Monthly archives: June 2024

This week is Dietitians Week

This week is Dietitians Week and aims to raise awareness around Dietetics. Dietetic is the science of how nutrition affects our health. Studies have shown how a change to our diet can help prevent or control a variety of health problems, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

In the world of social media, there is a lot of dietary and nutritional advice in the media, but not all of it is evidence-based and may not be from reputable sources. However, dietitians are the only qualified health professionals that assess, diagnose and treat diet and nutrition problems.

Be sure to check out this short video featuring Rachel Wright, Team Leader for the paediatrics dietitians talking about top tips for introducing fruits and vegetables into our younger patient’s diet.

#WeResearch Poster Competition – vote for your favourite today!

Staff across the Trust and neighbouring The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust have been working hard to submit their  #WeResearch posters for this year’s event. Congratulations to those who were shortlisted, and thank you to all those who took the time to submit.

The panel were overwhelmed with the number of submissions we received.

All posters can be viewed here

To vote for your ‘ People’s Choice ‘ click here. Voting closes on Wednesday 12 June.

There will also be a Research and Development team member available for you to chat, over a cuppa to learn more about research and development.

The posters will be displayed at the Sandwell Education Centre to showcase further and celebrate your hard work and effort.

• Tuesday 11 June 10am – 12pm, room 12
• Wednesday 13 June 10am – 12pm, room 13
• Thursday 14 June 2 10am – 12pm, room 13

Award winners will be announced on Thursday 14 June 2pm – 3pm, Conference Room, Sandwell Education Centre.

My part in Midland Met – Jagtar Singh

Midland Metropolitan University Hospital is one of the biggest healthcare projects the Midlands has ever seen. Naturally, with several teams involved in a project as significant as this, we’re proud to ‘shine a light’ on individuals involved by sharing their valuable contributions to make Midland Met #morethanahospital!

How long have you been at SWB – what is your current role? 

I’ve enjoyed working for SWB for over 15 years, taking on several roles. I began working in cancer services, which gave me a good understanding of all the cancer MDTs and patient pathways. Later, I worked in general surgery until I joined the Unity project as a business analyst and a clinical doctor’s workstream lead.

I am now a group business change manager for the Midland Met programme within corporate services.

What part does your role contribute to the Midland Met project? 

Primarily, my role is to ensure corporate services are operationally ready to move into the new hospital safely. It involves identifying interdependencies in corporate services and ensuring appropriate action is taken.

I am also involved in the new logistics team, the Soft FM team and the activation group. Enhancing our existing SWB estate is a crucial part of our project. I also support the continued development of the current sites by working with colleagues in the estate team.

How are you preparing for the opening of Midland Met in your team?

I have the privilege of working with over 56 corporate services across the Trust. I think it’s vital to have open conversations with colleagues to ensure that communications are clear, particularly around operational readiness for the new hospital.

I am continually engaging in meetings and liaising with stakeholders to ensure synergy ahead of the move. Additionally, I take part in Midland Met bus tours, spreading the word about the services to our patients and colleagues across our SWB estate. We welcome everyone to stop by the bus to learn about the new facilities at Midland Met.

In what ways will our new hospital help to shape your role for the better?

The project allows me to continue supporting the corporate teams transitioning to Midland Met and help services integrate into the new work environments.

As a member of the corporate team, being involved with the new hospital has helped me to gain an insight into the background of a hospital and understand how several teams – from porters moving patients to the safeguarding team supporting vulnerable patients – can work together to ensure quality care is delivered.

The governance team ensures we are meeting standards safely and ensuring we learn any lessons.

The biggest benefit that Midland Met will bring in your opinion is… 

The Midland Met project brings a range of benefits for both colleagues and patients. The benefits include collaborative working, combined services, uniform care and better patient outcomes.

The state-of-the-art catering services, new, clean environments to work in and a new spiritual care centre, to name a few. It’s fantastic that the new hospital has quality facilities for our medical students, such as the medical education centre and the library.

Have you been on a site tour?  

I have been fortunate enough to have a site tour – it was impressive and thought provoking. The commissioning team have a great insight into the development of the site, and the team has resolved specific queries raised by teams.

The site is a stunning place. The openness of the Winter Garden and Level 5 will be a fantastic space for all – I will be spending more time there!

Training for new gas analysers to be completed by 27 June

All staff that use a gas analyser are required to attend a training session by Thursday 27 June, as the trainers will be moving to their next hospital.

The trainers running these sessions will be visiting wards to train staff.  Please click on the links below to see the session times.

City Sessions

Sandwell Sessions

If you have any further questions or require more information please contact point of care testing on 0121 507 5352.

Drug safety notice: Emergency prohibition of dupply of GnRH analogues 

There is now new restrictions to prohibit the prescribing of GnRH analogues as puberty blockers to patients under 18 years of age.

This does not apply if the patient has already commenced treatment and/or is part of an NIHR-supported clinical trial.

Restrictions apply to health service (NHS) and independent (private) prescribing.

This is an emergency legislation; the prohibition will occur until Tuesday 3 September.

Advice/actions:

• During this period no new patients under the age of 18 years will be prescribed these medicines for any purposes of puberty suppression in those experiencing genre dysphoria or incongruence under the care of any prescriber.
• The government has also introduced indefinite restrictions on prescribing these medicines within NHS primary care in England, in line with NHS guidelines.
• The new arrangements apply to gonadorelin, goserelin, leuprorelin acetate, nafarelin or triptorelin.
• They will remain available from a UK-registered prescriber for patients receiving these drugs for other uses.

For more information please see the Drug Safety Notice.

If you have any questions please contact the pharmacy department on ext. 5263/3783.

COWs Scoring on Unity

The Drug Specialist Nurse has developed a how-to-guide for the opiate withdrawal scoring system called COWs, which is now available on Unity.

Please see here for the guide.

If you need more information or have any questions, please contact Katie, Drug Specialist Nurse on 07977783355 or email kathleen.mcateer@nhs.net. Or contact the Alcohol Care Team on ext 5074.

Staff Networks: Chair and Vice Chair vacancies still open!

Great news – we have had 22 applications for chair and vice chair vacancies! We have extended the deadline for applications to allow the opportunity for more nominations as we are yet to have any nominations for the Women’s Clinical Network, the Women’s Network and the Muslim Liaison Group (MLG).

Across the NHS there are over 700 registered staff networks, which provide protected space where people can be open and inclusive, helping to create an environment where all staff feel valued and heard.

Here at SWB, we currently have six staff networks:

• BME Staff Network
• Women’s Staff Network
• Women’s Clinical Network
• LGBT Staff Network
• Muslim Liaison Group
• Disability and Long-Term Conditions Staff Network

Want to be involved?

• Are you passionate about making a difference to your colleagues?
• Do you want to drive forward meaningful change?
• Are you approachable and easy to talk to?

Then we want to hear from you and would encourage you to put yourself forward to become a chair of vice-chair of one of our staff networks.

We have chair and deputy chair opportunities available across our networks and are looking for applications from across all areas of the organisation. It doesn’t matter what role you do, or what band you are, anyone can be a chair or vice chair of a staff network. It is a wonderful opportunity for both your personal and professional development, working closely with senior leaders within the organisation and the opportunity to engage with both Trust committees and the Board.

Be sure to check out this short video James Fleet, Interim Chief People Officer and Lesley Writtle, Non-Executive Director encouraging colleagues to get involved with our staff networks.

Below are the opportunities which are available:

To apply, simply click on the link below and complete the application questions – closing date is Tuesday 4 June.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/StaffNetworkApplications

You can read a role profile here.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your application, please email james.fleet1@nhs.net.