Monthly archives: December 2024
Health Tech Newspaper Online Panel Volunteers
HTN are inviting you or your teams to join their online panel discussions. They welcome all who are involved in a particular programme, project, or collaboration that is underway which fits with any of the planned sessions, to support knowledge sharing.
To view their previous webinars click here
Panel Topics and Dates–
22 January – How is digital supporting patient flow? – 10am-11am
23 January – Digital in supporting NHS reforms: focus to modernise services, the role of digital for shifting from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and from sickness to prevention – 11am-12pm
5 February – Transformation in Women’s health; the role of digital and data to meet healthcare needs and support transformation – 10am-11am
12 February – The practicalities of AI technologies; implementation, data, bias, adoption, policies, best practices – 10am-11am
18 February – Secrets of successful NHS workforce transformation – 12pm-1pm
19 February – What does the future of patient portals look like? – 10am-11am
26 February – Cyber security in healthcare: sharing best practices – 10am-11am
12 March – Exploring how NHS trusts are utilising communication tech – 10am-11am
19 March – Digital from international leaders perspectives – 1pm-2pm
26 March – Post go-live best practices and learnings – 10am-11am
23 April – Approaches to optimising and adding value to EPRs – 10am-11am
29 April – Virtual wards in practice: approaches and learnings / What does the future of virtual wards look like? – 10am-11am
7 May – The role of the CNIO in digital transformation, now and in the future – 10am-11am
14 May – Improving patient outcomes and best practices with EPMA – 10am-11am
21 May – How can we digitally empower patients? What does good look like for a digital patient journey? If we could design the ideal pathway, what would it look like? – 10am-11am
4 June – Moving from reactive to proactive care – 10am-11am
11 June – Building digital literacy, confidence and skills – workforce – 10am-1pm
18 June – Best practices with managing infrastructure and legacy systems – 10am-11am
25 June – How to harness data for total triage in primary care – 10am-11am
16 July – The future of digital in supporting elective care, waitlist management – 10am-11am
12 August – Transforming primary care, examples of innovation, data and change – 10am-11am
20 August – How can digital help prepare for winter pressures? – 10am-11am
27 August – AI – meeting regulation and tackling bias in data – 10am-11am
3 September – Digital apps and wearables – 10am-11am
1 October – Scaling health technologies – 10am-11am
8 October – How can digital improve urgent and emergency care? – 10am-11am
15 October – Technology optimisation and adding value from current investments – 10am-11am
22 October – Interoperability: where we are today and how can we make progress? – 10am-11am
29 October – Artificial intelligence in practice across the NHS: what can we learn? – 10am-11am
19 November – How is digital and data supporting population health management – 10am-11am
26 November – What does the CIO role look like in 5 – 10 years time? – 10am-11am
If you would like to be added as a representative of a panel please email jennifer@htn.co.uk
West Midland Maternal Medicine Network – 13 January
West Midland Maternal Medicine Network will be hosting a webinar facilitated by Dr Melanie Nana from Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital on Monday 13 January, 6.30pm – 7.30pm.
All colleagues are welcome to join this event which will be taking place on Microsoft Teams. Colleagues can join by clicking here.
Note: Staff must use an NHS email address when signing up and logging into this event.
For more information please email carole.edwards9@nhs.net
A Christmas message from Richard Beeken
To celebrate the first Christmas at Midland Met, Richard Beeken shares his thoughts on the opening of our new hospital.
NHS Smartcards maintenance: 11 January 9am – 4pm
Please be aware essential national NHS Smartcard maintenance will be taking place on Saturday 11 January from 9am through to 4pm.
During this period we will not be able to issue new smartcards or reset passwords on smartcards, however cards already in use will remain fully functional.
The work is scheduled to begin at 9.00am and should be completed by 4pm.
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.
M&S and Greggs opening times at MMUH during the festive period
The M&S and Greggs retail units at MMUH will have reduced opening hours during the festive period.
These can be found below. Note: If the date is not listed, usual opening times remain in place.
M&S:
- Tuesday 24 December, 7am – 6pm
- Wednesday 25 December, closed
- Thursday 26 December, 8am – 5pm
- Tuesday 31 December, 7am – 6pm
- Wednesday 1 January, 8am – 6pm
Greggs:
- Tuesday 24 December, 9am – 5pm
- Wednesday 25 December, closed
- Thursday 26 December, 9am – 5pm
- Tuesday 31 December, 9am – 5pm
- Wednesday 1 January, 9am – 5pm
Friday Message from Rachel Barlow – Friday 20 December
At Trust Management Committee which took place earlier this week, I started the meeting by asking the team to share their reflections and words that sum up what has been a momentous year for us all, and I wanted to start this week’s Friday message by sharing a couple of them with you and I hope that they are things that really resonate with you all.
Teamwork: Many of you will have heard me say this before, but opening Midland Met was a team sport. Everyone played their role by supporting one another, sharing knowledge, and working collaboratively. This meant that we were able to turn challenges into opportunities and deliver a building and a care model, which has our community services at its heart, that will benefit our local community for generations to come.
Resilience: This has been a journey 10 years in the making – and I know many of you will have been involved with Midland Met from before a brick was even laid. Every step of a journey presents its own hurdles, and Midland Met has had many! But there is a saying (or a song!) that says, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ and that cannot be truer of what I have witnessed on our journey to opening. You all came into your own, particularly towards the end, when we completed six months’ worth of activation in just six weeks – but throughout the project we have all shown great resilience to stay focussed on our mission of opening a worldclass healthcare facility regardless of what construction or COVID threw at us.
As we had into 2025 in just a couple of weeks’ time, lets continue to stay united, resilient, and committed to making a difference to our patients, people, and our population.
2024 has been a phenomenal year, and hopefully you will have seen the launch of our 2025 Star Awards yesterday. Themed ‘The Met Gala,’ these will take place earlier than usual on 14 March 2025, and have eight categories dedicated to Midland Met, alongside eight of our usual Star Awards categories.
Please do look at the information and give some thought to those colleagues or teams who you think have really gone above and beyond this year – I think it might be a record-breaking year, and I think it will be a real challenge for our judging panel to whittle down the nominations to the final shortlist.
You can find more information here.
Earlier this week, we issued some information regarding a difficult decision we have had to make regarding bank rates. It’s no secret that that we, alongside the whole NHS, are facing financial challenges. You will know that we have our own financial improvement programme with a target of saving £44m.
This decision has not been made lightly and is not one that is unique to Sandwell and West Birmingham, with all acute Trusts within the Black Country Integrated Care System making the same move and aligning bank rates across the system.
I understand this is incredibly disappointing for many of you and thank you to those who have given us their feedback. In January, we will be holding some drop-in sessions with both senior nursing and HR leads for you to seek support or ask any questions you may have. Look out for the dates and locations of these which will be published shortly.
Finally, with Christmas just around the corner, I hope you all can take a well-deserved break, spend time with your family and friends, and recharge for the year ahead. Time spent with family and friends is invaluable, and it’s essential to rest and rejuvenate so we can continue to provide the best possible care to our communities.
Thank you to those who will be working over the festive period and thank you for everything you do. I wish you all a joyful, peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year.
Take care and enjoy your time with loved ones – you’ve earned it!
GoodShape: Our new sickness management system – what you need to know
To help ensure you can access immediate support and a streamlined process, we encourage you to report any unplanned absences from work using the GoodShape App.
Download, register and log in to the GoodShape App by Tuesday 31 December to be in with a chance to win £200!
The GoodShape App can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. iPhone users will need to use the Meraki App to download the GoodShape App and Android users will need to use the Google Play Store to download the GoodShape App. If you do not know your password, select the forgotten password option when logging in and you will be emailed a link to reset your password to your NHS account.
Alternatively, you can report absences via GoodShape central at www.goodshapecentral.com or calling 03330154155.
We have also produced GoodShape staff FAQs should colleagues want further information.
Should you have any additional queries, you can also reach out to our dedicated MS Teams GoodShape chat by messaging Goodshape.AssistanceHub@nhs.net.
Missed the GoodShape manager training? We will be hosting additional training sessions in January:
Tuesday 14 January:
Wednesday 22 January:
You can also access a recording of one of the previous sessions here and as well and list to all the questions and answers from all the sessions by clicking here.
Are you feeling stressed and anxious? Reach out to our MHFAiders
There are plenty of different types of mental health support out there, and a trained Mental Health First Aider (known as a MHFAider) can help you access them.
MHFAiders are a point of contact if you, or someone you are concerned about, are experiencing poor mental health or emotional distress. They are not therapists or psychiatrists, but they can give you initial support and signpost you to appropriate help if required.
Our MHFAiders are colleagues from within the Trust, from a range of different professions, grades, departments and Trust locations, with a desire to help others. They are trained to provide first aid support for people experiencing mental health concerns.
Find a MHFAider by clicking here
Note: Our MHFAiders are not an emergency service and may be working clinically.
Interesting in becoming a trained Mental Health First Aider? Click here to find out how to access the training: Mental Health First Aid Training
There’s a free hot chocolate waiting for you!
As part of our 12 days of Christmas, we’re offering our colleagues a free hot chocolate at MMUH on level 5 in the Winter Garden.
We’ll be serving these delicious drinks on following days:
Thursday 19 December – 2pm – 4pm
Friday 20 December – 8pm – 10pm
Saturday 21 December – 2pm – 4pm.
All SWB sites are smoke free
We’re reminding colleagues that all our sites are smoke free for staff, patients and the public.
With Midland Met now open, we’d like to point out places on site that are appropriate for smokers to go to. We are also pleased to inform you that smoking signage will be put in place as of tomorrow, Friday 20 December. Additionally, please see our designated vaping areas, located at the front of the building as well.
Whilst we understand that smoke free zones are difficult to police, we advise that security remain as the main point of contact to enforce the smoke free policy, particularly when dealing with patients. This is the same across all our SWB sites.
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