Monthly archives: January 2023

Critical incident – Immediate action required

We are currently seeing immense pressure on our services and have had to declare an internal critical incident at our Trust due to very high levels of acutely unwell patients requiring admission. Other Trusts in the system are experiencing similar challenges.

Colleagues are working tirelessly to provide the best care possible under these challenging circumstances, but it is clear that we are stretched beyond our current capacity. We are doing everything we can to manage the situation, including calling in additional staff and offering targeted support to those departments under pressure.

However, there are some actions that all colleagues can take that will significantly improve our response.

• With immediate effect, please cancel all non-essential business and meetings that do not have a direct impact on the care we provide. Clinical colleagues should be focussed on frontline patient care.

There are a number of actions listed below that are focussed on helping us to manage this difficult situation.

The incident is being managed through the strategic and tactical command and control structures within the organisation and we will keep you informed of developments. We will continue to review the situation frequently but expect critical incident status to be in place for the next 24 hours.  If you have any questions or concerns please raise these directly with your managers or tactical leads.

Our additional actions include:

• Multi-Agency Discharge Events (MADE) tomorrow and Friday
• Exec presence on Board rounds
• An additional two patients on wards who have other patients either confirmed to be discharged or have strong potential for discharge
• Coordination of medical rotas, supported by temporary stand down of outpatient and elective activity
• Expansion of critical care capacity where staffing allows
• Tactical cells at Sandwell, City and for PCCT to coordinate actions
• Focus on patients with complex discharge needs with partners in Sandwell and Birmingham

COVID-19/Flu isolation and swabbing update

Swabbing update:

On admission – patients should only be swabbed if they are symptomatic or clinically vulnerable.

Clinically vulnerable patients are defined as a person who has:

• Down’s syndrome
• Certain types of cancer (such as a blood cancer like leukaemia or lymphoma)
• Sickle cell disease
• Chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4 or 5
• Severe liver disease
• Cerebral palsy
• Had an organ or bone marrow transplant
• Autoimmune or inflammatory conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease)
• HIV or AIDS and have a weakened immune system
• A condition affecting the immune system
• Conditions affecting the brain or nerves (multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease or myasthenia gravis)
• Severe or multiple learning disabilities
• A weakened immune system due to a medical treatment (such as steroid medicine, biological therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy)

During admission – swab any patient who develops symptoms immediately using PCR

COVID only discharges to care home/facilities– PCR test should be completed no more than 48 hours before discharge.

Isolation

COVID-19

Positive patients should be swabbed daily using lateral flow test (LFT) from day 4 (Day 0 is the date the First +VE swab was taken)

Following 2 consecutive negative results 24 hours apart and no temperature can be stepped down from isolation.

(When completing a LFT please ensure that the correct Powerform is completed within Unity)

Flu

During normal working (EMS Level 1/2) isolation can be stepped down at day 7 if the patient is asymptomatic

When the Trust is under severe pressure (EMS Level 3) on day 5 if the patient is asymptomatic Isolation can be stepped down.

For more information, please call ext. 5900 or email swb-tr.SWBH-Team-InfectionControl@nhs.net.

City gym closure: 5-6 January

The gym at City will be closed between 5-6 January to allow the facilities to be refurbished.

Sandwell gym based at Trinity House remains open and available to colleagues.

Note: Existing members should email jatinder.sekhon@nhs.net if they want to use the Sandwell gym as currently they may not have access.

If you would like to join the Trust gym as a new member, please email jatinder.sekhon@nhs.net to complete your registration.

The relevant forms can be found below:

• Gym Membership Application Form
• Gym disclaimers
• Gym induction

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Influenza is on the rise – understand the risk and protect yourself, your family and your patients

are seeing a huge rise in the numbers of patients admitted to our hospitals with influenza, a highly contagious respiratory illness that can cause severe illness and even death, especially in vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. As healthcare professionals, it is important to protect ourselves, our families, and our patients from the risks of influenza.

One of the best ways to prevent the spread of influenza is to get vaccinated. The flu vaccine is effective in reducing the risk of contracting and spreading the virus, and it is especially important for healthcare workers to be vaccinated to protect ourselves and those we care for.

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

If you have any questions about the flu or how to protect yourself and your patients, please visit the following link for frequently asked questions: Influenza frequently asked questions.

Issues with air tube system – Sending samples to pathology at Sandwell

There is currently an issue affecting the air tube transport system at Sandwell Hospital that is used to send samples to Pathology.

As the air tube system is the primary means of transporting requests to the laboratory, while it is offline, any urgent samples should be walked to the laboratory or sent via porters.

Access to Pathology whilst building works are underway is via the basement.