Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 23 November

November 26, 2018

We have done it again. Over 80 per cent of patient facing colleagues have now had our flu vaccination, giving protection against four strains of flu as we head into winter. The figure for all employees is rising fast too. We are seeing unprecedented coverage of flu vaccinations, especially in medicine and emergency care, who have hit 93 per cent already. I appreciate this marks five years of annual success in vaccination, and that there is more still to do. Last night our ‘night jabbers’ were out and about at Sandwell, and we will keep up our offer in the days ahead. The campaign is about patient safety and staff wellbeing.

I have written a number of times here about security and safety in our organisation. We have tried to focus hard on this, with mandatory protective devices for lone workers, and other innovations. We are looking at body worn cameras, and are making more investments in our surveillance technology. At the same time, some great work is being done on de-escalation and other techniques which can help us to concentrate our uniformed resource into specific areas of risk, by providing an alternative approach elsewhere. I know that this morning one of our teams experienced significant violence affecting a number of staff, and I want to thank again everyone who works in parts of our Trust where violence is not tolerated; but it is an ever present risk. The Trust’s Board in February will review all of the work we are doing on safety and security and test those efforts against best practice nationally.

This week has marked all sorts of awareness raising activities. The national audit superheroes competition has been in full swing and hundreds of people have voted already in our QIHD Poster competition. The final judging and announcements happen on 6 December, but please do look online, or visit Hallam Restaurant and our Education Centre at Sandwell to see some genuinely fascinating examples of innovation and learning from across our organisation. We should be very proud of what they show. The best will feature in Heartbeat, and the posters will do some cross site touring early next year. This is an annual contest so if you are inspired, get ready for November 2019.

Our alcohol team continue to build on the work they started under the auspices of Your Trust Charity. The service will get mainstream funding now, and are working to help both patients and families to tackle the scourge of alcohol misuse. We know that is common in our communities, and of course an elevated risk too among NHS staff. Christmas can be a time when there is societal pressure to drink to excess, and we know that we need to be alert to the risks we face from misuse and dependency. Our 50p campaign continues, as we work alongside Sandwell Council to try to encourage a minimum unit price for alcohol locally. The evidence is clear that this strategy works, and when you learn that alcohol is sold locally for 8p a unit, you will recognise the risks of both under age and excessive drinking that we face. The health consequences of which, we know, but must be vocal about, and honest in tackling. During 2019 we will see a series of campaigns locally to not simply raise awareness of public health issues but aim to change behaviours, and this Trust has led the way in highlighting many of these issues. Beyond our 2020 vision, our 2030 strategy depends on success.

The Education Centre is now a destination venue for many, many key events in our Trust. I was delighted this week to see the fourth annual ultrasound conference for learning in emergency medicine. Delighted because it was attended by trainees and potential recruits from across the region, but also because the event showed great collaboration with neighbouring Trusts, perhaps particularly University Hospitals Birmingham. This is something we will want to build on as we work to make sure that Birmingham residents get a consistently good healthcare offer, regardless of provider, and as we look to make sure that tertiary relationships in services like stroke and cancer care are strengthened. Diagnostic certainty is a key ask of patients, but also of clinicians wanting information with which to set care plans. The main event at our Trust Board in ten days’ time will be our 2019 plans for radiology services, with continued investment in equipment, and staff, as well as the initiation of a strategic reporting partnership to get reports back to GPs and Trust clinicians in good time. The improvements in imaging over the last two years have been widely noted and so this further investment builds on strength and looks to ensure that the Trust is known for the timeliness and excellence of our diagnostic services.

I advertised last week our upcoming charity ball. This week’s plug is for our charity single. A 79p download will help us to raise funds and profile, and I understand that the top 40 is not completely out of reach. It’s up to you.

There is a lot to sing about across the organisation as we move to complete the first phase of our sepsis campaign, with less than 1 in 2 screenings now being missed: An incredible change from November 1st, with seven days still to go in the month. Having made this our number 1 quality priority, it is tremendous to see the response and drive of colleagues across the organisation to improve the consistency and quality of what we do, together.

#hellomynameis…toby