Warning about phishing email

There is currently an email in circulation that is advising colleagues that a new document has been received. This email is not associated with the Trust IT systems and, therefore should not be open.

If you are unsure or suspicious of an email you have received, you can call the IT Service desk for advice on 0121 507 4050 or by emailing swb-tr.servicedesk@nhs.net.

Weekly and monthly pay dates for 2023/24

In previous communications, it was mentioned that the monthly pay date for March was Tuesday 26 March. This was incorrect and the March pay date is Thursday 28 March. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Weekly pay dates: Friday remains the usual pay date, unless this needs to be amended due to extenuating circumstances or bank holidays.

The monthly pay date for March 2024 is Thursday 28 March 2024.

Payroll timetable for Easter, May Day and Spring Bank Holiday 2024:

The payroll timetable for Easter, May Day, and Spring Bank Holiday dates can be found below.

Easter May Day and Spring 2024

If you would like further information about pay dates during this time or throughout the year, please contact the Payroll team on 0121 507 6655.

Outpatient appointment letters have now gone digital

Patient Engagment Portal

We have now rolled out our patient portal system to all remaining specialties. The Envoy patient portal (online appointment system) allows patients who have an outpatient appointment to receive their appointment details electronically via a text message to their mobile phone.

For any patient who is unable to access the portal, a paper copy of their appointment letter will be sent via the post.

The patient has one option to confirm, rebook or cancel an  appointment all from their smartphone, tablet or computer.

How does the portal work for a patient?

For information on how the portal works, please refer to the below video:

What happens when you receive the text message

Patients will receive a text message on their mobile phone with their appointment details. They will need to click the link in the text message to be take through to the Patient Portal.

When accessing the portal, they will be required to enter their date of birth and unique four-digit PIN from the text message.

The new portal also allows patients to select whether they want to confirm, rebook or cancel their appointment as well as translating their letters in to 90 different languages.

What is Envoy?

The Envoy portal is an online appointment reporting system which provides users the ability to view patient appointment letters, action patient requests to confirm, rebook or cancel their appointments in real time and to check if an appointment letter have been sent to a patient.

We recommend for any short notice appointments staff continue to telephone patients to confirm their availability (postal letters will only be sent if it is more than 3 days before the appointment; all digital letters will be sent providing they are in the future).

The patient will receive their appointment details electronically (via SMS message) the day after the appointment is made, or alternatively letters sent via the post should arrive within three working days.

Please note, the data extract is managed by our Peformance and Insight team who send a copy to Healthcare comms the following morning.

To access the Envoy Portal, please click here.

New Clinic Process & Letter Template Amendments

To request any new clinics or letter templates, please contact the Patient Access Team via email to  swb-tr.SWBH-GM-New-Clinic-Requests@nhs.net. 

No new clinic(s) should be created or amended by anyone other than the Patient Access team. This will ensure no appointment letters are missed from the data extract. 

How to attach a leaflet to an appointment letter?

To attach a leaflet to an appointment letter, please follow the below instructions:

1. Ensure the leaflet(s) are up to date by contacting the PEP library via email to  swbh.pep-library@nhs.net. The PEP library will ensure Heathcare Comms have a copy of the leaflet(s).
2. Email  swb-tr.SWBH-GM-New-Clinic-Requests@nhs.net to ensure the leaflet(s) is attached to the clinic letter when this is sent to patients.

Staff Guides

Please see the below for relevent staff guides for how to manage patient letters.

iPM User Guides 

• iPM – Envoy Printer Set Up
• How to view a patient response in Envoy – User Guide
• How to change a patient appointment in Envoy & iPM – User Guide
• How to cancel a patient appointment in Envoy & iPM – User Guide
• How to ‘Opt-Out’ a patient on Envoy
• Letter Tracing Report – User Guide (iPM)
• How to view a patient appointment letter in Envoy – User Guide

CRIS User Guides

• How to view a patient response in Envoy – User Guide
• How to change a patient appointment in Envoy & CRIS – User Guide
• How to cancel a patient appointment in Envoy & CRIS – User Guide
• Letter Tracing Report – User Guide (CRIS)
• How to view a patient response in Envoy – User Guide (CRIS)

Envoy User Training 

For further guidance on how to rebook and cancel a patient appointment on Envoy, please see tutorial video below:

Contact Us

Please contact the IT service desk on ext 4050 for IT related issues or alternatively contact the project directly for general queries via  Swbh.pep_support@nhs.net.

Works to clear Sandwell pathology laboratory: 10 – 15 April

Between Wednesday 10 April – Monday 15 April, works will begin to clear the pathology laboratory (first floor, main block, Sandwell) of medical equipment.

As part of the works, a crane lift will be completed on Sunday 14 April between 7am – 7pm.

As a result of the above works, there will be a health and safety requirement to restrict all access/egress to the facilities management yard and the 1st floor areas, whilst the craning and loading operation is undertaken. This will require the closing/locking of some staff fire and security egress routes at basement level that lead into the facilities management yard/supplies area for the entire period of the crane lift works. Alternative building escape arrangements will be put into place during the period of the crane lift in the event of an emergency which will include the provision of temporary signage.

In addition the below works will take place from Wednesday 10 April:

• Delivery and assembly of the independent scaffold system
• Crane vehicle delivered and positioned on site
• Re-location of waste skips and clearance of FM Yard of any unnecessary items to provide suitable access for the crane
• Delivery and assembly of security fencing including signage
• Temporary signage placed on fire escape doors which are not to be used

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

For more information, please email t.voyce@nhs.net.

Rhea Conn introduces cost-saving initiatives to help reduce green waste

As part of Greener Nurses And Midwives Week last week, Rhea Conn, Critical Care Nurse introduced a range of cost-saving net zero initiatives, urges colleagues to think about ways in which they can help the environment through their work.

Rhea is currently seconded as Clinical Lead for Sustainability at NHS England where she has been sharing her knowledge and expertise.

Be sure to check out the video below where Rhea talks about the initiative she implemented whilst working in Critical Care at SWB.

Yesterday was World Tuberculosis (TB) Day

Yesterday (Sunday 24 March) was World Tuberculosis (TB) Day which aims raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis (TB).

Be sure to check out this short video featuring Ryan, TB Nurse Specialist talking about the symptoms of the disease and what to do if you have them.

Drug safety notice: Trurapi 100 units/ml solution for injection pre-filled pen

The trust will be initiating Truapi in place of NovoRapdi for new patients. If clinically appropriate patients may be switched from NovoRapidi to Trurapi.

Please note that Trurapi and Novorapid are not interchangeable.

For more information about advice and alternatives please visit the drug safety notice here.

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

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 22 March

I had the pleasure of attending a very special event on Monday. For the first time, we had over 120 people in a room, discussing our staff survey results and the improvements that we are going to make as a result of what you have said. The energy in the room was excellent, so thank you to everyone who attended and made such a valuable contribution, I do hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did.

During the morning, we welcomed Professor Michael West, who gave an inspiring speech about the importance of compassionate leadership, and how this is linked to both organisation performance and staff and patient experience. As you hopefully know, one of our key People Plan commitments is developing our line managers, with compassionate leadership at the very heart of this, and what I heard from Professor West cemented that this is exactly the right approach for us to take.

During his speech, he referenced several trusts that he thinks are doing great things when it comes to improving staff experience and he was impressed with the approach we are taking to improve things for our people at SWB, in fact Michael commended our People Engagement Teams model as being best practice for the wider NHS. He did also remind us that the culture change that we want to deliver across our organisation will take time, but I hope that in a couple of years from now, Sandwell and West Birmingham will be one of those names that he mentions when talking about trusts that are getting it right. The key to this will be working together in the coming days, weeks, months and years to make the working lives and experiences of our people better.

So, what are the next steps?

During the event on Monday, each clinical group, and some of our corporate directorates, supported by colleagues from organisation development and our improvement teams, reviewed detailed analysis of their staff survey results and started to develop actions, based on this feedback. This is really important – I have previously heard from colleagues that they haven’t seen action following staff surveys – well I am really pleased to say that the event on Monday was focused on the actions that are needed to respond to the valuable feedback that we had from the staff survey.

Some examples of these included:

• Making sure effective 1-1s are taking place for all staff
• Ensuring that all colleagues have knowledge of how to access Trust wellbeing support
• Establish a process to feedback how a shift has gone and offer immediate support if needed
• Developing or improving local recognition and reward
• Improving the visibility of leaders

We also officially launched our People Engagement Teams.

These are groups of staff from all roles, levels, and backgrounds, who will come together to champion staff engagement for their group or directorate. They will drive forward their chosen objectives and regularly report to Trust Board committees. The groups will be supported by our communications, improvement and OD teams and link in with our staff networks and trade unions. I am really excited about the potential of these teams, and I know many of them have already got their first meetings set-up. We will bring you further details on the objectives set by each area in due course.

You can find out more about what a People Engagement Team is by watching this short animation.

Keeping with the theme of improving staff engagement and experience, we are planning for the next PULSE Survey, which will launch on 1 April.  We achieved a 40 per cent response rate in the January pulse survey and will be pulling out all the stops to improve this for our April survey. Through achieving a high response rate we will be able to make things better for our people, within your teams and local work places. The PULSE surveys will be a key way of checking in to find out if the actions that the People Engagement Temas are delivering are actually working.  So please get ready to respond to the April pulse survey.

Tomorrow sees the fourth anniversary of the first COVID-19 national lockdown, a day I, along with many of you, remember like it was yesterday.

COVID-19 changed the NHS, some of it for the better – I mean, who had ever have heard of Microsoft Teams before 2020? – and now a large proportion of us spend many an hour on it, but the challenge of a global pandemic is something we still haven’t recovered from. However, as I reflect on the challenges of the last four years, I am full of gratitude and admiration for your unwavering dedication to our organisation and the communities of Sandwell and West Birmingham.

Earlier today, there was a wonderful service at Leasowes, where we officially planted our tree of hope. The tree acts a lasting memorial to patients and colleagues who have died in our care. We have chosen Leasowes as the site as they provided end of life care to many of our patients during covid and continue to do so to date. Please do take some time on Saturday to reflect and remember those who we lost during the pandemic.

Together, we have navigated uncharted territories, adapted to change, and supported one another through moments of uncertainty – and I expect there to be more of that over the coming months, as we continue our journey towards the opening of Midland Met. However, I know that your commitment and tireless efforts towards providing quality care, amidst unprecedented circumstances will see us through and into our exciting new chapter.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Richard

Important changes to bus stops in Birmingham City Centre

From Sunday 7 April until Autumn 2024, there will be changes to bus stops around Birmingham City Centre as Metro extension works begin on Moor Street Queensway.

If you usually get on or off your bus by New Street Station, Moor Street Station, or Priory Queensway in Birmingham City Centre. Your bus route is still operating, and you are still able to reach your destination. However, the stop you need to use to get off or on the bus may
have changed.

All bus services will still be running as normal, with some minor diversions in the city centre

The key advice is as follows:

• Your bus route is still running and you are still able to get it close to where you usually do, however the stop you need to get on and off
at may have changed.

• Familiarise yourself with bus stops; another route/stop might suit your destination better.

• Also, remember from Sunday 24 March until Saturday 6 April, there will be changes to the frequency of several bus services across the West Midlands due to the Easter period.

A dedicated Transport for West Midlands webpage has been set up to provide key links and information for bus users.

Click here for more information about Birmingham Eastside Metro extension

Anthony Edwards crowned More Than award winner!

Congratulations are in order for Anthony Edwards affectionately known as Tony to most across SWB.

Tony, a catering assistant at Coffee Culture, has been crowned the latest More Than Award winner.

If you’ve ever stopped off to pick up a snack or a coffee on the main spine at City Hospital you’ll no doubt have stumbled upon Tony who with his quick wit and comebacks is an absolute delight. His warmth and positivity is infectious, and every interaction with him brightens your day.

Nominating Tony for the monthly award colleagues wrote, “Tony is a welcome, friendly face at Coffee Culture on the City spine – always there with a smile and a genuine joy in his role and the importance it plays for staff, patients and visitors. He is an excellent advocate for MMUH, engaging in conversations and providing confidence in our future plans.”

Well done, Tony!

If you’d like to nominate someone, send us your suggestions to https://forms.office.com/e/N6uRfm82Vi