Monthly archives: December 2023

Mums, Babies and Blood webinar 15 February 2024

Online webinar open for all hospital, community, bank, and agency staff. Will commence on Thursday 15 February, 9 am – 1 pm via Microsoft Teams.

This webinar will cover:

• Massive obstetric hemorrhage
• Hemolytic disease of the newborn
• Case studies
• Patient identification & the importance of sample labeling
• Anti-D
• Groups and antibodies
• Anaemia in pregnancy

This event is free, however, you must sign up using the link below or by scanning the QR code on the flyer.

https://forms.office.com/e/20HLHCShxx

Mums Babies and Blood Flyer

For any further information please contact Clare Neal on EoERTC@nhsbt.nhs.uk or 01223 588906

Drug safety notice: Pabrinex

There is currently a shortage of Pabrinex intravenous high potency, concentrate for solution for infusion.

We are expecting new stock of the product at some point this week.

We ask clinical colleagues ensure that Pabrinex is used in line with Trust guidelines and the BNF. Use Pabrinex judiciously to conserve stock for patients with no other treatment options.

Please see Safety Notice Pabrinex for further details.

For more information please contact the pharmacy department on ext. 5263/3783.

Referral threshold now changed within dietetic services

To ensure effective prioritisation and delivery of adult dietetic services to those who most urgently require our intervention, the referral threshold has changed which means:

• We will now accept patient referrals with a MUST score of three or above

Referrals for patients with a feeding tube remain unchanged irrespective of their MUST score/nutritional status – please continue to refer all patients with feeding tubes in place.

The team have linked some resources in place for colleagues to use and implement which are as listed below and should help support your inpatients:

• MUST 0-2 Nutrition care plan
• First line oral nutritional supplement poster 
• MUST on unity step by step guide – presentation 

Please remember the importance of keeping accurate anthropometrical measures (including weight, height and mid-upper arm circumference) with completion of MUST scores on admission and every seven days thereafter to identify patients who are deteriorating from a nutritional perspective and for who more intensive support may be required.

If you are unsure if your patient meets the referral criteria for dietetic referral, please call ext. 4486.

Your Trust Charity – donate a gift to a child this Christmas

We’d like your help to ensure children spending Christmas in our hospitals have a present to unwrap on the big day. If you’d like to donate a gift, check out the SWBH NHS – Your Trust Charity wishlist here and select delivery for Lyndon Ground Floor. If you’d like more information email trustcharity@nhs.net.

Schwartz Rounds discussion tomorrow

The next Schwartz Round discussion will take place on Wednesday 13 December between 12.30pm – 1.30pm at Sandwell Medical Education Centre in Room 10 with light lunch from 12pm onwards.

The topic chosen is Reason to be Proud

Please email  swbh.schwartzrounds@nhs.net if you have any queries related to the event.

Schwartz Rounds are an organisation-wide, multidisciplinary forum in which clinical and non-clinical staff from across the healthcare setting come together to discuss the human dimensions of caring for patients.

These Rounds are different from traditional medical rounds in that they are not focused on a patient’s treatment; rather staff are encouraged to openly discuss the psychological, emotional, and social challenges associated with their work in a confidential and safe environment.

The purpose of these rounds is to understand the challenges and rewards that are intrinsic to providing care, not to solve problems or to focus on the clinical aspects of patient care.

These will be held face to face on a rotating basis between Sandwell, City and Rowley sites.

If you have a topic that is worth discussing in these Rounds or you would like to be on the panel, please email us on  swbh.schwartzrounds@nhs.net

Amendment to December 2023 Monthly Pay

Monthly pay date has been amended to the 21 December 2023 from the 22 December 2023.

Electronic payslips will also be available to view via Employee self-serve from this date.

Chocolate deliveries for colleagues

We know it’s been another challenging year across the NHS, the hard work and dedication that you all show doesn’t go unnoticed.

From the week commencing Monday 11 December the executive team, with support from our volunteers, will be delivering chocolate tubs to various departments.

It may not be possible for the executive team to visit all areas, therefore, if you haven’t received chocolates received by Friday 22 December, they can be collected from City or Sandwell stores.

Samosa sale at Sandwell

The cancer services team will be hosting a samosa sale on Friday 15 December from 11.30am – 1.00pm, in Main reception at Sandwell

If you would like to reserve samosa’s for yourself or your team, please contact jennifer.donovan@nhs.net or call 0121 507 2776

Multi-Factor Authentication roll out

NHSmail has been working with organisations to roll out Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across all NHSmail users and we are grateful for all the hard work organisations have put in to increase the uptake of MFA so far.

As we get closer to the March 2024 deadline, when all users should have MFA applied to their accounts, we are increasing our tracking and communications to further drive the uptake of MFA. From 22 March 2024, we intend to roll out MFA centrally. More information on the central MFA roll out will be circulated shortly.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the MFA options available to you and encourage you to carry on with your roll out of MFA across your organisation.

Increasing MFA uptake before the deadline will not only improve security across the platform but will also mean it will be easier for your organisation, IT helpdesk and users when MFA is switched on for all.

Action requested:

1. Ensure your organisation has plans in place to continue the roll out of MFA prior to Friday 22 March 2024
2. Ensure you are familiar with the NHSmail MFA Policy and have read the guidance on the support site.
3. Be aware that we will be starting to communicate directly with NHSmail users via email to make them aware of MFA and the benefits to them individually and to your organisation.

Guidance and support available:

As you may be aware, the NHSmail team have produced guides and an MFA toolkit to assist your organisation with the roll out of MFA.

We are holding fortnightly MFA webinars which Local Administrators (LAs)are encouraged to attend to hear updates and learn lessons from other organisations roll outs. The NHSmail support site provides detail on how to register and attend – NHSmail MFA Webinars – NHSmail Support.

We know that some organisations have been waiting for the release of Conditional Access Policies that utilise named locations, this solution is now available and guidance has been published on the NHSmail support site – MFA Conditional Access – NHSmail Support.’

Gift and hospitality recording guidelines for the festive season

We want to remind colleagues about the importance of recording any gifts or hospitality received. This ensures transparency and aligns with our commitment to maintaining public trust.

Cash or vouchers: Any cash or vouchers must always be declined.

What to record:

• Any gifts received from outside colleagues during the holiday season, with a value over £50 (gifts under £50 don’t need to be declared but it’s good practice to).
• Details of any hospitality or events attended where expenses are covered.

Why it matters:

• Ensuring transparency and maintaining public trust.
• Preventing conflicts of interest.
• Upholding professional integrity and impartiality.

How to record:

• Use the ESR System to register your gift and hospitality (click here for instructions)
• Include information such as the nature of the gift/hospitality, value (if known), source, and date received.

Recording deadline:

• All gifts and hospitality should be registered within 14 days of receipt.

The Trust’s Associate Director of Corporate Governance/Company can also help provide advice on interpretation of the guidance; however decisions about what to declare or not are the responsibility of individuals.

Please don’t hesitate to contact daniel.conway4@nhs.net if you have any questions.