Monthly archives: November 2024

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Dudley Road Entrance to City will close from 2 January

With most of our services now moved to MMUH, and for work to progress with the Dudley Road Improvement Scheme, from Thursday 2 January the Dudley Road entrance and exit to City Health Campus will be permanently closed for staff, patients and visitors.

From Thursday 2 January, all traffic access to the City Health Campus will be via Western Road.

If you drive to and from City as part of your job, please allow extra time for your journey.

Changes in Logistics

Now the Procurement and Logistics service at SWB is up and running, stakeholders newly transitioning from City to MMUH should be reminded that the Logistics combines a number of specialties that were previously separate – including waste, linen, non-patient facing portering, materials management, receipts and distribution, sterile services, theatres stores, the post room and transport.

See below a summary of the important changes that you need to be aware of:

Waste: The process for the movement, collection and disposal of waste will remain as before, but all Logistics Operatives will now work to a pre-defined schedule.  The schedules have been developed based on the expected levels of activity.  Copies of the schedules will be made available via separate Comms.

Linen: There is no change to the existing service. The Elis (external supplier) contract has been extended by 12 months.  For MMUH, there will be pre-packed deliveries to each ward area.

Non-patient facing portering: the Logistics team will be responsible for the distribution of:

• Pathology samples
• Medical gases to hubs (in partnership with portering)
• Medical pumps
• Pharmacy Items

Materials Management/Scan4Safety: The materials management team has been rebranded as the Scan4Safety Team, led by Lisa Southall. The new Scan4Safety Team will provide a full ordering and stock put away service for managed items. Stock levels will be managed by the new inventory management system (Genesis). The team has implemented standardised stock rooms to make things easier for clinical staff.

Receipts and distribution: The team are operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The City Warehouse will close in 2025.  At MMUH, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) will operate alongside logistics personnel. A video relating to the AGVs can be found here.

Theatres stores: The team has been rebranded Theatres Scan4Safety. The Team will order and put away stock for theatres.  Stock will be tracked using barcode technology.

The post room: There will be a post sorting area at Sandwell, City and MMUH. Sandwell will be the main hub for the Trust and will become a central sortation area. Royal Mail delivery will be at 8am each day. Royal Mail collection will be up to 8pm. Post will be distributed by the Logistics team between 10am and 2pm each day. BMEC samples will continue to receive Tracking IDs for Unique Samples on site at City.

Transport: The shuttle bus is now stopping at MMUH, as well as continuing with journeys to City and Sandwell. The full shuttle bus schedule can be found here. Community routes and transport routes (including new Pathology routes) between City, Sandwell and MMUH will change from Sunday 10 November, timings have been shared with stakeholders.

To contact our Logistics team across any of our sites during Monday – Friday, 7.15am – 6.30pm, please call 0121 507 3869 and select option four.

Should you need to contact Logistics outside of these hours, please see numbers below:

• MMUH: 0121 507 5846
• Sandwell: 0121 507 3135
• City: 0121 507 4945

Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 29 November

Sunday (1 December) marks three weeks since Midland Met became a fully operational hospital.  I have been looking on with real pride, as colleagues from different teams have come together, taking the best of what worked at City and Sandwell and forging their new Midland Met way – and long may this continue. I said when we moved, that we couldn’t just bring our old ways of working into this wonderful new building, we needed to adapt and change, and I am pleased to see this is happening.

Although there have been a few teething problems (and please continue to raise when things aren’t right – we are, and will do something about it) we have already seen some real positives. These include:

• Ambulance Turnaround: Although we are receiving the highest volume of ambulances in the region – we are currently delivering some of the best turnaround time – well done to everyone involved in this
• ED Performance: Our ED performance has improved by 3% during the first month
• Critical patient pathways: We have seen no incidents across our 41 critical patient flows in the first 30 days – this hasn’t happened by chance – this is due to the meticulous planning and rehearsal of these flows
• Improved Environments: Our patients are benefitting some so much natural light, and their privacy and dignity has improved due to the number of side rooms available in Midland Met. Another example of improved environment is in the Neonatal Unit – where the space is bigger, lighting is improved, and the noise is reduced. This has meant that our tiniest patients are much calmer and more settled – all of which aids their journey to getting strong enough to go home.

Not bad for just under three weeks – lets keep going.

Our MMUH journey has given us much to be proud of – in how we redesigned services before the move, in how we delivered significant reductions in unnecessary admissions to hospital, in how we planned and executed the move and in how the hospital is starting to deliver better experience for staff and patients.  We have been keen to tell this story and got a further opportunity to do so yesterday, when the NHS Confederation visited for the whole afternoon.  Sir David, Rachel Barlow, Laura Broster and I gave them a guided tour of key areas (ward A9, Maternity, Neonates and ED) and told our story as we walked.  The enthusiasm and professionalism of our staff shone through, and the Confed team were hugely impressed.  They will be showcasing our work in articles and podcasts and will be advocating our story to mainstream media outlets keen to understand how the NHS can improve and transform in the coming years.

You may have seen in the media today, that the Quality Care Commission has released their report into an inspection they carried out in our maternity services in June this year. This resulted in us receiving a ‘requires improvement’ rating. We recognised that our maternity service was not performing to the standard we expect earlier this and proactively sought a peer review, which then resulted in an inspection visit from the CQC.

As expected, the result wasn’t good, but since June, the senior leadership team within Women and Child Health have worked tirelessly to implement improvements and, coupled with the eradication of most of the environmental factors by the move to a fantastic new maternity department in Midland Met, we are confident that our service is unrecognisable from the one that was inspected earlier this year.

I know these reports can feel disheartening, but they also serve as a foundation for improvement and growth. Our focus now is on learning from the past and ensuring that the care we provide not only meets, but exceeds expectations, in what is now a state-of-the-art environment. To those colleagues in maternity, I encourage you to take pride in how far you’ve come and continue to approach this new chapter with optimism and determination.

Finally – Sunday is 1 December and officially the start of the festive season and why I certainly don’t mean to be ‘The Grinch,’ please make sure you are aware of the dos and don’ts of Christmas decorations – particularly for those working on wards in Midland Met. The guidance was circulated on Thursday and you can read it here if you missed it.

Next week (Thursday 5 December) will see the official Midland Met Christmas lights switch on. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the Winter Garden from 4.30pm – I am sure there will be some festive treats on offer too.

Have a good weekend.

Kind regards,

Richard

One Health and Care system maintenance: 2 December, 1pm – 4pm

Please be advised the One Health and Care system will be undergoing essential maintenance on Monday 2 December between 1pm – 4pm.

During this time the One Health and Care link in Unity may not return any data, this will have no impact on any other Trust system and the rest of Unity will continue work as expected. The Health Information Exchange (HIE) will also continue to work as expected during this time allowing access to West Birmingham and Sandwell GP records.

Colleagues should not use the system during the maintenance window as data may only be partially complete.

SWB Disability History Awareness event: 2 December

Join us for the first disability history event on Monday 2 December inside the conference room at Sandwell Education Centre from 1pm -3pm.

If you would like to know anymore information please contact the Disability and Long-Standing Condition Network Chair via email siobhan.whitehouse@nhs.net.

Free Bus Travel across the West Midlands for NHS Staff

To support our commitment to Sustainability, we have been working with Transport for West Midlands and National Express Bus to offer staff and patients bus discounts and free trials to help encourage a modal shift to reduce emissions and improve local air quality. In the Black Country, over 1,500 staff members claimed one-month free bus travel in 2023/24, saving them a total of £134,000!

We’re continuing this amazing project with Transport for West Midlands and expanding the offer to one-month free travel and two months with 25 per cent off. We hope this increased offer will encourage long-term behaviour change for staff and patients across the Black Country.

Across the West Midlands, the Bus Improvement Scheme has supported over 2,900 NHS staff members saving 774 tonnes of CO2e and 106,194 bus journeys between July and November 2024.

Staff should keep their eyes peeled for the next round of free travel for existing staff in the New Year.

Payroll timetable for Christmas and New Year 2024/2025

The payroll timetable for the Christmas and New Year period can be found below.

Christmas and New Year 2024-2025

If you would like further information about pay dates during this time or throughout the year, please contact the Payroll team on 0121 507 6655.

Diwali celebrations at MMUH: 2 December

On Monday 2 December our Chaplaincy team are hosting a Diwali celebration inside their Spiritual Care Centre at Midland Met.

The event will start at 12.30pm with prayers and refreshments.

We are sorry for the delay in celebrating Diwali, but we do hope you can join the team in doing so.

Freestyle Precision Pro Glucose and Ketone Meter Training

The next Freestyle Precision Pro Glucose and Ketone Meter Training will be held at MMUH in Room 501, Lift D, level 5 as follows:

On Wednesday 29 January between the hours of

• 10am – 11am
• 11am – 12pm
• 12pm  – 1pm
• 1pm  – 2pm

Please book and confirm your place in advance by emailing Point of Care – swb-tr.swbh-poct@nhs.net