Monthly archives: November 2022
New eating disorders elearning and webinars now available
Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) has worked with charity BEAT, HEE’s Mental Health team and NHS England and Improvement to develop a new elearning session on monitoring eating disorders.
The session aims to equip all healthcare staff who are involved in the physical assessment and monitoring of eating disorders with the knowledge and skills needed to sensitively undertake medical monitoring.
The resource includes information on why physical health checks are necessary, the steps involved, appropriate communication style and information on consent, capacity and non-attendance. It also outlines the necessary, such as taking weight, blood pressure, temperature, etc, alongside the risk management guidance, which reflects up-to-date guidance on managing medical emergencies for people with eating disorders (MEED).
The 35-minute session also has a brief demonstration video, which provides a template for healthcare staff to use when undergoing medical monitoring.
By the end of the module, learners will be able to:
- Identify why medical monitoring is needed and the possible challenges and barriers
- Explain how to undertake the recommended examinations and investigations, and why these are needed
- Consider protocols to deal with patients who do not attend their appointments
For more information and to access the resource, please visit the eating disorders training for health and care colleagues programme page.
A series of 5 webinars for oral health teams, dietitians and community pharmacy teams is also available.
Join us for Christmas Sock Day on Friday, 9 December
The festive season is fast approaching and this year we invite all colleagues to join us for Christmas Sock Day.
On Friday, 9 December, all colleagues can don their best Christmas socks to raise funds for the Your Trust Charity (YTC) Midland Met fundraising campaign. For just £2, you can help make a difference to the vital services YTC supports.
With your continued support, Your Trust Charity will fund play areas for our young patients, create a beautiful garden where people can sit and reflect, and hire research nurses to help find treatments and cures for illnesses at our new hospital.
And the best bit of all, it’s not just Christmas socks that can help us to make a difference. Seasonal deeley boppers, earrings and Christmas ties can make a difference to our campaign – please ensure infection protection control remains in place when wearing your festive fashion.
To get involved, please scan the QR code and donate £2 to the Midland Met fundraising campaign or click here – tinyurl.com/2p9esu9p.
Thank you!
#BlackCountryHealth247 Shining a spotlight on our amazing colleagues
Following the success of our 24 hours in healthcare across the Black Country last year, we are repeating it again today – from 8am this morning to 8am tomorrow morning. Our focus this year is keeping people out of hospital. The idea is to publicise the hardworking staff within each healthcare organisation across the Black Country, showing the range of people and issues they deal with over a 24-hour period and highlight the different services that work incredibly hard to keep people out of a hospital bed. To see our content so far head over to the Trust’s social media channels below:
We want your views on services in Birmingham and Solihull
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System are currently developing a strategy which looks at the next ten years and how they deliver on the ambitious vision to make Birmingham and Solihull the best place to live and work, driving equity in life chances and health outcomes for everyone.
By providing your feedback, you’ll help to shape the strategy and ensure that it focusses on the elements of your experience and care which can be improved. The results will be used to help formulate the strategy and inform any further engagement or work that is required in particular areas.
If you wish to complete the survey please click here.
There is a useful animation on how the integrated care partnership works which can be accessed by clicking here.
To find out more about the Birmingham and Solihull ICS ten year strategy please see ICS strategy presentation
Schwartz Rounds continue on 30 November
Schwartz Rounds have been relaunched with the next session taking place on Wednesday 30 November from 12pm in the Postgraduate Centre at City.
Schwartz Rounds are a forum for clinical and non-clinical colleagues from all backgrounds and levels, to come together once a month, for one-hour meetings in which staff talk about the emotional and social challenges of caring for patients.
For further details please click here or email swbh.schwartzrounds@nhs.net.
To register via Eventbrite please click here.
Staff survey: Our response rate is 33% – we need to hear everyone’s voice
Thank you to colleagues who have taken the time to complete the staff survey, our response rate is now 33 per cent. Despite the pressures of the pandemic, in 2021 more than 2,900 (39 per cent) of you completed the survey. This was really appreciated, and we hope even more will be able to do so this year.
Each week we will update the response rates by directorate on the homepage of Connect. Take a look to see how your area is doing and encourage each other to take the time to have your say.
After the unique demands of the last few years, it is more important than ever that you can share your views on your working experience and how it can be improved.
Please take the time to watch this short video from Val Taylor, Associate Non Executive Director who talks about why your voice matters.
Prizes available
- There are six chances to win £50 worth of vouchers.
- This year we are also giving prizes to four teams with the most improved response rate compared to last year. Winning teams can expect every team member to win a £5 voucher to spend at any of our catering outlets.
How to access the survey
Many of you will have received an invitation via email to your NHS account from insightandfeedback@iqvia.com and the email subject is NHS Staff Survey 2022 Invitation: Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. Colleagues in catering, transport, portering and domestic/ward services will have received paper copies with a freepost envelope to send the feedback straight to Quality Health.
If you have any queries or have not received your survey please contact Quality Health on 0800 783 1775 or helpline@quality-health.co.uk.
Having trouble completing your NHS Staff survey?
The NHS Staff Survey is out now and everyone in our workplace is being given the opportunity to take part.
- How motivated do you feel about coming to work?
- How safe do you think our organisation is?
It takes less than 15 minutes to give your feedback.
As you know the survey is administered by Quality Health, an independent external contractor to ensure that individual responses are not visible to the SWB.
Quality Health are available to support you confidentially with your survey, if for example you can’t understand a question and they can also speak to you about confidentiality. Find out more about the support on offer via this short video below.
You can contact Quality Health Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm on 0800 783 1775 or helpline@quality-health.co.uk.
The survey will close on 25 November.
Phase 1 of building works for pathology at Sandwell start today
From today (Monday 14 November) the phase 1 building works for pathology at Sandwell will begin. These initial works will be set to take 6 – 8 weeks. During this time access to pathology will be significantly restricted and some alternative routes and plans will be put into place. The changes will involve the following:
- Access to the front door of pathology will not be possible.
- All pathology requests, where possible to do so, will need to be sent via air tube transport.
- For other requests there will be a drop box in the pathology basement near the lift.
- Very urgent samples may still be brought personally to pathology out of hours, but this will be via the basement corridor and communicating with the laboratory by phone. Air tube transport will still be preferable.
- Consumables collection will only be available by prior order and can be dispensed in the afternoon, on the next working day at the pathology back exit door by the receipt and distribution.
- More specific plans and arrangements will be put in place around the collection of blood products and these will be communicated in due course.
For further details regarding blood transfusion procedure during lab enabling works please click here.
We apologise in advance for any inconvenience, but these works will be essential for the future development of the pathology service
Winscribe users with VEC Infinity 3 foot pedals
Colleagues who are Winscribe users and who use of VEC Infinity 3 foot control pedals (as pictured) are encouraged to contact the IT Service Desk as soon as possible to have their computers reconfigured in preparation for an update.
The informatics team will be applying updates to Winscribe in the on the weekend of 25 – 27 November and it is likely that users of these foot pedals will find they are incompatible.
Colleagues who are current users of these foot pedals should call the IT Service desk on ext. 4050 (0121 507 4050) or through MS Teams live chat.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 11 November
Working in partnership. Working in systems. What does all this mean, I can hear you ask.
Working in partnership has never been more important in the NHS. It perhaps the only way, in the current climate, that we will be able to generate investment and develop innovative services. Partnership is no longer an option, in fact, it is now a national mandate. We are somewhat uniquely placed as we straddle two “systems” serving populations in both Ladywood and Perry Barr as well as Sandwell. The system structures are different, but the principles remain the same – what can we do to better support our patients, people and populations through collaboration. Can we greater than the sum of our parts as organisations?
One of the partnerships we are involved in is the Black Country Provider Collaborative that brings together the four acute and community NHS Trusts within the Black Country. Black Country Healthcare Foundation Trust (our local mental health and learning disabilities provider) will soon be joining the collaborative, I am sure. This partnership is now chaired by Sir David Nicholson, our chairman, and has enabled colleagues across the four Trusts to discuss a range of areas where collaboration could prove beneficial. The most progress is being made within the clinical networks where the collaborative has been able to support some important developments such as the introduction of additional surgical robotics, which will both attract more staff and improve clinical outcomes and length of stay. Clinical networks, within which our Trust clinicians are well-represented, are also looking at changes that could be made to clinical services that will benefit patients including in gynaecology, dermatology, colo-rectal, breast services and urology. Any new model of care will need a strong evidence base plus considered patient and staff engagement.
I am convinced that the best way to meet the current challenges in the NHS is through collaboration. No Trust can do everything alone and we can expect next to no additional central funding for the NHS in the medium term. We all benefit from learning from others, as well as being part of a network for support. We can go further and be brave enough to tackle some of the inequalities that patients experience in the Black Country through variations in services. I am really pleased to see how ambitious people are being in their thinking about the potential benefits of collaboration.
The collaborative does not replace the accountability that lies with each individual sovereign Trust – we need to ensure the right decision making and governance to take things forward. I am genuinely excited about the potential within the Black Country to join up services, support vulnerable specialties as well as making best use of resources through economies of scale. We have already demonstrated we can do this in some areas such as the Black Country Pathology Service, shared procurement functions, mutual aid and subspecialty partnerships. Please talk to your clinical or corporate leads if you want to get involved or have an idea to put forward.
Richard
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