Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 6 November
November 6, 2020
As you can see from the data we publish weekly in our covid bulletin, the number of patients with Covid-19 being admitted to our hospitals continues to rise rapidly and the infection rate in both Sandwell and Birmingham are reaching very high levels. On Wednesday the NHS as a whole moved to a level 4 incident level – the highest level – indicating the seriousness of this second surge on the NHS right across the country. The new national lockdown is now being enforced, once again putting restrictions on our daily lives. It is really important that this lockdown has an impact on reducing transmission of this virus, so that we can slow the rise of patients who need hospital admission. Nevertheless, we would not expect to see a slowing down for the next two to three weeks.
These are indeed tough times and I want to thank you all for your commitment to our patients, and for the way you are putting your patients first, coming into work, supporting your colleagues and continuing to provide the care that is so greatly needed. Everyone in this Trust is part of our Operation Mary Seacole response. Those of you not on the frontline still make an essential contribution. Thank you to those of you who are shielding too and staying at home. Your contribution is no less valuable and I hope you are feeling supported and are able to continue with some work at home.
Just as we expect the public to comply with the lockdown restrictions, we must make sure that we, who set an example to our wider population, also comply and follow the national and our own infection prevention and control guidelines.
Our mask policy has changed. It is now mandatory to wear a mask in ALL Trust buildings, not just in clinical areas. The only exception is occasions where you may work in a room or office alone. Social distancing at work and frequent handwashing is also essential. We need to limit transmission at work as much as at home, keeping ourselves, our colleagues and our patients safe.
Yesterday we held our Trust Board meeting in public. The daughter of one of our patients joined us to share her story about the care of her father who died at home following a stay at Sandwell Hospital. Her experiences were particularly difficult to hear and we are looking into what went wrong with her father’s care. But one of the elements of her story, that I know we must address, is communication with relatives who are unable to visit their loved ones. We have regrettably had to maintain our visiting restrictions, which I believe is the right thing to do, due to the rising cases in Sandwell and Birmingham. However, you will of course know that these restrictions have a significant detrimental impact on patients and relatives. Yesterday’s story brought home how difficult it can be to get information about patients’ conditions while they are in hospital. I want to encourage every ward to give serious thought to whether your communication channels with relatives are robust enough to reduce anxiety and share vital information on their loved ones care, treatment and wellbeing. And also, the channels of communication between patients and their loved ones – we have ipads and mobiles phones in place on our wards so if you don’t know where they are, how to use them or whether they work, get in touch with our IT service desk on 4050. We must find ways to get this better for our patients and families. Some of you I know are doing this brilliantly. Critical Care have a clear process in place so relatives know what to expect. Neonates too have a good digital solution available. Is there more you could do? Or could you share how well you are doing this so others could learn? Get in touch with me to let me know your ideas.
We also heard from Rachel Barlow, Director of System Transformation, about the acute care model for Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. It is great that the building project is to date only reporting a three week delay in progress that it hopes to make up over the coming months. Getting the build back on track, during this pandemic, with safety measure to protect the contractors is a great achievement. We were visited this week by Birmingham MP Liam Byrne who expressed his support for the new hospital and the regeneration work that the Trust is leading with partners for the surrounding areas.
Rachel shared with Board members the results of recent engagement with our clinical teams that has contributed to the development of our acute care models for adults and children. This model requires significant transformation in clinical pathways, services and teams that must not be underestimated. Midland Met is not a relocation programme – it is a large scale transformation, significantly affecting the majority of our patient services. We are in a good place. We have done large scale transformation before and I have no doubt we will succeed once more. The transformation journey ahead has been mapped out and we are aiming to achieve 70% of the changes in the acute care model before we move in. Further engagement workshops are being scheduled and we know that service leaders are thinking through how they best use their team times to progress the changes they want to see.
We spent October marking a number of important topics including the different routes to speaking up and I want to thank everyone who has taken the opportunity of Speak Up Month to raise a concern. Every concern is taken seriously and will be addressed. If you feel you haven’t had feedback on your concerns please escalate it. Huge thanks to our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who have taken on this vital role on top of their substantive, already busy roles. The support they provide for individuals in raising concerns is greatly valued. If you want to find out more about our Guardians and how to contact them please see our Connect speak up page. We are now recruiting more people to be Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. For more information on the role and how to apply visit Connect.
Congratulations to Star of the Week Kathryn Laise, Ward Clerk on our Neonatal Unit at City Hospital. Kath was nominated for being a vital part of the team, always being willing to help and finding solutions to any problems. She has supported parents with using vCreate, the system to enable mums and dads to view their newborns even when they are not present on the unit. The team want to ensure Kath is thanked and recognised for her fantastic contribution.
Stay safe this weekend and remember our health and wellbeing offer (including taking part in Dr Makwana’s November dance – see photo above!). It is ok to ask for help or just to access support even if you feel fine. With kindness and support for one another we will be able to get through this next stage of the pandemic.
David Carruthers, Acting Chief Executive