COVID-19 bulletin: Tuesday 31 March
March 31, 2020
This is our once a day bulletin. This will take all national and professional guidance and information and tell you which changes we are implementing when and how. Please use this bulletin and daily cascade arrangements within clinical groups to guide local action. Remember KINDNESS is our watchword in implementing our plans.
Over 100 colleagues are now rooming in decent hotels around the area. Please grab your chance to do the same. Hotels like the Mercure at Junction 1 are offering food and laundry and the Trust pays for travel to and from work. We need to support you to be in work and safe. We now have over 1000 hotels rooms available…
1. Thank you to everyone getting trained for new roles in the days ahead
About 150 colleagues are currently being trained to support our expanded Intensive Care service, with ten doctors in training moving across to work in that service, and consultant anaesthetists and intensivists forming revised teams to provide support to at least 52, rather than the current 17, Critical Care beds. This is the heart of our Surge Plan. All of this training will be complete not later than Monday April 6th.
We cannot promise that shift patterns will be the same as those moving across presently have. We can commit to taking account of reasonable adjustments and work/life balance. That means that part time staff cannot be compelled to work longer hours. And day time staff cannot be compelled to work night-time contracts. We would ask for as much temporary flexibility as individuals feel able to offer to meet the huge challenge we face.
2. Almost 100 other colleagues have been identified and are being trained to help in ED, our red and blue wards
A complete reorganisation of medical staff and therapy staff cover is being implemented over coming days. As outlined on Friday in our COVID Update 7, these changes have been designed by local clinicians to best-fit the scale of what is ahead. Where-ever we can we are seeking to retain experienced therapy clinicians and leaders in base ward environments to help drive safe care and discharge, without which the beds we have will grind to a halt.
Nursing and Healthcare Assistants from outside our wards are being moved onto our ward environments. Tomorrow (or for a few folk on Thursday) you will be approached by your manager to have a discussion if you are affected by our first wave of changes. We will need to make sure you are FIT tested, given appropriate training and support on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and allocated to a specified group of wards for the near future. If you are uncertain about these arrangements, or if you want to volunteer, please contact Helen Cope in the first instance.
3. Mobilising to support key support services
We cannot manage safely without the vital support of our Patient Transport colleagues (from WMAS) and our porters and ward service officers, as well as many others. To address absences among those groups we are pursuing three strategies: Use of temporary external workers; a recruitment drive at scale over the next fortnight; and temporary movement of some other Trust staff into these roles including local medical students. The model for this is being finalised before we issue updated Working From Home Guidance on April 7th. Anyone who we ask and require to take on a temporary duty will receive full training for that work. If you wish to put yourself voluntarily forward please email glynisfenner@nhs.net
As indicated in yesterday’s bulletin if you are not in your normal place of work, because you are shielding, isolating, unwell, or working from home please ensure by this time tomorrow that your ESR record is accurate. In writing to colleagues currently off sick from work it has become clear that a number of records are not completely accurate and it is important that you and your line manager work together to make sure the record reflects reality.
4. Make sure you voice your concerns
The Trust is committed to a Speak Up culture and to treating people fairly. The pace of the COVID-19 epidemic may mean that sometimes changes happen quickly. That will include consideration of appeals or grievances, and disputes. It should not mean that your needs or voice are overlooked. Urgency is never an excuse for ignoring important considerations. Mistakes will happen. But please raise your views as we move forward.
Incident reporting continues in the Trust and is scrutinised. Measures of harm like our Safety Plan remain a priority. Work on sepsis likewise. Of course, all of us are having to adjust to a new reality for a while, but use all existing and historic channels to flag worries about our patients’ care, or opportunities to Shout Out good practice and turn learning into GEMS. If you are unsure how to get your voice heard email our CEO tobylewis@nhs.net
5. Testing, testing, testing
We know that the continued delay initiating symptomatic staff testing is a source of concern for many staff and loved ones. Last weekend and this week we have managed to operate services. Those will continue to tomorrow and probably for a while longer. A new service in central Birmingham will shortly be launched and we are working to make sure that we have sufficient access to that, and that those most at risk get priority alongside other key workers.
Nationally there is a drive to make sure that at least 15% of laboratory sample time is devoted to employees. At the moment that is not possible in our area but plans are emerging to get that going. Right now the most important advice is that if you are Covid Symptomatic and could be a candidate for a test (the antibody test is some way off) please make sure ESR records your most accurate contact details including weekend contact details like your mobile phone. The supply planning is moving fast and the window to test you and have that test be effective is small.
74 employees have received a letter from Toby acknowledging that their test results will not be coming from our first round of testing. If you have not received that letter but were among staff tested before Wednesday 25th March please contact Julie.booth4@nhs.net