor lived experience of the population and of black, asian or minority ethnic staff alike.
All of this was set out in the speech by the host, and all of it resonated with me. It has made me even more aware that racism and discrimination are not just historical issues that faced the Windrush generation, but they are still with us now. The discourse of our national politicians is disingenuous and inconsistent in this space, so doesn’t help. So, we need to counter that by being consistent and upstanding in our anti-racism and discrimination. Let us control what we can control. This means:
- New Trust values, being launched in September, which will have inclusion at their heart
- A Trust people plan, to drive the people element of our new strategy, which will have engagement of all, cultural improvement and a just culture, at its heart
- An equality, diversity and inclusion approach, which must focus on improving the lived experiences of all staff with protected characteristics
Racial discrimination and cultural acceptance is a difficult, nuanced and multi-layered field. But we cannot and will not ignore it. We can all play our part, by seeking to understand how our colleagues feel, to understand their personal history and family history. Many will have a back story which was built on immigration and each story will be unique. Lets celebrate our diversity.
Have a good week.
Richard
Hot weather today: Provision of ice lollies for wards and clinics
High temperatures are expected today, (Friday 17 June). Arrangements have been made for colleagues working in ward areas and clinic settings where it is difficult to access cold refreshments to have frozen ice lollies supplied by our catering team.
Please nominate a team representative to collect lollies on behalf of your team members from the following locations:
- City: City catering stores between 10am – 2pm, Arches café between 2pm – 7pm
- Leasowes: From the freezer in the kitchen
- Rowley: Rowley catering department between 11am – 6pm
- Sandwell: Sandwell catering department between 10am – 7pm
For more information about keeping your patients and colleagues safe during the hot weather please click here.
World Sickle Cell Day this Sunday
World Sickle Cell Day takes place on Sunday, and today we are marking it by holding an awareness event.
The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Centre (SCAT) is based on the first floor at City Hospital. Colleagues in the unit will be wearing red T-shirts today and sharing information about the disease which affects so many in the Sandwell and West Birmingham area.
We caught up with patient Jessica Uche to talk about how the disease affected her and the importance of World Sickle Cell Day, whilst Specialist Registrar in Haematology Dr Sandeep Potluri explained a little more about the condition.
You can catch the video by clicking below:
Clinical Audit Awareness Week
We would like to thank everyone who has been to see us, sent us emails, joined the webinars, contributed to the NICE feedback and shared resources over the last four days during Clinical Audit Awareness Week.
Today there is a national focus on future-proofing healthcare through clinical audit.
Roanna Burgess has been nominated as the SWB ‘Future-proofing healthcare audit hero’ following a project she completed which used technology to increase the return of patient reported outcome and experience measures (PROMS & PREMS) and make this data more accessible to clinicians in order to inform clinical decisions and improve patient care. To read more about Roanna’s project, and the work of all our clinical audit heroes, please visit the Connect page.
For more information about the week and get in touch with the team, please email swbh.auditteam-clineffec@nhs.net.
Our strategy: There’s still time to get involved
Although it’s the end of strategy week, there is still time to get involved. The QIHD topic today will be centred around the strategy and where you fit in. Please use those discussions with your teams to see how you can improve what you already do.
There are two more exec led Q and A sessions for you to join next week. Everyone is welcome, please encourage your colleagues to come along too.
- Monday 20 June, 9.30am – 10.30am via MS teams, click here to join
- Monday 20 June, 3.30pm – 4.30pm, Committee Room, Rowley
Find out more
You can read our five year strategy here.
Our summary presentation gives a useful overview of how our objectives and plans fit together and what our priorities will be.
To find out more watch our short film that explains our strategy.
See Connect for FAQs and all the latest information.
Recognising Nutrition and Hydration Week: Test your knowledge with our quiz and win a prize
Following on from our events this week, we have small amounts of fruit available for colleagues on a first come, first serve basis at City main stores.
This week is Nutrition and Hydration Week which aims to highlight the value of food and drink in maintaining health and wellbeing in health and social care.
With summer in full swing and temperatures rising it’s important to keep an eye on your hydration. Dehydration can set in incredibly quickly so it important to understand the key symptoms: headaches, sunken eyes, dry mouth/lips, tiredness, cold hands, dark/smelly urine and peeing fewer than 4 times a day. Remember to keep a steady supply of water nearby and to try to drink 1.5litres of fluid per day.
Test your knowledge with our quiz: 17 questions contributed by catering, food Safety, SLT and the dietetics team giving you some useful information, fun, with an opportunity to win a specially chosen prize – click here to complete the test.
Get involved with Nutrition and Hydration Week:
We will be hosting pop up stands and the catering team has organised taster sessions of patient meals for you to try as well as a complimentary bottle of water on the below dates:
- Thursday 16 June, 12pm – 2pm, Main restaurant, Rowley
Our library services will be offering a variety of resources including evidence-based literature, resource guide, healthy refreshments and goodies and board games on the following dates in our education centres in the libraries at both City and Sandwell:
- Thursday 16 June, 8.30am – 4.30pm (City and Sandwell)
- Friday 17 June, 8.30am – 4.30pm (Sandwell only)
Our alcohol care team will be visiting wards, areas and departments with their highly popular non-alcoholic drinks trolley explaining the risks of alcohol in terms of nutrition and hydration on the following days.
- Thursday 16 June, 1.30pm – 4pm (Sandwell)
For more information about everything of the Nutrition and Hydration Week, please email essie.li@nhs.net.
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