Monthly archives: June 2023

Unity upgrade: 8 June, 10pm – 9 June, 3am

Please be aware an essential Unity upgrade will be taking place on Thursday 8 June, 10pm to Friday 9 June, 3am to ensure the Trust’s EPR system remains up to date and compliant. The work is scheduled for approximately five hours.

During this time Unity will remain available; however, at approximately 9.45pm on Thursday 8 June, Unity users will be required to log off the system and log straight back in to allow the installation of the new update. Colleagues will receive a fifteen-minute count down warning within Unity prior to being forcibly logged off at 10pm. 

From 11pm to 11.45pm there will be a 45 minute delay to Unity electronic orders and messaging as detailed below:

• Patients new to the Trust will not be able to be registered on iPM (Lorenzo) and FirstNet – full BCP required.
• Patients new to the Trust will not be able to be visible in Medisoft – full BCP required.
• Orders placed in Unity will not go to radiology/pathology during this time but will be sent once the systems come back up – BCP required.
• New results will not be visible in Unity during this time but will be sent once the systems come back up.
• Inpatients admitted from ED will not show up in iPM until the systems are back up.
• Inpatients transferred between Wards will show on Capman but not on iPM until the systems are back up.
• Inpatients discharged during this time will not show as discharged in iPM until the systems are back up.
• Any new baby registrations will not be able to be completed until the systems are back up.

Colleagues would need to ensure they revert to BCPs for blood tests and imaging requests during this time. iLAB will be enabled will be enabled by our support partner BCPS during this time. Other Unity functionality such as documentation and meds admin will not be affected by this activity.

Once messaging is restored at 11:45pm all queued messages will be sent. 

To allow eOutcome and the CDA icon to launch correctly from Unity after this upgrade,  the CSS code will be updated to work with Microsoft Edge browser. Historical patient activity/results will be unavailable for 2 hours from 11pm until 1am.

At 2.50am on Friday 9 June Unity users will again be required to log off the system and log straight back in with the same fifteen-minute count down warning prior to being forcibly logged off at 3.05am.

Unity functionality will remain the same; however users will notice some minor cosmetic differences such as the colour and design of some boxes. Comparison below:

 Powerchart Currently:

Powerchart after the upgrade:

The activity will be closely monitored by our support vendor and IT support teams and desktop alert updates will also be issued.

As always, should you have any further queries then please do contact the IT Service Desk on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050 or via Chat with the IT Service Desk.

Notice Fraud: Dual working

With the significant change in working practices seen during the pandemic, it is now more common than ever for employers to allow or encourage hybrid working. This means colleagues can work from home, often for the majority of their time, and only attend their employers’ offices sporadically.

Remote working has a definite upside, offering colleagues improved work-life balance, more efficient use of their time, control over work hours and work location, burnout mitigation, and higher productivity. However, across the NHS there has been a change in working practices which has led to an increase in dual working, where an individual has two, or more, full-time roles which they juggle to perform simultaneously.

We must remind colleagues that dual working is illegal and if colleagues are found to be dual to be dual working, they may face disciplinary action.

To find out more about dual working please see notice fraud – dual working.

Should you need to report fraud including dual working you should contact the Local Counter Fraud Specialist Sophie Coster (Tel: 07436 268747), Chief Finance Officer, Dinah McLannahan; or NHSCFA by calling 0800 028 40 60.

Latest edition of Heartbeat now available!

Welcome to the May edition of Heartbeat. In this edition, we have lots of inspiring updates to share from across SWB.

Turn to page three to find out how you can nominate for this year’s Star Awards. This year, we’ve made it easier than ever – you don’t need to be on the network or even a Trust device. You can simply click here and off you go!

Discover how a blood test for ovarian cancer could save lives on page 18, and read about how a drum kit is helping patient Oliver in his stroke recovery. Additionally, you can learn about how we’re piloting new resus training on page 24.

Click here to read the latest issue edition of Heartbeat!

This week is Volunteers’ Week

Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK.

Right here at the Trust, we have a number of volunteers who support us to deliver first class healthcare to our patients.

Be sure to check out this TikTok short video featuring new volunteer Shannon showing the important role volunteers play at SWB.

Do you want to become a volunteer? You can contact our volunteer service on 0121 507 4855 or email swbh.volunteer@nhs.net.

Cake donations for Volunteers’ Week – can you help?

We’re seeking cake donations for our Volunteers’ Week coffee events at City and Sandwell.

If you would like to donate any cakes, you can do so on the following dates and locations:

• Friday 2 June, 9am – 1pm, Trinity House, Ground floor, Corridor A at the volunteer’s office, Sandwell.
• Monday 5 June, 12pm – 1.30pm, D12, City

Volunteers are an important part of our hospitals as they contribute their time and expertise in a variety of ways. Volunteering is an unpaid role but does not replace the role of the paid staff at the Trust. Instead, it adds value and complements the care provided by our colleagues.

For more information, please email swbh.volunteer@nhs.net or call 0121 507 4855.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 2 June

On Tuesday evening this week I had the privilege of attending and taking part in our SWB youth forum, which from now on has adopted the branding #youthspace – their own logo and social media presence is being launched shortly.

Youth Space is a forum in which we seek to actively engage children and young people who either use our services, care for those who use our services, or who wish to work in health or social care. Ably led by our Chief Nursing Officer, Mel Roberts, and organised so capably by Jayne Salter-Scott, our very driven and enthusiastic public and community engagement lead, the forum has grown from a small acorn to a very big tree in a very short space of time. On Tuesday night, there must have been the best part of 40 young people in the education centre at Sandwell, from 6pm to 8pm. We should be impressed by that because in my experience, it takes more than just the offer of free soft drinks and pizza, to get a school age person to attend and meaningfully contribute to such a forum. The fact that we have seen Youth Space become so popular, is down to both the mindset of our young people who participate, and the drive of those who sponsor and organise the sessions.

My attendance followed a session in which the members signed off their logo and branding and then heard from our Women’s and Child Health, Group Director of Nursing, Cheryl Newton, about her life and career and how rewarding such a career can be.

I was asked to give a potted history of my career to date, where I came from, what my motivations were and what my hobbies were in what little spare time I had. Most of the room seemed genuinely interested in what this old(er) fogey had to say. I then sat in a black “Mastermind” chair (a cultural reference which we quickly learned was lost on 99.9 per cent of those present) while a number of incisive and well thought through questions were fired at me in quick succession:

• What is the biggest challenge facing the NHS?
• What keeps me awake at night?
• What advice would I have for those being interviewed for their first job in the NHS?
• How can schools and NHS Trusts work better together on public health messaging and lifestyle changes amongst younger people?

The first question proved to have the lengthiest answer and generate the most supplementary questions. My answer, unequivocally, was our workforce challenge (training/education, recruitment and, critically, retention). On the way home I thought about this and was reminded yet again, that my audience on Tuesday evening, are the very people who we need to inspire to become our clinicians of the future. That is why we must support and grow Youth Space as a concept. They are our future and on this week’s evidence, that future is quite bright.

Have a good week.

Richard

Star Awards 2023: Non-Clinical Team of the Year

Do you know a team that has consistently excellent performance whilst meeting financial and operational targets, demonstrating best practice or a team that has introduced a change in approach resulting in improvements to financial or operational performance or has pulled together through particularly difficult circumstances?

Why not nominate them for Non-Clinical Team of the Year at this year’s upcoming Star Awards?

Please complete the nomination form by clicking here with as much detail as possible about your nominee. The closing date for all nominations is Friday 23 June, 5pm.

Last year’s winner of this prestigious award were the portering team. Porters complete a vast number of different tasks, often walking between 15-20 miles during one 7.5-hour shift. They carry out tasks from collecting and delivering the mail to moving patients between wards. They cover every inch of the site in one way or another. They have achieved a great deal throughout 2022, taking on most of their bank staff to full time contracts and sending team leaders and some porters on Train the Trainer courses so they could deliver the courses directly to our staff as and when needed.

If you have any questions regarding the Star Awards, please contact the communications team on 0121 507 5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net.

Happy retirement Ian

Ian Rees is a valued member of the receipts and distribution team at City and will be retiring on Friday 2 June. Ian joined the team back in 2010 and has spent 13 years delivering goods around City.

He will be putting away his driving gloves to enjoy his favourite hobbies of photography, leisurely cycles on his bicycle and spending more time enjoying his family and grandchildren.

Ian is loved by all his colleagues in stores and the purchasing team and will be sadly missed by all who know him.

We hope everyone join us in wishing Ian a happy retirement. Good luck in the future.

Transforming care: The future of stroke services at Midland Met

The opening of the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in 2024 presents a unique opportunity to transform stroke care services. Thanks to a ground-breaking new project led by Clair Finnemore, Therapy Lead for Stroke Services, stroke patients are set to receive faster, more efficient care through the creation of an integrated community stroke service (ICSS).

Launching this month, the Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) project will establish new domiciliary stroke rehabilitation services in line with national and regional stroke strategies, creating integrated community stroke specialist teams who will provide intensive, specialist therapy services in the comfort of patients’ homes. This home-first model of care will reduce hospital  stays, freeing up beds and streamlining the patient journey.

A physiotherapist by trade, Clair is helping to transform stroke services by decoupling acute stroke and rehabilitation services. She explained: “The work we are doing cuts across all disciplines, including therapies, nursing, medicine, estates, social care, psychology, imaging, GPs and operational leads across PCCT and medicine.

“We decided to review the full stroke pathway to ensure those with acute needs can be assessed quickly and those requiring further rehabilitation can be supported in either inpatient rehabilitation beds or in their own homes.

“Launching the ICSS means we can provide a home-first model of care for all stroke patients who can return home safely with appropriate support and rehabilitation through intensive, specialist therapy services in a home setting. This approach will reduce the average length of stay in hospital, facilitating bed flow in Midland Met. Plus, it provides a seamless transition of care from acute to non-acute inpatient or domiciliary services with the same level of stroke multi-disciplinary team (MDT) expertise.

Speaking of the benefits of these service changes, Clair remarked: “Having this opportunity to make the stroke service operate in line with best practice will ultimately benefit patients and help us improve the patient experience from admission to rehabilitation.

“Overall, we’re making positive steps to change our services ahead of our move in 2024, and the team is taking advantage of every opportunity to seek feedback and patient input to help shape our services.”