Monthly archives: August 2024

Phone system maintenance: 24 September from 9pm to midnight

Please be aware our telephony partner will be carrying out further essential maintenance to the Trust’s phone system on Tuesday 24 September from 9pm to midnight. This is due to analogue phones being switched off in 2025 across the UK and some of the Trust’s telephone numbers need to be moved on to a new digital solution to support this.

From 9pm to midnight on Tuesday 24 September any colleagues receiving incoming external calls for the numbers being ported will be disconnected. This will only affect half of the Trust’s numbers and will be carried out in a staggered approach.

This will not affect internal calls or external outbound calls.
This will not have any impact on any current diverts on numbers or answer machines on these numbers.
This will not affect 8×8 solution.
This will not affect the Bleeps application, mobile phones or emergency red phones utilised in our A&E, maternity and cardiology departments.

We would recommend that this information is included in ward handovers and that business continuity is put in place including all ward mobile phones charged and actively manned by ward leads during the times stated.

In the unlikely event of issues with the phone system, radios are located in both security offices at Sandwell and City as well as and Rowley reception which will be fully charged and available for collection. Desktop alerts will be issued from 7pm.

Please be assured the activity will be closely monitored by our IT support and telephony teams.

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

Phone system maintenance: 17 September, 9pm to midnight

Please be aware our telephony partner will be carrying out essential maintenance to the Trust’s phone system on Tuesday 17 September from 9pm to midnight. This is due to analogue phones being switched off in 2025 across the UK and some of the Trust’s telephone numbers need to be moved on to a new digital solution to support this.

From 9pm to midnight on Tuesday 17 September any colleagues receiving incoming external calls for the numbers being ported will be disconnected. This will only affect half of the Trust’s numbers and will be carried out in a staggered approach.

This will not affect internal calls or external outbound calls.
This will not have any impact on any current diverts on numbers or answer machines on these numbers.
This will not affect 8×8 solution.
This will not affect the Bleeps application, mobile phones or emergency red phones utilised in our A&E, maternity and cardiology departments.

Please be assured the activity will be closely monitored by our IT support and telephony teams.

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

Expression of interest: Chief Integration Officer

There is an opportunity for the Chief Integration Officer secondment role (6-9 months).

Please see the below for the role profile, advert and expression of interest form:

This opportunity is open to employees of any of the Black Country ICS organisations. If you are interested then please complete the linked form above, highlighting your experience (in line with the person specification) and suitability for the role. Please submit this to becky.edwards5@nhs.net

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 23 August 2024.

Time for cake: 21 August

Speller Metcalfe is hosting a cake sale on the first floor of Birmingham Treatment Centre from 10am to 1.30pm on Wednesday 21 August in partnership with Your Trust Charity.

There will be a chance to grab a slice of some delicious cakes and cupcakes.

If you have any questions, please contact Kate Moore via email kate.moore@spellermetcalfe.com

Job of the week: Expression of Interest Chief Integration Officer

The Chief Integration Officer will lead the senior leadership teams of the partnerships, made up of senior colleagues from the statutory organisations, primary care and the voluntary sector, to develop and implement the programmes of strategic change, so our chosen population outcome measures are met.

The Chief Integration Officer will also be the accountable executive director at the Trust for the operational delivery of all services within the Primary Care, Community and Therapies Clinical Group (Division). This includes responsibility for ensuring that the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) services in contractual scope are performance managed and developed to create effective management teams.

For more information about the job role click here.

Expression of Interest form can be completed here,

For more information about the role please email Becky Edwards via email

Closing date is Friday 23 August, 5pm

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 16 August

Earlier this year, we had the results of the 2023 annual staff survey, in which one of our lowest results was for the section entitled ‘We are always learning.’ This is one of the NHS People Promises, which has a core focus on ensuring everyone is supported to reach their potential through equal access to opportunities to learn and develop. This did surprise me somewhat, as for many years now, we have had a protected education budget, from which colleagues can access funding in order to take on learning opportunities. However, on speaking to people about this – it seems that the knowledge of where or how to access learning and development opportunities is not always well understood across the organisation and we need to do more to ensure staff have career conversations supported with credible career development plans as part of PDR processes.

In order to address this, our Learning and Organisation Development teams have worked together to produce our first ever Prospectus of Learning and Development .This is a comprehensive guide to learning opportunities, not only within SWB, but more widely across the NHS. There are opportunities for everyone – do take some time out to read through it. Each opportunity will signpost you to where to go to get further information and if you need support or have any queries please reach out to the Learning and Development team via swbh.landd@nhs.net. The prospectus is an evolving document and will be updated periodically to take account of new offers that become available within the Trust and locally or nationally.

It is an excellent tool to use to enable development conversations during the PDR process. Our Trust PDR process includes sections on career aspirations and development planning. There are updated guides on the PDR page on Connect to having these discussions so make sure you prepare for the discussion with your line manager about your development.

Whilst it has improved slightly, one of the poorer sub-scores on the staff survey relates to the quality of PDR discussions, so, if you are a line manager please refer to the updated guidance on Connect to help you and your staff to make the most of this discussion. Please do ensure that you familiarise yourself with the opportunities that are available within the prospectus as well.

Remember though – you don’t need to wait until your PDR to access learning and development opportunities – you can have that conversation anytime – and hopefully you will find this document helpful. Thank you to everyone who has inputted into it.

Next week is an extremely important week for us on our journey to opening the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital – and probably the most important Board meeting that my executive colleagues and I will ever participate in. On Wednesday, the Trust Board will come together to hear the clinical safety case to open the Midland Met. If all goes well, this will give us the go ahead for Midland Met to open to patients on 6 October – more on that in my Friday message next week.

The Executive Team has also been participating in walkabouts around the organisation to better understand how you are all feeling about the move and how ‘set we are for Midland Met.’ .This week Mel Roberts , Chief Nursing Officer and Liam Kennedy, Delivery Director for MMUH visited the AMU team at City Hospital and were impressed with the engagement and enthusiasm of colleagues there who are eagerly awaiting the opening date.

Please continue to tell us how you feel by taking this short temperature check.

You can also submit any questions, concerns or simply tell us what more information you need here.

You have all worked so hard to get us to this point – we really are on the home straight now – and judging by the recent Olympics – this is really where all the action takes place.

If you will be moving to Midland Met, or working from there some of the time, an important action we need you to take is to complete your online induction. So far 728 have completed theirs, so there are lots more to go. We estimate it will take around an hour and a half to complete – but is split into modules and doesn’t need to be done all in one go. More information is available here.

Have a good weekend

UKHSA – Urgent public health message: Clade 1 mpox virus (MPXV) infection

MPXV is a virus from the same family as smallpox, that presents with a rash illness which may be mild and localised, or severe and disseminated. There are 2 distinct clades of the virus: Clade I and Clade II. Clade II MPXV is responsible for the global outbreak that began in 2022. Clade I MPXV is currently considered more severe than Clade II MPXV, leading to its classification as a high consequence infectious disease (HCID).

The symptoms of mpox begin 5 to 21 days (average 6 to 16 days) after exposure with initial clinical presentation of fever, malaise, lymphadenopathy and headache. Within 1 to 5 days after the appearance of fever, a rash develops, often beginning on the face or genital area and it may then spread to other parts of the body. The rash changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab which later falls off. Treatment for MPXV is mainly supportive

To view the list of countries that are affected by the disease click here.

Clinicians should be alert to the possibility of Clade I MPXV infection in patients presenting with suspected mpox where there is a link to the specified countries in the African region (as listed above).

Clinicians treating patients with suspected mpox who may meet the operational case definition of an HCID (as outlined above) should discuss this with local infection specialists.

For more information regarding Clade 1 mpox virus (MPXV) infection click here.

Your Midland Met transport update

As we Get Set for Midland Met, we’re keeping you informed about the latest updates.

In the Midland Met edition of Heartbeat, we focused on sustainable travel and how we’re working to make it easy for colleagues to get to our new hospital using public transport.

Great news – we can now share buses to Midland Met have now been confirmed!

What you need to know about bus services

Midland Met is conveniently located less than a mile from City Health Campus, right on a main road with good bus and rail links.

When Midland Met opens, buses 54 and 89 will stop directly at Midland Met close to the public entrance.

Buses 82 and 87 will stop a short walk away at the bus layover accessible via the public green area at the front of the hospital.

Several other routes will stop at the Cape Hill roundabout or within a mile of the hospital, including 11A/11C, 80, 21, 22, 54/54A.

You can view the bus routes and areas they will serve here.

Staff shuttle service

The staff shuttle service will run between Sandwell, Midland Met and City on a regular basis.

Timetables are being worked on to ensure this works conveniently for those who need to travel between sites and do not either wish to drive or have access to a car.

Please note the service is for cross site working only and not your daily commute to or from work.

Need a bus pass to get to work at Midland Met?

All new starters and colleagues relocating workplace as result of Midland Met opening will be able to access a free four-week bus pass.

To apply for this, please complete this form. Colleagues can also access discounted bus travel here.

For more information on bus travel or to plan your journey, check out Traveline.

Driving to Midland Met and parking

If you are driving to work, you’ll park in the colleague car park. It is accessed from London Street, Smethwick, B66 2SH, just behind the hospital off Grove Lane.

When you arrive, you’ll find colleague parking on level 0 and 1 with lifts connecting you straight into the hospital. There are 1200 car parking spaces for colleagues and 400 for visitors with separate designated disabled parking spaces available for colleagues and visitors.

We have 30 electric vehicle charging sockets at Midland Met. To use these and the chargers at City Hospital, Sandwell Hospital, and Rowley Regis Hospital, please register here.

To align with our Trust Board-approved Green Strategic Plan, we’re compiled some green ways you can travel to Midland Met.

Cycling

The Trust actively promotes and supports staff cycling to and from work and across sites. At Midland Met, we have secure cycle storage facilities with capacity to store 304 bicycles in total.

We also offer a Cycle to Work scheme to support purchasing bicycles and accessories at discounted rates. To find out more click here.

For an interactive map to plan your cycle journey, visit: https://sandwell.activemap.co.uk/.

Car sharing

Car sharing is a great way to reduce driving costs and to help reduce pollution. At Midland Met, there are 50 car parking bays dedicated to car sharing. To use these bays, register with Kinto.

Remember to complete your general induction: Site tour update

In July, we paused Midland Met staff tours to allow Balfour Beatty to complete essential onsite work. We’re pleased to let you know that some tours are back on in August and slots are fully booked.

Looking ahead to September, October, and November, we’ll be managing the remaining tour slots carefully. Starting 30 August, Sandwell colleagues will have the first chance to book tours, as they’ll be the first to move in. After that, City colleagues can book a site tour and tours will also continue after we move into Midland Met to help colleagues familiarise themselves with our new hospital.

If you’ve booked a department tour, it will go ahead as planned. Please arrive on time – full instructions will be emailed to you. If you need to cancel, let the commissioning team know in advance.

For more information, visit our induction Connect page.

IT maintenance affecting Connect: 26 August, 2am – 6am

Please be aware an essential IT maintenance will be taking place on Monday 26 August to carry out security patching and reboots to ensure the Trust’s systems remains compliant. The work is scheduled to begin at 2am for approximately 4 hours and should be completed by 6am.

During this time the Connect Intranet site will be unavailable for up to 30 minutes.

Please be assured colleagues will be able utilise their direct connections to core applications such as iPM and Unity via desktop shortcuts at this time.

This timeslot has been chosen as a quieter time operationally.

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.

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Monthly archives: August 2024

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