Monthly archives: August 2024

Have your say via vaccination survey

Black Country mums-to-be are being asked to support a research project exploring why the uptake up for antenatal vaccinations – specifically pertussis (whooping cough), COVID-19, and seasonal flu – has been so low in the area.

Ebony Owusu-Nepaul and Alice Miller, from Gateway Family Services, which facilitates Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships across the Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton), have partnered with M.E.L research, a social research agency based in Birmingham, to carry out the research project. It has been commissioned by the Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Those who have recently been pregnant and mums-to-be are being asked to complete a short anonymous online survey to better understand the service users experience of getting vaccinated during pregnancy and how existing services can be improved.

Alice Miller, Head of Operations for Gateway Family Services, said: “Vaccinations in pregnancy are important for both mum and baby but there is clearly some hesitancy, hence the low take up rates.

“We want to better understand why this is and feedback from mums-to- be is key to us gaining valuable insight.

“We’re hoping their thoughts, fears and experiences will help us identify the barriers to vaccination and gather best practices for how to improve vaccination rates across the Black Country for mums-to-be.

“By completing this survey, you will contribute valuable information that will help shape future health initiatives and ensure better support for expectant mothers in our community.”

The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and closes on Friday 6 September. To take part, click here.

Schwartz Rounds – Thursday 17 October

A Schwartz Round will be taking place on 17 October as a chance for clinical and non-clinical staff to come together once a month, for one hour meetings in which staff talk about the emotional and social challenges of caring for patients.

• Thursday 17 October
• Postgraduate centre, City Hospital dining room
• 12pm – Lunch and networking session
• 12.30pm – 1.30pm – Schwartz round

Schwartz rounds will alternate between Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis sites.

Facilitators will be Rebecca Dawber and Jenny Hughes – please register with swbh.library@nhs.net

Book your FIT test today!

A recent update on the Employee Service Record (ESR) has changed the booking process for a FIT test.

Colleagues who wish to book a FIT test must follow the instructions below.

Booking your fit test here.

If you require any further information about FIT testing, please email scott.shenton@nhs.net

Understanding racism – toolkit

The Black Country ICB has created a tool kit of useful documents to help colleagues understand key terminology to help understand racism in conjunction with Black Lives Matter.

Below you will find some useful PDFs:

• To know more about terminology and what it means, visit the Glossary of Terms
•  Understand racism
• What are Microaggressions & Gaslighting
• What is White Privilege
• Allyship

If you or a member of your team are concerned about racial language being used, please contact a Freedom to Speak Up guardian today via email swbh.freedom-to-speak-up-guidance@nhs.net 

Essential Unity maintenance: Thursday 29 August from 8pm to 11pm

Please be aware essential Unity maintenance will be taking place on Thursday 29 August by our support vendor and IT support teams to begin the preparation for the cutover connectivity to the new Unity circuits for MMUH. The work is scheduled to begin at 8pm for approximately 3 hours and should be completed by 11pm.

During this time Unity will be available, however colleagues may experience brief blips to Unity service and may be forcibly logged off the system but will be able to log straight back in and Unity should be used as normal.

We would recommend that all areas have their business continuity plans in place, 724 downtime boxes stocked and 724 Unity downtime computers on standby during the above time in the unlikely event of issues and we go into extended Unity downtime.

Desktop alerts will be issued throughout.

The activity will be closely monitored by our support vendor and IT support teams.

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

Unity maintenance: Thursday 29 August, 8pm – 11pm

Please be aware essential Unity maintenance will be taking place on Thursday 29 August by our support vendor and IT support teams to begin the preparation for the cutover connectivity to the new Unity circuits for MMUH. The work is scheduled to begin at 8pm for approximately three hours and should be completed by 11pm.

During this time Unity will be available, however colleagues may experience brief blips to Unity service and may be forcibly logged off the system but will be able to log straight back in and Unity should be used as normal.

We would recommend that all areas have their business continuity plans in place, 724 downtime boxes stocked and 724 Unity downtime computers on standby during the above time in the unlikely event of issues and we go into extended Unity downtime. Desktop alerts will be issued throughout.

The activity will be closely monitored by our support vendor and IT support teams.

Birmingham and Solihull cancer bus tour: 2 – 6 September

Between Monday 2 September – Friday 6 September, cancer experts will be coming to locations across Birmingham and Solihull on a bus dedicated to providing health checks and important screening information about cancer.

The bus aims to give our local communities the opportunity to not only catch any warning signs of cancer as early as possible, but it will also be a chance for people to talk to a host of professionals, from the NHS to MacMillan Cancer Support and Diabetes UK.

The bus will stop at

• Monday 2 September, 10am to 4pm at Birmingham Open Market
• Tuesday 3 September, 10am to 4pm at Chelmsey Wood Shopping Centre
• Wednesday 4 September, 10am to 4pm at Aston Tesco Superstore
• Tuesday 5 September, 10am to 4pm at Northfield Shopping Centre
• Friday 6 September, 10 am to 4pm at St Andrew’s Shopping Park

Further information can be found on the ICB website: https://www.birminghamsolihull.icb.nhs.uk/health-information/cancer-diagnostics/cancer-screening

What I’m looking forward to MMUH – with Training and Development Practitioner, Jane

The next in our What I’m looking forward to at Midland Met series is with Jane, Training and Development Practitioner within operating theatres.

Find out why she’s looking forward to the move to our new hospital, here.

Midland Met patient ceiling hoist training now available

Training sessions are now available for the patient ceiling hoists installed at Midland Met.

Colleagues who haven’t received training on the ‘ceiling hoist’ despite being up-to-date with their moving and handling training are being asked to attend a session.

All colleagues who will use the hoists at Midland Met will need to be trained before using the equipment.

Note: If you have attended moving and handling practical training since Thursday 1 February in Sandwell Education Centre, clinical skills 2, or if you have a session booked for this venue, you will not need to attend a separate session.

The dates and times of the training sessions are as follows:

Please see How to Book MMUH Patient Ceiling Hoist Training to book your session.

For more information, please email swbh.mmuhinduction@nhs.net.

Have you got an idea that could help improve our financial performance?

Have you got some ideas that could help improve our financial performance?

Do you have some thoughts on how we can improve our productivity?

How about some ideas for cost improvement projects?

Then we want to hear from you – often people working on the front line have the best ideas and this is your opportunity to have your voice heard. No idea is a bad idea.

You can submit your ideas via this online form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/financialimprovement

For more information, please email  swbh.recoverypmo@nhs.net.