Monthly archives: October 2024
Reminder – MMUH Staff Car Park
For the attention of all staff working at MMUH utilise the staff parking via London St.
The barriers for this car park are now fully operational and we have been informed that some staff have been forgetting their cards to gain access. Because of this, staff are being pushed to patient parking and are being told to pay.
To avoid this happening – please remember your car park entry cards.
Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 25 October
This week I wanted to share some important feedback with our teams. Thanks to everyone for their hard work and continued resilience moving into the new hospital. This has presented several challenges. Some of these challenges relate to our teams having done 6 months’ worth of activation and induction work in 6 weeks. Some of them relate to the building, some of them to how we wish to operate within the building. In addition, I am very conscious of how urgent care services have been under significant strain. We must remember we haven’t delivered our City Hospital move to MMUH yet and as such, the seven-day care model and workforce resilience is yet to kick in.
Listening to and responding to your feedback is imperative for us and I want to assure you that we will do so.
For example, we understand agile working is a different way of working for us all and we are working on making pragmatic changes to the agile working approach in this new working environment. What I would ask is you be kind and supportive to colleagues and use the booking system to book a desk area if you need one or work across our other sites if you don’t need to be at MMUH specifically. In addition, we understand signage in some areas may need to be improved/reworked. A wayfinding working group has quickly been set up to monitor and develop this work and we will highlight updates to the organisation as we have them. We have also heard from colleagues about more working areas and will be looking at the Winter Garden “pods” as areas to use and book in the future.
As part of our settling in period and as we prepare for our upcoming moves, we would like to hear your feedback. There is a short survey to complete which will enable to capture your views about the settling period – please complete it would be very useful . https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/midlandmet.
With all of this in the background I would remind colleagues, that our move to MMUH is still not fully complete, so there will be, and are some moving issues that we need to get right and be mindful of during the next two key move dates. As the new hospital remains half open, with our next moves taking place on 6 November (maternity, neonates and gynae) and 10 November (rest of City Hospital) whilst we are still commissioning some of these areas, some equipment has already been put out in preparation for these moves. Please do not take items just because an area isn’t open. If you are missing equipment, please raise it via the correct routes and it will be fixed. We run the risk of being short of vital equipment for our next moves if colleagues move/take equipment that is not theirs to take .
I also wanted in this week’s message to allude to two more things. Firstly, earlier in September, Lord Darzi published his independent review of the NHS which was intended to start and open and honest conversation about the state of the NHS and the reforms needed Lord Darzi published his independent review of the NHS, this also lends itself to wanting to share open and honest feedback. With this in mind, I would urge colleagues to ensure that they complete their NHS Staff Survey. I am also pleased to say that our response to National Staff Survey has increased this week to 17 per cent, however, this is still lower than when we would expect it to be and much lower than most Trusts. If you have been sent an email, please respond as soon as you can, and we will continue to share benchmarking and how we are doing as an organisation as we move forward. If you have not received your link or have any issues please swbh.comms@nhs.net.
Secondly, a reminder and one of some urgency we must as a Trust ensure that we hit our 65 week trajectory for elective care and meet the route to zero in November. This is a non-negotiable national ask, and is absolutely the right thing to do for our patients. Please do everything you can in your area of speciality to ensure we are on target for this.
Finally, this month is Freedom to Speak Up Month and I want to thank our FTSU Guardians who do a fantastic job. In addition, tomorrow you are able to join the first ever Black Country FTSU Conference. Staff from across our local Black Country Integrated Care System are invited to attend this key event as part of our commitment to make speaking up business as usual for everyone. The conference will take place on Friday 25 October, 9am – 3.30pm via the Microsoft Teams platform and there will be inspiring talks from a range of speakers. The conference will focus on the power of listening and encouraging everyone to feel confident to speak up. In case you missed it, be sure to check out this video featuring colleagues from across the Black Country talking about the importance of speaking up.
On a final note, I would like to say a huge thank you and good luck to Martin Sadler, Executive Director for IT & Digital, who leaves us to join Birmingham City Council. Martin’s legacy is a strong one, with a strong focus on customer service and responsiveness. Mark Taylor will be Interim Director of IT and Digital reporting through to Dave Baker, Chief Strategy Officer for a fixed term period and we are very much looking forward to Mark being in the role. Martin’s role as FTSU executive lead will also be passed onto to Mark Anderson, Chief Medical Officer who is very much looking forward to supporting the work the FTSU team and guardians do/undertake.
Weekly and monthly pay dates for 2024-2025
Weekly pay dates: Friday remains the usual pay date, unless this needs to be amended due to extenuating circumstances or bank holidays.
The monthly pay dates up until March 2025 are listed below:
- Monday 28 October 2024
- Thursday 28 November 2024
- Thursday 19 December 2024
- Friday 24 January 2025
- Thursday 27 February 2025
- Thursday 27 March 2025
Staff Health and Wellbeing session for all – Managing everyday anxiety
Join the upcoming session on staff health and wellbeing and managing everyday anxiety, where we will be joined by experts from the app Headspace. All staff who are interested or have a role in staff health and wellbeing are welcome to join this session to learn how to calm yourself and shift your relationship with anxiousness. Headspace will share practical tools, tips, and techniques to help you reframe everyday anxiety.
The session will be taking place on Tuesday 19 November – 11am – 12pm via MS Teams. You can register here.
City colleagues – Please book your induction site tours
Following our first move to Midland Met, we’re reminding all City colleagues moving on 6/10 November to book their induction site tours.
It is crucial to prioritise your induction site tour, so you can move safely into Midland Met.
What to expect:
- A 60-minute journey through Midland Met (inc. car parks, Winter Garden facilities, lift navigation, a ward and our emergency department front door).
- Guided Induction tours led by our knowledgeable staff members.
- Insights into the advanced technology and design features at Midland Met.
- Opportunities to ask questions and engage with your tour guide.
- Tour groups of up to 12.
- Useful plans and navigation tips provided to help you get to grips with Midland Met.
Click here to book your induction site tour and find out more about what to expect here.
For more information, please email swbh.mmuhinduction@nhs.net
Navigating Midland Met
To help you easily find your way around our new hospital, we’ve got Midland Met wayfinding maps ready.
Whether you’re locating a ward or finding a department, these maps will guide you through every corner.
Please remember when using these wayfinding maps that they show staff routes around the hospital. These routes should not be followed by patients or visitors.
We’ve specifically designed our new hospital with separate routes for patients, colleagues and goods. While colleagues can use any of the lifts and stairwells, patients or visitors will not be able to access areas meant for colleagues or goods.
You’ll know you’re in a staff only area if you see grey doors and walls. Please make sure no patients or visitors follow you through to these areas as they won’t be able to move around without a pass.
Replacement of ID cards
Due to unforeseen circumstances no new ID cards will be issued from the BTC between Friday 25 October – 31 October. Passes will be available from BTC from Friday 1 November.
New passes can still be obtained from the welcome desk on level 5 at Midland Met.
Last few days to claim four weeks free bus pass travel with further discount
Do you want four weeks free bus travel and eight weeks at 25 per cent discount?
The Trust is committed to working in more environmentally friendly ways and has in place a Trust Board approved Green Strategic Plan. We are keen to support staff with getting to and from work using active and sustainable modes of travel, particularly with the opening of MMUH.
As part of the West Midlands Bus Scheme, we are extending our offer for eligible staff for four weeks free bus travel and then 8 weeks travel at 25 per cent discount. To be eligible, you must be a non-frequent bus user (1-2 times a week or less). Please ensure you select that you are a non-frequent bus user when completing the form otherwise you won’t be eligible. This is a programme to encourage modal-shift and is intended to support sustainable travel habits. Those eligible will be supported with free bus travel via Swift technology.
Please see the swift card guide here.
The form will close on Monday 28 October, 8pm. Applications will be processed at the end of each week and issued to eligible staff.
To apply, please complete this questionnaire using this form or use the QR code below.
Codes cannot be requested via email and will be sent directly from Transport for West Midlands. The form must be completed to assess eligibility.
What you need to know about isolation rooms
At Midland Met, we have isolation rooms throughout the hospital. These isolations rooms are used for the care of highly infectious and/or immuno-supressed patients.
It is crucial that these rooms are used correctly so that patient safety is not compromised.
Below are some pointers to ensure the isolation rooms are used correctly:
- To ensure the ventilation system correctly operates all doors into and within the suite must be fully closed.
- Failure to fully close the doors will cause the system to go into alarm.
- In the event of the red light above the door, and the alarm activating, please check all doors are fully closed. If this doesn’t resolve the issue please contact Estates on ext 4444. You will need to quote the door number which is located on the door as shown with the image that begins with 07.
Do you want to care share and priority park?
We have partnered with KINTO Join and the Integrated Care System (ICS) so that colleagues can buddy up and car share to get to/from work. The app also allows for cycling and walking in groups and is free to use. Car sharing, walking and cycling via the app allows colleagues to share journeys to.
There will be car sharing priority bays at MMUH. To use these, you must register with Kinto.
If you would like to know more and join a quick demo, please register for one of the 30-minute demo sessions by clicking the links below
To download the app, use the QR code or click here.
← Older items Newer items →