Heartbeat July 2020
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FROM THE CHAIR<br />
HELLO<br />
Welcome to <strong>Heartbeat</strong>. As you<br />
sit back and relax to read this<br />
month’s edition we do hope<br />
you’re managing to take some<br />
time out to recharge over the<br />
summer.<br />
You will find stories of bravery,<br />
recovery and compassion in your<br />
<strong>July</strong> edition of <strong>Heartbeat</strong>. Discover<br />
how one of our junior doctors has<br />
written a children’s book, meet our<br />
Empowerment Award winners and<br />
find out how the nursery team are<br />
making a commotion in the ocean.<br />
Enjoy!<br />
Contact us<br />
Communications Team<br />
Ext 5303<br />
swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />
Communications Department<br />
Ground Floor, Trinity House<br />
Sandwell Hospital<br />
Published by<br />
Communications Team<br />
Sandwell and West Birmingham<br />
Hospitals NHS Trust<br />
Designed by<br />
Medical Illustration,<br />
Graphics Team<br />
Sandwell and West Birmingham<br />
Hospitals NHS Trust<br />
Kindness and compassion must<br />
remain at the centre of what we do<br />
I am greatly looking forward to August<br />
when I will meet with representatives<br />
from the groups and the staff networks<br />
to select our shortlist from the huge<br />
number of nominations received for<br />
our annual Star Awards. This year was<br />
our biggest year ever for nominations<br />
which is perhaps no surprise. Thank<br />
you to the 700 of you who took the<br />
time to enter a team or colleague<br />
for one of our prestigious awards.<br />
People who have stood out during<br />
the COVID-19 pandemic will no doubt<br />
feature heavily in our shortlist but we<br />
will not forget all of the great work<br />
that has been done for patients and<br />
families throughout the rest of the year.<br />
Next month is the opportunity for you<br />
to cast your votes for four of our big<br />
awards – Clinical Team of the Year for<br />
Adults, Clinical Team of the Year for<br />
Children, Non-Clinical Team of the Year<br />
and the esteemed Employee of the Year<br />
Award.<br />
As we work through our restoration and<br />
recovery plans I want to thank you for<br />
your continued dedication to our patients<br />
and to each other. This year has certainly<br />
taken its toll and I am so impressed with<br />
the kindness and compassion that you have<br />
shown during this time. As we prepare for<br />
a second surge and put our plans in place<br />
for this winter I know that many of you<br />
will feel anxiety and trepidation. Our Trust<br />
Board is committed to supporting you all<br />
through the next few months, continuing<br />
with the wellbeing support and enhanced<br />
mental health offer that has been put in<br />
place. Please take the time to make use of<br />
these resources. We are also committed<br />
to ensuring that the learnings from the<br />
pandemic are taken forward. We know that<br />
some ways of working have changed for<br />
the better, enabling patients to have more<br />
convenient access to services. Our task is to<br />
embrace and embed the improvements we<br />
have managed to deliver.<br />
Social distancing and handwashing remains<br />
vital in our fight to contain the virus so<br />
thank you for continuing to reinforce this<br />
message to your friends and family as well<br />
as to the patients you see and treat. We<br />
continue to take a cautious and considered<br />
approach to easing restrictions on our<br />
sites such as visiting arrangements and<br />
re-introducing volunteers on our wards. We<br />
hope to begin to restore some of this in<br />
coming weeks. As the country opens up it is<br />
more important than ever to stay safe and<br />
protected and set a good example to those<br />
around us.<br />
Richard Samuda, Trust Chairman<br />
Submit an idea<br />
If you’d like to submit an idea<br />
for an article, contact the<br />
communications team<br />
Ext 5303<br />
swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />
Stay updated<br />
We send out a Communications<br />
Bulletin via email every day and you<br />
can now read <strong>Heartbeat</strong> articles<br />
throughout the month on Connect.<br />
Don't forget you can follow us on:<br />
Chairman, Richard Samuda