Monthly archives: May 2024
University of Birmingham – College of Medical and Dental Sciences Postgraduate Open Day 2024
Our Postgraduate Open Day is a great opportunity to hear first-hand from our staff and students about studying a Masters, a research degree or continuing your professional education.
A University of Birmingham degree is a valuable asset, creating networks, experiences and opportunities which will help you in the future. Whether you want to widen your skill base, further your knowledge, boost your career prospects or even change careers, the College of Medical and Dental Sciences has a range of research opportunities and postgraduate programmes ranging across our areas of specialism. They are delivered by some of the UK’s most respected clinicians, academics, scientists, and health professionals.
Book now for our next on-campus Postgraduate Open Day, on Saturday 22 June 2024, 12pm – 4pm.
Free occupational health and wellbeing services available
Every Friday occupational health and wellbeing services are working with Sandwell College students who are providing the following treatments at 11am – 2pm in the Berridge Room, Courtyard Gardens, Sandwell. This session is free to all staff and no booking is required.
Excluding these dates – Friday 31 May.
Services include:
Beauty services
- Hand
- Eyebrow shaping
- Facial
- Body 1/2
- Skin test offered – hair colour at college
Styling services
- Basic plaiting
- Curling
- Straightening
- Updos
Massage services
- Massage treatment with/without oils
- Full body
- Hand/feet
- Back
Cutting services
- Dry cuts
- Fringes
Domestic Abuse and Mental Health training available
The Safeguarding Team are supporting this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week by raising awareness of the profound effects on the mental health of individuals experiencing domestic abuse and the vital role of health professionals in supporting victims/survivors.
Evidence suggests women who experience domestic abuse are three times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health problem and women who are experiencing domestic abuse are also nearly three times more likely to have a history of diagnosed mental health problems. Equally, exposure to domestic violence has a significant impact on children’s mental health.
What is Domestic Abuse (DA): DA is “any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following—physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, psychological, emotional, or other abuse; and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.
DA also incorporates forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, honour-based violence, and elder abuse.
The impact of experiencing DA: Victims/survivors may experience but not limited to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts. Equally, exposure to domestic violence has a significant impact on children’s mental health.
Barriers to seeking help: Victims/survivors may experience feelings of shame, guilt, fear of being judged, self-blame, fear of not being believed and worthlessness all of these can prevent seeking help for both their mental health and the abuse being experienced.
Even after a victim/ survivor is safe and free from the abuse, experiencing abuse can lead to trauma responses such as hypervigilance, flashbacks, difficulty trusting others, fear that the perpetrator will find out their new location.
For safeguarding/domestic abuse advice and support within Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and links to services offering specialist advice, see Safeguarding Children on Connect.
Colleagues who wish to further understand and educate yourselves on how to support and understand how Domestic Abuse can affect both the victim and survivors. You can visit the training on ESR by searching for 000Domestic Violence and Abuse.
https://vimeo.com/748710009/a7f2503ae9
Safeguarding numbers: Children:0121 507 2844, Adults: 0121 507 5174
MASH health: 0121 569 7223
Independent Domestic Violence Advisors: City hospital site 0121 507 4829, Sandwell hospital site 0121 507 3787.
Further information can be found:
Nurses and Midwives Celebration Day
Join us in recognising the outstanding contribution of our SWB nurses and midwives!
- Thursday 16 May
- Nurses’ celebration – 9.30am – 12.30pm
- Midwives’ celebration – 1.30pm – 4.30pm
- Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Postgraduate Centre, City Hospital
The day will include themed stands, a cake competition and networking opportunities – all to honour the incredible dedication, compassion and expertise of our nurses and midwives, who go above and beyond in representing the Trust and its core values.
For further information on the event, to donate or compete in the cake competition, please email rebecca.bates6@nhs.net.
BSOL Staff Health and Wellbeing Event – 16 May
A health and wellbeing drop-in event, open to all health and social care staff in Birmingham and Solihull, is being held on Thursday 16 May, 12pm to 3pm, at The H Suite, 100 Icknield Port Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 0AA.
Attend the event and discover a range of support offers open to our workforce, including mental health, relationship and financial support. The event will also give you the opportunity to network with colleagues from across Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System.
Hear from Patrick Vernon, Chair of NHS Birmingham and Solihull.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woRRWiFkzGM[/embedyt]
If you would like to attend the event, please visit the Ticket source website
For more information about the location of the event, click here.
For more information about the H Suite click here.
If you require further information or if you have any queries, please contact Ruqaiyah Khatoun, Project Officer, or Ash Wilson, Project Support Officer, via email.
Happy International Nurses day
Today we are celebrating #InternationalNursesDay! Each day our nurses step forward with compassion, resilience and respect to care for their patients.
To mark the day, held on the birthday of Florence Nightingale who’s known as the “Lady with the Lamp” – nurses across the Trust are passing on our very own lamp to their heroes who make such a profound impact within healthcare
Notice Fraud: Spring 2024
The RSM NHS counter-fraud newsletter provides insights into current fraud trends and risks, our counter-fraud work, and recent fraud cases.
Click here to see the full Notice Fraud Spring 2024 information sheet in full.
Don’t forget – all suspicions of fraud should be reported to NHSCFA by calling 0800 028 40 60.You can also report fraud anonymously on 0800 028 4060 or online.
Dementia training now available
Dementia affects all of us, be it our patients, our own loved ones and potentially ourselves in the future as diagnosis rates soar. Across the NHS nationally people living with dementia populate 25% of inpatient beds on average and often sadly are leaving the hospital with reduced independence and poorer physical and mental health outcomes.
We must all strive to make the experience of people living with dementia using SWBH services and that of their carers better.
All staff disciplines are very welcome to attend.
A better understanding of dementia especially as inpatients is key to providing dedicated care to meet the needs of people living with dementia, and that of their carers.
To book your place on the dementia training please email r.begum19@nhs.net.
- Monday 24 June 1.30pm to 3.30pm City Postgraduate Centre, Dining room
- Monday 29 July 1.30pm to 3.30pm Sandwell Education Centre, Room 9
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 10 May
Dear colleagues,
I hope you managed to enjoy a little bit of rest on the bank holiday this week – and how much nicer is it to be finishing our week with some sun – for me, everything feels more positive when the sun shines.
We have packed a lot into this four-day week; events to recognise Dying Matters week, National Staff Networks Day, another of our nursing ‘MOT’ days, the launch of Proud2bOps at SWB and our Trust Board meeting. As I attended some of these events, I was reminded of just how much hard work goes into planning and executing things like this, so for all those have been involved in planning these celebrations – thank you and congratulations on a job very well done.
Let’s start with Dying Matters Week. I addressed this issue in one of my first Friday Messages upon joining the Trust. As an organisation, we absolutely strive to offer the best possible care, in order that people leave our hospitals in better health than they entered. Unfortunately, we know that this is not always the case, and patients do die in our care, whether that’s in hospital, or we have worked to get them to their preferred place of death, and our Connected Palliative Care Team do some wonderful work in this area.
Conversations about death and dying are still deemed a taboo topic. Dying Matters Week gives us a reminder of the importance of having these conversations and talking about end-of-life care with compassion, understanding and empathy. I particularly liked the comment from Lauren Wood, our mortuary manager, in this video about our mortuary (I would highly recommend giving it a watch if you haven’t already) patient care doesn’t end when a patient dies and leaves the ward – compassionate care continues in our mortuary, and we continue to treat our patients with dignity and respect.
Thank you for taking the time to reflect on the significance of Dying Matters Week. Together, we can help to create a culture of openness and acceptance surrounding end-of-life care, ensuring that everyone receives the support and dignity they deserve.
Our Trust Board meeting took place on Wednesday. Some of the highlights included:
- Recognition of the significant progress we have made as a Trust last financial year on access standards such as 62-day cancer and diagnostic waits over 13 weeks
- Noting our good delivery against financial plan expectations last year
- Formally confirming October as the target date for initiating our move to MMUH
- Hearing from the aunt of a patient with learning disabilities who died while in our care, about the improvements we need to make to assessing and treating the person, rather than the condition or the disease
- Recognising the ongoing hard work going into achieving improved CQC standards, should we be inspected this year
Yesterday, I was delighted to attend the launch of Proud2bOPS at SWB and it was wonderful to see the room full of our dedicated and inspirational operational colleagues. As a former NHS general manager myself, I was more than happy to attend and contribute to the event.
Proud2bOPs is a thriving network that supports, connects, and inspires operational leaders in the NHS. It provides operational professionals with the opportunity to connect and share best practices while also developing their leadership skills.
Operational (or general) managers serve as the backbone of our organisation, overseeing the day-to-day operations of our hospitals and services. They work tirelessly behind the scenes, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently and that our frontline colleagues are equipped with everything they need to deliver excellent patient care. From managing budgets and resources to staffing and implementing quality improvement and staff engagement initiatives, their responsibilities are vast, varied – and very much valued. These leaders also have a vital role to play in ensuring that we are ‘operationally ready’ to move into Midland Met in October. Thank you to you all, for everything you do across this organisation, and I am looking forward to seeing how Proud2bOPs@SWB develops.
Finally, on Sunday 12 May, we celebrate International Nurses Day – a day dedicated to recognising the invaluable contributions of nurses worldwide – held on the birthday of Florence Nightingale.
Our nurses have come together to create a short video, click here to watch.
Nurses are the heart and soul of our organisation, often bringing an air of calm to chaotic situations. Their role extends far beyond administering medication and treatments; they provide comfort, support, and empathy to patients and their loved ones during their most vulnerable moments. Whether it’s holding a patient’s hand, offering a reassuring smile, or lending a listening ear, nurses play an integral part in a patient’s wellbeing, whether that is nursing them in hospital or their own home. They are the patient’s advocate. Thank you for everything you do and for your unwavering compassion and dedication to the patients and population of Sandwell and West Birmingham.
Next week we have a special event to celebrate both our nurses and midwives so do keep your eyes peeled for more information on that.
I always feel proud to be chief executive of this organisation, but when we accomplish so much in a week – it really highlights to me that we have some truly wonderful people within SWB.
I wish you a wonderful weekend.
Kind regards,
Richard
#Proud2bOps network launches at SWB!
This week our operational leaders and managers within the Trust launched our #Proud2bOps network, hosted by Founder and Chair Emma Challans-Rasool at the Birmingham KPMG offices.
Proud2bOps is an operational movement that energises, connects and develops operational managers and leaders working within provider health and care organisations, including; community, acute, primary, mental health, independent, voluntary and ambulance sectors.
The event opened with remarks from Jo Newens, Chief Operating Officer. They were later joined by Richard Beeken, Chief Executive Officer who touched on his journey within operations.
If you are an operational manager or work within the operational team and would like to be a part of the #Proud2bOps network, please contact Darren Smith.or contact Demetri Wade
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