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Monthly archives: September 2024

City patient census week

 

Joe Loban, Deputy General Manager – Medicine, provides an update on last week’s Sandwell patient census, which looked at safely transferring patients to Midland Met.

This week, the same exercise will happen at City Hospital to ensure we maintain patient safety during our moves to Midland Met, which begin on 6  October.

The focus is ensuring patient relocations go well while prioritising patient care and wellbeing. The outputs of our patient census weeks will be analysed to ensure we achieve this.

Get the lowdown from Jo here.

Drug Safety Notice – Neostigmine and Glycopyrronium solution for injection ampoules

 

Problem –

  • There is a supply issue with Neostigmine 2.5mg in 1ml / Glycopyrronium bromide 500micrograms in 1ml solution for injection ampoules.
  • Date for re-supply is TBC
  • It is restricted to theatre use only on the trust formulary.

Please see the full notice for action, alternatives, supporting information and key resources here.

National Inclusion Week Sessions – 23-29 September

 

The Black Country Integrated Care System is hosting a number of events during the week of 23 – 29 September on MS Teams and other online platforms for National Inclusion Week 2024.

Please see here for the full lineup of scheduled sessions.

For any queries on how to join sessions – please email bcicb.workforce@nhs.net 

Midland Met ward map update

 

One of the many benefits of our new hospital is that it will become the central hub for our acute care, bringing together expert colleagues from both City and Sandwell Hospitals.

This useful map shows the new wards at Midland Met and which wards will be coming together.

Please refer to this updated ward map for the latest information.

Introducing the Midland Met Rewind

 

Introducing the Midland Met Rewind…

Things have been buzzing on site. Wherever you look there is something going on as it’s all hands to deck as we get ready for 6 October.

We’ve had induction site tours, activation activities, and our IT team has been busy testing equipment. Plus, our medical engineering team has been working hard getting our Philips theatre monitors prepped and ready.

We’re just under ONE MONTH away from opening the doors on 6 October. Let’s keep pushing… we’re almost there.

Catch up on some of the highlights from last week’s activities here.

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 6 September

 

Today (6 September) marks one month (30 days) until we open the doors to Midland Met.

I write this message with a mix of emotions, which I am sure many of you recognise.

I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together so far, and I am excited for what lies ahead. However, I also feel anxious, nervous, and a little apprehensive about the next month. These are totally normal feelings when working on a project of this size and scale, particularly when it comes to the latter stages. They are also totally normal feelings when working on something new – I’ve never opened a brand-new hospital before, and I am sure that most of you are in the same boat.

However, if you are feeling overwhelmed, please don’t suffer in silence – talk to someone. There is lots of ways that we can support you.

Having enjoyed some of our ‘Get Set for Midland Met’ walkabouts over the last few weeks, alongside other members of the executive team, there is a tremendous amount of work being done and high levels of enthusiasm across the organisation. The proximity of the grand opening certainly seems to be focusing the mind – positively. Thank you for everything you have done to date, and for everything that you will be doing over the next 30 days.

There are some key things that we do need to focus our attention on, including:

Online Induction: This is vitally important, in fact, it is one of the key safety measures for us opening on the 6th – we are currently standing at only 30.7% of colleagues having completed their online induction. If you are yet to do it, please make it your priority next week. It will take you an hour and a half at the most – and you can complete it in stages. All the information is here:

On-site Induction: Thank you to everyone who is taking the time to lead induction tours. We are making real progress with getting colleagues around the hospital now and when I’ve been at MMUH I have witnessed the excitement and energy from teams who have started to do their on-site inductions, as they exit the building for the first time. If you need to attend, again, please prioritise booking your site tour, especially if you will be moving from Sandwell on the 6th. All the information is here.

If you have a tour booked, please ensure you attend – we do have a high DNA rate at the moment, especially on evening and weekend tours, we simply don’t have the time or capacity for this to continue.

Omnicell Training: As you know, the Omnicell Automated Drug Cabinets have arrived in the Trust, and we now need to ensure that colleagues have undertaken their training. Wards and departments have super-users who have been trained in how to use the system and are rolling out this training to colleagues. Please ensure that you speak to your super user and get booked on a session as soon as possible – we need to ensure that 80% of colleagues have completed their training. Congratulations and thank you to Lyndon 3 and Newton 3 who have already reached 80% and will be going live with the system very soon. Further information is available here.

Operational Readiness: We are currently at 67.4% of our operational readiness checklist, against a target of 69.3% – the focus for September is ensuring that all the above are completed and that non-medical staffing rosters are in place for Midland Met.

Please continue to talk to us; your ongoing feedback is invaluable.

Keep reporting clinical hazards: Clinical Hazard Report Form (office.com)

You can complete this short survey to let us know how you are feeling: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/setformidlandmet

There is also space for you to submit questions, concerns, or tell us what more information you need. There is no such thing as a silly question, if you are thinking it, it’s likely that many of your colleagues are too. So please do ask. In my Friday message over the next few weeks, I will cover some of the frequently asked questions. Ask your questions here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/getsetmidlandmetfeedback

You can click on the links above, you scan the QR code on the graphic.

Finally, there is an exciting opportunity on Wednesday next week (11 September) to take part in the stress testing of the lifts, stairwells, and Winter Garden at Midland Met. We are looking for volunteers who would like to get their steps in! Please ensure that you have your line managers permission before putting yourself forward. If you are interested, please complete this form.

The completion of this state-of-the-art building is not just a testament to our collective efforts, but also a significant milestone in enhancing the healthcare services we provide to the community of Sandwell and West Birmingham. The Midland Met care model will not only offer advanced clinical care, community and acute, but will also be a hub of innovation and excellence, reflecting our organisational purpose of improving life chances and health outcomes.

Keep going.

Kind regards,

Richard

NHS e-referral service (E-RS) urgent maintenance: 6 September, 8.15pm – 7 September, 1am

 

Please be aware that urgent national NHS maintenance will be taking place to the e-Referral service (e-RS) from Friday 6 September, 8.15pm – Saturday 7 September, 1am.

During this time, colleagues will be unable to access the NHE e-Referral service (e-RS) via the Choose and Book icon on Connect  e-Referral Service (ncrs.nhs.uk)

  • Slot polls may be impacted and may not run overnight Friday/Saturday.
  • Slot polls should run as scheduled overnight on Saturday/Sunday.
  • AG01 reports (Advice and Guidance extracts) will be unavailable for the first half of Saturday

Financial Improvement Programme: Ensuring quality and safety is an integral part of getting our finances in order

 

As part of our ongoing financial improvement programme (FIP), we will be bringing you regular updates on our progress and focus features on different areas of work.

Ensuring quality and safety is an integral part of getting our finances in order as we prepare to move to a brand new hospital

  • No cost improvement programme scheme is ever delivered or approved without a thumbs up from the QIA panel (Quality Impact Assessment) and our clinical leadership
  • It’s an integral part of the approval process for any savings or cost avoidance scheme that cannot be skipped
  • This month alone, nine FIP schemes are actively being reviewed and presented to the panel

Why is it such an important part of financial sustainability?

The best practice ethos of any well-run financial recovery programme will put the quality of our services and the safety of our patients and staff at the forefront. These shouldn’t suffer as a result of ensuring we manage our budgets sustainably and effectively. All FIP workstreams are designed with clinical involvement from the outset, i.e. when brainstorming opportunities take place. All our documentation and processes are designed with clinical approval in mind where needed. Some of the FIP workstreams are very clinical in nature, for instance:

  • Theatre improvements
  • Medicines management improvements
  • Outpatients and endoscopy improvements

Even the less clinically oriented workstreams, such as contract improvements, income improvements, and procurement improvements, will seek clinical input before going ahead. We want to start our services at the new hospital with a clean financial slate.

Progress tracker:

  • FIP target: £44.1m
  • FIP identified: £31.2m (risk adjusted)
  • FIP delivered: £ 9.2m
  • Left to be identified: £3.7m (8 per cent)
  • Left to be delivered: £34.3m (78 per cent)

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

Martin Sadler – leaving card and collection

 

As many of you know, Martin Sadler, Executive Director of IT and digital, is moving on to  pastures new (Birmingham City Council). He has been with the Trust for 6 years and has transformed the IT Department from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘outstanding’.

Martin leaves the Trust once Midland Met has opened, and the team would like to show their thanks; they have organised a leaving gift and presentation to show their recognition and appreciation of his time with them.

Presentation details: Thursday, 24 October- 2pm in the Conference Room, Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital

The team is inviting colleagues across the Trust to sign a card and contribute towards Martin’s leaving gift. If you wish to do so, please email Rosie Fuller directly with the subject line ‘ Martin’s leaving card’.

All financial contributions must be completed by Sunday 6 October; if you have any questions, please contact Rosie Fuller directly via email rosie.fuller@nhs.net 

Collection Pot is being used to collect monies for his leaving gift https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/3273693

Updated Domestic Abuse Policy

 

The policy applies to all patients/clients, whether the setting is acute or the community-based and includes adults and children. It outlines a standardised approach when recognising and responding to Domestic Abuse (DA), addresses adults and young people aged 16 years and over who are experiencing (or have experienced) DA, including perpetrators of abuse and violence.

The policy includes a helpful mnemonic for remembering the key steps to take when responding to DA – the five Rs. As well as a flow chart and step-by-step guidance for responding to domestic abuse cases.

Five Rs:

  • R-recognise and ask
  • R-respond
  • R-risk assess
  • R-refer
  • R-record

It is important that staff have the knowledge and feel confident and competent to implement the Domestic Abuse Policy into practice. Free training is available:

Health Education England E-learning for healthcare (HEE e-lfh) E-Learning: Domestic Violence and Abuse. The course is accessible via Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Search for title: 000 Domestic Violence and abuse.

Online multi-agency Safeguarding training in Sandwell website’s can be accessed here 

Bespoke training will be advertised via internal communications.

The Trust’s Domestic Abuse policy has been updated and can be accessed by clicking here

For further information, advice and/or support, contact our internal teams:

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