Monthly archives: March 2023

Staff Travel Survey 2023 – win up to £100 of Amazon vouchers

We have launched our annual staff travel survey to gather information on travel habits: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SWBStaffTravelSurvey2023 (please open via Google Chrome – paper copies available upon request)

It is important that we encourage and support staff in moving towards more sustainable and active modes of travel, like car sharing, using public transport and low emission vehicles, walking and cycling.

Please complete the survey by Friday 17 March. You will have the chance to win up to £100 of Amazon vouchers.

For more information on sustainability and travel, visit https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/estates/sustainability/.

For further details please email francesca.silcocks@nhs.net.

Message from Richard Beeken, Chief Executive: Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE has been appointed as Chair of The Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trusts

As you may be aware Professor Steve Field CBE, Group Chair of The Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trusts has announced he is stepping down from the role as his term comes to an end on March 31, 2023.

Our Chair, Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE has been appointed to the Chair role at The Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trusts as of April 1st, 2023.

This opportunity to appoint a single Chair for the Black Country will help drive forward the collaborative agenda. It is hoped that, under a single chair leadership, each organisation will be better able to fulfil the shared ambition for providing high-quality care.

Sir David Nicholson said: “To take on the leadership of four Trust Boards in the Black Country is both a huge responsibility and a huge privilege.

“True collaboration is key to the future of our services to ensure that we are all on the same page when it comes to doing right by our patients and local communities. We must continue to innovate and improve to meet existing needs better and respond more appropriately to changing landscapes – and a partnership approach is the most effective way to do so.”

Sir David will work with the wider leadership teams in each organisation and look to appoint deputy chairs to support him in his role. The four Trusts will remain as separate organisations while strengthening existing collaborative links and building new relationships across the Black Country.

Best wishes

Richard Beeken, Chief Executive

Walk through Midland Met with Balfour Beatty

With so much happening as part of a project of this scale the Midland Met is ever changing, and steady progress is being made.

We’re pleased to share the latest progress video from Balfour Beatty to give you a behind the scenes view of how our new hospital is developing. The footage was taken between July-August 2022 and depicts some of the latest innovations taking place on site.

To stay up to date with all things Midland Met please:

• Search Midland Met on Connect
• Visit our Midland Met pages on Connect – https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/mmuh
• Email any questions to swbh.mmuh@nhs.net
• Contact your clinical/operational leads for more information.

https://youtu.be/9907uVmQnN4

Industrial action affecting bus network postponed

Industrial action affecting the local bus services due to take place on Thursday 16 March has now been postponed.

National Express will continue to communicate any updates, including what the revised network will be, on the National Express website.

NHS menopause online hub

The NHS are supporting colleagues through perimenopause and menopause with a focus on supporting our LGBTQIA+ and ethnically diverse colleagues and educating peers, allies and managers on all things peri/menopause.

They will be hosting an array of online sessions free for all colleagues to attend.

To find out more and join, please click here.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 10 March

As a Trust we have largely been unaffected by industrial action taken by colleagues across the country over the past few months. I have been very grateful for that.

The strike action being taken by our non-consultant doctors next week from 13 to 16 March will be the first to significantly impact how we deliver our services over the 72-hour period that our colleagues will be unavailable. It all starts from 7am on Monday morning.

Firstly, I would like to remind everyone that where strike ballots meet the required threshold, the Trust will support colleagues who wish to take their legal right to strike. During any strike action, colleagues in people and organisation development are in constant dialogue with union representatives to ensure the wellbeing of those taking action. You will have already seen detail of this in the communications bulletin in relation to upcoming strikes.

Secondly, I am relatively confident the contingencies we have put in place to ensure safe delivery of care during the strike period are the right ones. However, the length of this strike action and the impact it may have on our services, is unprecedented and should give all of us cause for concern. I would like to extend a massive thank you to colleagues for being flexible and agreeing to provide “acting down” cover and to change their already stretched clinical commitments to ensure that the safest possible service to our patients is provided. During the strikes, we are advising clinical teams to cancel all non-essential business and meetings that do not have a direct impact on the care we provide. All focus must be on providing frontline patient care.

As ever, safe discharges have a huge impact on capacity and how we manage the flow of our patients in hospital and into the community. Please continue to support patients with timely discharges – weigh up the pros and cons of our patients remaining in hospital and ensure you include patients and families in these discussions with a clear focus on what matters to them. Doing this will particularly help us while we are managing low staffing levels over the next week.

Ultimately, the resolution of this unprecedented conflict is in the hands of the government. Whilst we cannot directly influence the pay of our staff, we unequivocally support their right to take strike action and our responsibility is to do the best we can to manage the impact and mitigate risks.

Last week, NHS England carried out an inspection of our infection control practices which saw us achieve the equivalent of ‘Green’ status. This is truly a fantastic achievement, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your hard work and dedication in maintaining our high standards of infection control. Although there were still some issues identified during the visit, the inspectors were impressed with our ability to understand and manage our risks. They felt that we all shared the same commitment to infection control, from ward to board, and that we had a good grip on the situation. You will know about my ambitions to get the “fundamentals of care” right.  There is no better start than in the area of good infection prevention and control practice.

The inspectors also noted a positive change in our staff, who were no longer defensive but proud of their work. This is a testament to the hard work that has been put in by everyone and is an early sign of the locally owned quality improvement approach which will drive achievement of our strategic objectives. We discussed the success at this week’s Board and the Chairman asked me to convey his thanks through my Friday Message, for your commitment to providing excellent care to our patients.

Cost of living resources

With the cost of living increasing for all, below are some resources colleagues may find useful:

Be in the know about policing and crime alerts in your local area

Our communities play a crucial part in helping the police prevent and detect crime and anti-social behaviour. West Midlands Police are constantly working to improve the flow of information between themselves and the people living and working within the region in order to make a greater impact in the prevention and detection of crime and anti-social behaviour.

If you live, work or have an interest in the West Midlands area you can register for a new service offering free messages, crime alerts and witness appeals local to you.

To sign up please visit https://www.wmnow.co.uk/

As a registered recipient, you will not only benefit from free two way messaging but will also receive crime alerts, hear about positive police action in your community, help identify suspected or wanted criminals or learn about community groups, events and meetings in your area.

Please remember, this service is not for reporting crimes or incidents – to report these please contact West Midlands Police on 101 or 999 if an emergency or online at www.west-midlands.police.uk

For more information, please email s.ingram@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk.

My Part in Midland Met – Aaron Bertram-Miller

From now until when we move into Midland Met, we will be sharing updates with you about the many people involved in the project and the role they each play.  

The successful opening of Midland Metropolitan University Hospital relies on many people, teams and stakeholders. Once open, it will have a far reaching impact – not only on those we care for but also on colleagues and our community in terms of regeneration, jobs, housing, charitable endeavours and so much more.

Getting us to Midland Met is a team effort. We all have a part to play in making it #morethanahospital! 

How long have you been at SWB and what is your current role?  

My role is a nursing associate educator, and I am part of the nursing and midwifery clinical education team. I have been in my role for ten months as this is a new role for the Trust. 

What part does your role contribute to the Midland Met project? 

I help train and educate nursing associate apprentices (NAAs) in the organisation.  

Nursing Associates work as part of the nursing team and play an important role that helps to bridge care between healthcare support workers and nurses. The focus is to deliver patient care, and our nursing associates will help shape and support the care we provide at Midland Met. 

How are you preparing for the opening of Midland Met in your team/department? 

We regularly inform our nursing apprenticeship associates about what Midland Met can bring to the community and the Trust.  

We have regular meetings and share updates on the hospital. Information is available on the Midland Met pages on Connect, and Heartbeat articles provide helpful updates on the programme and work that is being undertaken by various teams as we all prepare for our move into our new acute hospital in 2024. 

In what ways will our new hospital help to shape your role for the better? 

We aim to make 25 per cent of Midland Met’s workforce nursing associate apprentices. It is a big ambition for the team, and we are developing plans to help us make this ambition a reality. 

The biggest benefit that Midland Met will bring in your opinion is… 

Collectively we are promoting the Fundamentals of Care and our 3Ps strategy that focuses on our people, patients and population. We feel that Midland Met will bring these groups together.  

There is something for everyone at Midland Met. You do not need to be a patient to visit the hospital – the community focus is impressive with the Winter Garden, outdoor green spaces and the art gallery.  

It offers a lot in the way of new opportunities, such as career development and new ways of caring for patients. I also like that it brings both Sandwell and City Hospitals together to provide all acute care in one place, effectively bringing two communities together. 

Have you been on a site tour? If so, can you share any photos and your feedback with us? 

I had the privilege of having a guided tour and can say it is AMAZING! There is so much space, and there will be a lot of new facilities. The Trust has put a lot of thought into making the hospital fit for purpose and bringing our patients, people and population together. 

BCPS Pathology planned IT outage – Restoration of services delayed

Unfortunately the planned downtime affecting BCPS Pathology has encountered unexpected issues which are delaying the restoration of services.

Please continue to use electronic requesting. Blood transfusion services will continue to be affected.

Urgent and in-patient work will be prioritised during this period. Please be aware that routine samples may be delayed.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.