Monthly archives: August 2024

Freedom to Speak Up drop in sessions

Our Trust values are Ambition, Respect and Compassion. Without an effective and healthy speak up culture we cannot live by these values. Speak up is a crucial factor in all three.

With this in mind, our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians will be hosting drop in sessions for colleagues from 10am – 12pm on the following dates below as well as walkabouts across our sites.

Freedom to Speak Up portal: We have recently introduced our new Freedom to Speak Up portal. The portal will allow you to raise concerns directly with the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian you wish to support you with your concern. To find out more and raise a concern you may have, please click here.

For more information please email jamiljohnson@nhs.net.

Important Announcement: Midland Met will open on 6 October

Dear colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that I write to you today to confirm that our brand-new hospital, the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) in Smethwick, will open its doors on 6 October 2024.

As I mentioned in my Friday message last week, this has been a big week for Midland Met. On Monday, the building was officially handed over from Balfour Beatty, which allows us full access to the site to get ready for the first patient arriving.

Today, the Board received extensive information about all aspects of the programme to safely open our new hospital. We were assured of the clinical safety, patient, and staff experience case for opening and transferring patients. I felt incredibly proud listening to the different presentations today – for most of us, opening a new hospital is a once in a career opportunity, and it is a chance to leave something behind that will make a real difference to the people of Sandwell and West Birmingham for generations to come. To be part of this is really special, and something that we should all be proud of.

This has been a long journey, and many people have worked incredibly hard to get us to this point and I would like to thank each and every one of you for your engagement in the process so far. Only colleagues in this Trust know just how hard it has been to maintain existing service delivery whilst planning to transform care to move into MMUH. We are now almost there.

True to the nature of large construction projects, the handover from Balfour was subject to a delay, which means we have a busy 46 days ahead of us. And yes – you read that right, in 46 days – the first patient will arrive through the doors at Midland Met.

The headlines for our move plan are as follows:

• MMUH opening its doors to patients – 6th October
• Patients at Sandwell Hospital will relocate to MMUH and Sandwell ED will close – 6th October
• Maternity and Neonatal Services relocate to MMUH – 6th November
• Patients at City Hospital will relocate to MMUH and City ED will close -10th November

We have lots to do during this phase to ensure that our activation activities are completed, and we are operationally ready to move into Midland Met. This includes:

• • Soft FM service and Pharmacy Hub established.
  • Automated Guided Vehicle (AGVs) fully operational
  • End to end Pharmacy equipment in place and commissioned
  • IT equipment in place and infrastructure final checks complete
  • Stocking the building of equipment, furniture, and supplies
  • Completing on site clinical scenario testing
  • CQC registration
  • Final operational readiness conditions are met inclusive of induction
  • Reduce planned activity and Patient Census completed.

It is also crucial, that if you will be working in Midland Met, you undertake your online induction as soon as possible. So far, we are yet to pass 1,000 people having completed it – please ensure that you make this a priority. More information is available here.

Your engagement and commitment to the Midland Met programme so far has been outstanding, this takes teamwork, and I have seen it in abundance over the last few months. The next 46 days are going to be challenging, but together, I know we will ‘Be Set for Midland Met.’

To celebrate 46 days until we open the doors, take a look at this 46 second video about Midland Met.

Kind regards,

Richard

Welcome our new chairs and vice chairs to our staff networks

We are pleased to announce that following on from staff voting last month, we have successfully appointed some new chairs and vice chairs to our staff networks.

Note: Some of our chairs and vice chair roles will be announced at a later date.

Congratulations to all those who have been appointed – good luck in your new roles!

• BME Chair: Will be announced in due course
• BME Vice Chair: Crystal Campbell-Gayle – new appointment
• Women’s Network Chair: Amber Markham
• Women’s Network Vice Chair: Monique Williams – new appointment
• Disability Chair: Siobhan Whitehouse – new appointment
• Disability Vice Chair: Victoria Atherton – new appointment
• Muslim Liaison Group Chair: Anser Khan
• Muslim Liaison Group Vice Chair: To be appointed in due course by group membership
• LGBT Chair: Thomas Devaney
• LGBT Vice Chair: To be appointed in due course by group membership

Black Country ICB – Community Falls Prevention shared learning event

The Black Country ICB Incidents and Learning Team are hosting a Falls Prevention Shared Learning Event on Wednesday 23 October for community services/providers.

The event is an opportunity to share best practice, quality improvement initiatives and learning from incidents around falls prevention and post-falls management with colleagues from across the Black Country region. There will be many engaging activities throughout the day as well as an opportunity to network with colleagues.

We are looking for keen representatives to join us, with a specific focus on colleagues who work alongside patients at risk of falls in the community (including (but not limited to) community physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians etc.)

If you would like to attend this event or find out more, please contact rebecca.willetts@nhs.net before Wednesday 4 September.

Secondment opportunities within the Black Country Provider Collaborative

Expressions of Interest (EOI) are sought for secondment opportunities across the Black Country and wider West Midlands, for the following roles within the Black Country Provider Collaborative (BCPC):

• Associate Director – Transformation and Improvement (Band 8d*) – Apply here
• Transformation and Improvement Manager – Medicine (Band 8a) – Apply here
• Transformation and Improvement Manager – Workforce and Enabling Strategies (Band 8a) – Apply here
• Business Manager – Corporate Services Transformation (Band 8a) – Apply here
• Breast Network – Project Manager (Band 7**) – Apply here
• Personal /Executive Assistant – Corporate Services Transformation (Band 4/5) – Apply here

* Indicative banding with possibly more for an exceptional candidate
**This role is a secondment for the remainder of 24/25

Overview of the roles and expectations

• These roles are important in supporting the delivery of an agreed set of priorities and supporting work plan for the BCPC driving delivery, improvement and transformation at scale once, and complementary to work being work being undertaken at the sovereign Trust level.
• The work plan is focused on supporting and contributing to both restoration and recovery of services and establishing best practice and service delivery across the Providers Collaborative and the ICS.
• We are seeking to appoint and on-board quickly (i.e. by the end of September) with these
  secondment opportunities offered on an 18-month basis through a competitive interview
  process.
• The commitment of these secondment opportunities will not exceed the 31st March 2026.
  Extensions may be possible subject to agreement of the annual work plan by the Joint
  Provider Committee in early 2026.
• Individuals interested in the post should ensure the support of their employing organisation to fulfil the commitment required.

For further information about these roles please contact Sohaib Khalid, BCPC Managing Director via Ellie Hadlington at ellie.hadlington@nhs.net before the 28 August 2024.

Please see full document here.

Please submit your EOI via the TRAC system by Monday 2 September 2024.

Learning disabilities training now available

A one-hour training session is being provided by the Learning Disability Liaison Nurse team focusing on learning and Disabilities.

The training is suitable for all staff members, in particular those who work with patient’s face-to-face.

The session will include:

• Learning disability or difficulty?
• Reducing health inequalities
• Diagnostic overshadowing
• Reasonable adjustments
• Mental Capacity Act
• Hospital Passports and About Me poster
• Communication
• Behaviours that challenge
• Distraction and redirection techniques
• Accessible information

The dates for this training are:

• Thursday 26 September 10am – 11.30am, Sandwell Education Centre, room 10
• Thursday 10 October, 2pm – 3.30pm, Sandwell Education Centre, room 15
• Thursday 24 October 10am to 11.30am, Sandwell Education Centre, room 9
• Thursday 14 November, 2pm to 3.30pm, Sandwell Education Centre, room 15
• Thursday 28 November,10am to 11.30am, Sandwell Education Centre, room 9

Any questions please email r.begum19@nhs.net

Workstation 101 – Agile working question of the week

Last week’s question of the week focused on hotdesking guidance regarding your workstation set-up.

Q: Where can I find information around correct chair and workstation set up to allow me to achieve a comfortable working position?

A: There is hot desking guidance available on the agile working intranet page under the support and resources tab.

You can also contact the H&S Team regarding DSE Assessments and advice by emailing swbh.healthandsafety@nhs.net.

Building handover – Midland Met is officially ours

We have the keys!

Midland Metropolitan University Hospital is officially ours.

All the paperwork was completed yesterday evening meaning Balfour Beatty could hand the building over to the Trust.

This is a significant and exciting milestone on our journey to opening Midland Met to our first patients.

This milestone is the result of lots of hard work, by lots of different people, both inside the Trust and our external partners.

We can be incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far – we are on the final stretch, so please keep up your engagement with the programme and keep ticking off those things to do.

Together – let’s really get set for Midland Met.

The Baby Buddy now live across Birmingham

What is Baby Buddy?

Baby Buddy is a free multi-award-winning, interactive pregnancy and parenting app which has been created to support parents, co-parents and caregivers, to build their knowledge and confidence for the crucial first five years of their child’s life, when foundations are laid.

Baby Buddy provides trusted, evidence-based information and self-care tools, based on the latest research and is NHS-approved.

To learn more about Baby Buddy, you can access the training sessions below:

• Thursday 22 August 1.30pm – 2.30pm
• Tuesday 3 September 1.30pm- 2.30pm
• Thursday 26 September 11am – 12pm

Training sessions offer healthcare professionals in Birmingham the opportunity to increase their understanding of the functions offered in Baby Buddy and confidence in recommending the app to parents.

After training, 97 per cent of Healthcare Professionals said they felt confident about recommending Baby Buddy to the parents they work with. It is a really beneficial tool in increasing the uptake of Baby Buddy and therefore the impact that the app has on the community.

To join a session please email Tiffeny Wright  or complete the form here 

National Fraud Initiative privacy policy updated

National Fraud Initiative has provided an updated Privacy Notice (previously known as the Fair Processing Notice).

All Trusts are required to inform staff of this new update via staff communication and will also be available on your upcoming payslips during September and October.

Please note that key payroll data may be provided to bodies responsible for auditing and administering public funds to prevent and detect fraud. Your data will be used as part of the National Fraud Initiative 2024/25.