Monthly archives: January 2025

Development and implementation of Local Patient Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures

Updated standards for National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs 2) were introduced in 2023. These standards provided a structured approach to safety of procedures performed inside or outside of operating theatres. These improvements were done to standardise, harmonise and educate teams to reduce errors and further enhance teamworking. The implementation ‘key stop/s’ culture was put into place to act like a gatekeeper before continuing onto the next step of the pathway, this input made sure a further supporting mechanism was in place for the checklist.

The NatSSIPs 2 standards should be used to develop your own Local Patient Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (LocSSIPs). LocSSIPs are basically Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) used as a checklist to that ensure safe care is delivered to patients undergoing invasive procedures inside and outside of operating theatres. The eight sequential steps to follow for safer invasive procedures in your checklist are:

Do you want to update/develop a LocSSIP checklist? The clinical effectiveness can provide interested teams with help and support to update/develop their LocSSIPs. For more information please email swbh.auditteam-clineffec@nhs.net

Note: LocSSIP must follow Trust policy – you can access the policy by clicking here.

Cold Weather Alert: Amber,17 January – 21 January

The Met Office has released a widespread Amber Cold  Weather Alert across the West Midlands which will take place from Friday 17 January from 6pm to Tuesday 21 January 9am.

What to expect:

• Forecast weather is likely to have minor impacts on health and social care services including:
• increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people
• greater risk to life of vulnerable people.

This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Please refer to the Trust’s Severe weather plan.

All areas should have business continuity plans agreed with their staff. These should include:

• Working with colleagues regarding their ability to report for work if transport systems are affected
• Agreeing working arrangements for severe weather in advance, including potentially the need for staff to stay overnight

Colleagues are expected to make every reasonable effort to attend work (including using public transport when they wouldn’t normally) providing it is safe to do so.

• If not able to reach their normal base, to attend an alternative base if that is easier to reach.
• To work from home (if applicable and agreed with their manager)
• Colleagues unable to attend work or work from home, to notify their managers ASAP and are required to either take the day as annual leave or time in lieu (to be agreed locally).
• Colleagues who are able to walk in but are not rostered to work may be asked to support their work area.  This is not mandatory and will be based on mutual agreement and rescheduling of work duties

Please ensure that all staff contact details are up to date and that you have a plan in place so that you are aware of any issues at the departmental level.

Unity printing maintenance: 16 January, 10pm – 11pm

Please be aware essential Unity maintenance will be taking place on Thursday 16 January to ensure the supporting infrastructure remains secure and security compliant. The work is scheduled to begin at 10pm for approximately one hour and should be completed by 11pm.

During this time Unity will remain fully available; however from 10pm until 11pm on Thursday 16 January Unity printing will be unavailable for up to one hour at the following site locations:

• Sandwell – all areas
• City – all areas
• BMEC – all areas
• BTC – all areas

o This will affect specimen label, requisition, and pharmacy printing.

o Any print jobs submitted during this time will be held and printed once the print servers come back online.

If clinical staff are due to collect a sample between time above, we would advise them to wait until specimen labelling functionality returns. If staff have a very urgent specimen to collect that cannot wait to collect and send to pathology, then a manual pathology request form will need to be completed and sent with the sample. It is envisaged that this requirement will be rare and unlikely at those times.

The activity will be closely monitored by our IT support teams.

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.

Black Country Healthcare: ‘Shine a Light’ Dementia Choir

The Shine a Light dementia singing group is for people with dementia and their carers. This is a fun, free opportunity to connect with others and share the joy of singing.

There will be 10 sessions followed by a final group performance.

No experience is necessary and sessions are supported by healthcare professionals experienced in dementia.

The sessions will occur every Monday starting from Monday 14 January through to Monday 24 March, 11am – 1pm and will be held at: YMCA Western Gateway, 38 Carters Green, West Bromwich, B70 9LG.

Free Yoga classes at Sandwell

Join us for free Yoga sessions every Monday from 4.45pm – 5.45pm at Sandwell, Berridge Suite.

Classes are for all levels and beginners are welcome. Mats will also be provided.

What to bring:

• Comfortable clothing
• Water bottle
• Open mind and positive energy

For more information and to register your interest in Yoga, please call 0121 507 4022 or email Phoebe.leadbeater@nhs.net.

Car parking at Midland Met

We have recently carried out some work to re-configure some of the parking spaces at Midland Met.

You will have probably noticed the priority parking spaces have been moved to level 1 from level 0 – this is to enable quick access to spaces for those who need to access the building in a rush.

We have increased the availability of car parking spaces by removing the car share spaces that were originally on level 0.

The additional parking on level 0 can be accessed by entering the car park as usual (from London Street) and taking the ramp down to level 0.

The new priority spaces are clearly marked, and you will find them by lift core D (blue) and E (lime green)

These can be used by staff who fall into the following categories:

• Emergency on-call
• Cath lab on-call
• Disabled members of staff who are waiting for a Blue Badge
• Temporary disability – to enable colleagues to park close to the entrance if they have a temporary disability
• Community Midwives
• Official car sharers
• Other staff at the discretion of the Car Parking Appeals Panel; this may include, for example, an individual who may be deemed at risk

If you believe you need a priority car park pass, you should contact sandwellpermits@q-park.co.uk

Note: Your application must include your name, department, job title and clearly state the reasons why you need a priority windscreen permit so the application can be processed promptly.

To use our car-sharing spaces, please download the Kinto app and register by clicking here.

Overflow car parking

If you cannot park in level 1 or level 0, please use the overflow parking on the former Balfour Beatty site office car park which is located off Cranford Street.

You can access the hospital via the turnstiles, then walk across the level 0 car park to gain access to the nearest lift core.

We politely ask that staff avoid parking on nearby neighbouring streets where possible. 

100 days strong and counting

As we marked our first 100 days at Midland Met on 14 January 2025, we’re reflecting on how much we’ve achieved. In just over three months, we’ve pulled off three site moves into our new hospital and that was just the start of it all.

Thank you to everyone, wherever you’re based, for your hard work and flexibility. You have kept our services running smoothly making this a real team effort. Here’s a look at some of our ‘firsts’ in the past 100 days.

Want to see what we’ve been up to in our first 100 days? Here’s a recap – 100 days in 100 seconds. 

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edfxa-qGQEs[/embedyt]

This is what colleagues had to say about their first 100 days in Midland Met. 

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcnBxNfk_CY[/embedyt]

Student Nurse Associate Study Days

The Student Nurse Associate team are hosting their facilitated study dates throughout the year:

• Monday 20 January
• Thursday 30 January
• Tuesday 4 February
• Monday 10 February
• Thursday 20 February
• Friday 28 February
• Friday 7 March
• Wednesday 12 March
• Monday 17 March
• Wednesday 26 March

For more information please email stacey.price@nhs.net

Do you need help reducing your alcohol intake this January?

As part of Dry January our Alcohol Awareness Team are hosting an information stand on Level 5, adjacent to M&S, on Friday 17 January, 12pm – 2pm

If you would like to find out more information about how you can reduce your alcohol intake then please pop on by!

Star Awards 2025: More than a Hospital Award

Have you recognised an individual or team, internal or external, who has gone above and beyond their core responsibilities to make a significant, positive impact on patients, the public, and the community?

Why not nominate them for the More than a Hospital Award at the upcoming Star Awards!

Please complete the nomination form by clicking here with as much detail as possible about your nominee. The closing date for all nominations is Friday 31 January, 5pm.

If you have any questions regarding the Star Awards, please contact the communications team on 0121 507 5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net.