Monthly archives: February 2023
Work experience programme 2023
Applications are now open for work experience placements at our Trust in June and July 2023. We have clinical and non-clinical placements available however to attend a clinical placement students must be aged 16+.
Note: Demand always exceeds supply so please be quick and clear in your application submission. You must state the department/profession you are interested to observe in. Applications are reviewed on a first come first served basis and there is no guarantee of an offer.
Please click here for more information and see expression of interest work experience programme 2023 for further details.
All applications should be emailed swb-tr.swbh-gm-workexperienceenquiries@nhs.net.
COVID-19 risk assessments for colleagues no longer need to be sent through Connect or by email to Occupational Health
Following on from evolving regional and national guidance, COVID-19 risk assessments for colleagues no longer need to be sent through Connect or by email to occupational health. The Trust has also removed the advisory measure of ‘preferably non-patient facing work’ after 28 weeks of pregnancy which was introduced during peak COVID-19 times.
Pregnancy and general risk assessments for colleagues will continue to be carried out by managers at departmental level where appropriate. Specialist occupational health assessments will remain available through the Occupational Health department following a management referral.
Colleagues should stringently follow infection prevention and control advice, and ensure safe working practices at all times. Vaccination against COVID-19 and flu are still available for Trust colleagues occupational health – click here for details.
National Apprenticeship Week
This week is National Apprenticeship Week. The annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships aims to shine a light on the amazing work being done by employers and apprentices across the country.
Skills for life:
Apprentices are an integral part of our workforce here at SWB – growing our future workforce, employing happy and content staff who can continue to develop their careers all contribute to our strategic objectives.
Whether you are just starting out, fresh out of school or you’ve been in the world of work for a while, an apprenticeship might be just the ticket for you to progress your chosen career.
The Trust is a provider of apprenticeship training, offering apprenticeships at levels 2 and 3 in Healthcare, Business Administration, Customer Service and Team Leader for existing staff and new employees.
We also support higher level apprenticeships, working alongside further education establishments, universities, and other partners we can support funding via the Trust Apprenticeship Levy – you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Look for apprenticeships at: Standards – HASO (skillsforhealth.org.uk)
To contact the apprenticeship team please call 0121 507 6425 or email SWBH.apprenticeship@nhs.net.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 3 February
This week I am concentrating on the very important task we have of constructing our Trust plan for the financial year 23/24. We have a clear strategy now as a Trust and three clear strategic objectives (Patients, People, Population). We also have increasingly clear ways of delivering those objectives. For example, the fundamentals of care framework launched last autumn, will help us to tackle the inconsistencies in the delivery of the basics and fundamentals of good inpatient, outpatient and community care. This will help us to achieve our patient objective of being good or outstanding in everything that we do. Similarly, our People Plan, recently adopted by the Trust Board, will tackle issues of team dynamics, recruitment, leadership and culture which we think will significantly improve our working environment and make us a more attractive proposition in a highly challenging workforce environment. Our population objective will be delivered through our place based partnerships and our work on regeneration and sustainability, which are focused on improving the life chances and healthy life expectancy of the people in our communities.
Our patient objective also has an element within it that focuses on good financial stewardship and use of resources. It is this element that we have been focusing on this week as a senior team, as we create the plan for our Trust for the next 12 months.
Our financial health is not very strong and I cannot dress that up or soften the blow of that reality. We have seen nearly 12 years of funding for the NHS and social care which is either below the rate of inflation, or a real terms reduction in our resource, because demographic change (demand) has outstripped the income we have received. Conversely, national expectations about how our services are more safely staffed and the cost implications of managing COVID have significantly increased our cost base and so now the Trust is facing a recurrent financial deficit for the first time in its history.
We are in the process of setting out the exact size of that deficit and also setting out how we are going to minimise it. The key actions that will reduce the size of that deficit are split between the Integrated Care Boards who commission our services and secondly, the actions we can take ourselves. I have long since maintained that it is our responsibility to “sweep our side of the street clean” and since COVID hit us, we have not demonstrably done that. We must now reverse that tide.
Our approaches to reducing the size of the deficit include:
- Securing the additional money on the recurrent basis from our commissioners that we need in order to safely and effectively deliver the benefits of the new Midland Metropolitan care model
- Securing the additional money on the recurrent basis from NHS England to pay for the capital charges of the Midland Met
- Improving our recruitment so that we rely on temporary staffing far less than we do at the moment and therefore reduce our increasingly high agency costs
- Deliver an elective care production plan which ensures that we treat more patients on elective pathways than we did in 2019/20 (108% of the 19/20 activity levels is required to secure additional income)
- Invest in quality improvement that will allow local leaders and team members to reduce waste in their departments and services, whilst maintaining or improving the quality of care we provide to our patients
- Taking a different approach to managing investment in clinical service developments, so that we only invest on the grounds of patient safety/risk or where we think there will be a clear financial return on that investment. This will necessarily mean some real disappointment for colleagues who may expect the Trust to be able to invest in improving their services. We will simply not have the money to be able to do that without the case for investment being scrutinised very heavily indeed.
I know this is quite a grim picture to paint but it is the reality. The “additional money” the government says it has provided the NHS still does not keep pace with changes in demand or demography and therefore what we are seeing is a scenario in which our income next year is likely to be less than that we received this year. Unless we take the action described above and do that together in a diligent and focused way, we will not be able to create the headroom to invest in the things we need to do. Clearly, we will seek to protect the Midland Met and its care model from this austerity but can only do so if our two Integrated Care Boards find the funds to support that. In last week’s Friday Message, I set out how we were trying to secure that income.
Have a good week
MMUH learning campus community workshops
We are inviting colleagues to attend our MMUH learning campus community workshops where you will have the opportunity to meet the design team and discuss the proposals for the new learning campus.
There will be two sessions taking place Thursday 9 February:
- Smethwick Youth and Community Centre, Trinity Street, Smethwick, B67 7AA – 9.30am – 12pm
- The Learning Works, Unett Street, Smethwick, B66 3TA – 1.30pm – 4pm
Abloy Key and Pyxis Access requests going digital
Pharmacy Abloy/Pyxis Request forms have now moved from paper to online digital forms on the connect page under connect forms (see image below). This also allows direct delivery to the pharmacy informatics team. Working with our pharmacy green team this will also make a significant reduction in paper usage.
Submitting a form:
- You will be asked to login to submit a form, once logged in follow the instructions on the form to complete
- This form is to be completed by ward managers only
- If not completed by the Ward Manager, this will delay the issuing of the key or granting access to Pyxis
Note: With this moved to the digital form, pharmacy will no longer accept paper form or email requests for Abloy or Pyxis Requests.
For more information please email swbh.pharmInformatics@nhs.net or call ext. 3272
Today is Time to Talk day – it’s never too late to ask for help
Time To Talk Day takes place today (Thursday 2 February), with the aim of encouraging people to take time to talk about their mental health to boost their wellbeing.
This year, the day will be used to highlight services that utilise talking to help people with mental health concerns, such as our talking therapy services.
If you are experiencing stress, anxiety or depression, and need confidential support, talking therapies may be able to help. You can find out more by clicking here.
For confidential support please call 0303 033 9903.
Swabbing safe: Use the right container!
As we continue to provide safe and effective care for our patients, it is important to remember the importance of using the correct swab sample containers. Using the correct containers helps ensure that test results are accurate and reliable and enables us to provide the best possible care to our patients.
Please take a moment to review the attached poster for a comprehensive list of updates regarding the use of swab sample containers. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our infection prevention and control team on ext. 5900.
Vaccination Nation: Let’s roll up our sleeves and fight the flu and COVID-19!
As we continue to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most important things we can do to protect ourselves, our patients, and our families is to get vaccinated. Getting vaccinated is the safest way to keep flu and COVID-19 at bay.
That’s why we have extended our vaccination clinic times and will continue offering vaccinations until the end of March 2023. Clinics are drop-ins, but if you prefer, you can also book an appointment and reserve your spot.
The clinics are located in the main reception at Sandwell and the baby feeding room (opposite D6) at City. They’re open Monday-Friday, with regular hours from 8:30am until 4pm, and extended hours on Wednesdays from 7am until 4pm and Thursday from 8:30am until 8pm. Additionally, our roving teams are out and about on the wards to provide more opportunities for colleagues to get vaccinated.
Don’t ‘miss the shot’, let’s vaccinate ourselves and protect our patients and our families against these viruses.
Stay safe and healthy!
Black Country palliative and end of life care training survey
Thank you in anticipation of your help with completing this survey to identify how best we can support your training needs around Palliative and End of Life Care (PEoLC).
As directed by NHS England, the Black Country ICB has undertaken an assessment on the delivery of the six national ambitions around PEoLC. Education and training enables all staff to deliver high quality PEoLC and it is essential to provide equitable access to training across all staff levels, all sectors, and all organisations.
This survey has been developed to help identify any specific gaps in accessing education and training opportunities on Palliative and End of Life Care. Please let us know your thoughts on how best we can support your training needs
Please click on this link to take you directly to the survey, which will take less than three minutes to complete.
The survey will close on Friday 31 March, 5pm.
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