Monthly archives: August 2024

The non-formulary drug request and approval process has now migrated to Unity

The non-formulary drug request and approval process has now migrated to Unity. This replaces the form we had on Connect.

Please see the QRG below for how to request a non-formulary drug via Unity – request non formulary medicine QRG.

For further information please contact your ward-based pharmacy team or the pharmacy department (City on ext. 5263 and Sandwell on ext. 3783).

Unity maintenance: 21 August, 10.30pm – 22 August, 2am

Please be aware essential Unity maintenance will be taking place on Wednesday 21 August. The work is being carried out by our support vendor Oracle and is scheduled to begin at 10.30pm and should be completed by 2am on Thursday 22 August.

During this time Unity should remain fully available; however, Unity Reporting (PI Explorer)/Business Objects Reporting will be unavailable for up to three hours from 10.30pm.

As part of this activity, the Trust will not have any resilience in place for all Unity services if an unexpected issue were to occur and we go into unplanned Unity downtime. We would therefore recommend that all areas have their business continuity plans and 724 Unity downtime computers on standby during the above time.

The activity will be closely monitored by Oracle and IT support teams and will be supported by desk top alerts which will be issued from 9pm.

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.

Yellow heat weather alert – ensure your patients and staff are well hydrated

We are currently experiencing hot weather in parts of England including the West Midlands which will continue throughout the week. This is why it’s vital you ensure all your patients and staff are well hydrated.

Dehydration can set in incredibly quickly so it’s important to understand the key symptoms:

• Headaches
• Sunken eyes
• Dry mouth/lips
• Tiredness
• Cold hands
• Dark/smelly urine
• Peeing fewer than four times a day

Remember to keep a steady supply of water nearby and to try to drink 1.5 litres of fluid per day.

Other factors which increase an individual’s risk during a hot weather include:

• Chronic and severe illness, including heart conditions, diabetes, respiratory or renal insufficiency, Parkinson’s disease or severe mental illness.
• Medications that potentially affect renal function, the body’s ability to sweat, thermoregulation or electrolyte balance can make this group more vulnerable to the effects of heat
• Inability to adapt behaviour to keep cool: having Alzheimer’s, a disability, being bed bound, babies and the very young

Actions to be taken include the following:

• Minimise heat increase by drawing blinds or curtains
• Where possible switch off anything connected to the power system and likely to produce heat e.g. computers, printers, additional lighting
• Maintain hydration in patients by offering additional drinks

Colleagues should ensure that discharge planning takes into account the temperature of the accommodation and level of daily care during the heatwave period.

This period of hot weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services – please refer to the Trust’s severe weather plan.

Black Country Provider Collaborative update

Dear colleagues,

You will be aware from previous briefings and bulletins that we have been working closely as part of the Black Country Provider Collaborative (BCPC) to look at how we make our services more resilient and sustainable, reduce variation and inequality to health outcomes and ensure that specialisation and consolidation occur where this will provide better outcomes and value.

Over the last two years working as a collaborative, our Trusts have collectively driven progress by reducing variation, standardizing care, and exploring resource efficiency. Our clinical networks are already showing promise, working toward improved consistency of care, access to services and – crucially – patient outcomes.

As we move forward with our collaborative journey, BCPC is now looking at ways to develop more collaborative and innovative corporate services. The aim is to ensure our corporate services support patient care and offer colleagues a great place to work so you choose to stay with us for the long term, while also removing any unnecessary duplication, ensure strong resilience and improvements across our services.

Our corporate services leaders and staff side partners will be attending a workshop in the near future to start thinking together about the opportunities this presents and how we best progress this important work. We have also invited colleagues from BC ICB and Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to join us as associates partners in this process.

A key part of this is considering how we best involve and engage our colleagues to draw on the rich skills and expertise we are fortunate to have across our system.

We will keep you up to date as this engagement continues.

More information about our Provider Collaborative, which is a partnership of all of our trusts, is here: https://blackcountryprovidercollaborative.nhs.uk/

If you have a question or comment, please email blackcountry.pc@nhs.net

Our exec walkabouts have launched!

Earlier this week, we launched our exec walkabouts. Executives and senior leaders from the Trust will be walking around departments across SWB to engage in discussions as the move to Midland Met begins in October.

As we Get Set for Midland Met, it’s important to make use of time with our executive team to ask any questions and learn as much as possible.

The next scheduled visits are below:

• Sandwell – Nursery – Johanne Newens – Monday, 12 August – 12pm – 1pm.
• City – AMU1 + AMU2 / SDEC Mel Roberts – Wednesday 14 August 12pm – 1pm.

• City – D15 & D17 (Respiratory): Simon Sheppard – Wednesday 14 August, 2pm – 3:30pm.
• City – ED inc. CEACU: Richard Beeken – Thursday 15 August, 10am – 11:30am.

Temperature checks 

As part of the walkabouts, we want to ensure we’re fully prepared for the opening of our new hospital. To help us identify any knowledge gaps, we’re asking for your input. Please complete the short survey below: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/setformidlandmet

There is also space for you to submit questions, concerns, or tell us what more information you need: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MMUHExecfeedback

Drug safety notice: Cefalexin 500mg tablets

Cefalexin 500mg tablets are currently out of stock until mid-September.

Where possible, clinical colleagues should consider prescribing cefalexin 500mg capsules, if suitable, checking patient acceptability of gelatine content of capsules.

Please see Cefalexin 500mg tablets information sheet for further details and advice.

For more information please contact the pharmacy department on ext. 5263/3783.

Message from Meagan Fernandes, Director of People and OD

Dear colleagues,

You will have seen communication this week concerning the riots and the impact of these on our staff and how they may be feeling /coping at this difficult time. Earlier in the week we signposted staff towards routes of support and as a follow up to this have produced a more detailed Guide for Managers to support staff during this period of unrest.

Please find attached the guidance which is intended for use by managers across the Trust to enable and empower them to impact assess and provide support for staff who are impacted by local and national unrest and acts of violence from extremists and terrorists.

Within the guide are sections on how to hold safety and wellbeing conversations with your team/individuals, key considerations, key expectations, and avenues of support.

You should have a discussion with your team to ensure everyone is made aware of the support available and knows how to access it. It also aids peer to peer support as different people may be impacted in different ways.

Please do not hesitate to contact your local HR teams should you have any questions or require support.

Friday Message from Lesley Writtle: 9 August

For those that don’t know me,  I’m Lesley Writtle,  I am a Non-Executive director (NED) and Deputy Chair of the Trust and Richard has been kind enough to allow me to pinch a monthly CEO message slot. I have been in the Trust since the start of 2020 (remembering the COVID days well), so I have seen a lot of change in that time and have seen colleagues work hard to overcome some huge challenges.  I’m extremely proud to work here after training here as a nurse some 43 years ago.

So, what is our role as Non – Executive Director ? As a NED we are employed by NHS England to work as part of our Trust board, working closely with Exec Directors but bringing our independent perspectives and experience. As a NED I have a duty to challenge, enquire and explore decisions and proposals we make in a helpful way and make sure any risks to the Trust and public are managed effectively especially focused on quality and safety of care. Each of the NEDs also tend to have a specialist area that they focus on such as clinical, finance or quality which they have professional expertise in.

I appreciate that this is an incredibly busy  (and probably stressful) time, getting ready for MMUH to open and welcome staff and patients later this year. Many of you are working hard for the move on top of your day job and this takes considerable resilience. I would like to thank everyone for all their hard work,  I realise it takes tremendous effort from everyone even if you are not moving yourself. Thanks to our staff and all the external contractors and volunteers, you are all integral to making the move a successful one.

One of my roles in the Trust is to chair our People Committee, we have been overseeing all the work on management of change, new ways of working and staff being ready from an operational perspective. I was involved in moving a hospital a while ago and the attention to detail at this stage is really important, but it’s also important to recognise the emotional impact of moving from somewhere you have worked for many years. Albeit a challenging physical work environment at times, you are leaving behind a lot of very special memories. But as we know change can be a good thing, sometimes a little scary but hopefully refreshing and energising!

I also wanted to make reference to the upsetting events and scenes of violent disorder our country has witnessed over the past week. I want to assure you , abusive, racist, and aggressive behaviours will not be tolerated at any of the SWB sites and that your safety and wellbeing are our priority. You will have seen our communication about how we are helping and supporting staff to stay safe and seek advice and support where needed. If you haven’t yet seen this communication, take a look here.

In addition to the support shared yesterday, we have recently launched an Employee Assistance Programme. This is a free and confidential service providing employees with emotional support, practical information and structured counselling for issues affecting their social, physical, financial, and general wellbeing. If you wish to access support, you can contact 0800 882 4102 whereby your call will be answered by a qualified counsellor who will be a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. We are working on further support and resources for staff and managers which we will communicate in due course.

I would also like to highlight that there is also significant work being undertaken as part of the delivery of our Trust People Plan and EDI plan to support our staff improve experience and to  create a positive culture of compassion and inclusion. This includes enhancing and strengthening the role of Staff Networks  which we will communicate more about shortly, advancing work on our Trust FTSU programme through joint work on enhancing psychological safety through the FTSU strategy and our Just and Learning Culture programme.

We are also undertaking in partnership with our Trade Unions, Staff Networks, our EDI team, operational, clinical and corporate colleagues to improve representation through inclusive recruitment practices and the launch of our Inclusive Talent Management Programme and our culture and OD programmes.  If you would like to be involved in this important programme of work please contact meagan.fernandes@nhs.net

Finally, MMUH will not be the success we expect it to be without the valuable work we do as an integrated care organisation, something we do very well and are proud of, an area of work that will be our focus moving into 2025. So thank you to all our staff not just those of you moving this year.

Best wishes,

Lesley

Cardiac cath lab 1, City temporarily closed

The Cardiology cath lab 1 at City is currently out of action for the foreseeable future.

There is a replacement mobile cath lab, situated outside, next to the mobile MRI unit.

The mobile lab can be accessed through the simulation centre corridor or watch this video to see how to find it.

For more information or if you have any questions please email josephine.johnson1@nhs.net.

MLG support meeting following far right protests: 9 August

In view of the ongoing unrest in several parts of the country, The MLG (Muslim Liason Group) are holding an in person meeting for all colleagues to come together and support one another. The meeting will be taking place in room 5 in the Postgraduate Centre, City, 10am – 12pm.

For more information please email zaheer.iqbal@nhs.net.