Monthly archives: March 2023
Sad passing of Gurprit Galsinh
It is with great sadness that one of our much loved colleagues Gurprit Galsinh, who worked for SWB for almost 20 years has sadly passed away.
Gurprit was a dedicated member of the procurement and finance team for almost two decades and had become a familiar face to many at the Trust.
She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by all who knew her.
We offer our sincere condolences to her loved ones at this difficult time
2023/24 West Midlands Internship Programme, Pre-Doctoral Bridging Programme and Post-Doctoral Bridging Programme
Are you a Nurse, Midwife, Allied Health Professional, Pharmacy Practitioners, Healthcare Scientist or Health & Social Care Professional, considering a clinical academic career?
Would you like to increase your research knowledge and skills and work with an experienced researcher?
Birmingham Health Partners (BHP) is pleased to launch the 2023/24 West Midlands Internship Programme, Pre-Doctoral Bridging Programme and Post-Doctoral Bridging Programme. These three programmes are aimed specifically at non-medical professionals who aspire to combine research and clinical practice and develop a clinical academic career.
Closing date for applications is Tuesday 11 April, 12pm.
Application forms and further details can be found on the attached flyers and our website
These programmes are funded by Health Education England (HEE) in the West Midlands and linked into the HEE/National Institute of Health Research (NIHR): please click here to read more.
For any questions or queries please contact clinicalacademics@uhb.nhs.uk
Changes to the NHS Pension Scheme
Following a period of consultation, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has confirmed it will implement changes to the NHS Pension Scheme to help employers to attract and retain valuable experienced colleagues, maintaining the capacity required to deliver high quality patient care.
The consultation outcome has confirmed the following changes:
- From Saturday 1 April, colleagues who have taken their pension from the 1995 section will be able to join the 2015 scheme and build up further pension.
- From Sunday 1 October, members of the 1995 section will be able to take some or all of their pension (using the drawdown option) while continuing to work for the NHS.
- Removal of the 16 hour rule that limited the amount of hours an employee could work in the first month after returning to work from retirement.
- Annual allowance calculations will be amended to exclude pension growth caused by rapidly rising inflation
Further information relating to this update can be found by clicking here.
Chartered manager health and social care webinar: Wednesday 12 April
Manchester Metropolitan University are pleased to announce that they are now accepting applications for their 3rd London and 3rd Birmingham based programmes in October 2023.
There is an information webinar taking place on Wednesday 12 April, 12.30pm – 1.30pm. To register, people should click here.
A summary of the programme can be seen below.
Chartered manager – health and social care with Mary Seacole
- two-year accelerated management programme for people with existing management or healthcare delivery experience
- Starts in October 2023
- Delivered jointly between Manchester Metropolitan University’s Business school and school of health and education
- Block delivery, approximately 16 days per year. (eight in London or Birmingham, eight online).
- Ofsted Outstanding (2022) provider of degree apprenticeships
Upon completion, apprentices will achieve:
- BA (Hons) Business Management Professional (Executive)
- NHS Leadership Academy – Mary Seacole award
- Chartered Manager Apprenticeship Award
- Apprentices can apply for Chartered Manager Status at the end of the programme with the CMI
- Project management experience.
For more information you can download the brochure or check out this video.
For further details and to apply please email p.bridge@mmu.ac.uk.
Free bike checks at Sandwell
Colleagues can take advantage of a free cycle check outside of the bike shed next to Hallam Restaurant at Sandwell on Tuesday 28 March, 10am – 2pm.
Lockable bike pods now available: We have installed blue lockable bike pods at both Sandwell and City Hospitals that colleagues are welcome to use to store their bikes. Colleagues should bring their own padlocks should they want to use the bike pods. These bike pods are available on a first come, first served basis.
We must remind colleagues not to leave their padlocks on the pods when they are not in use. Please remove your lock at the end of your working day so that others have a chance to use them. This will be monitored and locks will be removed if necessary.
1995 pension scheme members who have retired and returned
If you’ve already retired and taken your 1995 section benefits and then returned to NHS work, you will be able to join the NHS 2015 pension scheme and build up further pension benefits from 1 April 2023.
Before the changes take effect on 1 April 2023, you’ll have previously been unable to build up further benefits in the 2015 Scheme. As a result, you may have an alternative pension arrangement, for example, the national employment savings Trust (NEST), or you may not be contributing to a pension scheme at all.
If you are an eligible member to join the 2015 Scheme from 1 April 2023 and wish to take up the option, please email or write in to the pensions department at Trinity House, Sandwell stating you wish to join the NHS Pension Scheme. We will need to end your membership set up for you with the alternative pension scheme provider (NEST).
Contribution rates in the 2015 pension scheme will be deducted according to your actual earnings.
Note: You may be able to transfer the alternative scheme pension into the 2015 NHS pension scheme if you have not reached state pension age.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 24 March
It is with sadness that we announce that Doreen Anita Murray, who worked as a Professional Development Nurse within Medicine and Emergency Care, passed away suddenly.
Doreen had worked in the Trust since 1995, with her speciality area being elderly care. In addition, she was integral in supporting the international nurses as well as being a fantastic cultural ambassador. Over her time at SWB, Doreen worked across all directorates before becoming a PDN in 2018. Doreen had the utmost respect from her colleagues, working quietly and effectively with a caring and compassionate approach.
Doreen is survived by her family, her son, and sisters. We offer our sincerest condolences to her loved ones at this difficult time.
On Friday, our Trust Board agreed our annual plan for 20023/24. We reviewed the ask of us with regard to delivering NHS Plan standards and targets, such as elective waiting time recovery and ambulance handover times, as well as careful calculations about our workforce requirements for the year, inclusive of course of the profile of recruitment to new roles that we need for our Midland Met care model. Finally, we reviewed the extremely challenging financial position we are faced with, in which we need to step up our elective work, deliver more community contacts and drive forward our Trust strategic objectives, whilst keeping our workforce numbers largely “flat” (not increased from this current year). It is a very challenging ask, and one which will need exceptional teamwork, attention to detail and no little care and compassion at times, when our under pressure services occasionally trigger emotional responses or feelings of being overwhelmed in the process.
I never met Doreen, but the respect which she showed for others and the respect others had for her, embodied the spirit of the organisation and its values of Ambition, Respect and Compassion. We will need to collectively channel those traits, in the delivery of this annual plan in very difficult circumstances. Doreen clearly reflected everything that was good about our Trust.
Have a good week.
Richard
Year end notification: Getting our orders and invoicing right
To ensure we can provide the right care in the right place at the right time, we need to promptly raise invoices for goods and services provided by the Trust. This helps ensure resources are recognised and made available for patient care in the period in which the care takes place.
To meet our year-end reporting requirements, we must adhere to a timetable for invoicing NHS and non-NHS bodies. For NHS invoices and credit notes, requests for activity and services provided up to 28 February 2023 should have been received by 23 March 2023. For non-NHS invoices and credit notes, the deadline is noon on 30 March 2023.
It’s essential to meet these deadlines to avoid losing resources for patient care.
Should you require any further information then please contact either your Group Finance Manager in the first instance or Rasham Sanghera (Exchequer Manager) on extension 5515 or Sarah Norman (Accounts Receivable Controller) on extension 4714. Both can be contacted via email or Teams
Further information can be found in the attached bulletin: Year End notification to all departments 22-23 Financial Year End
Study MSc midwifery at the University of Birmingham
If you are a registered adult nurse, now’s your chance to become a qualified midwife through fully funded study with the University of Birmingham.
The NHS needs more highly skilled midwives to deliver a safe and compassionate service that meets women’s needs. Studying this shortened two-year postgraduate programme is the perfect opportunity to join a rewarding profession that is very much in need.
HEE are funding students to undertake a shortened midwifery course covering salary and tuition fees. HEE funded places mean University of Birmingham MSc Midwifery students will undertake their placements at, and be employed by, an NHS Trust for the duration of the programme.
For more information, please click here to visit the University of Birmingham’s website.
welearn Wednesday: Collection and transportation of samples
Each month as part of welearn Wednesdays we present a new learning pack identified as a key learning topic from local serious incidents, investigations, complaints, litigation, or coroner cases. The learning may not have a direct link to your area of work; however, the learning provides an opportunity to reflect on some of the wider issues that could be useful for you to consider.
This month’s welearn is taking learning from incidents and complaints which have identified a delay in care because of ‘missing samples’; therefore, a deep dive by the welearn group was performed of relevant incidents reported.
The learning from this insight identified issues and near misses of samples not arriving with the Lab, incorrect labelling of samples, contamination of samples and samples sent to the wrong lab. This had a negative impact on the patients including having to return for swabs (poor experience and reputational impact), delay in clinical decision making and delay in discharge (safety and quality).
For more information please see the welearn March newsletter. Please also see the pre-analytical errors document from Black Country Pathology.
If you would like to be involved in the welearn user reference group, please email marsha.jones3@nhs.net
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