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Monthly archives: September 2024

IT maintenance affecting Connect: 28 October, 2am – 6am

 

Please be aware an essential IT maintenance will be taking place on Monday 28 October 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 four 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

IT patching affecting multiple web portals: 8 October, 10pm – 2am, 9 October

 

Please be aware essential IT Patching will be taking place on Tuesday 8 October to ensure the Trust’s Web server remains stable. The work is being carried out by IT and is scheduled to begin at 10pm for approximately four hours and should be completed by 2am on Wednesday 9 October.

During this time, the following web portals will be unavailable for up to 30 minutes affecting the following services:

  • 18wwAudits
  • ActiveServers
  • A&E Datacapture – this is the business continuity for FirstNet
  • BMEC Advice Line
  • ClinicalAuditAdmin
  • Default Web Site
  • DoctorsLeave
  • eBMStest
  • www_EDMonitor
  • equipAM
  • FTSU
  • HisCustServRota
  • icmmonitoring
  • ioshelp
  • ITWeb
  • Medical Examiners
  • PathResults
  • Pharmtrack
  • proxy
  • ReportsPortal
  • Rotawatch
  • SSNAP
  • Switchboard Emergency call log
  • TPRS
  • VIDS known as Discharge to Access – D2A

We would recommend that affected areas have their local business continuity plans in place during the above time.

Note: This timeslot has been chosen as a quieter time operationally to minimise impact.

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

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

IT maintenance: 7 October, 2am – 6am and 8 October, 10pm – 6am

 

Please be aware an essential IT maintenance will be taking place on Monday 7 October from 2am to 6am and from 10pm overnight to Tuesday 8 October, 6am to carry out security patching and reboots to ensure the Trust’s systems remains compliant.

On Monday 7 October from 2am to 6am and again from 10pm overnight to Tuesday 8 October 6am Unity will remain fully available;

  • Equitrac Printing services – Ricoh MFD (multi-functional device) printers and scan to email functionality. All other printing such as labels, pathology specimen and desktop printing will remain available as normal.
  • Wristband printing  

Colleagues will need to ensure they revert to local business continuity plans during this time.

This timeslot has been chosen as a quieter time operationally and the activity will be closely monitored by our 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 printing maintenance: 17 October, 10pm – 11pm

 

Please be aware essential Unity maintenance will be taking place on Thursday 17 October to ensure the supporting infrastructure remains secure and security compliant. The work is scheduled to begin at 10pm for approximately one hour and should be completed by 11pm.

During this time Unity will remain fully available; however from 10pm until 11pm on Thursday 17 October Unity printing will be unavailable for up to one hour at the following site locations:

  • Sandwell – all areas
  • City – all areas
  • BMEC – all areas
  • BTC – all areas

o This will affect specimen label, requisition, and pharmacy printing.

o Any print jobs submitted during this time will be held and printed once the print servers come back online.

If clinical staff are due to collect a sample between time above, we would advise them to wait until specimen labelling functionality returns. If staff have a very urgent specimen to collect that cannot wait to collect and send to pathology, then a manual pathology request form will need to be completed and sent with the sample. It is envisaged that this requirement will be rare and unlikely at those times.

The activity will be closely monitored by our 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.

Clinical support system maintenance: 6 October, 7am – 7.30am

 

Essential clinical support system (CSS) maintenance will be taking place on Sunday 6 October to ensure the Trust’s system remains stable. The work is being carried out by IT and is scheduled to begin at 7am for approximately 30 minutes and should be completed by 7.30am.

During this time colleagues using CSS may experience brief disconnections and be forcibly logged off the system but will be able to log straight back in.

We would recommend colleagues try not to upload documents into CSS, access the ‘CDA’ icon in Unity to view historical patient records, or complete eOutcomes from the link in Unity between 6.55am and 7.05am. This timeslot has been chosen as a quieter time operationally to minimise impact.

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

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

Sarstedt ward visits – urine Monovette training

 

Representatives from Sarstedt will be on site visiting wards and departments at Sandwell on Wednesday 25 September and City on Thursday 26 September.

They will be speaking to staff directly on shift and delivering training on the correct method of urine sampling using the urine monovette device.

The training is intended to improve our urine specimen rejection rate, and prevent delays in test results.

Please see Monovette user guide here.

Improving Lives Through Research – Research and Development 2023-2027 Strategy

 

The Research and Development department have further developed their existing strategy ‘ Improving lives through research ‘ to co inside with the move to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital.

The strategy first launched in 2023 and since then it has been adapted and improved in line with the Trust’s 3 main objectives, People, Place and Population and will be in place until 2027.

The strategy links in with the 4 key workstreams:

  • Leading areas of research
  • Providing an Outstanding R&D Department
  • Enabling all staff to be part of the research
  • Public and Patient Engagement and Involvement.

Each Workstream has a number of deliverables linked to being led by senior staff within the organisation from a wide variety of professions.

We have 14 key deliverables to be met before the move to MMUH and 11 out of 14 of these are on track to do so. There have already been some key achievements on these deliverables, including:

  • Increase in the number of Chief and Principal Investigators,
  • Increase in the number of publications
  • Highest number of participants recruited to research trials since 2017
  • Significant reduction in set-up times for studies.

If you would like to know more then take a look at the full strategy here or get in touch with R&D and see how you can input into making our strategy a reality via email Swbh.randd.generic@nhs.net

The CQC visit Midland Met

 

Following last week’s mock CQC visits, the real thing took place this week as we welcomed members of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to Midland Met.

Established in 2009, the CQC regulates and inspects health and social care providers in England. Their visit is significant for us as we’re working towards adding Midland Met to our existing SWB registration as an additional location, and we must achieve this before opening doors to patients on 6 October.

The team made their way onto the site, saw wards and departments and talked to teams about their patient pathways.

The CQC is expected to provide an update soon. Stay tuned for more information.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 20 September

 

I want to start this week’s message by unapologetically stating that we now have only 15 days left before the first patient moves from Sandwell to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital

(MMUH) on Sunday 6 October. I would like to thank all staff working around the clock to ensure everything is in place by that date. The ask of everyone is intensive but the cause is both exciting and worthwhile.

This week we had the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on-site for 3 days as part of the new hospital CQC registration process. This is a crucial milestone. The assessment process has involved a comprehensive examination of the services at our new hospital and the environment in which they will take place. It has included site visits, discussions with clinical teams, and a meticulous review of documents and data. The phased assessment has taken place between June and August to secure registration this week.  It is important to stress this is a registration process, not a standard, service inspection by the CQC.

The registration went very well and is another sign that we will be ready to open next month. The successful registration with the CQC is a regulatory requirement and a testament to our commitment to providing exceptional care at Midland Met.

As I write this CEO message today , we are also hosting two events at MMUH , one for the media and in the afternoon an event for stakeholders who have been integral in the work to get the hospital finished and ready to open . We are hosting around 30 members of the media and 140 stakeholders. Thank you to everyone involved in this as they are big events to organise. The reason we have held in advance is so that we have as little intrusion as possible on move day and beyond and gives these group of stakeholders an opportunity to preview the new hospital and ask questions. On Monday next week we are also hosting our final Near Neighbours event at MMUH speaking with local members of the community close the new hospital or those who have an active interest and have watched it progress.

Also,  this week I attended the Joint Birmingham and Sandwell Health, Overview and Scrutiny meeting at the Sandwell Council House where of course, the main topic of conversation was the opening of the new hospital. They were all very supportive of the new hospital and there was lots of praise for staff and partners getting this over the line. Of course, I fielded some more targeted questions around parking ( always a favourite) , safe staffing models and retention of staff.

I am also pleased to announce the release of the new Trust Quality Standards for Patients, Principles of Referral and Admission document. Some of you may have received an email from me sharing this update but if you haven’t please take time to read through the document. It focusses on how all of us must to work together to achieve the best possible care for our patients. It is essential that we work together to minimise delays for patients in both our elective and non-elective pathways.  We all have our part to play in ensuring that we take ownership of our patients as early as possible, so that they get the most appropriate care from the right clinician first time.  It is important to realise that things won’t change overnight, but we are committed to working with teams across the Trust to support you in developing your services to achieve this approach.  Moreover, we will be actively auditing and measuring our progress against these standards in our first 100 days in MMUH.  We cannot transplant some of our existing, outmoded approach to speciality response, into our brand new hospital.  We must start as we mean to go on.

Next week Is National Inclusion Week, a week which aims to encourage everyone to understand, identify, and measure their impact on marginalised groups, regardless of their role or position.  Black Country ICB are hosting a jam-packed week of events to celebrate National Inclusion Week, to view the events taking place, click here.

Finally with 16 days left,  don’t forget to book onto your staff induction for MMUH if you haven’t done so already and  it is also  vital colleagues get their new ID/access cards for the site. For more information please click here.

Black Country research celebration event: 21 November

 

Join fellow colleagues interested in research from across the Black Country for an event in celebration of all partners activities.

  • Date – 21 November
  • Venue – The Hawthorns, West Bromwich Albion Football Club
  • Time – 8.30am – 4.45pm

It will include talks from across the provider collaborative and interactive breakout sessions.

All details for the event including QR codes to register can be found on the poster here.

Places are available on a first come, first served basis.

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