Monthly archives: May 2024
‘Wagestream’ Financial Wellbeing Webinar – 15 May
On Wednesday 15 May, Wagestream will be hosting a 40-minute ‘Financial Wellbeing: a best practice guide on supporting colleagues’ webinar.
The webinar will feature:
- Understanding Financial Wellbeing
- Myth-busting
- NHS Case Study from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- An introduction to Wagestream
- Q&A session
The webinar is open to anyone in the NHS.
You can register for the webinar here!
Spring blossoms at Midland Met
At Midland Met, we’ve incorporated lots of green spaces as we understand the impact of nature on health and wellbeing.
As you step into Midland Met, you will find green spaces throughout the building. Trees grace our public spaces, while patients will enjoy views of our six meticulously planted courtyards.
In our community garden, fruit trees bloom, and along the canalside, you’ll find geese, ducks, and even the occasional heron gracing us with its presence.
On level 5, our Winter Garden area, you’ll enjoy a palette of purple and white plants against the backdrop of our vibrant orange hospital building. It will provide a space for colleagues, patients and visitors to enjoy a calm moment amidst the hustle and bustle.
As the seasons change, our green spaces will evolve. But for now, spring has sprung, and we’re enjoying seeing all the beautiful plants and garden areas come to life.
HCR to return to SWB in June – three things you need to do
Health Care Relocations have been back to carry on finalising move plans, and before they flew home they’ve shared their three ‘must dos’ before they return in June.
A focused induction
Teams must be ready to be engaged and focused during the upcoming induction process to ensure a smooth transition to our new hospital. Please take full advantage of all training and opportunities to learn more about Midland Met.
Dump the junk!
Get rid of as much unnecessary clutter as possible and well ahead of the move. We will transfer all agreed items to Midland Met, but there really is no place or room for junk.
Be sure to connect with your move champion
Please stay informed and check in with your move champion for any updates about your departmental move. You can find out who is representing your area online here.
Progress at Midland Met continues at pace. Please take advantage of all opportunities to learn about our new hospital, including joining Midland Met Matters, reading our Midland Met bulletins, and checking out Connect for regular updates.
Celebrate Nurses’ Day with the RCN – 10 May
On Friday 10 May, your local reps and RCN Officers will be visiting Sandwell General Hospital to mark Nurses’ Day, falling this year on Sunday 12 May.
RCN Officers Steve Astill and Vikki Painting will be joined by your local rep and will be walking the wards with cakes, freebies and RCN info. There will also be an RCN stall located in the main reception by the lifts.
Sad passing of Maulene (Hazel) Hutchinson
It is with great sadness that one of our much-loved former colleague Maulene (Hazel) Hutchinson sadly passed away on Saturday 30 March at the age of 61.
Maulene worked as a staff nurse at SWB until 2013 and is well known among many colleagues across many levels at the Trust.
Funeral arrangements: For any colleagues who wish to pay their respects, a celebration event of Maulene’s life will be held on Thursday 9 May from 11am at the Church of God of Prophecy, Gloucester Street, Wolverhampton, WV6 0PT. Proceedings will then move on to Danescourt Cemetery, Wergs Road, Wolverhampton WV6 9BS. Following cremation, the family are inviting attendees to Sutherland Avenue, Monmore Green, Wolverhampton WV2 2JH for the final part of the service.
Get set for Midland Met – patient move dates confirmed
With the continued progress of Midland Met, it’s important to be aware of the latest information around the project, ahead of our move in October 2024. Recently, our patient move dates for our Sandwell and City Hospitals were confirmed.
The Sandwell Hospital move will take place on the 6 October, followed by maternity and neonatal patients on 6 November, concluding with patients at City Hospital on 10 November.
As you will know, we’re working with our expert partner Healthcare Relocations (HCR) once again, who have developed tailored move plans to ensure the transfer is seamless, safe and works for both our colleagues and patients. With over 30 years’ experience, the company has supported over 500 healthcare facilities worldwide.
To make this possible, HCR value three key objectives for a successful move:
- Maintain patient quality care throughout transition.
- Minimise operational downtime.
- Mitigate risk.
Cameron Goes and Joe Hartnett from HCR have worked closely with our teams over the past few weeks to pinpoint the essential parts of an efficient move for our Trust.
The plan for our move period is as follows:
- Week one: Sandwell acute services moving into Midland Met.
- Weeks two – four: A stabilisation period.
- Week five – Maternity, neonates and City Hospital patients move to Midland Met.
Maintenance work at Boaters, City: 8 May
Maintenance work is set to undergo at Boaters, City on Wednesday 8 May, service will be reduced and will close at 2.30pm.
Other catering facilities at City Hospital will remain open and run a service as normal.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
If you have any questions or queries, please email swbh.trust.catering@nhs.net.
Mattress audit on all Sandwell adult wards: 14 May
On Tuesday 14 May, the Tissue Viability team will be carrying out a mattress audit of all the grey foam mattresses and blue mattresses at Sandwell Hospital on the adult wards.
Please can we ask ward staff to delay making these beds until the mattress has been audited and to assist the patient to sit in their chair if safe to do so.
The air mattresses will not form part of this audit.
If you have any questions, please contact the Tissue Viability team on ext. 3278.
Happy International Midwives Day – Sunday 5 May
We would like to wish our midwives across the Trust a very Happy International Midwives Day, which is celebrated this Sunday (5 May). It’s important to take this moment to celebrate the individual stories of growth and joy that our midwives help facilitate. Each day, they assist in bringing new life into the world, while simultaneously ensuring the health and safety of mothers. This miraculous aspect of their work does not go unnoticed, and the stories of their professionalism and kindness often echo far beyond the walls of the delivery room.
To say commemorate this day, Richard Beeken has a ‘ Thank you ‘ message to all of our midwives across the Trust.
View the video below or click here.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AFor-LFmBA[/embedyt]
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 3 May
Dear colleagues,
As an organisation, we ended the financial year 2023/24 in a good position and supported the Black Country Integrated Healthcare System (ICS) to deliver against its overall financial forecast. Given the pressure that the NHS has been under, with the backdrop of industrial action and reducing waiting lists, not to mention working towards opening a brand-new hospital, this is an achievement – and I would like to thank each and every one of you for the work you have done towards helping us achieve this. I have said this before, but every person in this organisation plays a really important role and we must all share in our success as an organisation.
As you know the coming year holds excitement and challenge in equal measure for our Trust which sees us opening Midland Metropolitan University Hospital whilst taking up the challenge to balance our finances whilst ensuring we get a sustainable model for urgent and emergency care across Sandwell and West Birmingham. Our Trust will need to take a relentless approach to improvement to ensure we reduce waste and improve services for both our staff and our patients and we will share more on this in the coming weeks. At SWB our financial improvement journey will be mainly about reducing waste and making us more efficient while improving the productivity of our services. Efficiency plays a critical role in ensuring that we deliver the best care possible, while making the most of our resources. By identifying and addressing inefficiencies, we can enhance patient experience, improve outcomes, and better support you, our hardworking people. Remember – every pound we spend is contributed to by you in your taxes – the money we spend is, ultimately, yours.
So we have to manage in our finances but we have lots to be excited about this year – our soft-activation activities are ramping up at Midland Met, the October date is getting ever closer. And you should now be receiving two dedicated Midland Met communications updates – I hope this will both keep you informed, but also increase your excitement levels!
By addressing inefficiencies proactively, we can make a significant impact on the quality of care we provide to the people of Sandwell and West Birmingham and the overall effectiveness of our services. I would encourage each of you to put forward any ideas and suggestions on how we can enhance efficiency in your respective areas.
Finally, I would like to wish our midwives across the Trust a very Happy International Midwives Day, which is celebrated this Sunday (5 May). I want to take this moment to celebrate the individual stories of growth and joy that our midwives help facilitate. Each day, they assist in bringing new life into the world, while simultaneously ensuring the health and safety of mothers. This miraculous aspect of their work does not go unnoticed, and the stories of their professionalism and kindness often echo far beyond the walls of the delivery room.
Have a good weekend.
Richard
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