Heartbeat July 2018

Colleagues come together to
celebrate Eid
Last month, colleagues from across the
organisation joined together for our
annual Eid celebration at City Hospital
to mark the end of Ramadan.
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims
observe a strict fast every day from sunrise
to sunset and participate in spiritual
reflection, charitable giving and peace
making. At the end of Ramadan Muslims
across the globe observe a joyous three day
celebration known as Eid.
The celebration, which took place in the
Anne Gibson Board Room, was organised
by our Muslim liaison group in association
with the BME network and the our
chaplaincy team.
Hundreds of colleagues, both clinical and
non-clinical were in attendance to enjoy the
festivities with an array of Asian cuisines,
salads and fruit platters available for all.
Guests were welcomed by Chairman,
Richard Samuda and Muslim Chaplain,
AkmKamruzzaman, who conducted a short
prayer for our patients currently in the
hospital and thanked God for good health.
Dr Ali Akbar, Chair of Muslim liaison group
L-R: Akm Kamruzzaman, Chaplain; Donna
Mighty, Assistant Primary Care Manager;
Amir Ali, Head of Employee Benefits and Ann
Stevenson, Chaplain
was grateful to everyone for attending.
He said: “It was fantastic to have lots of
different people from a variety of different
cultures, backgrounds and religions unite as
one and celebrate Eid with us.
“It’s not often I get to see so many of my
colleagues from both Sandwell and City sites
together in one setting, so to be able to come
together for such a fitting occasion like Eid
was truly special.”
This is the 14th year that the Eid celebrations
have taken place and it is now an annual
CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS
event alternated across City and
Sandwell Hospitals. Masood Hussain,
Finance Manager, who helped with the
planning was thankful to work in an
organisation that supports people from
all backgrounds and beliefs.
He said: “I would like to say a massive
thank you to the Trust for allowing us to
celebrate Eid as well as all the volunteers
on the day as without them, the event
wouldn’t have been a success.
“While Eid is a celebration, it is also
a time for reflection as it allows us to
remember how fortunate and privileged
we are, compared to others across the
world.”
Anser Khan, Security Officer and Cochair
of the BME Staff Network said:
“The purpose of the Eid event is to share
our happiness, peace and harmony
and celebrate equality and diversity
with colleagues from all the faiths and
beliefs.”
Board story: learning from our patients’
experiences
Each month at the Board meeting,
members hear from a patient or
relative who have had either a positive
or negative experience of our care.
This is sometimes in the form of a
pre-recorded video or quite often the
patient or carer attends the meeting to
share their story in person.
This month, Sue Collins attended the
meeting to share her experience as an
inpatient on Lyndon 5 during May this year
after she was diagnosed with pneumonia.
Sue told the Board: “I have nothing but
praise for the care and treatment I received
from both the doctors and the nursing staff,
however I did have a negative experience of
the ward environment.”
Sue explained that the ward was almost full
of patients, who due to their condition were
noisy and unsettled throughout the day and
night. Due to this environment, she was
unable to rest during the day and didn’t get
any sleep for four days and nights.
Sue said: “It wasn’t until the fourth day
that I was offered a comfort pack, which
included an eye mask and ear plugs. Whilst
I left the hospital medically well, I was
mentally exhausted and traumatised. I have
even found it difficult to step back onto the
hospital premises since my discharge.”
During the meeting, Chief Nurse, Paula
Gardner provided Sue and others in
attendance with an insight into how bed
allocation works, and the medical wards we
have in Sandwell Hospital and what their
specialities are.
Paula said: “We are not able to simply have
a ward for dementia patients as they are
placed on the ward which is most suitable
for the reason they have been admitted,
which very often is separate to their
dementia.”
Although we are unable to act on Sue’s
recommendation for dementia patients to
be within a single ward, Paula did state that
she thought there were aspects of Sue’s
experience that we could learn from.
She said: “It is important that we are
communicating with patients about the
type of ward they are being admitted to
and the reasons why it’s the best place
for them and I think we need to be
communicating more about the comfort
packs that are on offer to patients who may
be struggling to rest.
“I will also be talking to nurse leaders about
the importance of asking how patients are,
not just medically, but emotionally too. I
will be encouraging them ask their teams
to speak to patients about how they slept
and if there is anything we can do to help
them.”
Pictured at the July Board meeting are patient,
Sue Collins and Chief Nurse, Paula Gardner
9