Monthly archives: February 2024

Doctor honoured after being named president of medical body

A Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust doctor has been named as the first female president of the West Midlands Physicians Association (WMPA).

Dr Sarb Clare MBE, Deputy Medical Director and Acute Medical Consultant at the Trust, has taken on the role overseeing the WMPA, which was established 74 years ago.

She said: “I am delighted to be announced as the President of the WMPA. It is humbling to carry this baton on from so many great inspirational physicians; many of whom I have had the pleasure to work with, learn from and master the craft of medicine.

“As the first female President since the inception of WMPA in 1950, this is a pivotal time for the association. I am dedicated to ensuring we keep our principles of advancing internal medicine and promoting friendship amongst physicians as prime, whilst also ensuring we promote diversity and representation from all colleagues creating safe and rich conversations amongst our fabulous West Midlands family of physicians.

“Serving our people and providing high quality care whilst upskilling, teaching and inspiring our physicians of today and tomorrow is our core purpose. I am really looking forward to the journey ahead of the many educational and networking events we have planned for the coming years.”

It’s not the first time Dr Clare has been honoured. In 2020, she was awarded an MBE for her services to the NHS and her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And she is a national and international pioneer in Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) which sees patients who need the procedure receive it when they arrive at hospital to aid faster diagnosis, leading to better outcomes.

She runs a yearly course “Ultrasound at the Front Door” and has created many free online learning tools and released her first medical book, Ultrasound For the Generalist – A Guide to Point of Care Imaging.

First patient in Black Country received lung health check

A dad-of-two has become the first patient to undergo a free lung health check in the Black Country.

Frank Farrell, aged 69, from Warley, attended his appointment on a mobile scanning unit this week after the Trust introduced the testing as part of a national NHS screening programme.

The Targeted Lung Health Checks (TLHC) are aimed at current and ex-smokers who are aged between 55-74.

Currently, it’s being rolled out by the Trust to those who have a Sandwell GP. Speaking after his appointment, retired primary school teacher Frank said: “Today was very straightforward. The process has been good and all the staff are welcoming. It’s also been very efficient as the whole thing has taken around 30 minutes.

“I would recommend that if you get an invite to take up your appointment. The CT scan is an early intervention to check the health of your lungs – which of course is good for the long term. Prevention is better than cure.”

People who are eligible will receive a text message inviting them to call the Targeted Lung Health Checks team. They will be asked a few questions and then be given an appointment for further checks if needed.

The mobile unit where the tests take place are situated in an easy-to-reach location – with the first being set up at Mecca Bingo in Oldbury.

Dr Arvind Rajasekaran, who has been a Respiratory Consultant at the Trust for 17 years, said: “The check is like an MOT for your lungs and is carried out by specialist nurses.

“These checks can help to spot any problems early, often before you even notice that anything is wrong. If a problem with your breathing or lungs is found early, treatment could be simple and more successful. Your lungs work hard every minute so it’s really important that you get them checked out as you get older.”

To find out more about the TLHCs, go to: https://www.swbh.nhs.uk/services/lung-health-checks/.

Sandwell People Panel: 2 March

Black Country ICS are hosting a people panel to join the conversation about health and care in Sandwell.

The people panels are a place that local people can bring forward conversation topics or any burning issues about health and care in Sandwell. Some of the past conversations topics have included access to GP services, the cost-of-living impact on health and wellbeing, urgent and emergency care, green spaces, patient participation groups, working in partnership and communication, to name a few. If it’s important to you, we want to know about it.

We will also bring forward topics such as the NHS Joint Forward Plan, and proposals on data sharing through Shared Care Records to better identify and support people most at risk of certain medical conditions.

We will, as always have a Community News section where people or organisations can highlight information that would benefit the community, such as group meetings or events, involvement opportunities, support services, celebrations etc. You are more than welcome to bring any information or leaflets you may wish to share.

The more people who join the conversation, the better, so we’d be most grateful if you could please help us to spread the word with friends, neighbours or any networks you might be involved with.

Date: Saturday 2 March
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Venue: Friar Park Millennium Centre, Friar Park Road, Wednesbury, WS10 0JS

All the records from past People Panels can be found on our website at https://blackcountry.icb.nhs.uk/have-your-say/get-involved/people-panels

For more information or to get involved you can email the involvement team at the Black Country ICB at involve.blackcountry@nhs.net or call 0121 612 1447.

Work experience placements now available within the Trust

Applications for work experience placements are now open. The main placement offer will run between June and July, please note that they do offer some videos outside of this timeframe.

Clinical and non-clinical placements are available, if you wish to attend a clinical placement you must be aged over 16+.

If you wish to apply, please note the following.

• Demand always exceeds supply, get your application in as soon as possible. Applications are reviewed on a first come first served basis.
• Ensure you state the department or area that you would like work experience in
• An application is not a guarantee of a work experience placement, you will be notified if you have been successful. We do not accept duplicate applications.

Areas available for work experience: 

• Clinical Areas: Medicine (observing consultants and junior doctors), Nursing – observing trained nurses, HCAs and the multi-disciplinary ward team, Pharmacy. These are on offer throughout June & July, with a variable of up to 1 week. 
• Allied Health Professions – These include Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry (Foot Health), Dietetics, Speech & Language Therapy (Adult & Paediatric – please specify),. Radiography (Must be aged over 18+). These are on offer throughout January through to November with 1-2 days on offer. 
• Orthoptics & Orthotics – These are on offer throughout January through to November with up to 5 days on offer. 
• Non-clinical areas – including IT, Business Administration, and Reception. These are on offer throughout June and July with up to 7 days on week.

If you wish to apply for a work experience placement, please email swb-tr.swbh-gm-workexperienceenquiries@nhs.net. 

Please complete the application form here

It is on a first come first serve basis, once applications are full this process will be closed.

Flu vaccination programme ending 23 February

Our Flu vaccination programme is drawing to a close on Friday 23 February 2024.

If you would like to receive your Flu vaccination please contact the vaccination team on 07977687586.

Find out how your local pharmacy can help you

Community Pharmacies now offer the following services to patients,

• Free blood pressure checks for those who are eligible.
• Contraceptive Pill without prescription
• Provide clinical advice and treatment for minor illnesses, including using inhalers.

To find out more information about what Community pharmacies can offer you, please visit the NHS website. 

Clinical Policy Harmonisation – share your views on proposals to reduce differences in access to healthcare

NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) is asking people for their comments about proposals to reduce differences in access to healthcare services in the Black Country. In July 2022, NHS Black Country ICB took over local healthcare planning from the former clinical commissioning group (CCG) serving the areas of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. Since its establishment, the ICB have been reviewing its clinical policies. This includes:

• Reviewing the four existing CCG policies to harmonise them into one new position for the ICB
• Implementing new policies to take into account national clinical guidelines and best practice.

While the majority of their clinical policies were similar, there were several clinical polices that had some differences. To address these differences, commissioning policies for treatments listed below are being reviewed to look at how they can be made the same for the places of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. Clinical experts have looked at the latest evidence and practice for all of these services, both nationally and locally, to ensure the local offer is high quality and safe. The clinical policy review will be carried out in stages. A public involvement exercise is now live to collect wider views and feedback from local people and staff to inform our final decision-making.

The closing date for comments is Monday 26 February 2024.

Further involvement will be carried out over the coming month for the remaining clinical policies. Visit the ICB website to find out more information and have your say.

Over 95 tubs collected for Macmillian Cancer Charity

Thank you to all staff who contributed their empty tubs of chocolates and sweets for the Greene King Pubs collection throughout December.

Overall, the Trust donated over 95+ tubs for Macmillian Cancer Support.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 16 February

This week, like many others we have seen of late has been tough. Tough for our patients and tough for our staff.   Day after day our colleagues are working to cope with a ceaseless demand for care, with patients arriving sicker or with more co-morbidities, amid rota gaps caused by sickness or vacancies.

Pressure now extends from the front doors of hospitals right to the back – ambulance handover delays are too long, and bed occupancy is too high, with too many patients still in hospital beds despite being medically fit enough to leave. These problems are having an impact across the whole urgent and emergency care system.

This has led to a number of Trusts declaring internal incidents as they struggle to make sure services are safe for patients.

Walk in numbers have increased and ambulance conveyances are on the rise again.  Our poor patient flow, caused less by poor discharge numbers but the timing of said discharges, compounds the problem as that fills our small number of ED cubicles.  The impact of that is waiting times go up and, critically, we don’t get timely handover of ambulance borne patients.

Our ambulance handover stats have gone from being some of the best in the country, to some of the worst in the region, in a very short period.

We have, despite over £1.5 million of additional staffing investment in ED and Acute Medicine and transfer teams in the last few weeks, struggled to deliver safety and a good experience at all times for ED patients.

This can’t continue, and so I have asked Jo Newens, our Chief Operating Officer, and her team, to look at creating extra ambulance receiving space as well as additional space for patients with decisions to admit, who are clinically stable and don’t need to remain in an ED.  This is all staffing dependent, of course and relies on the support and input of our professional teams.

I know we are asking you and your teams to give more and more of the remaining ‘gas in your tank’ but we do really appreciate your efforts and need them to continue . As we prepare for another round of industrial action , I want to assure colleagues that there are key things like rota gaps, managerial support out of hours and extended hours catering that are being focussed on and covered and as an Executive Team we want to ensure you have as much support and preparation time as possible.

I am very conscious that we had to cancel the 2023 Leaders Conference and the disappointment about that was felt by many.  I am therefore really looking forward to the 2024 conference especially as the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), our flagship new build, will be opening its doors later this year.

This time together will be a fantastic opportunity for us all to focus on how as senior leaders within the Trust you will play a critical role in the ‘activation’ stage of the MMUH programme and be pivotal in ensuring that your teams are ready for the move.  Given the scale and complexity of the activation and operational readiness work, this year’s conference will unapologetically focus on MMUH readiness.

If you are normally invited along to this event , you will have received the invitation ( on Event Brite earlier this week ) directly to your inbox. The conference , which is being held on Tuesday 23^rd April at West Bromwich Albion Football Ground is a must for all leaders and  if you haven’t received your invite, and think you should have please contact my EA Sophie Harris who is leading the logistics for the day Sophie.harris46@nhs.net.

Have a good week.

Richard

Join the next ICS briefing: 23 February, 1pm – 2pm

On Friday 23 February from 1pm – 2pm join the next ICS briefing. The briefing is open to all health and social care staff from across our integrated care system, and features guest speakers from across our system.

Follow the link to register for the next ICS Briefing.

Please do share the registration link with any health and social care colleagues in Birmingham and Solihull who you think would be interested in attending.

You can view previous editions of the ICS Briefing on YouTube.

If you have any queries or feedback, please contact us via email at communications.bsolicb@nhs.net.