Monthly archives: November 2024
Special delivery – welcome to maternity, neonates and gynae
Today is a momentous day as we’ve completed our second patient move day, welcoming maternity, neonatal and gynaecology services to Midland Met.
One by one, expectant mums arrived at our new maternity department, which includes a midwife led birthing unit with 15 birthing rooms, a delivery suite, two maternity wards, a neonatal unit and antenatal services. As part of the move, we’ve welcomed 18 mums, 12 babies, and 12 neonatal patients with seven admissions in gynae.
As new and expectant mums made their way into the hospital, they were warmly welcomed, and we’re pleased to say three babies have been born so far at Midland Met.
Our first arrival was baby Mona Lisa, is snuggled up in her Midland Met babygrow. Her proud dad shared his thoughts on his new bundle of joy and how much this moment means to him and his family.
Works on the M5 between junction 3 and junction 4a: 18 – 29 November
There will essential works taking place on the M5 between junction 3 and junction 4 will include drainage maintenance, safety barrier repairs, litter picking, sweeping the carriageway and vegetation clearance.
It has been expected, that this will cause significant delays on the surrounding roads.
With this in mind, we advise colleagues to plan in advance and allow extra time when travelling to and from our hospital sites during this period.
Details around the works can be found below including images.
Monday 18 November – Friday 22 November – Full overnight closure of the M5 southbound between junction 3 and junction 4a. During this time, there will be no access to Moto Frankley M5 Southbound Services.
Monday 25 November – Friday 29 November – Full overnight closure of the M5 northbound between junction 4a and junction 3. During this time, there will be no access to Moto Frankley M5 Northbound Services.
Limited Think Glucose support: 7 and 8 November
There will be limited Think Glucose support on Thursday 7 November and Friday 8 November, 8am – 4pm.
All referrals to the service should be done via Unity.
IT maintenance affecting Connect: 25 November, 2am – 6am
Please be aware an essential IT maintenance will be taking place on Monday 25 November 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 printing services at Sandwell: 24 November, 2am – 6am
Please be aware essential IT Patching will be taking place on Sunday 24 November to ensure the Trust’s printing server remains stable. The work is being carried out by IT and is scheduled to begin at 2am for approximately four hours and should be completed by 6am.
During this time, the following service will be unavailable for up to 30 minutes during the above time:
- Equitrac printing services at Sandwell – 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.
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.
The People’s Gallery opening exhibition – join us for a photography walk on 15 November
Do you like photography or would like to learn how to take that special image?
We are offering a unique opportunity to help create the first exhibition in the People’s Gallery at MMUH and make some lasting memories of our hospital.
Artist, Tom Hicks, is leading a photography walk for staff on Friday 15 November, 12pm at Sandwell.
Known for capturing the region through his unique aesthetic via the project: ‘Black Country Type’, Tom will share some of his own photographs that celebrate the City Road and Sandwell General Hospital sites. You will then be invited to go on your own creative journey to take photographs of the hospital. Some of these photographs will be selected to feature in the exhibition alongside Tom’s.
All you need is a mobile phone with a camera.
Places are limited and will be offered on a first come first serve basis. To book your place please email sandra.taylor55@nhs.net.
Important information about Pathology move from City to MMUH
As you will be aware, On Sunday 10 November, the Pathology services at City site will close following transfer of patients to MMUH. The City laboratories will remain open until 5pm on Sunday 10 November as a contingency.
- Biochemistry: The Biochemistry service will be unable to accept add on tests between 4pm on Sunday 10 November until 9am on Monday 11 November. If additional tests are required during this period, a new request and fresh sample will need to be sent to the lab at MMUH.
- Haematology: Throughout the patient transition the Haematology department will be able to continue to process add on requests as normal, but it will be necessary to call the lab at MMUH to alert them of the add on request to assure that it is processed in a timely fashion.
- Blood Transfusion: No issued blood will be remaining at City when the site closes at 5pm.
GoodShape is our new sickness management system – training sessions available: 25 – 26 November
GoodShape is our new sickness absence management system, which will launch on Monday 11 December.
The benefits include:
Improved operational oversight: You’ll have real-time visibility into absence trends and patterns, allowing for swift, data-driven decisions to mitigate potential impacts on service delivery.
Enhanced resource planning: The system provides a dynamic view of staff availability, aiding in workforce planning and ensuring continuity across departments.
Streamlined absence recording: The automated system allows managers and employees to record and monitor absences quickly and easily, freeing up valuable time and reducing manual input.
To support you with getting to grips with the system, we have setup some line manager training sessions via Microsoft Teams:
Monday 25 November
Tuesday 26 November
Pay award for November confirmed
The Governments pay offer to Medics has been agreed and eligible staff will receive the increase and arrears as part of their pay in November 2024.
It is recognised that it may be preferable for some staff to receive these payments in multiple instalments rather than together in a single lump sum. An example of this might be when individuals receive Universal Credit payments, where any changes to monthly income will directly impact the value of these payments.
Step 1: Staff would need to consider the potential impacts of spreading the payments across multiple months. For example, if an individual claims Universal Credit, any lump sum or backdated earnings may affect how much Universal Credit is received in the month they are paid. Please see this Universal Credit guidance for further information.
Colleagues should access appropriate advice before submitting a request (for example, through the Universal Credit helpline or Citizens Advice) to understand how receiving these payments in multiple instalments may impact their situation.
Step 2: Consider the timeframe over which payments should be spread based on advice received at step 1 on their situation, subject to a maximum of 5 instalments (maximum 5 based on the end of the tax year). Once selected, this cannot be amended. If you leave prior to the end of the instalment period, all outstanding instalments will be paid in the final salary payment.
Step 3: Any colleague wishing to take up this option must complete the details in the pay award spreadsheet and email to swb-tr.swbh-gm-payroll-offmgr@nhs.net, requests should be made as soon as possible and by 11th November 2024 to ensure payroll deadlines are met. Due to the timescales and additional work required, requests received after this date will NOT be actioned, only complete spreadsheets will be accepted.
For more information please contact email swb-tr.swbh-gm-payroll-offmgr@nhs.net
Essential IT maintenance affecting IT systems: Wednesday 6 November, 10pm – midnight
Please be aware essential IT maintenance will be taking place on Wednesday 6 November, 10pm – midnight to ensure our IT systems remain stable and secure.
During this time, the following services will be briefly unavailable for a few minutes at around 10pm:
- 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.
- Menumark catering system
- 4Ways imaging system
- AEGIS Pathology system
- Circle Cardiology Imaging system
- ICE system
- Auditbase
- ChemoCare
- MediConnect Cardiology system
- Siemans Rapidcom system
- Dawn Anticoag services
- Sentinel Cardiology services
We would recommend that affected areas that operate 24/7 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.
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