Monthly archives: December 2022

Colleagues across the Trust are having their jabs – have you had yours yet?

Chief Executive, Richard Beeken has had his vaccinations to protect himself and those around him this winter – and in his words, “There’s nothing I would ask my medical and nursing colleagues to do if I haven’t done it myself.”

Vaccination is medically proven to be the most effective way to protect yourself from flu and COVID-19 this winter, and the Trust is offering vaccinations across both sites, as well as visiting wards and taking team bookings for wards and departments.

Pop in to one of the vaccination clinics to get yours!

Clinics are running daily at Sandwell Hospital main reception and City Hospital baby feeding room.

Further details of the clinic schedule can be found on Connect.

Uber eats: Free rides and food deliveries for colleagues during festive period

Uber Eats are offering NHS, health and social care colleagues free rides and discounts from thousands of restaurants and convenience stores on Saturday 24 December and Sunday 25 December.

For further details and how to claim please click here.

Star of the Week – Ally Qadri

Congratulations are in order to Ally Qadri, Patient Administration Manager.

Ally has been recognised for his continued dedication and enthusiasm in his role as patient administration manager within urology. Urology is a busy department facing multiple challenges including elective recovery and cancer performance.

Ally has learnt the role exceptionally quickly and has great attention to detail to ensure we have a smooth running department results in the department to make best use of resource. Despite the challenges and stresses of the role Ally does this with a smile on his face and is always engaged and committed to service improvement. Ally has stepped up to cover gaps in the team whilst continuing to work at a high level with his own portfolio.

Ally is a credit to the department and the operational team.

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.

Limited supplies of remdesivir – please follow guidance

There are limited supplies of remdesivir available within the NHS including our Trust and supplies are expected to be exhausted by Monday 26 December. There is currently no date for further stock availability.

Please can all clinical colleagues ensure they follow the remdesivir 100mg powder for injection guidance when prescribing for the management of COVID-19.

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

Delayed discharge lunchtime events

The ‘100-day discharge challenge’ focuses on opportunities to improve the discharge process, with an aim to treat ‘delayed discharge as a potential harm event’.

A series of lunchtime learning events have been arranged by NHS England Midlands to focus on harm through the patient’s urgent and emergency care journey for colleagues to attend.

Please see delayed discharge learning events information sheet for further details and joining instructions.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 16 December

This will be my last Friday Message of the year.  On Wednesday and Thursday this week, I had the pleasure of working with our fantastic volunteers, handing out small tokens of the Trust’s appreciation to our staff for another year’s hard work and professionalism, in the form of chocolates for all our teams, wards, services and departments. I wonder how many toffee quality streets will be left in the tubs after this week? Quite a few, in my experience.

I always get a real energy from visiting our clinical and support teams. I never get to do it enough; however, I am expecting that with some tweaks I’ve made to my team and working pattern, I can do far more of it in the new year.  It does have to be said, however, I was greeted far more warmly this week than usual, and I think you can all work out why.

When I do get out and about, I am reminded of the first thing I was told about our Trust when I started – that the Trust is a very friendly and welcoming organisation. This is absolutely true. The smiles, unprompted greetings and positivity I see from our teams, even in the most challenging of circumstances, does give me a boost and reminds me of what a privilege it is to lead this organisation. Thank you for making me feel so welcome, so often.

The warmth, positivity and welcoming nature of our Trust needs to be harnessed in the new year, as we start to deliver key projects and changes which will help us to deliver our strategic objectives (Patients, People, Population). We undoubtedly face huge challenges – a deprived and diverse population struggling in the worst cost of living crisis for decades; staffing shortages and exhaustion in many quarters; overwhelming demand for urgent care services; no new money and elective waiting time recovery on some scale. However, if we harness that warmth and positivity I see when I meet you all, we can tackle those issues by:

• Getting the fundamentals of care right for our patients, more frequently. It is not enough to be friendly. We must get the communication, the co-production of care and the clinical assessments right, too. Better care also costs less.
• Improving the working lives of our people by investing in better leadership, improving their physical environment and digital experience and by offering more professional development.
• Getting things right, with other partner agencies, for our population. We have the power, as a healthcare provider, to do so much more than treat the sick. Every contact counts and we can, all of us, influence and improve people’s life chances and health outcomes.
• Changing our clinical pathways and practice, so the Midland Met can be a success. 2024 is not far away. Every day not changing and modernising our practice, is a day lost as we get closer to providing services in that magnificent building.

I hope everyone reading this gets two things out of this Friday Message. Firstly, that we are reminded, even at our lowest ebb, that our institution is a wonderful place to work. Secondly, that you can ALL play a part in delivering better, for our patients, people and population, next year.

Have a great Christmas. Here’s to a better 2023.

Richard

Are you regularly washing your hands?

Regular hand washing with soap and water remains an essential part of good hygiene and helps prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as other winter illnesses such as colds, flu and stomach bugs.

Hands should be washed with warm water and liquid soap for at least 20 seconds before rinsing and drying them thoroughly. If soap and water are not available, people should use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.

You should make regular and thorough hand washing part of your daily routine, especially:

• After using the toilet or changing a nappy
• Before and after handling raw foods like meat and vegetables
• Before eating or handling food
• After blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing
• Before and after treating a cut or wound

Time to look after yourself: Digital events

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are hosting a ‘take time to look after yourself’ programme to benefit the wellbeing of colleagues working across the Black Country ICS.

To book on either of the sessions use the link above.

For upcoming session details, please click here.

If you have any questions regarding these webinars, please email samuel.skelding1@nhs.net.

Latest edition of Heartbeat now available

Please click here to read the December edition of Heartbeat. This month, we’re highlighting the current concerns with flu infection rates this year, and outlining what the Trust is doing to make it easier to get your winter vaccinations and protect yourselves, your loved ones and our patients.

As we continue to adjust to life with COVID, we’ve seen teams make great leaps in terms of recovery: recently, our breast cancer screening team cleared its COVID backlog, and critical care was able to host its first patient forum in three years.

We’ve enjoyed many achievements throughout the year, and we’ve highlighted just some of these in the magazine, culminating in SWBs 12 Days of Christmas in Richard’s last word.

Happy reading!

Alternatives to emergency departments

We continue to be busy across our emergency care services, so it’s important that patients are aware of the alternative ways to seek medical help.

This can be done by calling into their local pharmacy, dialling NHS 111, contacting their GP, or going to an urgent care centre.

We operate an Urgent Treatment Centre at Sandwell Hospital, entrance by the outpatient department, whilst there is an Urgent Care Centre at Heath Street, in Birmingham. Most GP practices are also offering weekend access.

We would urge you to share this information with family and friends. Click here to see more.