Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 1 January
January 1, 2021
Happy New Year!
It being New Year’s Day I wanted to begin by wishing you all the best for a better year ahead. Many of our services remain under critical, significant pressure at present, and my thanks to all of you who are working under such difficult circumstances and have been for some time. Everyone is contributing hugely to keeping our patients safe with the increase in numbers of patients who are testing positive for COVID-19 that appears to be continuing to rise. Our enhanced bank rates are extended up to the end of February and there is even a bonus available for additional shifts worked this weekend. If you are not yet signed up to the bank please do so at
swb-tr.trustbankrequest@nhs.net or call 0121 507 3600 to make the most of this time-limited offer and support your colleagues and our patients.
Despite the trying times at present, including the new tier 4 restrictions that will be impacting on all of us, there is hope for the weeks, months and the year ahead.
This week has truly been a milestone in the fight against COVID-19 as the Oxford vaccine was approved for use in the UK and as we established the Trust’s vaccine hub at Sandwell Hospital. This follows the sterling work of Your Health Partnership in our Primary Care, Communities and Therapies Group who were one of the first primary care networks in the country to begin vaccinating their vulnerable patients. I am pleased that hundreds of staff and patients and have already received their first doses of this vital vaccine at Walsall Manor and Whiteheath Medical Centre in Oldbury, and we are now able to provide the vaccine from the Education Centre for patients and staff in high/ medium risk categories or working with COVID+ patients. Staff at our local care homes will also be invited to book an appointment. This is a huge vaccination programme for the whole country and it will take time before every health and care worker, key worker and vulnerable individual is vaccinated. You will be contacted when it is your opportunity to book an appointment for the vaccine and it is my strong hope that each one of you takes up this opportunity to protect yourselves, your loved ones and your patients. The two vaccines that have been approved to date have been rigorously tested and gone through all the right regulatory processes to ensure they are safe and effective. Have a look at these Q&As if you have queries and look out for our staff Q&A sessions coming up in early January. My thanks to everyone who has been involved in our vaccination programme to date. With very short notice, and despite last minute changes, we have managed to create a fit for purpose vaccine hub that is working well and is effective in vaccinating those priority groups of people.
In the meantime, we must continue to remain vigilant, ensuring that we rigorously abide by all the right infection prevention and control policies and the new tier 4 restrictions. The new variant strain is more transmissible than the virus we are used to dealing with and it is likely to be spreading increasingly around the country. Be extra careful, wherever you are. The IPC guidance remains just as effective against this new strain.
Next week our haematology ward moves from Newton 5 over to the refurbished D12 at City Hospital providing improved facilities for haemato-oncology patients who require admission. The N5 ward will allow additional bed capacity at Sandwell Hospital which is much needed. We wish the team well with the move.
And of course, tonight the Brexit transition period ends and you will know that a trade deal has been agreed. Monday’s communications bulletin will focus solely on Brexit arrangements summarising the key issues and arrangements that are in place to minimise disruption. We believe we are in a good place and have assured ourselves of our supply chain routes in. You are reminded that, whilst we are not stockpiling, we should plan for a 24-72 hour delay in supplies arriving from the EU so ensure you order your supplies slightly ahead of when you normally need them. Mike Hanson and the rest of the procurement team are available to help with any queries about supplies and consumables.
All of us will be either working tonight or having a quiet “at home” tier 4 New Year’s Eve, so I wanted to thank particularly local musicians Dennis Seaton (frontman for 80s reggae band Musical Youth) and Birmingham born artist Apache Indian who have recorded special performance for colleagues at the Trust and for the wider NHS. You can view Dennis’ music here and Apache’s music here and even maybe sing or dance along whatever you are doing this evening.
2021 will continue to provide challenges as well as great opportunities for our Trust and our people. We will of course, be managing the impact of COVID-19 but we will also turn our attention to really important matters to ensure that our Trust continues to provide the best integrated care for our population. This means supporting people in our communities with their health and wellbeing, developing our clinical pathways to best benefit patients, improving the quality of our services, integrating care around our patients, ensuring safety, developing our digital capabilities further and changing now to get ready for our fantastic new acute hospital, the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. The need to look to the future remains ever present, as we continue to deal with the day to day pressures we are experiencing. I wish you a happy and healthy 2021.
Dr David Carruthers, Acting Chief Executive