Monthly archives: April 2023
Placing expenditure request through Oracle (Charitable Funds)
Before placing any orders on the Oracle Cloud System that are to be paid from charitable funds, please ensure that you have:
- Submitted a Charitable Funds Expenditure Form prior to any expenditure taking place.
Please note that we are no longer able to reimburse claims retrospectively from the charity.
When you are using Oracle, please follow each step below:
- The person who is requisitioning must change their requestor to ‘Funds, Charitable’
- Please ATTACH your expenditure request form and any relevant documentation, i.e. quote, invoices, VAT Zero Certificate (Medical Equipment maybe VAT Exempt).
- You need to write in the NOTE TO BUYER that this is funded from Charitable Trust Fund No. X (please insert fund number)
- For items over £5,000 contact Sarah Gammidge-Jefferson for a single source form.
- For medical equipment add Lawrence Barker into the approval chain
- Please check the following code is in the CHARGE ACCOUNT field:
- 1-ZZZ000-158003-99999-999999
If the above steps are not followed, we will unfortunately not be able to charge your expenditure to charitable funds, and it will be charged to your department budget instead
Digital retirement seminar
Are you thinking about retiring? This seminar guides you through the financial complexities of retirement in a clear and jargon free presentation. Whether you are planning to retire in the not too distant future or thinking about the best financial options for retirement at a later date this seminar covers: state pensions, NHS pensions, saving and investing, taxation, credit history, mortgage/re-mortgages, wills and inheritance tax, and how to get the best advice. These digital seminars are available for all colleagues and there will be opportunity for questions and answers after the seminar.
The next seminars will be hosted 9am – 12pm on the following dates:
- Tuesday 13 June
- Tuesday 3 October
Note: Microsoft Teams login details will be provided seven days before the session date along with joining instructions.
For bookings please contact call ext. 3854.
Can you support the homeless team with donations?
Our homeless team are seeking donations of non-perishable foods and clothing for their most vulnerable and elderly patients.
- Tracksuit bottoms (all sizes)
- Trainers (all sizes)
- All tinned foods
- Wipes
- Packet pasta’s/noodles/rice
- Jar/packet sauces
- Tea /coffee/sugar/long life milk
- Bottled water/juice
- Cereals/biscuits/protein bars/crisps/nuts
- Washing powders/liquids
- First aid kits/plasters
- Shampoo/conditioner/hairbrushes
- Shower gel
- Deodorant/body sprays/perfumes
- Toothbrushes/toothpaste
- Moisturisers/sun cream/aftersun
- Make up items (non-essential)
- Books (non-essential)
If you wish to donate any items listed below please contact karenjit.birring@nhs.net.
Wound care study day: 9 May
The tissue viability team will be hosting a wound care study day on Tuesday 9 May, 9am – 4pm in room 10 at the Sandwell Education Centre.
The study day, which is aimed at acute and community qualified colleagues, will cover:
- Diabetic foot management
- Topical negative pressure therapy and application
- Master class – Larvae Therapy and Application
- Fungating wounds
- Management of skin tears
For booking and information please call ext. 3278 or email tissueviability2@nhs.net.
No cryoglobulin service at City
Our City pathology site currently cannot process samples for cryoglobulin analysis. We are hoping the issue will be resolved by end of April. The cryoglobulin service is still operational at SWB if patients can attend phlebotomy. Due to the pre-analytical instability, samples cannot be collected at City and sent to SWB.
We are aiming to resume the service by the beginning of May, further communication will be issued in due course.
Meanwhile, If you require a cryoglobulin for:
- Outpatients: They will need to be referred to phlebotomy at the Sandwell site where the cryoglobulin service can be provided.
- Inpatients: Will need to be given an outpatient appointment for phlebotomy at Sandwell once they are discharged.
For any further queries email a.thurston-postle@nhs.net
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Note for your diaries: Quality Improvement Half Days 2023/24
Please see the dates/times of all QIHDs for 2023/24.
Note: AM sessions are 9am – 1pm and PM sessions are 1pm – 5pm.
School talks to inspire children
The NHS has teamed up with Inspiring the Future to inspire children to consider a career in the Service. The ‘NHS Ambassadors’ programme connects NHS staff with schools. By talking about their job, NHS staff will help to illustrate the connection between what students are studying in the classroom and the potential opportunities available in the NHS, recognising that the Service has over 350 different careers on offer.
The initiative is looking for NHS staff, from all levels and professions to register and commit to a minimum of an hour a year to go into schools and colleges – in person or virtually.
It’s easy to sign up and by doing so you’ll be helping to inspire the NHS workforce of the future.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 14 April
This week we issued the Pulse survey which is a quarterly check in to find out how you are feeling about working in our organisation.
Earlier this year we launched our People Plan which sets out how we will deliver on our People objective – to cultivate and sustain happy, productive and engaged staff. Our new People Plan supports that strategic objective by focussing on improving staff satisfaction and experience in order to support a positive organisational culture to thrive.
It is a direct response to the feedback you have given in the staff surveys. It means every time you give us feedback, we genuinely listen and take the time to understand what your views really mean in reality. The People Plan is a very detailed commitment about what we will do to give you a great experience as a member of our team here at SWB, this is why your feedback is crucial so we can learn more about what would make the biggest difference to improve what it’s like to work here.
The first year of the People Plan will have a focus on leadership development for all colleagues. We are all leaders in our own roles and investing in each of you is a main priority for the organisation. The training has been piloted over the last few months with great reviews from those who attended. It is about taking ownership of your roles/services, being inclusive and compassionate, creating a great staff experience, and being supported to do so.
All this is under pinned by our values – Ambition – Respect – Compassion and ensuring we are living these values at every level within the organisation. The staff survey response rates and scores give us a good measure on how we are doing in this area.
Managing this week’s industrial action has been particularly challenging for everyone. However, I have been heartened to see our values demonstrated by everyone to ensure we are able to keep safe services for our patients. Thank you for stretching yourselves, going beyond what is required and, in some cases, even cancelling annual leave. There is a great deal to learn from such challenges, so please share your learnings and feedback with your managers and in the Pulse survey.
This quarter, we are trialling a single anonymous link, that any colleague can use to complete the survey on any device as long as they have connection to the internet. When you access the link, you will be required to select the name of your clinical group and the team you work in. We hope that this will give many more of you the opportunity to give your feedback.
Follow the link www.myonlinesurvey.co.uk/FFST/RXK to complete your survey. The deadline is Friday 28 April.
Heartbeat: SPA leading the way in easing pressures
The Trust’s Single Point of Access (SPA) service aims to help professionals arrange the correct care for both urgent and non-urgent referrals – freeing up our emergency departments and in turn helping to relieve the pressure.
SPA deals with an impressive 25,000 calls a year and is led by Janice Barrett who is based in Trinity House.
She explained: “The service has grown since it began in 2018. We’ve gone from a small team of four to nine. We deal with around 25,000 calls a year, directing patients to the correct service they need, and this figure is increasing weekly.
“The service means we are reducing the number of patients who come to our emergency departments (EDs) needing treatment that could have been delivered elsewhere. It’s not only beneficial for our patients but also helps to free up our EDs, helping to relieve some of the pressures we are seeing in our hospitals.”
It provides access support and advice across seven days, between 8am and 8pm, and helps to prevent avoidable admissions and support patients in the community with longstanding conditions.
It starts with a phone call with GP colleagues providing as much information as possible helping the team to navigate the patient to the best service for them. Once the call has taken place, the patient will then sit under the care of the SPA team, which means GPs can continue with their working day.
Some facts about the service include:
- It’s for all ages, so you can refer children and adults
- This team covers the Sandwell and West Birmingham area.
- The telephones are manned by a team of nurses so you will get straight through to a healthcare professional
- It can facilitate specialist advice where necessary
- It can navigate the patient to the most appropriate service for them
You can contact the SPA team on 0121 507 3301.
Learning disability and autism multi-professional consultant pathway
NHS England is offering 10 funded places on its Learning Disability and Autism Multi-Professional Consultant Pathway, the pilot of which launched in 2022 by the former Health Education England.
Senior registered health professionals (including nurses) and allied health professionals are eligible to apply. The form will be open until Friday 21 April.
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