Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 30 October
October 30, 2020
It’s the end of another week as we continue to see rising cases of COVID-19 within our hospitals. I know colleagues particularly felt the pressure when we saw a spike in cases at the beginning of the week.
This is now impacting our capacity across the sites and I thank the teams who are working round the clock to ensure we continue to provide safe care for our patients. We will soon share more about services we may need to pause in order free colleagues so they are able to support areas that are experiencing increased pressure.
You will have seen in yesterday’s COVID bulletin that in response to the changing environment we have made the decision to close our Lilac stream and revert to Green, Amber and Red wards. This reflects the fact that we are seeing a high number of asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patients in Amber areas and will help improve safety with improved flow from our busy ED and AMU departments.
To provide added assurance around our Lilac/Amber ward changes, all inpatients (with exceptions including children under the age of 12, patients with dementia or anyone with a medical or psychological reason who is unable to) will be asked to wear a fluid resistant surgical face mask while they are out of bed for any reason, including sitting in a chair at their own bedside.
This change means it is essential you follow infection prevention and control policy and procedures strictly to the letter, ensuring at all times you adhere to the correct PPE for the area you are in.
To help us reduce infection transmission and infection in staff, next week we will share new processes requiring staff to wear masks in non-clinical areas. We have to do all we can to reduce infection spread, and this is one extra measure we can take on top of the requests for patients to wear masks. This means that in offices such as at Trust HQ and Trinity House, as well as other ‘separate’ areas off the main hospital blocks, you will be asked to wear a mask at all times (where there is more than one person in a room). This is irrespective of and in addition to social distancing measures currently in place. More information will be provided early next week to confirm the processes.
There is much speculation in the press that our local COVID alert level will be moving to Tier 3 (very high) soon, so it’s highly likely Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell, Solihull and Birmingham will move into the highest level of Coronavirus restrictions, possibly next weekend. This is due to a rapid increase in coronavirus hospital admissions and community cases across Birmingham, which have made the case for more restrictions urgent. It is therefore imperative that all colleagues follow the rules to prevent transmission both within and outside of work.
To help keep us safe this winter our ABBA inspired flu campaign is well underway. Just over 3,300 colleagues have been vaccinated so far. To get your jab, see Connect for details of your Flu-Per Trooper. And if you are currently working from home, a special clinic is being held today and tomorrow from 9am to 4pm in the Berridge Room.
Earlier this week, Dr Avann, Paediatric Consultant and Prinith De Alwis Jayasinghe, Dietician hosted their very first virtual cook-along for young children who receive care under the paediatric team. The team usually host social events every year for the diabetic children they look after. As it’s a chronic illness, it can be hard to manage, so these events are not only fun but educational. Packs were given to the children in advance with all the ingredients they needed for the session, and together they all made healthy muffins. Next stop – The Great British Bake Off!
It’s always a pleasure to call out colleagues who have been recognised internally or externally.
Amy Wood, School Health Nurse is this week’s Star of the Week. Amy was nominated because she has been very supportive and instrumental in the development of the online training for school staff to manage medicines in school for children and young people. This training will allow the service to deliver sessions virtually with the teachers then being assessed regarding their competencies. Well done Amy.
Congratulations to Lead Nurse in Paediatric Diabetes, Lizbeth Hudson who has won the award for Outstanding Educator in Diabetes at the 2020 Quality in Care Diabetes Awards. The award recognises an individual who delivers excellence in education, in a specialist or community setting whether through developing innovative teaching tools or courses; providing mentorship for other educators; or delivering and promoting externally developed training.
And Lucille Hedges and her team in our community contact centre are finalists in the Smarter Working Live Awards 2020, in the ‘Best Use of a Solution’ category for work to develop electronic communications. We wish them well for the awards ceremony on 26 November.
Finally, I must remind you of the importance of looking after your wellbeing. As you know we offer access to a huge array of services. As we start to experience the pressure of dealing with COVID-19, you may want to watch again the one minute resilience videos produced by Richard Burnell. To see our full offer of wellbeing resources see the page on Connect.
David Carruthers, Acting Chief Executive