Heartbeat February 2018

February 2018
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals
NHS Trust
The pulse of community health, Leasowes, Rowley Regis, City and Sandwell Hospitals Issue 101
Listening Into Action: Purple Points
give carers and patients a voice Page 3
Members of the Trust leadership team and the governance support unit are joined by Ian McGarry, Communications
and Engagement Officer at Healthwatch Sandwell to launch the Purple Points which have gone live this week
Supporting
Over 400 colleagues
Focus on
UK first operation
victims of
undertake
Unity: All you
performed at
domestic abuse
accredited line
need to know
BMEC
manger training
Page 4
Page 6
Page 14-15
Page 17
HB February 2018.indd 1 20/02/2018 11:37

Contact us
Communications Team
Ext 5303
swbh.comms@nhs.net
Communications Department
Ground Floor, Trinity House
Sandwell Hospital
Published by
Communications Team
Sandwell and West Birmingham
Hospitals NHS Trust
Designed by
Medical Illustration,
Graphics Team
Sandwell and West Birmingham
Hospitals NHS Trust
Submit an idea
If you’d like to submit an idea
for an article, contact the Editor,
Emily Smith
Ext 5877
emily.smith46@nhs.net
HELLO
Welcome to February’s edition
of Heartbeat.
This month we focus on the launch
of our Purple Points – a seven
day service which will support
our patients and their families to
resolve any concerns they have
about their care whilst they are still
an inpatient. You can find out more
on page three.
Elsewhere, there is an excellent
article on a UK first operation
performed at BMEC and the centre
spread will tell you everything you
need to know about Unity.
Stay updated
We send out a communications
bulletin via email every day, or you
can follow us on:
FROM THE CHAIR
Purple Points will enable
us to make a difference
straight away
I am really pleased to see this month
the launch of our new Purple Point
phone service, to help patients who
are staying with us as inpatients get
the help that they need immediately.
I am hopeful that this new way for
patients and relatives to raise concerns
about care on our wards will enable us
to make a difference straight away to
people’s experiences. The new phone
service can also be used to record a
thank you or pay a compliment to our
hard-working teams.
The phone service should provide us with
rich feedback on our services and will
help us to understand what really matters
to our patients and their loved ones. Of
course, it is not the only way people can
give feedback. We want to continue to
encourage patients to talk to their ward
teams about their experiences: Purple Point
does not aim to replace that important
interaction. We know, however, from
looking at our complaints and from a useful
report that Healthwatch Sandwell published
after speaking to a number of patients, that
sometimes patients can feel uncomfortable
about raising a concern directly as they
worry that their care will be affected. Purple
Point is one way to help overcome this.
Our Medical Director, David Carruthers, has
made it clear in his support of the service
that people’s care will not be compromised
by speaking up.
The ask for each one of us is to act promptly
when a concern has been raised via our
Purple Point phones. Patients are waiting
for a response so we need to take action
immediately.
Each month our public board meeting
hears from a patient about their experience
of our care. Sometimes these stories are
overwhelmingly positive and it is heartening
to hear how well our teams have looked
after people. At times, their experiences are
less positive than we would like. Over the
past few months we have heard a range
of different patient experiences. From the
frustrations of a deaf patient who wanted
to talk to someone about her needs before
attending an outpatient appointment,
to the patient who was transferred to a
different site late at night. Whilst the clinical
care provided in each of these cases was
appropriate and the right thing to do, how
people feel about their care is strongly
influenced by how their different needs are
taken into account. Being able to adjust our
care of each patient, recognising their needs
and wishes, does have a dramatic impact on
how they feel about their treatment here.
Purple Point aims to help highlight those
small things that we can do to make things
a bit easier for patients, carers, friends and
family members. I am looking forward to
seeing the results.
Richard Samuda – Trust Chairman
Richard Samuda is asking colleagues to act
promptly when a concern has been raised via
the Purple Points
2
HB February 2018.indd 2 20/02/2018 11:38

Listening Into Action: Purple Points give
carers and patients a voice
Over the last three years we have
found lots of ways to improve how
we hear from our patients and
make changes as a result. Dr David
Carruthers, our new Medical Director,
is championing the latest organisation
wide project to make it simpler for
patients, friends and families to tell
us what we do well, and what their
worries are.
David told Heartbeat: “Feedback must
never mean that a patient feels that their
care is compromised. We know that
people are reluctant to speak up during an
inpatient stay because they feel vulnerable.
All of us need to take away that fear.”
The Purple Point telephones are in place
near our inpatient wards, and went “live”
at the end of February. The phones are
staffed seven days a week, and we are
aiming to get action and improvements
happening on each case raised inside a few
hours.
Elaine Newell, our Chief Nurse said: “Purple
Point is a brilliant option but not one that
replaces sorting things out at the bedside.
We want our patients to know the service
is there as a safety net, and we want
relatives and carers to speak up if they are
Communications and Engagement Officer at Healthwatch Sandwell, Ian McGarry, tests out one of our
new Purple Points
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
worried about the care their loved one
is receiving.
“Often that is a communication
problem, but we cannot wait until after
someone leaves our wards to act. All
of us come to work to do a great job,
and so when things seem wrong we
want someone to tell us. Purple Point,
available in multiple languages, gives
local people the chance to do just that.”
A recent study of patient views
conducted by Healthwatch Sandwell
found respondents wanted more ways
to speak up safely. John Clothier, Chair
of Healthwatch Sandwell commented:
“We fully support this new initiative
which, in response to our report
published in 2016, shows that the Trust
listens. This will help patients, relatives
and carers to have their concerns about
treatment and care addressed quickly
and effectively. We wish Purple Point
every success.”
The phone line will be available 9am –
9pm, every day. The Purple Point team,
who are used to helping patients with
complaints and enquiries, will speak to
the caller about their concern and then
make sure that the relevant colleague
is informed so that the issue is resolved
quickly. The team will also check with
the patient that they are happy with
the outcome. Staff members need to
both tackle Purple Point queries rapidly
and take responsibility for talking to the
person raising the concern.
Kam Dhami, Director of Governance
is overseeing implementation of the
Purple Points, she explained that the
project is an NHS first: “Every month
the Trust’s Board hears a patient story.
Many are full of compliments for what
we all do. But some show weaknesses
and errors, typically with missed
opportunities to get it right. This project
is our chance to tackle that. If you get
a call from the team, please take it
seriously and deal with it quickly.
“Often someone has the wrong end
of the stick or needs a little time to
have something explained. That little
bit of time can make all the difference.
Being in hospital is a worrying time for
anyone. This project helps us to reduce
anxiety and spot potential harm. Let’s
embrace it and help our patients to be
part of our safety campaign.”
3
HB February 2018.indd 3 20/02/2018 11:38

Routine questions to help support
domestic abuse victims
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
A set of four routine screening
questions are being asked within
A&E and our paediatric department
which are aimed at identifying and
supporting victims of domestic
abuse.
Domestic abuse costs the NHS £1.7
billion a year and nationally one in
four women and one in seven men are
victims of domestic violence, one in five
children are exposed to domestic abuse
and two women every week are killed as
a result of abuse.
In 2015, our organisation introduced
two independent domestic violence
advisors (IDVAs) to work within the
emergency departments at Sandwell
and City Hospitals. It was initially a two
year pilot project, funded by Your Trust
Charity and Black Country Women’s Aid,
although recently the charity has been
able to fund a six month extension of
the service.
Heartbeat caught up with IDVAs Sarah
Markland and Rachana Chauhan to find
out more about their important role.
Sarah said: “The purpose of the IDVA
project is to improve assessment and
referral for victims of domestic abuse
and to identify any safeguarding issues
and improve outcomes for children.”
Rachana added: “We have been
working with colleagues in A&E to raise
awareness of domestic abuse and to
train them in the importance of asking
the screening questions, regardless of if
there are any signs.
“Victims of domestic abuse often
present at hospital with other injuries
or with signs of alcohol or drug abuse.
The questions, which should be asked
when the patient is alone so as to not
put them at any risk, can help raise
any issues happening at home that the
patient may need support with.”
“We have access to the Black Country
Women’s Aid database,” explained
Sarah.
“This means that we can check if
there have been any previous referrals
for women who present at A&E with
indications that they are a victim of
domestic violence.”
Rachana said: “We can support patients
who make disclosures by referring
into the multi-agency pathway and
L-R: Rachana Chauhan, IDVA; Sally Tyler, Staff Nurse; Claire Holmes, Domestic Abuse Lead Nurse;
Avnash Nanra, Lyndon Ground Ward Manager and Sarah Markland, IDVA
safeguarding them, and any children who
may be affected whilst they are in hospital.”
In addition to A&E, one area in which the
screening questions are working well is
within paediatrics.
Heartbeat spoke to Domestic Abuse Lead
Nurse, Claire Holmes to find out how
training with colleagues on our children’s
wards has already led to some important
interventions for victims of domestic abuse.
“The questions weren’t routinely being
asked on the unit,” explained Claire.
“But we spent time with the team and
explained the importance of asking them
in order to safeguard both adults and
children.”
The questions are now being asked
routinely on every admission when it is safe
to do so.
Claire said: “Colleagues are aware of the
need to protect patients, so they will only
ask the questions when they are on their
own and with no children over the age of
two present. Asking in front of a partner
of family member can potentially place a
victim at more risk.”
Claire said that the training is already
paying off, with the team having identified
and supported some patients who have
been victims.
She said: “A few months ago we had a lady
who had come in with a child aged around
nine months. The morning after they had
arrived, the lady’s make-up had worn off
and a staff nurse noticed she had a black
eye. When it was safe to do so, they asked
the screening questions, but the patient
denied anything untoward was happening
at home.
“Later on, another nurse noticed that she
had what looked like a cigarette burn to
her hand. They notified me and I did some
research via the multi-agency safeguarding
hub. Although they were not known to
children’s services, there was a self-referral
from the lady to Black Country Women’s
Aid.
“The team spoke to her again about
domestic abuse and raised their concerns
over her injuries. This time she did disclose
and we were able to initiate support from
Rachana and Sarah and we made a referral
to children’s services to ensure the child was
safeguarded.
“This all came about because the team put
into practice what they had learned during
their training. They have taken it on board
so well and I can’t thank them enough.
“Health seems to be a safe haven for
people to disclose abuse; they seem to
feel more comfortable in a hospital than in
other settings. Therefore it is vital that we
raise awareness of domestic abuse across
the whole organisation.”
If you are interested in finding out
more and would like to receive
support from the safeguarding team
to implement the screening questions
in your area, please contact Claire on
claire.holmes1@nhs.net.
The four screening
questions are:
1. Do you ever feel afraid at
home?
2. Does a partner, ex-partner or
anyone at home often put you
down, humiliate you or try to
control what you do?
3. Have you ever been hurt or
threatened by a partner or
anyone at home?
4. Could you tell me how or why
you got those injuries?
4
HB February 2018.indd 4 20/02/2018 11:38

Charity fundraiser crowned ‘Community
Most Valuable Player’
@SWBHCharity To donate
to the Your Trust Charity text
“SWBH16 £5” to 70070
Sally Gutteridge has been crowned
‘Community Most Valuable Player’ by
Aston Villa Football Club in recognition
of her contribution to the local
community and her ability to inspire
others.
Mum-of-two Sally was nominated by
Amanda Winwood, Your Trust Charity
Fundraising Manager after she raised
£2,526.04 for the charity during 2017 –
despite suffering a stroke and being told
she had a second brain tumour.
“Sally is incredible and we are so glad
she has been recognised for her hard
work,” said Amanda. “She has battled
breast cancer, suffered a stroke and is now
wheelchair bound and living with multiple
brain tumours and liver cancer, but this
doesn’t stop her putting the needs of others
before herself.”
Sally was first diagnosed with breast cancer
four years ago. She had a breast removed
and went into remission. However, in 2016
she started suffering from seizures, and
doctors discovered a tumour on her brain.
Tragedy struck again, when in July 2017
she suffered a stroke, which left her unable
to use her left side. She had to get used to
life in a wheelchair, but continues to have
physiotherapy at Sandwell Hospital. Soon
afterwards she was told the devastating news
that she had another brain tumour. Despite all
of this, her outlook on life remains positive.
Sally decided to fundraise for Your Trust
Charity to give something back to those who
had been caring for her. Much of the funds
she has raised so far came from a 1940s tea
party that she held in October. She also used
this event to showcase her latest project,
Sally’s Sunshine Packs. These are goodie bags
for chemotherapy and end-of-life patients
who are in our care. The packs will contain
items such as puzzle books, a journal, sweets,
wet wipes, shampoo and tissues.
Sally said of these packs: “They will mean so
YOUR TRUST CHARITY
much to patients. I remember seeing
others undergoing treatment who were
there by themselves. I just thought it
would have been so nice for them to
have something that they could take
home, that was useful.
“I decided to join forces with Your Trust
Charity because it meant I could really
give something back to the people who
have been caring for me. By working
with the charity, I can see where this
money is going and how it is helping
patients. It is more personal to me. I
want to raise more than £3,000 and
I would like to keep building on this
figure.”
Sally was handed the Aston Villa Community Most Valuable Player award on the pitch at the game
versus Burton Albion on 3 February
Family donate cash to critical care to
say thanks for outstanding care
The family of a patient have shown
their gratitude for the care he received
at City Hospital by donating £200 to the
critical care unit.
Trevor Gabb, from Hereford, was rushed to
the hospital after suffering respiratory arrest
in November. The 77-year-old had been
at an event in Birmingham when tragedy
struck. Sadly, doctors were unable to save
him, and he died eight days later.
However, his wife Ann and son Andrew,
were so touched by the support and care
Trevor was given that they asked mourners
at his funeral to donate money so they
could give it to the Your Trust Charity critical
care fund.
“We wanted to make this donation because
of the absolutely unbelievable care that the
nursing staff and doctors gave to my dad
during his final days,” said Andrew, also
from Hereford.
“They also were really supportive to us as
well. My mum stayed at the hospital with
him, because of the distance, and they were
very accommodating towards her. It really
made a difference to us and we wanted
to show our gratitude by making this
donation.”
Trevor was treated by Dr Santhana Kannan,
Consultant for Anaesthesia and Critical
Care during his time in the hospital.
Andrew added: “All the nursing staff were
very good and we nicknamed Dr Kannan
‘Dr Nice’ because of how caring he was.”
Dr Kannan said: “The team are very grateful
to the family of Mr Gabb for their kind
donation. To say that Mrs Gabb is a very
sweet person is quite an understatement.
It was really exceptional that under difficult
circumstances, the family took the time
to provide detailed written feedback and
remembered the individual staff by their
names. Instances like these make working
in critical care all worth it.”
5
HB February 2018.indd 5 20/02/2018 11:38

6
Over 400 colleagues on their way to
becoming accredited managers
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
L-R: Acting Matron Surgical Services, Jo
Mansell and Senior Charge Nurse AMU,
Mike Beech have both attended the
accredited line manger training
We have approximately 750 line
managers within our organisation
and over half of them are already
on their way to becoming ‘SWBH
accredited managers’ and by the end
of March 2018, every line manager
will have been through our internal
training programme.
Bethan Downing, Deputy Director of
Organisation Development spoke to
Heartbeat about the exciting accredited
manager programme.
“Everyone in our organisation, who is
a manager, regardless of whether they
manage one person or a team of people,
is required to become an accredited
manager,” said Bethan.
“We introduced the programme as
we recognise that good managers
are key to developing people in our
organisation and that we had a range
of managers with lots of differing levels
of experience, who had entered the
world of people management through
a range of different routes. Some of our
managers have formal qualifications
and others have developed their skills
through on the job learning, both of
which are fine and add to our diversity
of experiences and learning, but we
needed all our managers to have a
common understanding of how we
need to manage our people consistently
to ensure we create and retain the best
workforce we can.
“We hadn’t really done anything like this
before. Our managers are very busy people
and we wanted to give them something
that helped them meet new people, learn
through experiences and also update
themselves on best practice in managing
people.
Each manager will undertake five core
modules in Year 1, which started in January
this year and will run until the end of
March, following which any new managers
entering our organisation will also attend the
accredited manager modules.”
The five core accredited manager modules
are:
• Module 1 - Aspiring to excellence
PDR
• Module 2 - Managing health and
wellbeing
• Module 3 - Recruiting and
retaining talented people
• Module 4 - Managing your resources
• Module 5 - Managing your
responsibilities
Bethan added: “After achieving the five core
modules, line managers will be presented
with their accredited manager passport
which will enable them to demonstrate the
skills they have learned through the training.
“It will also form part of their PDR as they
can discuss with their own manager how
they are utilising the skills they learnt from
the training. They can also discuss the next
steps in their management journey and book
onto the next phase of training which will
be individually tailored to them, some of the
new modules which are available from April
include resilience training and coaching for
managers.
“So far we have seen 100 managers in
some of the sessions and the range of
experience levels and areas they work in has
really enabled depth of conversation and
learning. They have been able to network
with each other and learn from people who
may have experienced similar challenges to
themselves.”
The training is being run entirely internally,
with the organisation making use of subject
experts amongst colleagues.
“We are using our internal experts to deliver
the training,” said Bethan.
“Not only does that mean we avoid
using expensive companies to deliver the
training, it also means that we really can
share the expertise that we have within the
organisation and that the learning is about
Over 400 managers have attended the
accredited line manager programme sessions
us specifically.
“It also gives the subject experts who are
presenting the opportunity to apply their
knowledge in a different way to their day to
day job.”
One line manager who has completed all
five modules is Mike Beech, Senior Charge
Nurse on City AMU. He told Heartbeat: “I
really enjoyed the accredited line manager
sessions. I learned a lot of new things, but
it also acted as a good refresher of things I
have learned in the past.
“The sessions were interesting and
interactive and it was great to share ideas
and knowledge with other managers from
across the organisation. As we work in such
a busy environment, it’s not often you have
the opportunity to come together so it was
great to have the chance to do so.
“I am looking forward to putting my new
learning into practice.”
If you are a manager and you have
not already completed or booked
onto the accredited manager
programme modules, please ensure
you book on to a session before the
end of March.
The training takes two days and
each module is delivered in half a
day. It is recommended that you
complete modules 2 and 3 before
4 and 5. You should have already
complete module 1- Aspiring to
Excellence PDR, however if you
are a manager of people and have
not attended the training there
are dates available until the end of
March.
You can book your accredited
manager modules via ESR or e-mail
swbh.leadership@nhs.net
PDR training can also be booked via
ESR or email swbh.pdr@nhs.net
HB February 2018.indd 6 20/02/2018 11:38

Safe space provides confidential
meeting place for LGBT colleagues
Colleagues from lesbian, gay, bisexual
and trans (LGBT) communities can now
meet and talk confidentially in a new
‘safe space’ provided by our workplace.
It is the first time that such a space has
been offered to colleagues within our
organisation. Colleagues are welcome to
use the space which has a breakout area,
tables, chairs and hot refreshments.
Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Stuart
Young said: “We are delighted that the
Trust has supported the provision of such a
vital space for LGBT colleagues.
“We have taken the lead from higher
education institutions, the majority of which
have had to provide LGBT space spaces
on their campuses. We found that when
colleagues move from university and in
to the workplace, the loss of a safe space
can be difficult, particularly if they are not
out. Our safe space allows continuity and
support.
“The space provides some useful resources
about sexual health information from
our organisation, a Birmingham based
organisation called Umbrella and the
Terrence Higgins Trust.”
Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Stuart Young is
pictured in the new LGBT safe space
There is open access to the safe space seven
days a week. For further information email
Swbh.lgbt@nhs.net
Celebrating LGBT History Month
This year our workplace has for the second
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
consecutive year been celebrating and
supporting LGBT History Month which
nationally commemorated the:
• 40th anniversary of the murder by
shooting of Harvey Milk, the USA’s
first out-gay elected councillor
• 40th anniversary of the rainbow
flag - launched in 1978,
although sadly its creator Gilbert
Baker passed away last year.
Are you free during the second
May Bank Holiday weekend?
The LGBT staff network is calling
for volunteers, both LGBT
colleagues and allies to help at
this year’s Birmingham –Pride on
Saturday 26 May. Colleagues will
be in the parade and helping out
on the stall. If you can help email
Swbh.lgbt@nhs.net
Improvement Corner: Single
improvement methodology training
Each month we are highlighting the
projects that are currently being
undertaken by our improvement team.
Our latest feature is single improvement
methodology training – a programme
introduced to give colleagues an
overview of project management.
Our organisation has a 2020 vision
to become the best integrated care
organisation in the NHS. The scale, pace and
complexity of delivering this programme
in conjunction with configuring services in
line with the new Midland Metropolitan
Hospital is unprecedented in our history
with many programmes and projects being
implemented.
Heartbeat caught up with Improvement
Team Project Manager, Janice Nelson to find
our more.
Janice said: “There was an identified need
to upskill colleagues and standardise the
approach in managing and delivering
projects.
“The single improvement methodology
training introduces a standardised approach
to project management. The training
consists of two modules that have been
developed to teach health professionals
improvement methods with an increasing
focus on improving healthcare in order to
ensure higher quality, greater access and
better value for money.”
The unique, specially designed course, which
is delivered by members of the improvement
team, provides a great way to get the skills
you need in the following ways:
• Understand what makes a project
successful and how to avoid pitfalls
• Understand the three elements of
single improvement methodology
• An introduction to PDSA cycle – Plan,
Do, Study, Act
• An introduction to project
documentation
• Understanding roles within a project
team.
Module 1 is a half day study involving theory
and an opportunity to complete project
documentation.
Module 2 is a full study day applying theory
to practice. This day is full of fun elements
where students undertake the different
project roles within a project team and
deliver a project.
Deputy Director of Governance, Allison
Binns, has attended the training. She said:
“The single improvement methodology
training was really good.
“It has given me a great appreciation of
making a plan and communicating it, but
then understanding the plans need to be
fluid to manage unforeseen changes that
often crop up during the lifecycle of a
project.
“I learnt that it is ok to put a hard stop on
what is happening as it gives time to reevaluate
and communicate any changes,
which often delivers better results than just
proceeding anyway.”
If you would like further information
on elements of the training courses,
please email swb-tr.SWBH-TEAM-
TheImprovementTeam@nhs.net
7
HB February 2018.indd 7 20/02/2018 11:38

Supported internship programme is
breaking down workplace stereotypes
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
Eager and enthusiastic is what you get
when you first meet Ethan Motterham.
The 20 year old has come on leaps and
bounds since he joined our organisation
in September 2017.
Lead Administrator, Lea Brown recalls the
first day Ethan came to work. “He was very
shy. He walked over and sat beside me and
hunched down by the desk as he didn’t
want to be noticed by others in the office.”
Fast forward five months and Ethan is a
completely changed character. He is always
laughing, eager to help and has become
the heart and soul of the learning and
development administration team.
Ethan came to our organisation as part
of a pilot with Sandwell College, which
sees students placed for 30 weeks on a
supported internship in a bid to develop
their skills and help them to get work
ready. Two other students have been
placed in finance and recruitment as part
of the scheme - they will all complete their
placements in June.
Lawrence Kelly is the Learning Works
Centre Co-ordinator who explained
more. “This scheme demonstrates our
commitment to breaking down workplace
stereotypes and the great achievements
that can be achieved with support from our
colleagues.
“The success of the pilot is due to the
measures we put in place together with
Sandwell College to ensure the students
have the right support to enable them
to flourish in a work environment. The
Ethan Motterham enjoyed his look around
theatres
students have personal challenges but are
supported well by Steve Clarke who is a job
coach on the supported interns scheme at
the college.”
Steve is based at Trinity House, Sandwell
Hospital where he supports all three
students. He said: “My role is a supportive
one which sees me ensuring the students
understand how to undertake their tasks.
I will normally spend time with them each
morning to go through their tasks and I
touch base throughout the day. While they
needed me around more often when they
first started, all three students have become
Changes to waiting list initiative
payments to streamline services
more independent over the months.”
So what does Ethan make of his experience
in our organisation so far? “I love it,” he
beamed. “Everyone is really nice to me and
they are not strict!
“When I first started I found the work
really challenging but with support
from Steve and Shima Siddiqa, Assistant
Administrator, my confidence began to
grow. I have learned many new tasks
including photocopying, putting training
packs together and CD burning. I can also
now input data.
“I am very interested in the work of the
Trust and was delighted when Lea arranged
for me to look around an operating
theatre. Terry January, Theatres Deputy
Lead Practitioner took me around and he
was really good at explaining everything
to me. You can see in my photo, I had to
wear scrubs and keep my hands sanitised
with gel.
“I will miss everyone when I have to leave.
They are all very helpful and kind to me.”
Lea added: “I speak on behalf of the team
when I say I have thoroughly enjoyed
working with Ethan over the past few
months. It would be a shame to see him go
when his placement ends in June. I would
definitely be up for taking on a new intern.
This is a wonderful part of the job where
you really get to help someone learn a skill
and be ready for the workplace. It has been
a very fulling experience for me.”
Would your team be interested in the
supported internship scheme?
For more information email Steve
Clarke: Steve.Clarke@sandwell.ac.uk
As part of the ongoing drive to review
costs across the organisation, we are
working to reduce the number of
waiting list initiatives being carried out
each year, through robust job planning
and management of planned activity.
We are also reviewing the amount
being paid for these lists to reduce costs
and also to ensure a more consistent
approach across all groups and teams,
be they additional outpatient clinics or
theatre lists.
Therefore, with effect from 1 March, the
arrangements for waiting list initiative lists
will change for all non-medical colleagues.
All professionally registered staff – such
as staff nurses and radiographers – will
continue to receive the £100 payment for
each approved four hour list worked.
For lists which are three hours or less the
rate will be £75 for the session.
All un-registered colleagues including
healthcare assistants, admin staff and
technicians will be booked on via the Trust
bank for any additional lists and will be
paid at the standard bank rates which are
available on Connect.
Any rates currently paid above £100 to
registered colleagues will cease with effect
from 1 March and those carrying out
work on additional lists will receive the flat
payment of £100.
If you have any queries or concerns about
this please contact your Group Senior
Management Team in the first instance.
8
HB February 2018.indd 8 20/02/2018 11:38

Bethan learns about healthcare in India
Kind-hearted Bethan Downing has
revealed how she devoted her time to
helping patients and children in India
during a three-week long volunteering
project.
Bethan, Deputy Director of Organisational
Development, flew out to New Delhi where
she saw first-hand how healthcare services
are run. Heartbeat caught up with Bethan
following her return from India to find out
more about her trip.
“I took part in a range of the volunteering
projects, which were supporting some of
the poorest people in India,” said Bethan.
“The aim of the projects is to provide a
sustainable solution to improving health,
wellbeing and education in very poor
communities. Many of the projects are
directly supporting slum communities
including; clinics, schools, community
centres and orphanages.
“I volunteered in two orphanages and just
loved it! Spending time with the children
was so uplifting for me. The simplicity of
time and offering love and support has such
a huge impact.
“I met one child in an orphanage who had
a disability and could not walk. He valued
his education so much and his English was
better than mine and at the age of 12! He
gave me a lesson in physics that I will never
forget. His outlook on life was to embrace
it, learn, grow and enjoy it – he taught me
so much!”
One of the things that stood out for Bethan
was how resourceful the people were with
very little and sometimes nothing.
She said: “I watched the children play and
the games are so creative and just require
imagination. I watched the GP who is also
the pharmacist see many patients in a clinic.
She had very limited equipment to diagnose
and is very reliant on her experience and
asking the right questions to get to the
diagnosis rather than having access to a
suite of diagnostic equipment.”
Beth Downing, Deputy Director of
Organisation Development spent time in an
Indian orphanage
CORPORATE AND
GENERAL NEWS
Bethan said that the trip has had a
positive effect on her and made her
look at life a bit differently. She is also
planning to keep supporting the charity
she volunteered with.
“It’s incredible to see how having
less changes your focus and in a way
takes away the complexity of having
lots of choices in lots of different life
scenarios,” said Bethan.
“I came home and pretty much the
first thing I did was empty my house of
everything I haven’t used and re-stocked
the local charity shop – it felt so good!”
“We tend to have lots of material things
but my observation is that having less is
sometimes having more.”
Bethan added: “Although the project
has achieved some amazing results,
they are at the point now where they
can maintain the great work they have
been doing. But they are struggling to
see a sustainable way to scale up what
they do to help more orphans and more
communities. This is something I hope
to be able to support the charity with
moving forward.”
Snail mail to email: The move to digital
delivery of letters
The wait for appointment letters,
referrals and results, amongst other
correspondence is often frustrating for
patients who are keen to progress their
care and get on with their lives. Waiting
a couple of days for a letter can seem
like an eternity when your health or the
health of a loved one is involved.
Whilst process changes have taken place
within our organisation to reduce the time
it takes for letters to be written and sent
to patients, until now we have had little
influence over the time taken for letters
to progress through the postal system.
However, a team made up of colleagues
from across our organisation have been
tasked with developing a means for patients
to receive their letters by email.
The new system which is currently under
development looks to centralise both the
printing and distribution of letters, moving
away from individual departments printing
and posting their own letters to a central
print and distribution function where
patients are able to opt to have their letters
delivered by post or by email.
Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Planned
Care, Liam Kennedy is leading the project.
He said: “Putting patients in control of how
they receive letters and correspondence
from our organisation is one of our priorities
this year, as technology has evolved and
patients have access to smartphones,
the need for us to be able to deliver
correspondence promptly has become vital.
“Annually we send out over 1.8 million
letters which can take between two to three
days to reach patients. Not only is this slow
and time consuming, it’s also extremely
costly – we spend over £800,000 on print
and postage.
“We have found that patients are keen to
communicate over email as opposed to
printed letters, so now is the ideal time to
develop this function.
“The new system is scheduled for
completion in Summer 2018 and will
complement, Unity, our new electronic
patient record and the Winscribe digital
dictation and speech recognition system,
completing an end to end digital workflow,
enabling colleagues to easily access patient
data, compose correspondence and deliver it
digitally at the click of a button.”
For more information regarding the
plans to develop email correspondence
please contact Liam Kennedy, Deputy
Chief Operating Officer, Planned Care on
liam.kennedy@nhs.net
9
HB February 2018.indd 9 20/02/2018 11:38

Making adjustments to support
colleagues at work
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
Conflict Resolution Trainer, Richard
Burnell has recently been appointed
Chair of our disability and long term
conditions staff network. In this
issue of Heartbeat, he has bravely
shared his story to raise awareness
of the importance of supporting
those with a disability or long term
condition within our organisation.
Richard, who joined us in 2009 was
diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2011,
this means he experiences periods of
depression and periods of hypomania.
“My condition is what they call rapid
cycling bipolar,” Richard told Heartbeat.
“This means that my mood can
change from one day to the next,
and sometimes I can suffer bouts
of depression and then hypomania
within the same day. When I am in the
depression cycle, I have chronic anxiety –
I have sweaty palms, dry mouth and feel
really fatigued.
“The best way I can describe mania is
feeling really excited all of the time and
doing everything in double speed. It
can create a lot of stress as you end up
saying yes to everything and then being
unable to complete what you have said
you will do.”
When he was first diagnosed, Richard
struggled to understand his diagnosis.
“I was embarrassed,” he said. “I thought
that it was a form of weakness and I was
worried about how I would continue to
do my job. I did a lot of teaching in the
mornings, and this seemed to be when I
was at my worst.”
He knew that he couldn’t go on without
talking to his line manager.
“When I made the decision to talk to John
(Rigby) I was incredibly nervous, but he was
brilliant. I said ‘John, I have been diagnosed
with a mental health condition, but I don’t
want anyone to know.’
“Straight away, John found us a private
room so that I would feel safe to discuss my
issues. He just said ‘what can I do to help?’
and from that moment on he has been
incredibly supportive of me.”
Together Richard and John came up with
a plan which would support Richard to
manage his illness and his work better. John
suggested that Richard could be flexible
with his start times.
“I explained that mornings were the worst
time for me,” said Richard.
“So we agreed that I could take a flexible
approach to my work hours and start at
10am and work through to 6pm. John
also sets my monthly targets, but is flexible
on how I achieve them. He understands
that I will achieve a lot more on a good
day as opposed to when I am suffering a
particularly bad day.”
“John also gives me adequate notice of
any changes that may be happening. He
understands that it could affect me if he
drops something on me suddenly.”
Richard now handles his illness a lot better
than when he was first diagnosed and
recognises the part that John has played in
this.
He said: “I could never have got to this
point without John’s support. He is
understanding of my illness and shows
confidence in me to perform well in my job
with some slight adjustments.”
Richard is delighted to have been
appointed chair of the disability and long
term conditions staff network and he
is hoping to encourage colleagues who
may be struggling themselves to have the
courage to seek support from either the
network or their line manager.
“The network is there to advise both the
organisation and individual colleagues,”
Richard said to Heartbeat.
He added: “I would like to encourage
colleagues to speak up if they are
experiencing any issues relating to a
disability or long term condition. There is
no need to feel embarrassed or ashamed.
Talking things through with your manager
can help you to understand the impact
on your role and put strategies in place to
support you.”
John is delighted to see Richard doing
so well now. He said: “There is a stigma
attached to mental health that should not
be there; it is an illness along with many
other illnesses that can be managed in the
workplace with time and understanding.
“I am glad that Richard had the confidence
in me to speak out so that we could
together devise a plan that supports him
and gives the organisation an effective
member of staff.”
If you would like to speak to someone
regarding a disability or long term
condition, please contact either Richard
(richard.burnell@nhs.net) or Stuart
Young, Head of Diversity and Inclusion
(stuartyoung1@nhs.net).
L-R: John Rigby, Mandatory Training Manager has made adjustments at work to support Richard Burnell, Conflict Resolution Trainer
10
HB February 2018.indd 10 20/02/2018 11:38

Huge honours for two clinical
colleagues
Professor Elizabeth Hughes has been
awarded an honorary fellowship of the
Royal College of General Practitioners
Two of our clinical colleagues have
recently been awarded fellowships
from the Royal College of General
Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society.
Consultant Chemical Pathologist, Professor
Elizabeth Hughes, who is also a Regional
Dean and Director of Education and
Quality within Health Education England,
was awarded an honorary fellowship by
the RCGP in recognition of her work in
supporting and developing general practice,
including the development of innovative
roles within primary care.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chairman
of the RCGP said: “Liz is someone who
really understands primary care and was
committed to ensuring the highest quality
education for doctors and other healthcare
professionals to ensure the best possible
care for patients.”
Professor Hughes, who was presented with
her award by President of the RCGP, Dr
Terry Kemple was delighted to receive the
honour. She said: “It is a huge honour for
me to receive an honorary fellowship for
the RCGP. It is the highest award that the
college can give to a person who is not a GP
and only three to five are given out per year,
so naturally I am delighted.”
Emma Graham-Clarke, Consultant
Pharmacist in Critical Care, was one of
27 new fellows appointed by the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) at the end of
last year. The RPS stated: “Being appointed
a fellow of the RPS is one of the highest
honours that can be bestowed upon society
members. It recognised the distinction
members have attained in a particular
aspect or aspects of their pharmacy career.”
Nominations for fellows are submitted by
members and have to be supported by two
Connected communications at
your fingertips
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
other people, before being reviewed by
a panel.
Liz, Emma was delighted to receive the
award: “I received a letter in the post
which stated the panel’s decision was
that I should become a fellow of the RPS
for distinction in the field of pharmacy –
I was both shocked and delighted!
“The fact that nominations and support
comes from my fellow professionals
makes it all the more special.”
Emma Graham-Clark has been appointed as
fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Are you one of the many colleagues
who spend most of their time on their
feet, away from your desk and rarely
able to login to a computer? Feeling left
out and unaware of developments in
our organisation?
We will soon be launching an app which will
be enable you to access all of the important
information currently available on Connect
but most importantly, on your phone and
available wherever you are.
Whether you’re keen to keep up to date
with corporate communications, eager
to know what is going on in a specific
department or looking for a means to
share your news with colleagues, the new
MyConnect app is set to revolutionise
communication within our organisation.
Unveiling the MyConnect app, Ruth Wilkin
Director of Communications said: “I’m
delighted to launch the new MyConnect
app as it finally gives all colleagues a means
to keep up to date with developments in
our organisation.
“Most importantly, colleagues who wouldn’t
easily have access to desktops and laptops
to access news and information on Connect
will now have the ability to access this
through an app as well as being able to setup
alerts and notifications.”
The MyConnect app is compatible with both
iPhones and Android handsets, and will
be available to download from the Apple
Appstore as well as the Google Playstore.
Details on when you can download and
access the MyConnect app will be shared
through the Communications Bulletin.
If you have any questions on how the app
will work or if you would like to be able to
share your content through the app, contact
Subtan Mahmood, Internal Communications
Manager on Subtan.Mahmood@nhs.net or
extension 4840.
11
HB February 2018.indd 11 20/02/2018 11:38

Youngsters are ready to get creative for
Midland Met
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
Excited schoolchildren were
invited to the launch of the
Midland Metropolitan Hospital’s
art competition which will see the
winning designs immortalised within
the children’s department of the new
building.
Youngsters and teachers from schools
across Sandwell and West Birmingham
attended the event, held at The
Education Centre at Sandwell Hospital
last month.
They were tasked with creating
superheroes, explorers and astronomers
for the walls of the new £350 million
hospital, and spread the word about the
competition to their fellow pupils.
The competition is being run by Your
Trust Charity.
In total, six characters will be featured.
They will be male and female versions of
superheroes, astronomers and explorers.
The astronomers will be in a children’s
ward, the explorers will be painted onto
the walls in the children’s outpatients
department, whilst the superheroes
will feature in the paediatric emergency
department and also within the other
children’s wards.
The designs will flow throughout their
allocated department.
Logan Heard, aged seven, who attends
Ferndale School, in Great Barr, said he has
already started work on his design.
The youngster, who came dressed as
Batman to the launch, said: “I love
drawing and I’ve got an idea for the
character I want to create.”
His mum Amber added: “Logan spent a
lot of time in hospital as he was diagnosed
with a Wilms Tumour. He is now in
remission, but this is his way of giving
something back to the NHS which has
helped him so much.”
Ruth Billingham, Assistant Head Teacher
at Holyhead Primary Academy in
Wednesbury, was also at the event. She
said: “This is a great way of involving
children in the creation of their hospital. I
think there will be many youngsters eager
to take part in this competition and we
will be passing on the details through an
assembly.”
Would-be explorer Rubyrose Millard,
from Mesty Croft Primary School, also in
Wednesbury, added: “I like drawing or
doing anything that is creative. I think the
idea of us designing our own characters for
the new hospital is good as we know what
will make children feel better if they were
poorly in hospital.”
Amanda Winwood, Membership Academy
Manager for Your Trust Charity, said: “The
launch was a huge success and the children
who attended were very keen on getting
straight to work in creating their characters.
“It was lovely to see how enthusiastic they
were. The teachers who attended were also
happy to promote the competition.
“The competition is also open to the
children of colleagues, so please do
encourage your little ones to get drawing.
“It’ll be a real privilege for the winners to
see their own creations up on the walls of
Midland Met.”
The closing date for competition is 29
March. To enter please contact Amanda
Winwood on amanda.winwod@nhs.net
or extension 4847.
L-R: Logan Heard (7) Rubyrose Millard (10) and Erin Oakley (5) all donned their costumes for the launch of the Midland Met art competition
Free NHS Health Checks now available
across our sites
Health checks are now being offered
for free at City, Sandwell and Rowley
Hospitals.
Checks include height measurement,
weight, blood pressure, pulse, cholesterol,
glucose as well as lifestyle questionnaires.
Health and Wellbeing Manager, Jenny
Wright said: “We are delighted to be
working with Mytime Active to offer these
free health checks to colleagues. The
checks are for any colleague aged between
40 and 74 and aim to help prevent heart
disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and
dementia.”
The health checks will be provided subject
to eligibility criteria. Appointments are for
approximately 30 minutes and must be
booked with Jatinder Sekhon on extension
3306. Evening appointments are available
and checks can also be delivered in wards
and departments.
12
HB February 2018.indd 12 20/02/2018 11:38

When terror strikes…colleagues test
our major incident plan
A devastating and bloody scene at
New Square Shopping Centre in West
Bromwich set the scene for a wide scale
test of our emergency response earlier
this month. With a ‘terrorist attack’
striking at the heart of our population
going about their normal business, we
were forced to swing into major incident
response.
The Civil Contingency Act 2004 requires our
organisation to carry out a major incident test
once every three years, testing our plans and
capturing any learning in a safe environment,
so we can be ready to respond effectively if
the worst should happen.
Departments across the organisation were
put to the test, including security, theatres,
emergency department teams, pharmacy,
communications and management.
Strategic command was set up and led by
Chief Informatics Officer, Mark Reynolds,
while tactical command was run by
Deputy Chief Nurse, Paul Hooton. The
communications team played a dual role,
being both poacher and gamekeeper, with
team members advising both strategic and
tactical commands on communications
‘Casualty’ Mike Beech, Senior Charge Nurse
on AMU is treated at A&E
strategy while others took on the role of a
particularly aggressive TV crew.
Colleagues from across the organisation
volunteered to take the role of casualty
with Siân Davies, Speech and Language
Therapy Assistant commenting: “It was
really interesting to see how effectively the
team coped when faced with an influx of
casualties. It was a great way to spend my
Sunday morning.”
Community Midwife, Amanda Jowett
agreed, she said: “My son Jenson and I
took part as casualties, as Jenson is fond
of drama at school and this gave him a
great opportunity to act. But the serious
side is seeing how our organisation
has plans in place to switch smoothly
into major incident mode. That is very
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
reassuring to see.”
Phil Stirling, Emergency Planning Officer
said: “We regularly test our plans on a
smaller scale, but this was our big one. It
could be the difference between life and
death for some if we do not get it right,
so we must ensure that we have the
right procedures in place to deal with an
attack of this kind and on this scale.
“During the exercise we saw how
quickly a scenario can escalate, and
how important it is that the situation is
handled very carefully, so our patients,
visitors and colleagues are protected.
“Observers from NHS England watched
the event unfold and judged our
response to be correct, making the
exercise a success.
“Many thanks to colleagues who took
part and to the volunteers (many of our
own team) who gave up their morning
to come in and help us.”
Introducing Unity Digital Champions
As our organisation gears up for
the implementation of Unity (our
new electronic patient record) there
is a range of training taking place,
which will ensure that colleagues
understand how Unity will be used
within their role and department.
Over 500 colleagues, from all parts of
the organisation have signed up to be
digital champions. These colleagues will
offer support during key parts of the
journey to Unity going live, including
full dress rehearsal and cutover. They
will receive two training sessions, one
which will give an overall introduction to
Unity and the second part will look more
specifically at how different roles will
interact with the system.
Heartbeat caught up with two digital
champions from Lyndon 5, Ward
Clerk, Jayne Fergusson and Discharge
Coordinator, Anne Parker to find out
more about the training.
“The training was really good,” Anne
told Heartbeat.
“We had an overview of the new system
– we looked at it both from a nurse’s
perspective and a doctor’s perspective.”
Jayne added: “In the next session we will
be looking more specifically at all the roles
which will be using the system, so that we
are able to support our colleagues once it
has gone live.”
Both Anne and Jayne believe that the
introduction of Unity will make a real
difference to both colleagues and patients.
“Everybody involved in the care of the
patient will be able to see all of their
information in one place,” said Anne.
“It will bring everything together,” said
Jayne. “Unity will make us work much better
in unison.”
Another lot of training which will be
launching soon is the early adopter training.
These sessions are for colleagues who will be
involved in the full dress rehearsal (FDR) of
Unity which will take place over three weeks
from 9 – 27 April.
During week two (16-20 April) of the
FDR, colleagues will use the system in a
live setting. This means a small number of
nurses/midwives, healthcare assistants and
ward clerks will work with both our current
systems and Unity at the same time.
In order for FDR to be successful, we need
L-R: Ward Clerk, Jayne Fergusson and Discharge
Coordinator, Anne Parker have both attended
digital champion training
in colleagues who will be using it during
the week to book onto the early adopter
training. All areas must ensure they identify
a nurse (or midwife), HCA and a ward clerk
to be part of the training and book them on.
These should be colleagues who are rostered
for 16-20 April.
Full details of the early adopter training
sessions can be found on the back page
of this month’s edition of Heartbeat.
13
HB February 2018.indd 13 20/02/2018 11:38

Focus on
New electronic patient record will unify clinical records
enabling consistency of care
Later this year many of our clinical systems will change to Unity.
This significant change to the way we work brings a range of
benefits including:
• Providing one integrated IT solution supporting a range of
best practice care from acute to emergency
• Improvement in the legibility of health records.
When Unity has been successfully launched and is being widely
used it will bring about even more benefits including:
• Reduction in missed appointments
• Prevention of duplicate investigations and repetition of
patient information.
Heartbeat caught up with Chief Informatics Officer, Mark
Reynolds who explained more.
“The new electronic patient record has been named Unity as it
will unify clinical records so we are able to work together in an
integrated way,” said Mark. “Unity will replace electronic systems
including CDA, eBMS, PatientFirst and iCM and importantly, will
Unity
will be used by
over
5,500
Unity is coming to you – be prepared
colleagues
enable the delivery of consistency of care across our services.
January saw the completion of the first stage of integration
testing and the move to the second stage.
“During stage two we test that the system works with our other
IT, processes and procedures,” added Mark. “We will complete
the second stage at the end of February and will use the month
of March for any final bug fixing. We’ve also started to train
colleagues who will take the lead with Unity, known as digital
champions.”
In April, Mark’s team is also planning for a full dress rehearsal
(FDR) of Unity - a test of Unity in our clinical services to identify
issues and drive out risk before the go-live.
“During FDR, technical teams will carry out the full breadth of
their activities (apart from switching any systems off),” said Mark.
“For operational teams it’s an opportunity to verify that Unity
works in a business as usual context.
“We’ve agreed that FDR will occur from 9 to 27 April. During
the week commencing 16 April clinical colleagues across the
organisation will use Unity alongside existing clinical systems.”
This is an exciting time for our workplace as we get ready
for this change. For the launch of Unity to be successful
we all must ensure we are prepared. To help with this, a
readiness checklist has been produced as guide to support
teams. The checklist contains the main information and
actions that departments need to take in order to be
ready for Unity. Each ward/department/team will receive
their own checklist.
Team readiness checklist
The checklist belongs to your department, so assign someone within
your team to be in charge of it and store it somewhere safe. How you
get your checks is up to you. You may ask different team members
to focus on a particular area or set up a small group to work through
them all. Accountability for progress with readiness preparation and
associated reporting sits with the ward/department manager.
Getting ready for Unity should be a team effort – the checklist is an
excellent way of engaging colleagues, stimulating discussion about
Unity and starting to address people’s questions and concerns.
You won’t be able to complete each check straight away – many
are tied to particular phases of the project so may not be available
immediately.
Your personal checklist
The success of Unity is dependent upon all of us. You need to:
• Ensure you have basic IT skills
• Ensure you have a network login in your name – generic logins
will not be supported by Unity
• When requested promptly register for digital champion and end
user training - it is expected that 5,500 colleagues will be trained
so it’s important this goes well.
• Attend the training – it will be difficult to reschedule later on as
courses will be busy
• Participate in discussions about Unity in teams and directorates
• Keep up to date with the information published on the Trust in
Digital section on Connect.
The checklists will be issued at day two of the digital
champion training, but are also available to download from
the Trust in Digital page on Connect.
Did you know?
• Computers are updated
regularly to ensure they
are safe and secure. Your
computer will receive
updates overnight even if it
is shutdown, however it must
be plugged in and switched
on at the wall. We will wake
it up remotely, update it and
then shut it down again.
Please do not turn off wall
sockets.
• The most common calls
to the IT helpdesk are for
password resets yet with a
little prep you can reset your
own passwords. For email
passwords see the guide at
http://bit.ly/2xUS0sN. For
log on passwords to access
the network you can use the
SpecOps password reset tool.
To register, go to
http://bit.ly/2xXqxqp.
• Informatics will provide
additional computers to
support Unity. The team
rolled out 50 new computers
on wheels in early February
and have another 160
being built. Floor plans for
each clinical area showing
equipment to be provided
have been published on
Connect.
Sandwell and West
Birmingham Hospitals
NHS Trust
Lots of information is available on Connect including
an overview of Unity, quickstart guides, videos and
information on training. If you want to know more it’s
a good place to start. If you have a question, please
contact swbh.trustindigital@nhs.net.
HB February 2018.indd 14-15 20/02/2018 11:38

Measles: How to
Stay Safe
The best protection is
Measles is on the rise –
2 doses of the safe,
effective MMR
vaccine at 1 year of
are you protected? age, and 3 years, 4
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
Measles is a highly infectious viral
illness that can be very unpleasant
and sometimes lead to serious
complications. It used to be fairly
uncommon in the UK due to the
effectiveness of vaccination, but
unfortunately it is now on the rise
again.
months
Subsequent studies have found no link
between the vaccine and autism.”
In order to be protected If you have against not had measles, a
person requires two doses, you of the cancombined
get them free from
MMR vaccine, which also protects you
your GP surgery
against mumps and rubella. The vaccines
are given one month apart.
“Many people are unsure if they have had
Know the
the two vaccines,” explained Tracy.
symptoms!
“And we have also Keep found people that withmany of
our colleagues are symptoms not fully away protected,
Heartbeat spoke to Tracy Lees,
which puts them, from their others colleagues and our
Occupational Health and Wellbeing Nurse patients at risk.
Manager to find out more. “There has “Measles is highly infectious, a cough or a
been a rise in measles in the UK over the sneeze can spread the measles virus over a
last few months,” said Tracy.
wide area. If you Call come ahead into before contact with it
going to A&E
“In fact, the West Midlands is one of and are not protected, the chances are that
or your GP
five hotspot areas for outbreaks. One you will be infected.
of the main reasons for the rise in cases “My question to colleagues is – are you
is that there is a cohort of people who protected? If not, please contact your GP or
didn’t receive the vaccine as children due occupational health to find out – it is better
to the concerns about its link to autism, to be safe and check than to contract
following a study in 1998 by Dr Andrew measles.
Wakefield.
“If you have not received both does of the
“The work of Dr Wakefield has since been vaccine, please contact us as soon as you
completely discredited and he has been are able to and we can arrange an
struck off as a doctor in the UK.
STOP
Symptoms
of Measles
Rash
Temperature
Runny Nose
Red Eyes
Cough
appointment for you. If there are a number
of you in the department, we can arrange
for a nurse to come to you to administer
the vaccine.”
For any further concerns or questions
on the MMR vaccination please contact
the occupational health service on
extension 3306.
To: Medical Illustration
Shout out is a way for colleagues
to be recognised for their excellent
work, delivering first class
healthcare to our patients.
If you believe a member of your team,
or someone from elsewhere in the
organisation deserves a mention please
visit Connect to give them a shout out.
They may have gone out of their way
to help you with something or you may
have witnessed them make a difference
to a patient or colleague.
To: Tracey Dixon
Tracey is a community staff nurse
working in the Mesty North district
nurse team. She is a fantastic role model
and has an excellent rapport with
patients. She quickly gains trust and
patients love her down to earth and no
nonsense ways. Her unique skills get the
best out of patients and they often ask
‘when is Tracey coming?’ One student
commented at a careers fair recently: ‘I
want to be like Tracey!’
From: Beverley Callaghan
The team is always friendly, provides
customer focused, high quality and
innovative services e.g. graphic design,
electronic forms and printing which
are not only effective but ‘warm’ and
audience friendly – thank you!
From: Essie Li
To: Joanne Brookes
We were very fortunate to have her
contribute to the high turnover of
patients who required x-ray. A fine
addition to the portering team which
can be a thankless job. It’s not always
straightforward getting a patient from
A to B. Hope you feel appreciated.
From: Happy Radiographers
To: Mary Causer and D15 Team
Thank you to Mary Causer and
colleagues on D15 for the support they
provided to the team on D16 during
a particularly difficult day earlier
this month. Their acts of kindness
made a huge difference and is much
appreciated.
From: Elaine Newell
To: Nicola Ager
We wanted to say a big thank you to
Nicola for holding the fort before our
new manager was appointed. Also,
for all her hard work facilitating the
opening of our newly refurbished
library at Sandwell.
From: Library Services Team
To: Dr Josie White
Went above and beyond in discharging
a patient who was extremely vulnerable
and homeless!! Showed exceptional
compassion and selflessness ensuring
the lady was discharged safely.
From: Hayley Barnes
To: Adam Wylie and Rob Kemp
They helped make an office move an
exceptionally smooth process, even
when I was requesting additional ad
hoc jobs on the day.
From: Sam Banwell
16
HB February 2018.indd 16 20/02/2018 11:38

Patient becomes UK-first after
undergoing pioneering eye op
SURGICAL SERVICES
Patient Daniyaal Farooq, with Mr Imran Masood
A 20-year-old man has become the first
in the UK to undergo a sight-saving
operation at Birmingham and Midland
Eye Centre (BMEC).
Daniyaal Farooq, from Yardley, was
diagnosed with glaucoma after he was
plagued with excruciating headaches and
blurred vision which affected his work. The
pressure in his eyes was dangerously high
and he was close to going completely blind
in his left eye.
However, quick-thinking Daniyaal booked
himself in for an eye test and was ordered
by his optician to go to the emergency
department at BMEC.
Once there, he was diagnosed with
glaucoma – which is rare in a person
as young as Daniyaal. In a follow up
appointment with Mr Imran Masood,
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, he was
told that he would need to undergo an
operation in his left eye, followed by his
right.
But instead of the risky Trabeculotomy
procedure, Mr Masood suggested a
more advanced and minimally invasive
technique – GATT (Gonioscopic Abinterno
Transluminal Trabeculotomy) surgery.
The operation was carried out on Daniyaal
in November, and he became the first
patient in the UK to undergo the procedure.
“When I first started getting the headaches,
I thought I’d simply be told to wear
glasses,” Daniyaal explained.
“I never thought I’d become the first
patient in the country to have a unique
operation for a condition that normally
affects older people.
“When I was told I had glaucoma I was very
shocked as no one in my family has it. But it
explained why the headaches were so bad
and my vision was blurry. There was still
time to save the sight in my left eye, if I had
this operation.”
Glaucoma occurs when the drainage
channels in the eye become blocked
How the GATT procedure works:
The usual method to tackle
Daniyaal’s problem would involve a
Trabeculectomy, which would bypass
the eyes normal drainage system
creating drainage under the upper
eyelid. This surgery carries some
risk which is increased in younger
patients. These include bleeding
during surgery, and in particular
dangerously low pressure after the
procedure.
GATT surgery is a minimally invasive
procedure where a tiny catheter
is passed into Schlemm’s canal
(The eye’s natural drainage canal).
resulting in an increase in the eyepressure.
If not treated, the pressure
can damage the optic nerve and this
can lead to permanent blindness in the
affected eye.
Mr Masood explained: “It is very rare for
someone of Daniyaal’s age to have this
condition and there was a significant risk
of him becoming completely blind.
“A typical surgical procedure would be
a Trabeculectomy but it can be a risky
operation particularly in young patients.
It can result in the pressure in the eye
going too low, resulting in loss of
vision and the patient requiring further
operations.
“However, in Texas, in the United
States surgeons have been carrying
out Gonioscopy-Assisted Transluminal
Trabeculotomy (GATT), for a few years
and had published a paper citing its
benefits in young patients.
“It is a procedure with minimal risk.
Daniyaal’s surgery went well in his left
eye and we were able to save his sight.
There were no side effects and we then
carried out the same procedure in his
right eye in January. He is doing really
well.”
Daniyaal added: “I don’t get the
headaches anymore and my vision is
better. I could have gone blind had I not
acted in time, and I would advise anyone
else suffering from the same symptoms
as myself, to get checked out. I was
lucky that my sight was saved, thanks to
Mr Masood and the team at BMEC.”
The canal is dilated and then the
catheter is removed by pulling it
through the abnormal wall of the
canal thus opening the wall and
allowing the fluid free access into
Schlemm’s canal.
This lowers the eye pressure and
prevents blindness. A significant
advantage of this operation is
that it takes 15 minutes compared
to about 60-90 minutes for the
Trabeculectomy. The complication
rate is very low with minimal impact
on the vision following surgery.
17
HB February 2018.indd 17 20/02/2018 11:38

Appeal for knitted boobs to help train
breastfeeding support volunteers
WOMEN’S AND CHILD HEALTH
The infant feeding team are
appealing for knitters to get creative
by making breasts which will be
used to help train up breastfeeding
support volunteers.
As well as a call for the knitted breasts,
the team are also after newborn size
dolls with soft bodies. They will be used
to demonstrate the various ways of
breastfeeding to the volunteers who will
be on an eight week course learning
how to support new mums.
Louise Thompson, Infant Feeding Coordinator,
said: “We will be increasing
the amount of support that new mums
have after they have just given birth
at our hospital. We are doing this by
carrying out an eight week training
course which will ensure they learn all
the basics of breastfeeding and peer
support.
“We know that breastfeeding is the
healthiest way to feed your baby but
eight out of 10 mums stop doing this
before they want to. However, by
carrying out this training, it means we
will be able to give further help to mums
on postnatal wards, so they can continue
breastfeeding for as long as they want
L-R: Infant Feeding Team Midwife, Kirsty Dunning, Volunteer Karen Gayle and Infant Feeding
Coordinator, Louise Thompson
to. The role will also support our midwives.”
Louise added: “We will also give
information on safe responsive bottle
feeding for women who have made an
informed decision to feed this way.”
The volunteers will be based at our
maternity department, which is housed at
City Hospital, along with the midwifery-led
birthing unit Serenity.
Louise added: “The course will run for eight
weeks and we already have quite a few
volunteers who want to take part. Other
areas we will cover are how to spot signs
of effective feeding, and helping a mum
to feel confident and know where to get
support if they encounter difficulties.
“We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers
to complete the training and who can
commit to volunteering a few hours a
week. Breastfeeding experience is desirable
but not essential.”
If you would like to knit breasts for the
team, or become a breastfeeding support
volunteer, please contact Louise Thompson
on 07982 242941.
Streamlining surgical service is
improving the patient journey
SURGICAL SERVICES
Being booked in for surgery can
be an anxious and stressful time
for patients who are unaware of
the many pathways, processes and
assessments involved, which often
differ between specialties and
departments.
Tackling this issue head-on, a group of
leaders from surgical services have been
tasked with future proofing the group,
reviewing all of the processes currently
in place, with a view to unify and
standardise the service for all patients.
Embracing the challenge, the taskforce
have focussed their efforts on the first port
of call for most patients, the booking and
scheduling of pre-operative assessments and
total controlled infusions.
To find out more about the changes
to surgical services, Heartbeat caught
up with Leann Coughlan. Directorate
General Manager for Theatres, Pain and
Anaesthetics. She said: “The booking of
planned surgical activity differs across our
organisation. This unfortunately leads to an
inconsistent service and varied journeys for
patients.
“The variations in service also make it
difficult for colleagues to support each other
across specialties without having an indepth
knowledge of each other’s respective
processes.
“The complex nature of all of the processes
also has an effect on patients where we see
multiple DNAs and cancellations due to poor
booking and scheduling.“
Keen to highlight plans for the future, Leann
outlined where the future proofing plans
would take surgical services, saying: “When
our changes are implemented, we will have
a more effective booking system which looks
at the whole patient journey and implements
standardised processes and practice across
the group.
“The changes aren’t simply an effort to
improve efficiency, they’re a change from our
traditional way of working to a new holistic
approach which focuses on the needs and
wants of the patients, ensuring they can
be booked in for safe, effective and timely
surgery.”
18
HB February 2018.indd 18 20/02/2018 11:38

Tammy gets national news coverage
after she lands new role
National industry magazine The Nursing
Standard put the spotlight on one of
our colleagues in February, to find
out more about her role within our
organisation. Tammy Davies, Group
Director of Primary Care and Community
and Therapies, was featured in the
publication’s section – the 60 Second
Interview.
Here’s the article in full:
After qualifying as a nurse in 2001 Tammy
worked in critical care and then coronary
care, including as a palliative care heart
failure nurse specialist. In 2015 she was
appointed lead nurse in palliative and end of
life care at Birmingham’s City Hospital before
taking up her current role last year.
Q. What are your main work
responsibilities?
Professional leadership for a range of
specialist and community nurses and the
quality, safety and experience of patients
and carers.
Q. How did you get your job?
I was initially asked to take the interim
position following the departure of the
previous post holder. I thoroughly enjoyed
the role and accepted the permanent
position in December 2017.
Q. Who are your clients/patients?
Adult patients with a range of acute, chronic
or life limiting illnesses cared for in the
community setting.
Q. What do you love about your job?
The ability to develop services and improve
quality of care and the experience of our
patients. In addition I love supporting junior
colleagues in developing their skills and
careers.
Q. What do you find most difficult?
Lack of time – there are not enough hours
in the day!
Q. What is your top priority at work?
To develop services that I would be happy
for any of my own relatives to experience
and to be a visible and supportive role
model.
Q. How have you developed your skills
in this role?
By having a role model who I can constantly
learn from, but also by listening to feedback
from patients and carers.
Q. What has been your most formative
career experience?
Developing the palliative care service – this
enabled me to gain an insight into new
ways of working by learning from third
sector organisations and to see beyond the
healthcare model.
Q. If you hadn’t become a nurse, what
would you have done instead?
I can’t imagine doing anything else – I love
being a nurse and have enjoyed every role I
have done.
Q. What will be your next career move?
My current role is very new and so my main
aim is to consolidate my current knowledge
and ensure that our community services are
sustainable and fit for purpose.
New duty radiologist system to
streamline processes in imaging
A new process, which will improve the
way emergency patients and inpatients
are managed by the imaging department
was introduced earlier this month. The
duty radiologist system will streamline
the requesting process and reduce the
number of calls needed to arrange a scan
for a patient.
Imaging Group Director, Dr Sarah Yusuf
explained more: “Our new duty radiologist
system means that one radiologist will take all
the calls on that particular day, with a contact
number on each site.
“They will be responsible for vetting all the
requests for emergency and inpatients, as well
as vetting and protocolling the outpatients
in priority order. This speeds up the booking
process.
“Whilst this means that colleagues on the
wards do not have to ring for every scan, it also
means that our other radiologists can report on
scans without getting interrupted.“ Colleagues
should request an x-ray or scan on iCM,
ensuring that adequate clinical information is
provided. The request will then be accepted,
protocolled and scheduled without you having
to discuss the case.
“We aim to complete the vetting and
scheduling process for urgent cases within 30
minutes of receiving the request, and as soon
possible for ED,” said Sarah.
“Colleagues should remember to check the
CRIS status before calling the departments for
an update.
“We are confident that this new system will
PRIMARY CARE
COMMUNITY & THERAPIES
Q. What is the best lesson nursing
has taught you?
Showing compassion and being kind
is more important than any other
skill, whilst developing a successful
team improves patient care and job
satisfaction.
Q. What career advice would you
give your younger self?
Enjoy every moment and embrace new
experiences – everything is a learning
experience.
Tammy Davies, Group Director of Primary
Care and Community and Therapies,
features in The Nursing Standard this
month
IMAGING
be a positive change for the imaging
team, as well as for colleagues across the
hospital and also for our patients.”
The new system will allow the imaging team
more time to report on scans
19
HB February 2018.indd 19 20/02/2018 11:38

Delight as district nurse is honoured by
the Queen’s Nursing Institute
PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES
AND THERAPIES
The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI)
is a registered charity, dedicated
to improving the nursing care of
people in the home and community.
They achieve this through a national
network of Queen’s Nurses, who are
committed to learning, leadership
and high standards of practice and
patient care.
Val Hutchinson, District Nurse Clinical
Lead at Friar Park, has recently been
named one of only 32 Queen’s Nurses
in the whole of the West Midlands.
Heartbeat caught up with her to find out
what this prestigious title means.
She explained: “The title of ‘Queen’s
Nurse’ is available to individual nurses
who have demonstrated a high level of
commitment to patient care and nursing
practice.
“Nurse, health visitors and midwives
working in the community are eligible
to apply, provided they have at least five
years’ experience.”
The title of ‘Queen’s Nurse’ gives
special recognition of an individual’s
commitment to their profession and
signals their enduring commitment to
Val Hutchison, District Nurse Clinical Lead has
been named as a Queen’s Nurse
providing the best care for patients and
being a role model for colleagues.
Eligible individuals apply personally
to become a ‘Queen’s Nurse’ and are
supported by both their manager and at
least two patients. Applications are then
reviewed by a specialist panel with the
applicant informed via writing if they have
been successful or not.
“I applied in April 2017,” said Val. “I found
out I had been successful in August and
I attended a presentation in October. The
event took place in the Royal Garden Hotel
in London and I was presented with the
‘Queen’s Nurse Award’ by Professor Jean
White, Chief Nursing Officer for Wales.”
So what made Val apply to become a
‘Queen’s Nurse?’
“I wanted to be part of the initiative to
promote community nursing,” said Val.
“I share the same vision as the QNI in that
I believe people are entitled to the best
possible care, by the right skillfully trained
nurse.
“I also felt that becoming a ‘Queen’s Nurse
would assist in my development as a leader.
As a district nurse clinical lead, I lead a small
team of community staff - my leadership
style is developing all the time and I receive
positive feedback from them, but I felt that
the QNI could help me further my skills.
“I love my role as a district nurse and I have
an immense amount of pride in the work
that we do. Being awarded the title of
‘Queen’s Nurse’ is the ultimate accolade and
I feel honoured to have been given it.”
Val’s line manager, District Nurse Team
Leader, Sue Knight is extremely proud of her
achievement. She said: “Val is so dedicated
to all patients in her care and is extremely
supportive of family members.
“I have only ever received compliments and
never complaints in respect of the input Val
gives. She is thorough and hard-working,
often working over her shift to go that
extra mile and does so without asking for
recognition.
“In summary, if I or my family needed the
services of a district nurse, I would want Val
Hutchinson to walk through the door.”
Histopathology recruits to
continue excellent service
PATHOLOGY
During the past six months
histopathology has welcomed 10 new
members to their team based at City
Hospital. Heartbeat caught up with
Deputy Director of Operations, Diane
Edwards to find out more about the
new recruits.
“We had lost a number of highly skilled and
experienced colleagues recently due to the
period of uncertainty in pathology across the
midlands at the moment,” said Diane.
“However, it is testament to our active
recruitment process that we have been
able to bring in these new members of the
team. We have successfully appointed two
senior biomedical scientists and have been
able to give opportunities to newly qualified
biomedical science degree students to kickstart
their careers.”
Diane explained more about the role of the
senior biomedical scientists. She said: “They
will be involved in using advanced dissection
techniques to prepare specimens for
diagnosis. These are tissue samples which
are taken during operations in theatre.
“They will also play a big role in helping to
train their junior colleagues.
“The newly qualified degree students
will now undertake a two year training
programme within the department to
become biomedical scientists.”
One of these new starters, Rahel Haile, told
Heartbeat: “I’m so happy to be offered this
role. This is my first job after I finished my
master’s degree and I’m really grateful to be
given this opportunity to start my career.
“Everyone in the team has been so friendly
and kind to me. I have already learned so
much from the job and I couldn’t wait to
learn and gain more experience.”
As well as clinical appointments, there has
also been some additions to the office team
within the histopathology department.
“We have also had a new medical secretary
and a multi-disciplinary team co-ordinator
who have joined our office team,” said
Diane.
“In addition to this we have appointed two
undergraduate students from Birmingham
University to assist in the decommissioning
of our archives prior to the opening of
Midland Metropolitan Hospital.
“All the new members of our team have
settled well and have made a great start.
I am confident that they will be an asset
to us moving forwards and together
we will continue to provide an excellent
histopathology services for our patients,
clinicians and GPs.”
20
HB February 2018.indd 20 20/02/2018 11:38

Picture book is having an impact on
sickle cell youngsters
MEDICINE AND
EMERGENCY CARE
other and can rely on each other to talk
to or just be there.
“If the transition process is not right,
it can lead to a poor experience for
patients. I first came to City Hospital
when I was 16. I had suffered a crisis and
was taken to the emergency department.
It was scary and confusing as I knew no
one and was unfamiliar with the hospital.
I eventually got to know everyone in
the SCAT team and others who are
responsible for my care and I’m very
fortunate to have a great team of carers
around me.”
The transition project is currently going
through a consultation process with a
view to launching in the summer.
Jenica Leah’s book ‘My Friend Jen’ is available from Amazon and other book stores
Her name is Jen, and the story book ‘My
Friend Jen’ tells how a four year old girl
manages when she is diagnosed with the
blood disorder, sickle cell anaemia.
‘My Friend Jen’ was penned by first time
self-published author, Jenica Leah, a sickle cell
sufferer who has been a patient at our Sickle
Cell and Thalassaemia (SCAT) unit at City
Hospital for nearly 12 years.
Published in 2016, the book has been well
received and Jenica has won some accolades
along the way including being named
Inspirational Young Author at the BEX Live
Enterprise and Community Awards.
She said: “The idea of the book came to me
because there is no literature out there to help
young people with sickle cell. I was diagnosed
as a baby and throughout my childhood it
was very difficult to explain to my friends
why I was always unwell and missing school.
There wasn’t even an easy definition out there
that could simply tell someone else what was
wrong with me.”
‘My Friend Jen’ initially started off as a poem
but gradually became a book once Jenica
realised that there was a need for a book with
good and simple advice about sickle cell.
She added: “I realised this would be a perfect
opportunity for me to talk about the condition
and how it affects Jen, as well as give advice
on how to stay well and healthy in a fun and
informative way. The book shows that Jen can
do anything that other little boys and girls can
do, apart from this one thing that makes her a
little different.
“I have been surprised by the reaction to
the book. I have been fortunate to appear
on radio and TV both here and abroad to
talk about my condition and why my book
is important. It’s good to see young people
and their families reading ‘My Friend Jen’ and
learning about my condition.”
Helping young people to transition
Jenica is part of a group of sickle cell sufferers
working with the SCAT unit and Your Trust
Charity to deliver a project that will help
young people with their move from paediatric
to adult care.
“This project is really dear to my heart and I
am delighted to work with Your Trust Charity
to help it come to fruition,” Jenica explained.
“Moving from children to adult care is a
significant change for young people. The
project will allow them to visit the SCAT unit
and the hospital as a whole so they are aware
of where the key services are.
“We will also provide advice on the nonmedical
challenges that come with sickle
cell. Sickle cell can be a lonely disease, it is
particularly helpful if young people know one
Eddie Edmead, Major Grants Manager,
Your Trust Charity said: “The project
has benefitted tremendously from the
dedicated support of clinical leads Liz
Green and Amanda Tembedza (SCAT
team), and is led by Jenica and Sadeh –
who are both pro-active young people
who are living with sickle cell.
“They are the project’s advocates and our
health champions!”
As well as working on the transition
project, Jenica also volunteers at the
SCAT unit, providing one to one advice to
young sufferers.
Sickle cell disease is the name for
a group of inherited conditions
that affect the red blood cells. It
mainly affects people of African,
Caribbean, Middle Eastern,
Eastern Mediterranean and Asian
origin. In the UK, it’s particularly
common in people with an
African or Caribbean family
background.
People with sickle cell disease
produce unusually shaped
red blood cells that can cause
problems because they don’t live
as long as healthy blood cells and
they can become stuck in blood
vessels.
Sickle cell disease is a serious
and lifelong condition, although
long-term treatment can help
manage many of the problems
associated with it.
‘My Friend Jen’ is available at
Amazon and other book stores.
21
HB February 2018.indd 21 20/02/2018 11:38

NHS Hero - Nuhu Usman
MEDICINE AND
EMERGENCY CARE
Our organisation is full of
remarkable, motivated people,
who give a lot to the communities
we serve. Since 2014, we have
been recognising our quiet heroes
who come from a wide variety of
backgrounds, and do a wide variety
of jobs across our organisation. Each
week we shine a spotlight on one
of those heroes, and following an
interview by our press office the
Sandwell Chronicle publishes these
inspirational stories.
In this edition of Heartbeat, the spotlight
is on our Clinical Director for Emergency
Care, Dr Nuhu Usman.
He’s one of the medics who will be
responsible for the clinical development
of Europe’s biggest accident &
emergency departments. Dr Usman has
told how merging two A&Es into one
at the new “super hospital” Midland
Metropolitan, in Smethwick, is his next
big challenge.
“When the Midland Metropolitan
Hospital opens it will have the biggest
emergency department in Europe,”
explained Dr Usman, who began working at
our organisation nine years ago.
“Getting emergency care settled into the
new hospital and merging two A&Es into
one is definitely a huge task. It will be a
100-bed development serving the people of
Sandwell and West Birmingham.
“We will also be creating a new urgent care
centre on the Sandwell site.”
Dad-of-two Dr Usman, from Sutton
Coldfield, is also in charge of ensuring the
emergency departments at both Sandwell
and City Hospital are running well.
He added: “In my role along with support
from my team, we try to make sure patients
get the treatment they need and in a timely
manner.”
During his nine years here, Dr Usman,
48, has helped to create the ambulatory
care unit, which is based at both sites and
relieves the pressure on A&E. In fact, it is
this work that Dr Usman cites as his career
highlight to date. “I am very proud of our
ambulatory care unit. We set up units at
both City and Sandwell back in 2012. At
the time there wasn’t any space for these
units but with support from our Chief
Executive, Toby Lewis, we made room and
since then it has developed successfully and
is now working very well.”
It’s no surprise that helping people is Nuhu’s
ultimate goal. He added: “Patients drive
and motivate me at work. I think one of the
most satisfying things is seeing a patient
leaving the hospital looking well. I enjoy
talking to patients especially those who are
elderly. Seeing the brightness in their eyes
and the gratitude that someone is spending
time with them is very rewarding.
“One of my most memorable occasions
at work is when we had a wedding on
the ward. A patient was supposed to get
married but her dad was in hospital. One
of our matrons helped to arrange the
wedding in the hospital instead. It was such
a wonderful ceremony and it was all very
sweet.”
When Dr Usman isn’t busy working, he likes
to escape by going on long walks with his
wife and children.
So who is his own hero? “It has to be
Nye Bevan, the MP who spearheaded the
establishment of the NHS. It is inspiring that
he had the courage to do it. The country
had just come out of a war and was not
prosperous but he still had the vision to
create a health system that meant free care
for all. He really is a remarkable person.”
January 2018 staff
lottery results
2nd £112.35
Kathleen McGrath
(ticket number 446)
1st £187.25
Theresa Duru
(ticket number 207)
3rd £74.90
Sally Harrison
(ticket number 318)
Don’t forget that the Trust Charity Lottery costs just £1
a month and anyone who works for the Trust can join.
Payment is deducted from your wages each month.
Nuhu Usman, Clinical Director for Emergency Care
To take part e-mail amanda.winwood@nhs.net
22
HB February 2018.indd 22 20/02/2018 11:38

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals
NHS Trust
It’s Your
Voice –
have your
say
Your Voice survey gives you a greater say in
decision making, changes that affect you and
is also a great way of getting your ideas heard.
Your feedback tells managers and leaders
about what it is like to work here and what can
be improved, and provides timely data about
whether actions taken as a result are making a
difference. You should have received an email
asking you to take part. If you have not had an
invitation, you can still have your say via this link.
http://www.myonlinesurvey.co.uk/SRXKAN/
You have until 16 March to complete the survey.
HB February 2018.indd 23 20/02/2018 11:38

Claire Hubbard,
Director of Nursing for Medicine and Emergency Care
Attracted to the SWBH family on seeing
our outstanding rating for being caring,
Project 2000 nurse Claire Hubbard has
come from Birmingham Women’s and
Children’s NHS Foundation Trust to
take on her new role in Medicine and
Emergency Care.
She explained: “I started my training back
in 1992, qualifying in ’95, before taking
up my first role in Harefield Hospital on the
outskirts of London, I had the privilege of
working alongside Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub
– the founder and Director of Research at
the Harefield Heart Science Centre, on the
cardiothoracic transplant unit.
“As an only child growing up I aspired to be
a solicitor and my first job was an accounts
clerk. Fate led me in a totally different
direction and I applied for nursing during the
implementation of Project 2000, which saw
nurse training change to move out of schools
of nursing and into the university classroom.
It is a decision I have never regretted, as I
feel I have found my true passion, in caring
for others. I am inspired by random acts of
kindness, patient and staff experience and my
ideology majors on compassion. I am looking
forward to working in a team that values
safety and quality, as my Master’s degree is in
Quality and Service Improvement.
“Alongside my sons Max (16) and Ollie (14),
last year I climbed Snowdon to raise money
for a patient experience initiative regarding
privacy and dignity, so I’m looking forward to
investigating opportunities within Your Trust
Charity to do something similar here.”
Claire Hubbard has joined us from
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS
Foundation Trust
Wave goodbye to…
Dave ‘the bloodhound’ Johnson
Dave Johnson will be a familiar face
to many around Sandwell Hospital, as
he has spent over 41 years working in
receipts and distribution, walking miles
around the hospital each day to deliver
parcels to departments.
Dave first reported for duty on 25 October
1976 at West Bromwich and District Hospital
which was in Edward Street. His role was to
be part of the commission team, ready for
the opening of Sandwell General Hospital.
Dave told Heartbeat: “One of my first tasks
was to furnish all the flats in Hallam Close
Nurses’ Home, which is situated at the
bottom of Hallam Street staff car park and is
now used by apprentices.
“I filled all the flats with furniture, even
down to the cutlery and the kettles.
“I remember being in the new hospital
when it was still a building site. The
contractors were finishing off and the only
people around were me and security. I had
an old chunky walkie talkie, which needed a
holder, but it wouldn’t even reach security,
so I used to have to walk closer to them to
get any reception!”
Dave has seen many people come and go
during his many years at the hospital, and it
is the people (not the trolley pushing!) that
he will miss most.
He said: “People here are wonderful – I will
really miss them. I won’t miss pushing those
metal trolleys all over the place though!”
Dave Hobbs, Receipts and Distribution Team
Leader said Dave will be really missed.
“He is the most dependable person I know.
He’s always here – he hardly ever has a day
off sick.
“I call him the bloodhound as he always
manages to track down lost parcels. If
we get a call saying something had been
misplaced – I would always put Dave on the
case and he would always find it!
“He will be really missed – he is like part of
the furniture here but we wish him well in
his retirement.”
As if almost 42 years working in the hospital
wasn’t enough, Dave plans to spend some
of his retirement here too as he is hoping to
register with the volunteer service.
“Hopefully you will see me about in a yellow
t-shirt!” said Dave.
“I know this place like the back of my hand
so I am hoping to join the volunteers to help
direct patients around.”
Aside from volunteering, Dave plans to
use his retirement to reignite a love of
photography and take up model making.
Dave Johnson is retiring after over 41 years
service to the NHS
24
HB February 2018.indd 24 20/02/2018 11:38

Letters, of less than 200 words please, can be sent to the Communications Department,
Trust Headquarters, Sandwell Hospital or by email to swb-tr.SWBH-GM-Heartbeat@nhs.net
YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD
25
Why can’t we access electric
car charging points?
Dear Heartbeat,
I was so happy to read in the previous issue
of Heartbeat, the Trust’s commitment to
sustainability, with the introduction of electric
charging points. Having just purchased a
hybrid car I registered and looked forward
to being able to use the points once at
work. Unfortunately I have been constantly
disappointed when arriving to find both
car parking areas meant for the sole use
of charging, occupied by cars not using
the facility. I then have to go through the
rigmarole of contacting security to see if
the car is registered (who I’m sure now look
forward to my persistent early morning call),
leaving notes on cars to contact me once they
vacate, or constantly checking back during my
break or lunch sometimes to no avail.
I know new things take time to bed in, but
could we make the area more clear what they
are for, maybe a different colour parking area,
place warnings on the vehicles.
Also, the way in which we are charged for
the use of the points seems somewhat unfair
with an additional charge for just docking
the charger! Hopefully these are just teething
problems and we will see improvements
(including the cost) as the system is bedded in.
Thank you.
Dear Colleague,
I’m pleased to hear that you have
purchased a hybrid vehicle and sorry to
hear that you have experienced issues
when attempting to access the designated
electric vehicle charging bays.
On the issue of accessing the spaces, we
have ordered new signage that states
‘Electric Vehicles Only Charing Point.
Maximum stay 3 hours. Vehicles must be
on charge’. This signage will allow our
security team to issue a Parking Charge
Notice (PCN) on vehicles parked in these
spaces illegally. We will also be painting
the bays so there is clearer definition.
With regards to the cost of charging, we
have tried to keep costs for users to a
minimum. We also want to ensure that the
cost of charging vehicles on site is cheaper
than petrol or diesel. We fully support
colleagues travelling by sustainable
modes, including low emissions vehicles
and were successful in receiving some
external funding to cover some of the
installation costs. A discounted rate for
using the charge points has been applied
to colleagues when registering here:
https://www.cpsgenie.com/ds/Register/For/
NHSWBS. Once registered, you will have
access to a 24/7 customer helpline (hence
the transaction fee). The organisation
has to pay for the electricity we consume.
If there is any surplus income, this will
be used to fund the maintenance of the
charge points and future low emission
vehicles infrastructure.
If this issue persists or should you have any
further questions, please feel free to get
in contact.
Kind regards,
Fran Silcocks
Sustainability Officer
Shuttle bus frustrations
Dear Heartbeat,
I use the shuttle bus early morning to get to
work in Sandwell but there are loads of times
that the driver is late or doesn’t turn up.
On Tuesday 23 January I was there at the
shuttle waiting area at 6.31am to catch the
6.40am bus. I waited there and at around
6.40am I rang the transport services and a lady
answered my call and said ‘The driver is here
but he’s sorting himself and he will be there
and you have to wait.’
So I waited and the driver still didn’t turn up. I
had to wait for the 7am bus to go to Sandwell
and in the end I was late for my shift by 25
minutes.
Looking forward for your response.
Staff nurse
Dear Colleague,
I can only apologise for the cancellation of
the 6.30am shuttle bus service on Tuesday
23 January. The driver rostered for that
early morning service rang in sick so we
had to organise a replacement driver.
Unfortunately this could not be done in
time to meet the 6.30am service.
Although the vehicles are serviced and
regularly maintained there have also
been a couple of times when the shuttle
bus has broken down. Contingencies
are in place with the rental company to
provide a replacement vehicle, however
there is sometimes a delay whilst the
arrangements are made and the vehicle
delivered.
Kind Regards,
Steve Clarke
Deputy Director – Facilities
Why is Rowley the forgotten
hospital?
Dear Heartbeat,
I am sending this letter in relation to the
catering and food facilities at Rowley Regis
Hospital. As usual we hear lots of things
that are happening at City and Sandwell
but Rowley is not really involved in the
developments. It sometimes feels as though
this is the forgotten hospital.
At present the catering restaurant is open
until 2pm (Monday to Friday only). I am on a
shift today until 8pm, and there is no catering
facilities, the machine which supplies minimal
choice of food is out of order. Therefore, there
is nothing available for all the staff who are on
duty once the canteen closes at 2pm.
We then have to result to driving out to
the nearest shops or take away outlets. Are
there any plans for the times to increase for
the canteen and to be better services during
the weekend? Also if there are going to be
machines – could they be working, and have a
good selection to choose from?
Kind regards,
Nursing staff from Rowley
Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for your comments. I have
looked into the issues raised and can
confirm that the snack vending machine
is scheduled for repair on Tuesday 13
February.
Unfortunately the repair has taken longer
than we would have liked due to a delay
in the replacement parts becoming
available. Hopefully, on reading my
response, you will have already noticed
that the machine is now stocked with our
new sandwich and wrap products, along
with other snack items, which I hope you
are enjoying.
In relation to the opening hours, there
are no plans to increase the hours of
the Coffee Pot as unfortunately there is
just not enough customers to warrant
extending the hours.
Kind regards,
Jane Owen
Trust Catering Manager
Dear Colleague
Rowley Regis Hospital is certainly not a
“forgotten” hospital. Over the past two
years we have made a lot of changes to
RRH to bring in more outpatient activity,
clinics and diagnostics. It remains a vital
part of our Trust and our provision of
services to people in the community.
Kind regards,
Toby Lewis, Chief Executive
HB February 2018.indd 25 20/02/2018 11:38

YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD
Why the bank rate change for
bands 2 and 3?
Dear Heartbeat,
Can someone please explain why it is that the
bank rate of pay for band 2 and 3 staff has
been reduced and not any of the band 5 and
upwards? Where is the fairness in this?
Band 2 and 3 staff are now to get the same
rate of pay, yet their workload increases. We
are expected to do various tasks, but not get
anymore pay. Our workload is as important as
the qualified staff.
We hear all the so called ‘appreciation’ for the
hard work that is done in these very trying
times with all the cuts, sickness and pressure
that are in the trust at the moment, where is
the gratitude shown to band 2/3 staff?
I think it is very disheartening that our rate
has been cut. There are too many managers in
this organisation, some, as far as I can see, do
absolutely nothing that warrants them getting
astronomical salaries. Why don’t you cut their
salary and employ more staff, instead of, yet
again making the lower paid, hardworking
staff suffer. Band 2/3 staff work really hard
but get no acknowledgement in the form of
money to reflect this.
Anon
Dear Colleague,
We reviewed our bank rates at the
end of last year as part of our planned
approach to reduce our pay spend. You’ll
no doubt be aware from our corporate
communications that we are having to
make some tough choices to ensure we
manage within our affordable levels of
spend, and this is one such example.
We did not make the decision lightly and
ensured that our rates remain competitive
with other NHS banks and agency rates.
We also remain committed to paying the
living wage foundation minimum rate of
pay.
Whilst we recognise and value the
contribution that our bank workers
provide to the organisation our preference
is to reduce our pay expenditure by
reducing our reliance on temporary spend,
thereby protecting as far as possible our
permanent employees.
As you say we didn’t reduce band 5 nurse
pay this time around, but nurse rates of
pay were reduced earlier in the year, so
whilst not undertaken at the same time,
all non-medical staff groups have now
been reviewed.
Obviously exercises such as this will always
be unpopular but are a necessary and
important step if we are to reduce our pay
spend to the levels required in the next
financial year, and minimise the impact on
our permanent employees.
Managers play a vital role in the smoothrunning
of our organisation. We have
made changes to manager bank rates too
as well as putting stops on non-clinical
bank and agency work. We have one of
the lowest manager to employee ratio in
the West Midlands and we keep this under
constant review.
Kind regards,
Raffaela Goodby
Director of People and Organisation
Development
Why don’t we offer transport
for outpatient appointments?
Dear Heartbeat,
I would just like to ask why when we are a
provider of care 24/7 that if a patient has an
outpatient appointment after 3pm on a week
day or an appointment of a weekend, patient
transport won’t bring the patient into their
appointment.
Patient transport have staff that work up
to 8pm weekdays and work Saturdays and
Sundays but still patients with outpatient
appointments will not be bought into the
hospital and have to re-arrange which is not
always possible due to the times the specific
clinics run.
Surely the system needs up dating so patients
are not having to cancel appointments after
3pm and are able to come to clinics that run
on a weekend.
This is not good patient care and the
managers of patient transport need to put
the needs of the patients first and upgrade
and extend the hours of the service they are
offering.
Thank you.
Dear Colleague,
The patient transport service is a finite
resource which provides transport for
patients across all sites within the Trust
and in the community. As well as the
outpatient service, their work schedule
comprises of discharges to assist in
patient flow, cross site transfers, inter-site
transfers (City), transfers to other hospitals
and ED after treatments.
Transport arrangements for outpatients
with appointments after 3pm would be
difficult to schedule as the majority of
patient discharges take place after this
time and the remaining crews are off-site
taking earlier outpatients appointments
home and the evening crews are all
concentrated on patient discharges.
There is also a reduced service on a
weekend, again with all crews scheduled
to undertake in-patient discharges or
transfers.
The costs of the service have to be
managed within budget, the controls are
necessary to ensure the maximum overall
output for both the outpatients and
inpatient service.
Kind regards,
Steve Clarke
Deputy Director – Facilities
Action against smoking is
needed now
Dear Heartbeat,
Imagine a consultant lighting a cigarette while
examining a patient. Or perhaps ashtrays
should be placed on wards so that patients
can smoke while they wait to be seen.
Both are situations that will not happen. So
why does the Trust feel that is acceptable to
maintain a smoking shelter so close to offices.
Each and every day my colleagues and I are
exposed to the effects of secondary smoke
and noise.
The Trust has a responsibility to protect the
health of its workforce - just as we have taken
on the responsibility to care for and support
our patients.
We don’t need debate. We need action.
Thank you
Dear Colleague,
Thank you for your letter. The issue of
smoking on our sites is one that we will
stop completely once we move into the
new Midland Metropolitan Hospital
and rationalise our remaining estate,
becoming smoke-free. I am sorry that you
are being affected by second hand smoke
from one of our designated smoking
shelters. I would be happy to see if we
can relocate the shelter to avoid smoke
getting into your office space. Perhaps
you could email me so I can look at the
particular shelter you are referring to?
tobylewis@nhs.net
Best wishes
Toby Lewis
Chief Executive
26
HB February 2018.indd 26 20/02/2018 11:38

This month Toby writes about…listening more
and listening better
TobyLewis_SWBH
TOBY’S LAST WORD
The front-page of Heartbeat this month ought to make us all
proud to be part of this organisation.
We are visibly and unambiguously providing
relatives, friends, family, colleagues and
patients with the chance to speak up, seven
days a week and in multiple local languages.
Over the coming month you will see all sorts
of publicity and explanation for the new
Purple Point system. Please give it some
of your precious time – when a call comes
through from the team fielding calls we all
need to know what we are being asked to do
- of course we are being asked to respond,
but also to find time to go and listen to the
person raising a concern. Very often that
concern may be solely about communication
or more explanation being needed. Yet if we
really want to make carers, in particular, part
of the care pathway, then that is precisely
what we are going to need to become
experts in. Let’s start simply. The next time
you work through the notes or records of an
inpatient, ask yourself this: Is it clear who is a
family member or neighbour? Who is the key
point of contact?
That partnership with friends and family is
something we have been emphasising since
we started to work with John’s Campaign,
which supports relatives sleeping on our
wards overnight, as is commonplace on
children’s wards. It is part of what we do
with Age-Well in providing a befriending
service, now expanded into our Sapphire
project.
The big expansion of our volunteering
service and pilot status as a HelpForce aligned
organisation, are all about how we involve
and engage local people in the care that we
provide. We have a huge amount to learn
through that, about the resources available
in our local community to better support
patients at home. As we look to double
the number of patients we discharge each
weekend, and thereby make Mondays not a
“double” day, we need to know who we can
rely upon for isolated patients living alone.
By 2020, of course, we will have made two
more huge changes in how we relate to
friends and family:
• The Midland Met wards, in the main,
will be based around patient-led
kitchens. Building on the pioneering
work done on our stroke wards around
breakfast clubs, we want to change
the therapeutic model where we can,
to make it normal to cook and eat at
a time of the patients’ choosing, like
they would at home. This is a big
change – and one designed to tackle
institutionalisation. Part of the work in
our Trust, and across the NHS, to end
so-called PJ Paralysis. I know that when
Paula Gardner joins us in April as our
new chief nurse this will be one of the
first issues that she focuses on.
• And in a little while, we will implement
our Unity Patient Portal (PatientHub).
This will give patients the ability to
log into their care records from home.
Taking a look at the work we do,
understanding their condition better,
and of course understanding the daily
care that inpatients receive. There are all
sorts of reasons to want to improve our
record keeping, as we work across multi
professional teams. But this too will
push us to get this right.
In 2018 however the listening drive is not
confined to patients and their relatives. It is
also part of how we want the Trust to change
for you, and by your actions. Hundreds of
managers are presently graduating from
our accredited manager programme. That
creates a manager’s passport for working
here, with some key expectations of each
of us – including expectations about how
we manage our line reports and teams. In
2018-19 all line managers will take part in a
360-degree feedback exercise in which we
gather data on what people who work for
us think we do well, and could improve. The
executive team are doing just this right now,
as we work towards our next away time.
Your Voice continues, as a big part of our
work to gather your ideas and views. Please
do contribute to it when it comes your
way. But like any feedback it is as good as
what we do with it and your confidence
that something is done. It is the same with
incident reports. Each morning they are
studied and the SIs – serious incidents – go
through a very detailed process all the way
into the board and beyond. We are making
changes now, for example, to what happens
to patients in resus if their care is delated. I
am sure there is more we could do to work
with amber incidents. Ben Mears, Nuhu
Usman, Liz Miller and I met just last week
to look at security issues in relation to ED
and AMU. This is all information that each
directorate and group is working with, as
well as individual line managers. The new, or
now nearly new, executive quality committee
is looking to make sure that there is a thriving
structure at local level to assess, learn from
and act on feedback and information on
safety and governance.
You may, or may not, have heard of Hadiza
Bawa-Garba. She was, is, a paediatrician
who latterly worked at Leicester Royal. One
of our colleagues, David Nicholl, is part of
a campaign to get her readmitted to the
medical register. The GMC has removed
her from that after her conviction for gross
negligence manslaughter. Her case has given
rise to grave concern across the service, and
within our Trust, about how we learn from
error, and hear properly concerns about
things that have or could go wrong. Her
case is relevant to all of us, because we work
in teams, and need to take responsibility
for each other. Individual accountability
will always be a feature of care, but our
best care is provided across teams, often
teams who only know each other a little.
From March we will make it, as part of
our CQC Improvement Plan, mandatory to
undertake pre shift assessments of the skills
of new, bank and agency colleagues. The
data on that work will be collated and as
necessary used to feedback to agencies and
to individuals about their work. Dr. Bawa
Garba was though a substantive member
of NHS staff. Her reflections on the tragic
death of her patient were used – in my view
unacceptably - to critique her in court and at
tribunal. In our Trust we want a culture of
learning, where anyone feels able to speak
honestly about mistakes. And one where
senior staff, clinical or otherwise, always
expect to be asked to help, or just to listen.
I published in a recent Friday message a note
from David Carruthers, our Medical Director,
on precisely that theme, and I want to
reiterate here that everyone who works in our
Trust should feel encouraged to contact those
around and above them day or night. In
changing our own Trust management system
out of hours, which we did in February, we
are looking to both empower and support
colleagues providing care - especially when
care is provided with the support of people
on call from home. Listening, whether in
the moment, or in looking at trends and
themes being reported by you, protects us
all, and our ability to hear emerging concerns
is a key bridge between our successful
safety plan implementation and the quality
improvement work that David will lead in
2018.
27
HB February 2018.indd 27 20/02/2018 11:38

Unity early adopter training March and April 2018
These sessions are for colleagues who will be involved in the full dress rehearsal (FDR) of Unity which will
take place in April. If you have been nominated as an early adopter by your manager you must book on as
soon as possible.
FOR DATE TIMES LOCATION
Drs/Consultants
Course length 2 days
FOR DATE TIMES LOCATION
Nurses/HCAs
Course length 2.5 days
19/03/2018 9am - 4pm
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Part 1
04/04/2018 9am - 4pm
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Part 1
20/03/2018 9am - 4pm
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Part 2
05/04/2018 9am - 4pm
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Part 2
21/03/2018 9am - 4pm
IT Library, City
Hospital
Part 1
06/04/2018 9am - 12pm
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Part 3
Nurses/HCAs
22/03/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital Part 2
26/03/2018 9am - 4pm
27/03/2018 9am - 4pm
Education Centre
Room 5, Sandwell
Hospital
Education Centre
Room 5, Sandwell
Hospital
Part 1
Part 2
28/03/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital Part 1
29/03/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital Part 2
03/04/2018 9am - 4pm
04/04/2018 9am - 4pm
Education Centre
Room 5, Sandwell
Hospital
Education Centre
Room 5, Sandwell
Hospital
Part 1
Part 2
05/04/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital Part 1
06/04/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital Part 2
Course length 2.5 days
19/03/2018 9am - 4pm
20/03/2018 9am - 4pm
21/03/2018 9am - 12pm
21/03/2018 9am - 4pm
22/03/2018 9am - 4pm
23/03/2018 9am - 12pm
26/03/2018 9am - 4pm
27/03/2018 9am - 4pm
28/03/2018 9am - 12pm
27/03/2018 9am - 4pm
28/03/2018 9am - 4pm
29/03/2018 9am - 12pm
03/04/2018 9am - 4pm
04/04/2018 9am - 4pm
05/04/2018 9am - 12pm
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 2,
Sandwell Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Therapists (AHP)
Ward Clerks
Capacity Managers
Pharmacists
Course length 1 day
19/03/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital
20/03/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital
22/03/2018 9am - 4pm
23/03/2018 9am - 4pm
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
26/03/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital
27/03/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital
28/03/2018 9am - 4pm
29/03/2018 9am - 4pm
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
03/04/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital
04/04/2018 9am - 4pm IT Library, City Hospital
05/04/2018 9am - 4pm
06/04/2018 9am - 4pm
Course length 1 day
20/03/2018 9am - 4pm
22/03/2018 9am - 4pm
26/03/2018 9am - 4pm
27/03/2018 9am - 4pm
03/04/2018 9am - 4pm
04/04/2018 9am - 4pm
Course length 1 day
19/03/2018 9am - 4pm
28/03/2018 9am - 4pm
05/04/2018 9am - 4pm
Course length 1 day
21/03/2018 9am - 4pm
27/03/2018 9am - 4pm
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
Anne Gibson IT Suite,
City Hospital
Post Graduate Centre,
Room 5, City Hospital
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
Training Room 1,
Sandwell Hospital
Post Graduate Centre,
Room 5, City Hospital
Post Graduate Centre,
Room 5, City Hospital
Education Centre
Room 8, Sandwell
Hospital
Post Graduate Centre,
Room 5, City Hospital
Post Graduate Centre,
Room 5, City Hospital
Post Graduate Centre,
Room 5, City Hospital
To book on the Unity early adopter training email swbh.informaticsbookings@nhs.net
HB February 2018.indd 28 20/02/2018 11:38