Industrial action until Saturday

December 22, 2023

As we embark on the third day of strike action by non-consultant doctors, we want to thank colleagues for their hard work and dedication in delivering safe and efficient care to our patients.

Industrial action will take place until tomorrow (Saturday 23 December), and it’s important that we continue to work together during this difficult period. Below are some things to improve the experiences of our patients.

Planning a hospital discharge early: It’s vital we plan ahead. The integrated discharge hub can support you with this from 8am – 8pm, seven days a week. You can contact them on ext. 3147.

Be sure to check out this short video below about planning discharges early and the top three tips for planning a discharge.

At every board round and safety huddle, please consider the following:

• What is keeping this person in hospital?
• Could they go home? Could that be today?
• Could their treatment be continued in the comfort of their own home?
• Are they waiting for investigations? Could these be done as an outpatient?
• Are they waiting on repeat blood tests? Could these be done in the community?

Please escalate within your clinical groups any issues that you cannot resolve locally, no matter how small they may seem.  Every small thing will make a difference to our patients.

Could your patient be admitted to our virtual ward?

If your patient has past the acute stage of their illness, but still needs a level of intervention to support their recovery, they might be able to be discharged into the care of our virtual ward – these are consultant led and allow patients to continue their recovery in the comfort of their own home, but with constant monitoring and medical input. If you are unsure about what a virtual ward is, please watch the short video below:

You can also contact the virtual ward on extension 2664 (option 4) to discuss your patient with them.

Extended opening hours of Costa outlets at City and Sandwell: We will be offering hot and cold food as well drinks during the extended opening hours at our Costa outlets. See times below.