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Monthly archives: September 2022

World Patient Safety Day: 17 September

 

Saturday 17 September is World Patient Safety Day. The day aims to raise awareness of patient safety and urge people to show their commitment to making healthcare safer. This would include speaking up about anything you believe could cause potential or real harm to our patients.

As a Trust we will be engaging in this year’s World Health Organisations (WHO) Safety Day – medication without harm. We recognise that there are improvements to be made across the domains of medicine management for safer care. Therefore this is an opportune time to focus where we need to make changes, to do better and reduce medication related incidents. The responsibility for this lies with us all.

This week and next week we are focussing on medicine safety. This includes:

  • Understanding the issues and as part of weLearn – we will provide the data and insights to measure for improvement with new Medication Incident Dashboards
  • Carry out audits
  • Do a deep dive into issues caused by system factors such as Unity impacting on work arounds
  • Additional education and training.

We will have information stands around the Trust from Tuesday 20 September across City (entrance to main hospital) Sandwell (Hallam restaurant and wards) Rowley and community hubs.

We will also be encouraging clinical areas to create displays of light up orange harm free care: medication management, outlining their mission statements and aims to improve. We have had our first information session with representation from 42 clinical areas: having committed to making improvements.

In addition, there will be competitions and prizes where the team will be looking for the most informative displays.

To get involved and find out more, please email marsha.jones3@nhs.net,

Get in the Loop – Trust launches new erostering system

 

Earlier this week (Monday 12 September) we went live with Loop – our new fully integrated employee erostering system!

Loop is an app that has been designed by Allocate to allow you to view rostering, book annual leave and take control of your work life at touch of a button – click here to find out more!

Does this affect me? All medical temporary staffing shifts are now booked through Loop, giving you control and freedom to ‘Express Interest’ on the go!

  • Download the app and click here for instructions.
  • Create an account on the app –  We recommend using an email you have access to (just in case you forget your password)
  • Link with the trust “Sandwell & West Birmingham”.

You will be asked to login with ‘Employee Online’ however, don’t panic – these will have been sent out to you from ‘Allocate’ or ‘HealthRoster’ if you are part of the first cohort to go live.

Should you have any issues downloading the Loop App or logging in to Loop please contact or require more information please contact kellee.ward@nhs.net – 07977 148288 or shila.patel@nhs.net – 07773 809212.

Know your sepsis six

 

Spotting sepsis in patients can at times be difficult due to the symptoms being similar to many other conditions, but following a few simple screening rules can significantly improve detection and treatment times.

Red flag criteria indicating high risk of deterioration

  • Objective evidence of new or altered mental state
  • Systolic BP ≤ 90 mmHg (or drop of > 40 from normal)
  • Heart rate ≥ 130 per minute
  • Respiratory rate ≥ 25 per minute
  • Needs O2 to keep SpO2 ≥ 92% (88% in COPD)
  • Non-blanching rash/mottled/ashen/cyanotic
  • Lactate ≥ 2 mmol/l
  • Recent chemotherapy
  • Not passed Urine in 18 hours (<0.5ml/kg/hr if catheterised)

Once sepsis has been detected, applying the sepsis six care bundle within 60 minutes can double your patients chance of survival:

  • Give high flow oxygen
  • Take blood cultures
  • Give IV antibiotics
  • Give a fluid challenge
  • Measure lactate
  • Measure urine output

Sepsis: Blood cultures

Blood cultures should be obtained prior to antibiotic administration. A clean peripheral swab must be obtained (must not be taken from existing lines/ new cannulae). Blood culture packs and bottles must be used and must be readily available in all clinical areas. ANTT (aseptic non touch technique) should be used during sampling to minimise the risk of contamination.

Note: Spare blood culture packs are now available in the resus vending machines across the Trust (City, ground floor by pharmacy, Sandwell, opposite pharmacy).

Black Country and West Birmingham mental health and wellbeing hub

 

Following the sad news of the Queen’s passing this is a reminder that colleagues across the ICS including can access the Black Country and West Birmingham mental health and wellbeing hub should they feel they want support.

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHFT) has set up the Black Country and West Birmingham Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub to provide an entry point into mental health talking therapies and support for colleagues across the Black Country and West Birmingham Integrated Care System (ICS).

Qualified mental health professionals offer priority pathways to confidential telephone, video, or face-to-face support tailored to individual needs, provided by local mental health teams and support services close to home.

Don’t suffer in silence: If you are feeling overwhelmed or need someone to talk to. If you feel that you would benefit from this support, you can self-refer by visiting the BCHFT website. Alternatively, you can email bchft.hub@nhs.net or call 0121 8031444.

Note: This is not a crisis service. If you require urgent mental health support, please call Rethink’s 24/7 mental health helpline on 0800 0086516 or visit BCHFT’s help in a crisis page for a range of options. You can find out more about the 24/7 mental health helpline here.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 9 September

 

Following yesterday’s sad news our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this time of national mourning. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II devoted her life to public service and was full of admiration for those in the NHS who daily live a life serving patients, families and our communities.

During this period our regular communications will be kept to essential information for patients and staff as a sign of respect. Colleagues are welcome to sign the online book of condolences hosted by the Royal Household here: https://www.royal.uk/  and should you wish to sign our own books they will be on Trust sites in due course.

In line with national guidance our services should continue with minimal disruption. As more information is shared relating to this period we will keep you informed. Please see following our public message which is posted across all our external channels.

Her Majesty The Queen 1926 – 2022

On behalf of the Board and staff at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, we would like to express our profound sadness at the news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Her Majesty was a shining example of public service to the nation throughout her entire life and her love and support for the National Health Service and the people who work in it was unstinting and unwavering.

It was a proud moment for us all when she awarded NHS staff the George Cross earlier this year, for their compassion and courage over the last 74 years but particularly during the pandemic.

We will remember with affection and gratitude, the lifetime of service she has given to the people of the United Kingdom and The Commonwealth as our longest-reigning Monarch.

We offer our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to all the Queen’s family and loved ones.

May she rest in peace and God Save the King.

Check CRIS before calling imaging

 

Did you know you have the ability to track patient imaging status using CRIS – the information system used by colleagues in imaging?

Instead of calling the imaging department to chase up patient appointments, colleagues across the Trust can login to CRIS to see planned appointment times for patients within Imaging and have access to reports.

CRIS is available on all computers in all wards and clinical areas.

For further details on how to use CRIS, please see CRIS Training Sheet.

For more information please email swb-tr.pacs@nhs.net.

Don’t get caught out by scammers – Fraudulent calls regarding taxes

 

Colleagues are advised to be aware of fraudulent calls being made to staff at our Trust purportedly from HMRC. These fraudulent calls are advising staff that arrest warrants have been issued due to unpaid taxes and requesting personal and banking information.

Colleagues are advised to be on alert for calls of this nature and to not supply any personal information to the caller.

Report scam HMRC emails, texts, phone calls and letters

You can report suspicious emails, texts, phone calls and letters to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). How you do this depends on what you received.

If you received:

Further support and advice can be found by contacting our Local Counter Fraud Specialist Sophie Coster (Tel: 07436 268747), Chief Finance Officer Dinah McLannahan; or the NHS Counter Fraud Authority on 0800 028 40 60.

Heartbeat: Hello my name is… Kelly Papavarnava

 

This month we say hello to Kelly Papavarnava – Deputy Group Director of Nursing – Surgical Services (DGDON).

Kelly joined SWB in March 2022 and being DGDON entails being the clinical lead for surgical services and theatres, focusing on standardisation across all theatres in preparation for our move to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), workforce, recruitment and retention. We caught up with her to find out more.

Kelly told us: “I have been a registrant for 21 years – I trained in the West Midlands. I am a dual registrant – a qualified nurse and midwife. My background is predominantly surgery, and I’ve previously worked in research as the lead nurse in Wolverhampton.

“More recently, I have worked in surgery for the last six years, completing my Advanced Clinical Practice MSc, further working as a surgical advanced clinical practitioner. This course allowed me to further develop my skills and knowledge in clinical practice, leadership and management, plus education and research.”

Midland Met plays a vital part in Kelly’s role as surgical services will be moving to our new hospital when it opens in 2024. “MMUH will offer us new, improved and modern facilities, something our team will benefit from,” Kelly told us. “From a theatres viewpoint, we are starting to work with our theatre colleagues across all three sites focusing on theatre standardisation, development of new theatre rotas and integration of staff from all across our sites.

“It will also mean an improved working environment which will benefit patients. Plus, we’ll be able to work more collaboratively with colleagues on one site dedicated to acute care.”

World Sepsis Day – prevent Sepsis by washing your hands

 

With World Sepsis Day fast approaching on Tuesday 13 September, throughout the week we will be sharing useful information and resources around sepsis. World Sepsis Day is an awareness day which aims to remind people of the detrimental impact sepsis can have as sepsis is one the top causes of preventable deaths worldwide.

Did you know you can help prevent Sepsis by washing your hands?

You should wash your hands:

  • Before touching a patient
  • Before a clean/aseptic procedure
  • After body fluid exposure risk
  • After touching a patient
  • After touching a patient‘s surroundings
  • When attending to a new patient
  • When entering and leaving a ward or clinical area

Check out the latest edition of Heartbeat!

 

In the latest edition of Heartbeat, we check in with colleagues who volunteered their time to make Birmingham 2022 a success.

We also attended the graduation of our nursing associate apprentices and heard about their future plans, as well as catching up with Specialist Skin Cancer Nurse, Anne Rutland, who busted some myths surrounding skin cancer and how to protect ourselves from the sun. You can also see our action plans for clinical groups following our Pulse survey feedback, and read about our new Trust values and Fundamentals of Care framework in Richard Beeken’s column.

Do you have a submission for Heartbeat? Email isobel.hunter1@nhs.net with your news, stories and achievements to feature in a future edition or call us on ext. 5303

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