Monthly archives: February 2023

Having issues with WhatsApp on your Trust device?

Colleagues may be experiencing technical issues with WhatsApp on their Trust mobile phone since the application recently updated. This is more prevalent for iPhone users and may even result in loss of service in regards to WhatsApp.

If you believe you are experiencing issues with WhatsApp on your Trust mobile phone please visit the IT department at your earliest convenience so that your Trust mobile can be re-enrolled.

For any other IT issues you may have, please contact the IT service desk on ext. 4050 or via live chat.

Heartbeat: Fundamentals of care training for student nurses and midwives

SWB’s nursing and midwifery clinical education team work to provide education, resources and support to nurses and midwives across the Trust. Recently, Heartbeat covered nursing associate apprentice training, and the team have gone on to roll fundamentals of care training to student nurses and midwives on placement at the Trust.

We spoke to Aaron Bertram-Miller and Stacey Clarke, Nursing Associate Practice Educators, who are behind the formulation and delivery of the training.

Stacey commented, “Usually, nurses and midwives would receive separate training, they’re not usually included in the same group. We’re really excited to be bringing our student nurses and midwives together for fundamentals of care training. This was a big milestone for us as a team.”

Aaron added, “The training goes back to basics, sometimes we can be so busy that we forget about the little things. Something as simple as a cup of tea can make a difference to someone in hospital.”

The training, coordinated and delivered by the team, takes place from 9am – 5pm and includes sections from Chief Nursing Officer Mel Roberts and Group Director of Nursing Di Eltringham, as well as Head of Patient Experience Jamie Emery and Deputy Group Director of Nursing Charles Chambara. It covers the three dimensions of fundamentals of care and explains the importance of many different aspects of care.

Though the training is optional for students, uptake has been excellent. The team have delivered one session to around 80 students and have two further sessions planned so far. Feedback has been excellent, with attendees calling it “educational and informative” and stating “the fundamentals of care session was very good with great interaction from others”.

Aaron and Stacey hope that educating student nurses and midwives, who may go on to have long term careers within the Trust, will ensure the fundamentals of care approach is embedded into the care we provide across all wards.

“By providing fun and engaging training, we hope we can help future nurses and midwives to provide all patients with personalised and compassionate care. Fundamentals of care is such a relevant approach to both groups and we hope the attendees become advocates of the approach in their future careers, wherever they end up working.”

Accessing NHSmail from outside the UK – Extra security measures being added

Colleagues who access their NHSmail accounts from outside the United Kingdom from tomorrow (Friday 10 February) will require Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to be enabled on their accounts to be able to login.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is an additional way of checking that it is really you when you log in to your account.

In addition to your email address and password, you will need to set up a second form of authentication, such as an authentication app on your mobile phone, text message, phone call, FIDO2 token or NHS Smartcard. This second layer of security is designed to prevent anyone but you from accessing your account, even if they know your password.

Users who do not have multi-factor authentication enabled on their accounts and who do not have a secure method of connecting to NHS will find their access blocked.

User guidance on how to self-enrol for MFA can be found on the following NHSmail support page or by contacting the IT service desk on ext. 4050 or live chat.

February is LGBT+ History Month

LGBT+ History Month takes place in February and is an opportunity to raise awareness of LGBT+. Throughout the month of February, the NHS will be hosting an array of national events which colleagues can attend. Click here to find out more.

SWB rainbow badge survey: The LGBT+ Network want to hear about your views and experiences working at this Trust so we can create a better and more inclusive healthcare setting for all LGBT+ colleagues and patients. To complete this short survey please click here.

Zoteria app to tackle LGBT+ hate crime: Zoteria enables people to report hate crime incidents, either against themselves or on behalf of someone else, and access support from LGBT+ charities. It also aims to improve the reporting of LGBT+ hate crime and build a more accurate picture of the issue across the UK. Zoteria is free and available  on the Apple App store and Google Play Store. Note: If someone feels in immediate danger, they should call 999.

LGBT Pride Walk: Sandwell Council have organised an LGBT Pride walk on Saturday 25 February, 10.30am – 12:30pm at Sandwell Valley Country Park. Participants are to meet at Sandwell Valley Visitors Centre. The pride walk will take place through the Valley and Dartmouth Park and pride attire is encouraged. Sandwell Council are welcoming all participants to join them for the walk. No booking required.

We are also pleased to announce Katie Gillam Price, Community Staff Nurse has been appointed as the new vice chair for the LGBT+ Staff Network. If you wish to contact her regarding the network, please email k.gillamprice@nhs.net.

This week is HIV Testing Week

As you may be aware, this week is National HIV Testing Week, and we want to remind you that you should know your HIV status. The week aims to raise awareness about the importance of regular testing, to help reduce the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV and those diagnosed late.

Your body, your sexual health, your wellbeing – looking after them starts with you. Not only is it important for your own health, but also for the health of those around you.

If you need a free HIV testing kit, please click here.

Take control of your sexual health and get tested today.

Allocate health roster being rolled out

Exciting news – the new rostering system has now gone live in the first phase areas across the Trust including our gynae ward, Newton 4, Eliza Tinsley, Lyndon 1 and the surgical assessment unit.

Allocate HealthRoster is the new end to end rostering system for all staffing groups and together with the Loop mobile app will enable colleagues to manage their rosters.

Our e-roster team and project team have been working very closely with wards to get them up and running with the change over to avoid any disruption.

The team will contact each individual colleague separately with their username and password for Loop once your area is ready to go live so, please don’t panic if you haven’t had an email yet.

The project team will also be supporting colleagues familiarise themselves with the new system starting with inpatient area and rolling out wider over the coming months.

For everything Allocate and Loop, please visit our Connect pages or email swbh.allocatequeries-helpdesk@nhs.net.

New nurses, midwives and nursing associates Q&A webinar: 14 February

Health Education England will be hosting a live Q&A webinar featuring senior nurses and midwives sharing their wisdom and experiences on Tuesday 14 February, 3.30pm – 4.30pm. The webinar aims address queries and concerns new nurses, midwives and nursing associates may have in the field of healthcare.

To register for this digital event an find out more, please click here.

Getting set for our new staff portal – tell us what you want

Over the coming weeks we will be getting started on designing our new staff portal so that we can offer colleagues across the organisation a much better experience keeping up to date with that’s going on in the Trust.

However, before we decide on anything we want colleagues to share their thoughts on what they want to see in the new staff portal, what would make your working life easier if it moved online, and how can we make our information about what’s happening in the Trust, in departments and services easier to find, understand and engage with.

Please use the short survey below to let us know your thoughts on what you would like to see, share any ideas for the new portal and let us know how we can make the new portal a success for everyone.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/swbIntranet

NHS Midlands financial wellbeing pack

NHS (Midlands region) have put together a financial wellbeing pack which provides an update on the financial wellbeing support offers available nationally and across the Midlands. The pack has details around dedicated NHS financial support, financial debt support, mental health impact and additional resources for colleagues.

You can access the pack here – Supporting Our Workforce Financial Wellbeing Pack

Schwartz Rounds continue on 28 February

Schwartz Rounds have been relaunched with the next session taking place on Tuesday 28 February, 1pm – 2pm in the Wolfson Suite, Postgraduate Centre, 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.

Click here to access the Eventbrite page.