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Monthly archives: January 2025

Star Awards 2025: Volunteer of the Year 

 

Do you know an individual who has made a significant impact to our Trust whilst volunteering while showing selflessness and determination to support the people around them?

Why not nominate them for the Volunteer of the Year 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

ED (Resus) blood fridge: Out of Action

 

The Emergency Department (Resus) Blood Issue Fridge is currently out of action due to an issue with the fridge. Emergency O Negs are available from the Blood Transfusion Lab on Level 4 (Pathology).

An engineer has been out to resolve the issue, however that has not happened. The Blood Transfusion team are working hard to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

In the event, emergency blood is required, contact the lab on Ext 3196.

Help us improve our logistics services

 

We’re always looking for ways to make the logistics service at accessible and as effective as possible for everyone.

Now we’ve been in our new home since October 2024, we’d like to hear your views about our logistics service, specifically what’s working well and where we can improve.

To help us understand your experience, we’ve compiled a quick survey. It’s short – only takes a few minutes to complete – and your feedback will make a big difference. By sharing your thoughts, we’ll be able to focus on areas you’ve highlighted to help us create a better service for you and everyone who uses the logistics service.

Click the below link to take the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/logistics_operations

Thank you for your time and input.

Important Message from Diane Wake and Mel Roberts

 

Dear colleagues,

You may be aware of the recent and deeply concerning incident involving a nurse who was stabbed in the A&E department of Royal Oldham Hospital. Although this did not occur within our organisation, this is a distressing and shocking incident and we understand how upsetting and unsettling this news can be, particularly for those working in similar environments.

We want to reassure you that your safety and wellbeing remain our highest priority. While incidents like this are rare, they highlight the importance of vigilance and robust safety measures. We are reviewing our own protocols to ensure they are as strong as possible and continuing to work with security teams to maintain a safe workplace for everyone.

We also want to remind you that support is available. If this news has affected you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your line manager or the health and wellbeing team, where confidential support is available here.

These situations are a stark reminder of the incredible work you do every day in caring for others, often under challenging circumstances. Please know how much you are valued and appreciated, and don’t hesitate to share any concerns or ideas about improving safety or support.

We are here for one another, and we encourage you to look out for your colleagues and take care of yourselves during this time.

Thank you, as always, for your dedication and professionalism.

Signed by Diane Wake, Chief Executive and Mel Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer.

Star Awards 2025: Rising Star of the Year

 

Have you recognised an individual who has shown exceptional promise and rapid development, demonstrating the potential to become a future leader or an expert in their field?

Why don’t you nominate them for the Rising Star of the Year 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.

 

Rescheduled: Essential Unity Maintenance 13 January, 8pm – 14 January 12.30am

 

Due to technical queries the essential Unity Maintenance scheduled for this evening has been deferred by support vendor Cerner/Oracle. We will of course advise when the activity is ready to be rescheduled.

Please be aware an essential Unity Maintenance will be taking place on Monday 13 January, 8pm overnight to Tuesday 14 January 12am by our support vendor to ensure the Trust’s EPR system remains up to date and compliant. This work is scheduled for approximately 4 hours.

During this time Unity should remain fully available.

As part of this activity, the Trust will not have any resilience in place for all Unity services if an unexpected issue were to occur and we go into unplanned Unity downtime. We would therefore recommend that all areas have their business continuity plans and 724 Unity downtime computers on standby during the above time.

The activity will be closely monitored by Oracle and 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.

 

Surgical Services – Open Days

 

Surgical Services held a recruitment event on Saturday 11 January at Sandwell Medical Campus however the event was by application/invitation to interview only. Surgical Services want to apologise for the misinformation that was distributed surrounding this.

 Surgical Services do not hold recruitment days in the Trust unless it has been advertised and communicated by SWBH directly. All recruitment is by application, invite and interview only.

 

Financial Improvement Programme: Unlocking the power of clinical coding

 

As part of our ongoing Financial Improvement Programme (FIP), we will be sharing regular updates on our progress and highlighting key areas of work.

Clinical Coding – clinical coding, simply explained, is turning doctors’ notes into a universal language that can then be used for analysis.

You may be asking yourself; how does that benefit SWB – clinical coding helps us identify how we are treating our patients and the severity of their conditions. This information helps drive improvements in care. Additionally, it serves as the mechanism for receiving payment for the treatment we provide.

Though this doesn’t specifically save us money, this work ensures we are getting paid for the care we deliver. To date, we have identified over £10 million that we are owed and have realised more than 60 per cent of the total.

Thank you to all departments for their dedication to coding accuracy!

To see how we are doing on the financial progress tracker click here

Essential Equitrac printing services maintenance:15 January, 8pm – 10pm

 

Please be aware essential IT maintenance will be taking place on Wednesday 15 January from 8pm to 10pm to ensure the supporting infrastructure remains secure and security compliant. The work is scheduled to begin at 8pm for approximately two hours and should be completed by 10pm.

During this time Equitrac printing services – Ricoh MFD (multi-functional device) printers and scan to email functionality will be unavailable at City and Sandwell locations.

All other printing such as labels, pathology specimen and desktop printing will remain available as normal.

This timeslot has been chosen as a quieter time operationally and 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.

Drug Safety Notice – Aactive Colecalciferol 2000uiml

 

Problem

  • TriOn Pharma is recalling two food supplement products. Aactive D3 Drops and Aactive D3.
  • Solution because they contain higher levels of vitamin D3 than written on the label.
  • Excessive intakes of vitamin D can cause various adverse health effects because of
    hypercalcaemia (high blood calcium level). Symptoms and signs may include anorexia,
    nausea, vomiting, weakness, lethargy, constipation and non-specific aches and pains, as well as thirst, polyuria, weight loss and cardiac dysrhythmias.
  • Patients admitted to hospital may have received the food supplement pictured below in
    primary care

Action

  • TriOn Pharma is recalling the above products. Point of sale notices will be displayed in all retail stores that are selling these products. These notices explain to customers why the
    products are being recalled and what to do if they have bought the products. Please see the attached notice.
  • SWBH does not stock or supply these products, but patients may be using them.
  • When taking a drug history, enquire if the patient is taking Colecalciferol supplements
    and confirm the brand.
  • If patients are found to have the recalled food supplement they should return them
    to the place of purchase.

For more information on Actions to take, supporting information and key resources – click here

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