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Monthly archives: February 2024

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 9 February

 

Our People Plan sets out our commitment to cultivate and sustain happy, productive, and engaged staff, ensuring the best possible experience for our staff and patients. To helps us achieve this, there are key programmes of work taking place, including the below:

  1. Embedding our ARC (ambition, respect, compassion) values and behaviours in everything we do as an organisation – in recruitment, appraisal and leadership practice.
  2. Ensuring our leaders understand the importance of compassionate and inclusive leadership, through the delivery of our ARC leadership programme.
  3. Supporting our teams to work effectively through the ARC team effectiveness programme. This programme has a focus on both embedding our values and supporting high performance compassionate and inclusive team working.

As part of our transition to MMUH, we recognised the need to consolidate the delivery of our leadership and team effectiveness programmes at team level and to ensure there is targeted support for our key high priority services which need to radically change before the move to the new hospital. Therefore, I am really pleased that the executive team and Trust Board has been able to prioritise investment in delivering high impact organisation development support for the key priorities linked to MMUH:

  1. Leadership development
  2. Team effectiveness
  3. Enabling new ways of working

I started the week by talking this through with teams from Medicine, Surgery and Imaging and we discussed the positive impact that effective teamwork has on patient care and experience. It was an energetic conversation, and one that emphasises the opportunity we all have, to look after our staff, our patients, and make a positive impact on the communities we serve – our 3ps (patients, people, population) in action right there.

The leadership and team development work will help with the development of a compassionate culture and should, if colleagues engage with it well, impact positively on staff and patient experience. Most importantly teams are shaping their own change journey to address the improvements relevant to their own area and team. There is a range of support (link below) in place for teams, leaders and managers, the links are below. In addition, please look out for further Organisation Development roadshows and engagement events coming soon.

And it’s not just linked to teams moving to Midland Met, the new hospital will bring change for us all.  Everyone plays a part, so even if you and your team are not directly moving to Midland Met, please do still take a look at the support on offer.  You are all vital to making the Midland Met care model tick.

ARC Leadership Program link

OD consultancy support request, please return to catherine.griffiths27@nhs.net

Meet the OD Team

On the subject of looking after our staff, I am aware that there have been some issues in accessing occupational health recently, and I wanted to reassure you that the executive team, alongside the People and OD team are working hard behind the scenes to bolster cover whilst recruitment continues to provide full capacity for the service. If you have any urgent occupational health requirements, please discuss this with your operational HR manager who will be able to recommend the next steps.

This week is national apprenticeships week, and it has been great to see our apprenticeship team out and about promoting all the opportunities that are available for you all here at SWB. I visited imaging yesterday, and there was a lot of excitement about their new radiographer apprenticeship positions. Apprenticeships not only offer an entry route into the NHS, which is so important for our workforce of the future but gone are the days when they are solely for young people.  There are so many opportunities now to undertake training and progress your career. I was particularly inspired by Amanda Healey’s story. Amanda left school when she was 15, with no qualifications at all. After working in a factory and a bakery, she joined SWB in 2008 as a ward services officer. She has since completed a level 2, level 3, level 4, and level 5 apprenticeship and now works in maternity as a foetal medicine maternity support worker. You can watch her story here and I am sure you will be as inspired as I was.

For more information on apprenticeships opportunities, please visit the team’s Connect page: Apprenticeships Home Page (swbh.nhs.uk)

Finally, good communication is key to ensuring that you feel engaged, happy, and involved at work, so we want your thoughts on how we are doing and how we could improve. Please do take five minutes of your time to fill in this short survey on our internal communications channels: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/swbinternalcommsreview

On load generator tests for Rowley and City in 2024

 

Please see below mains failure test dates for Rowley in 2024. The will take place on the last Wednesday of the month between 7.30am – 8.30am.

  • 28 February
  • 27 March
  • 24 April
  • 29 May
  • 26 June
  • 31 July
  • 28 August
  • 25 September
  • 30 October
  • 27 November
  • 18 December

For dates and times at City, please see City test dates information sheet.

LGBTQ+ History Month

 

Thursday 1 February marked the beginning of LGBTQ+ History Month.

LGBTQ+ History Month is such an important time to celebrate the contributions and achievements of the LGBTQ+ community throughout history. It’s also a great opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion in all aspects of society, including the NHS.

Inclusion in healthcare is crucial for making sure that everyone feels safe, respected, and supported when seeking medical care .It’s all about making sure that everyone gets the care they need no matter who they are.

It’s awesome to see the progress being made within SWB and the ongoing work to support our LGBTQ+ Patients. But there is always more work to be done to ensure that everyone feels welcome valued.

The 2024 theme celebrates LGBTQ+ people’s contributions to the field of medicine and healthcare both historically and today. Over the course of the month we will be recognising influential medical LGBTQ+ figures from history and/or today.

If you have anyone that you think deserves a mention please let me know by emailing thomas.devaney@nhs.net.

Thank you all for all your contributions to ensuring that everybody whether it be patient, staff or visitors are treated equally and fairly within SWB.

 

Join our PSIRF drop-in sessions!

 

As you will be aware, the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) will replace the Serious Incident Framework on the Monday 1 April – click here to find out more.

As part of the launch, we will be hosting drop-in sessions which will allow colleagues to be better understand the key features of PSIRF and how it will benefit them, learn about incident reporting procedures as well as engage with the Patient Safety team.

The sessions will be taking place on the following dates:

Drug safety notice: Fluoroquinolones

 

MHRA advice on 22 January updated previous restrictions on the use of fluoroquinolones.

Systemic (by mouth, injection, or inhalation) fluoroquinolones must now only be prescribed
when other commonly recommended antibiotics are inappropriate.

Systemic fluoroquinolones can cause long-lasting (up to months or years), disabling and
potentially irreversible side effects, sometimes affecting multiple body systems and senses.

For advice and alternative solutions, please see information sheet

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

National Apprenticeship Week continues this week

 

At SWB, apprentices form an integral part of our workforce to maintain a highly skilled workforce. Through our Apprenticeship 1st strategy, we support our people, patients and population and uphold our Trust values and strategic objectives to deliver excellent patient care.

Be sure to check out this short video featuring Grace Hughes and her journey as an apprentice at SWB.

Team Leader/Supervisor Level 3 – Apprenticeship Standard of the day

Have you moved into a role where you are a supervisor or first line manger and looking to develop your skills and knowledge?

We offer this amazing course, in-house through SWB Training Provider. For an informal chat and more information, please contact the team by emailing swbh_apprenticeship@nhs.net or 0121 507 6425.

For more information on the qualification please click here.

 

Share your views on proposals to reduce differences in access to healthcare

 

NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board is doing a review of clinical policies and would like you to share your views on them.

The review includes existing policies to harmonise into one for the Black Country – most of these were very similar – and others are new to consider national clinical guidelines and best practice. Clinical experts have looked at the latest evidence and practice for all these services, both nationally and locally, to ensure the local offer is high quality and safe.

Share your comments to help inform our final decision making.

Learn more about the policies involved and share your comments by clicking here.

Upgrade affecting Mitel phone system until 12 February

 

Our telephony provider will be carrying out an essential upgrade to the Trust’s Mitel phone system until Monday 12 February. This is to ensure the system remains stable as part of the telephony modernisation project.

During the dates, times and at the Trust site locations stated below colleagues may experience minor disconnections to incoming or outgoing calls for a few minutes and the Mitel phones will be unavailable for use for up to 10 minutes and will display a “configuration in progress” message on the Mitel handsets:

Date/site:

  • Friday 9 February from 10pm overnight to Saturday 10 February at 6am at City.
  • Sunday 11 February from 9pm overnight to Monday 12 February at 5am at City.

This will not affect the analogue phones used on the wards, the bleeps application, mobile phones, or the emergency red phones utilised in our A&E, maternity and cardiology departments which will remain available.

In terms of business continuity for the phone system – radios, if required, are located in both security offices at Sandwell and City which will be fully charged and available for collection. Please ensure any two-way BCP radios utilised are always returned to the Security Control Rooms so that they can be charged at all times.

We would recommend that this information is included in ward handovers and that business continuity is put in place including all ward mobile phones charged and actively manned by ward leads during the times stated.

Action required following the upgrades:

In the unlikely event you experience an issue with your black Mitel phone handset following the upgrades, then please unplug the network cable from the wall outlet and reconnect to the same outlet, this will force the handset to reset and complete upgrade. The handset will be operational after two minutes.

Please be assured the activity will be closely monitored by our IT support and telephony teams.

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

 

ESR amendment form will no longer be available from 16 February

 

The ESR amendment form will no longer be available to use from Friday 16 February.

All changes from Saturday 17 February will need to be made via ESR Manager Self Service, please log onto the Trust connect web page and access the guidance and training videos: Manager Self Service (swbh.nhs.uk), scroll down to Contractual Changes:

  • Hiring an internal applicant training – this will support managers to update ESR, when their internal applicant has been successfully recruited , and will be transferred into a new position within the organisation. The changes need to be made by the new manager.
  • Direct amendments training – this explains, how to make changes that have not been through the recruitment process, such as acting up, fixed term extensions etc. and any position changes . All cost increases outside of recruitment will need GDO or equivalent approval.
  • Amending contracted hours training – this will guide you through how to amend contracted hours.

If you do not have access to ESR Manager Self Service or require one of your team to have access to make changes, please let me know.

If you require any support, do not have access to ESR Manager Self Service or require one of your team to have access to make changes, please email swbh.esrhelpdesk@nhs.net.

Sad passing Michiala Foster

 

It is with great sadness that one of our much-loved colleagues Michiala Foster has sadly passed away.

Michiala joined the SWB back in 1989 and has spent much of her career working within Community Midwifery as a Maternity Support Worker. Michiala’s dedication to her role was second to none and she was treasured for her considerate, gentle, and caring nature. Her colleagues at Sandwell would often breathe a sigh of relief when they knew they had ‘Michiala’ working with them and more recently her unwavering support at Aston Pride Family Centre has been invaluable, her presence front of house will be greatly missed.

Michiala was always the first to want to organise any social gathering and loved nothing more than a good dance with friends.

She was known to support her colleagues just as much as she supported her patients and would often be seen with a small gift or knitted item for a colleague’s baby and never forgot a birthday. Michiala will be greatly missed.

Funeral details: Michiala’s funeral will be taking place at Sandwell crematorium on Friday 9 February, 2.30pm. The family wish for no flowers however there will be a donation box for Cancer Research UK. The family have also setup a fundraising page for any colleagues who wish to contribute.

We offer our sincere condolences to her husband Darren, her children Beth and Jake and her grandson Harlen-Beau.

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