HEARTBEAT September 2020
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<strong>September</strong> <strong>2020</strong><br />
Sandwell and West Birmingham<br />
NHS Trust<br />
The pulse of community health, Leasowes, Rowley Regis, City Hospital, Sandwell General and the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital<br />
Issue 133<br />
Unity celebrates first birthday<br />
Pages 4-6<br />
FIRST ANNIVERSARY<br />
Allergies documented<br />
67,600<br />
Number of times patient<br />
records opened<br />
4,200,000<br />
Documents Signed<br />
442,492<br />
Results entered into<br />
Assessments / Fluid<br />
Balance<br />
1,100,000<br />
Results viewed in A/FB<br />
2,100,000<br />
Medication doses<br />
administered<br />
1,200,000<br />
Lab tests ordered<br />
419,369<br />
Medications<br />
Prescribed<br />
482,147<br />
Diagnoses<br />
documented<br />
109,200<br />
Average user logs in<br />
5 times per day<br />
Over the past 12 months our Trust has embraced the electronic patient record system. Read all about our successes in this<br />
month's edition of Heartbeat.<br />
Colleagues have<br />
their say during<br />
Speak Up Month<br />
Page 4-5<br />
NHS Staff Survey:<br />
Your chance to<br />
feedback<br />
Page 15<br />
Flu-Per Troopers get<br />
ready to protect<br />
our Trust this winter<br />
Pages 16 and 17<br />
Virtual wards<br />
for COVID-19<br />
patients<br />
Page 24
HELLO<br />
FROM THE CHAIR<br />
We have many things to be proud of that go<br />
beyond the excellent treatment we provide<br />
Hello and welcome to<br />
your <strong>September</strong> edition of<br />
Heartbeat.<br />
This month we bring you lots<br />
of exciting news from around<br />
the Trust. We look forward to<br />
Star Awards <strong>2020</strong> going digital,<br />
the start of our flu campaign<br />
and we meet Pete Evans who<br />
completed a 120 mile charity<br />
run, just weeks after being hit<br />
by a car.<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 />
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 Heartbeat articles<br />
throughout the month on Connect.<br />
Don't forget you can follow us on:<br />
During this month’s Trust Board<br />
meeting we were privileged to hear<br />
from a patient who praised the care<br />
he received at City Hospital. Mr Bailey<br />
had been in a bad place mentally<br />
following catching COVID-19 where he<br />
was treated in critical care. Mr Bailey,<br />
who had diabetes, developed avascular<br />
necrosis in his left leg and needed an<br />
amputation. He expressed to Board<br />
members how he felt he had nothing<br />
left to live for, but the support and<br />
kindness of all the staff on ward D11<br />
turned him round. He began to have<br />
hope for the future and developed the<br />
will to live again, learning to move<br />
around despite the huge physical<br />
changes that he has to deal with.<br />
Mr Bailey’s story underlined for all of us in<br />
the Board meeting, the impact we have on<br />
people’s wellbeing, not just their physical<br />
health. Mr Bailey’s condition was treated<br />
and he now needed to get to grips with his<br />
new life, coping with a significant physical<br />
disability. He had lost all hope, and what<br />
the marvellous team on D11 were able<br />
to do was to give him back his hope and<br />
encouragement.<br />
At our Trust we have many things to be<br />
proud of that go beyond the excellent<br />
treatment we provide for people’s health<br />
conditions. Our commitment to public<br />
health and supporting the most vulnerable<br />
in our community are testament to that.<br />
The Live and Work scheme, through a<br />
partnership with St Basils, provides young<br />
people at risk of homelessness with on-site<br />
accommodation at Sandwell Hospital and<br />
employment through an apprenticeship<br />
at our Trust. You can read more about<br />
the scheme, that was visited this month<br />
by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, on<br />
page eight in this edition of Heartbeat.<br />
Our Health Overseas Professionals (HOP)<br />
programme gives health care professionals<br />
in Birmingham, many of whom were<br />
leading clinicians in their own country, the<br />
opportunity and support to convert their<br />
qualifications to UK standards, develop<br />
English skills and gain experience in local<br />
health care organisations, all to give them<br />
a route to health service employment.<br />
There are many more schemes that I could<br />
describe that we lead the way on, changing<br />
people’s lives for the better.<br />
The month ahead is Black History Month<br />
where we can reflect on the experiences<br />
and opportunities for Black people right<br />
across the world. During this year, where<br />
the Black Lives Matter movement has had a<br />
profound impact, it is an opportunity for all<br />
of us to understand more about how Black<br />
people have shaped our society. The history<br />
of the NHS shows clearly the contribution<br />
of the Windrush generation and clinicians<br />
who left their own countries to build up the<br />
NHS into the institution it is today, providing<br />
universal healthcare for all. This year of<br />
coronavirus has shown us just how valuable<br />
this unique health care system is.<br />
Our BME network continues to challenge<br />
our organisation to be better at<br />
providing opportunities to people from<br />
all communities and backgrounds. Our<br />
next Board meeting is discussing what we<br />
have learned through the first COVID-19<br />
surge and how we will address health<br />
inequalities in our second surge plans and<br />
restoration/recovery arrangements. This<br />
includes the disproportionate impact of<br />
COVID-19 on BAME communities that has<br />
been identified nationally. We will take a<br />
proactive approach to this, ensuring that we<br />
support our staff through the individual risk<br />
assessments that you have all undertaken,<br />
and our communities, by identifying those<br />
at greater risk and providing support now,<br />
not just when people become unwell. The<br />
support includes additional PPE if needed<br />
and we need to make sure we all follow<br />
our own infection control guidance and not<br />
become complacent.<br />
This year, let’s make Black History Month<br />
a time for being proactive and considering<br />
how those you love, those who you work<br />
alongside and those in your care are given<br />
the right wellbeing support that will help<br />
reduce those inequalities, providing the<br />
best chance of living longer, healthier<br />
lives. For you and all your colleagues, your<br />
wellbeing needs are paramount and, as<br />
COVID-19 cases increase we are committed<br />
to retaining and enhancing the support that<br />
is on offer for you.<br />
Richard Samuda, Trust Chairman<br />
Mr Neville Bailey<br />
Chairman, Richard<br />
Samuda
Unity – 12 months on<br />
and we couldn't<br />
imagine a world<br />
without it<br />
12 months ago, we had all hands on<br />
deck eagerly anticipating the launch<br />
of Unity, our new electronic patient<br />
record. Years of hard work, months of<br />
planning and it all came down to one<br />
weekend in <strong>September</strong> when slowly<br />
but surely wards across our Trust<br />
switched off their old outdated systems<br />
and launched headfirst into our first<br />
unified patient record.<br />
Whilst the launch thankfully was hailed<br />
a success and services were able to<br />
reasonably quickly get back up to speed,<br />
colleagues had a longer journey to<br />
undertake, to forget their old ways of<br />
working and to wholeheartedly embrace<br />
the new safe and effective ways of<br />
working.<br />
Little did anyone know that six months<br />
after launch, as staff were settling into<br />
using the new system that Coronavirus<br />
would make its way across the globe, from<br />
Wuhan in China to the wards of Sandwell<br />
and West Birmingham. However, in our<br />
favour was the newest weapon in our<br />
arsenal, our Unity system.<br />
Throughout the last year and in the darkest<br />
hours of the COVID-19 pandemic, Unity<br />
has stood firmly and supported clinical<br />
colleagues to care for the old, infirm, sick<br />
and unwell. Its streamlined processes and<br />
safety checks have meant that even when<br />
we have seen unprecedented patient<br />
numbers descending on our hospitals and<br />
a highly communicable disease affecting<br />
almost every aspect of care.<br />
To find out more about trials and<br />
tribulations of Unity over the last 12<br />
months, Heartbeat caught up with Chief<br />
Clinical Informatics Officer, Ash Sharma. He<br />
said: “Unity was a long-awaited project, we<br />
had been looking for some time to update<br />
our systems and processes and there was<br />
a lot of work to even get us to the point<br />
of looking to partner with Cerner. Moving<br />
a whole organisation to a new system is<br />
a monumental task when you look at it;<br />
it’s not simply pointing people in the right<br />
direction and hoping for the best.<br />
“Unity wasn’t an incremental change; it<br />
was a leap into the future for our Trust,<br />
bringing the best elements of dozens of<br />
systems together into one easy to use<br />
application for all of our colleagues. From<br />
ordering medications and tests to calling for<br />
a porter, Unity can handle it all, handle it well<br />
and help us to continue providing safe care.<br />
“When COVID-19 began to impact us, we<br />
were able to quickly update our processes<br />
in Unity, restructure our wards and respond<br />
appropriately to a very real threat. This<br />
flexibility and ability to adjust our ways of<br />
working meant we were able to evolve our<br />
treatment methods as well as our streaming<br />
pathways without too much trouble.”<br />
One of the areas where Unity has made its<br />
mark has been in the emergency department,<br />
where patients first present and the pace of<br />
working is high. Heartbeat spoke to Sister,<br />
Stacey-Jane McCormick to find out how<br />
colleagues in the department had taken to the<br />
new system and how it had transformed their<br />
way of working. She said: “I can’t imagine<br />
using anything else, as difficult as it was a year<br />
ago to get it going and get used to it, it’s a<br />
robust system. It’s very user friendly, everything<br />
we need is there on one screen, I can’t imagine<br />
using a different system now considering eight<br />
years ago we were using paper.”<br />
Benefits from Unity have been widespread;<br />
in therapies, colleagues are enjoying having<br />
access to in-depth patient information all in<br />
one location. Sharing her thoughts on their<br />
newfound ability, Trainee Frailty ACP, Emma<br />
Hibbs, said: “We’re now better informed going<br />
into patient assessments, whereas before we<br />
would have snapshots of histories from EBMS<br />
and CDA. Now we can view whole encounters,<br />
whole admissions previously and we know<br />
a lot more about our patients before we<br />
go into assessments."<br />
A year in from launch, the pace of<br />
development and innovation hasn’t<br />
faltered with Unity. There are still over<br />
1,000 improvements and alterations<br />
in the hands of our project partners<br />
at Cerner, and recently we applied a<br />
major code upgrade to Unity to improve<br />
usability, speed and stability. Furthermore,<br />
patients will soon also be able to login<br />
to the Unity Patient Portal, bringing their<br />
care record back into their hands and<br />
supporting patients to have a much closer<br />
working relationship with their clinicians<br />
in the management of their care.<br />
For more information on the<br />
developments to Unity, contact Louise<br />
Brown on louise.brown25@nhs.net.<br />
3
Speak up Month - 26 letters of the<br />
alphabet and 26 days to explore issues<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
October sees the start of Speak up<br />
Month when organisations across<br />
health and throughout England will<br />
raise awareness of speaking up and<br />
demonstrate their willingness to<br />
listen to workers.<br />
Speak up Month is the highlight of the<br />
National Guardian’s Office calendar<br />
– this year the campaign will draw<br />
up an Alphabet of Speak Up - from<br />
accountability to zero tolerance – there<br />
will be films, podcasts, blogs and<br />
resources sharing how Freedom to Speak<br />
Up is making a difference.<br />
Rachel Clarke, Interim Deputy Group<br />
Director of Operations for Primary<br />
Care, Community and Therapies is a<br />
Freedom to Speak up Guardian. She<br />
told Heartbeat:“There are 26 letters of<br />
the alphabet and 26 days to explore<br />
the issues, the people, the values, the<br />
challenges – everything which goes into<br />
what Freedom to Speak Up means in<br />
health. When things go wrong, we need<br />
to make sure that lessons are learnt and<br />
improvements made.<br />
“If we think something might go wrong, it’s<br />
important that we all feel able to speak up so<br />
that potential harm is prevented.”<br />
Claire Hubbard, Deputy Director of<br />
Governance, Knowledge and Learning added:<br />
“Having an open and transparent speak up<br />
culture is a vital part of patient safety and<br />
being a learning organisation. It is really<br />
important that our colleagues feel that they<br />
can raise concerns safely, without fear of<br />
reprisal and in confidence, that concerns<br />
will be looked into and feedback provided.<br />
As a Freedom to Speak Up team, we are all<br />
committed to meeting the standards of the<br />
National Guardian's Office, and building<br />
confidence that it is safe to speak up.<br />
Meet the Guardians<br />
For more information go to:<br />
www.nationalguardian.org.uk<br />
“Being able to speak up, and<br />
feeling safe to do so, enables us to<br />
continuously improve and learn which<br />
benefits the staff, patients, and the<br />
families and communities that we serve.<br />
“We'll spend October looking at the<br />
alphabet of speak up, with each day<br />
identifying a word and what that means<br />
to colleagues across the Trust. We are<br />
encouraging managers to use this as<br />
an opportunity for discussion with your<br />
colleagues and team. Speaking up is an<br />
important part of a culture that focuses<br />
on safety and quality, and we would<br />
like you and your teams to play a part in<br />
encouraging these conversations to be<br />
part of who we are and how we work.”<br />
Rosie Auld<br />
Rosie is Head Orthoptist in<br />
Surgery though she works<br />
across all the Trusts’ sites.<br />
E: rosieauld@nhs.net<br />
Rachel Clarke<br />
Rachel is Interim Deputy<br />
Group Director of Operations<br />
for Primary Care, Community<br />
and Therapies.<br />
E: rachel.clarke10@nhs.net<br />
Harpal Tiwana<br />
Harpal works in Primary<br />
Care, Community and<br />
Therapies as an Assistant<br />
Service Manager.<br />
E: harpal.tiwana@nhs.net<br />
Ian Galligan<br />
Ian is a Technical Supervisor in<br />
Medical Engineering.<br />
E: ian.galligan1@nhs.net<br />
Sandra Kennelly<br />
Sandra works in the<br />
community as a Clinical Team<br />
Leader/Occupational Therapist<br />
with Primary Care, Community<br />
and Therapies.<br />
E: sandra.kennelly@nhs.net<br />
Sue Whalen<br />
Sue is a Consultant in Sexual<br />
Health in the Women’s and<br />
Child Health Group.<br />
E: susan.whalen@nhs.net<br />
The guardians will be making time available<br />
in October to support individuals or teams.<br />
If you would like someone to visit your<br />
clinical area, or would like to arrange a<br />
phone call, individual WebEx conversation,<br />
or face to face meeting, please email the<br />
guardians directly or using the generic email<br />
swbh.ftsuguardians@nhs.net<br />
The Freedom to Speak Up Guardians email<br />
address is confidential, with restricted access<br />
rights provided to just the team. This means<br />
that the guardians can ensure that the best<br />
person can meet, support and feedback to<br />
you.<br />
We realise there may be times that you do<br />
not want your concern to go into a central<br />
email address, so on these occasions you are<br />
recommended to email a guardian directly<br />
and they will make contact with you. You<br />
can also phone them and they will be more<br />
than happy to arrange some time to listen.<br />
swbh.ftsuguardians@nhs.net<br />
4
Through your line manager - we would<br />
??? always encourage that your line manager is<br />
???<br />
the first person that you speak to if you see<br />
something that concerns you and gets in the<br />
way of providing good care. However, we<br />
know that this is not always possible.<br />
Staff networks - we have a number of<br />
networks who can support colleagues to speak<br />
up. The networks will be working alongside<br />
the guardians to help to identify any concerns<br />
or worries that we need to support.<br />
BME Network:<br />
swb-tr.SWBH-GM-EqualityDiversity@nhs.net<br />
LGBTQ+ Network:<br />
swbh.lgbt@nhs.net<br />
Disability and Long Term Conditions:<br />
swbh.dlt@nhs.net<br />
Chaplaincy - we are fortunate to have a visible<br />
and supportive multi faith chaplaincy team that<br />
are happy to be contacted to help support our<br />
speak up options. Please feel free to contact<br />
Mary Causer on mary.causer@nhs.net, should<br />
you wish to talk to one of the chaplaincy team.<br />
Safecall - safe call is a company, completely<br />
detached from the NHS, who provide a<br />
fully confidential speak up option for the<br />
organisation. Their 24 phone number is<br />
0800 915 1571.<br />
Other ways to speak up<br />
Meet our Speak Up leads<br />
Kathy French, Interim Chief Nurse<br />
Kathy is our executive lead for Speak Up and has<br />
a strategic overview of our processes. You can<br />
contact Kathy on kathleen.french1@nhs.net<br />
Claire Hubbard, Deputy Director<br />
of Governance, Knowledge<br />
and Learning<br />
Claire has been leading on the review of our<br />
current speak up processes and is supporting<br />
changes in line with current national guidance and<br />
best practice recommendations. You can contact<br />
Claire on claire.hubbard2@nhs.net<br />
Lesley Writtle, Non-Executive<br />
Director for Speak Up<br />
Lesley is responsible for ensuring we have good<br />
standards regarding the freedom to speak up. You<br />
can contact Lesley on lesley.writtle@nhs.net<br />
There are many other ways to speak up, see Connect for further info.<br />
Chief Registrar calls for colleagues to<br />
keep being kind<br />
Last month Specialist Registrar in<br />
Diabetes and Endocrinology, Dr<br />
Vaishnavi Kumar was appointed<br />
Royal College of Physicians Chief<br />
Registrar for the Trust for the<br />
<strong>2020</strong>/21 term. This means that in<br />
her clinical role she will work on<br />
the frontline providing medical care<br />
during general internal medicine oncalls,<br />
whilst training to be a specialist<br />
in diabetes and endocrinology.<br />
Her focus is on learning and<br />
development, and as chief registrar, she<br />
sees herself as a bridge between senior<br />
clinical leaders and the wider trainee<br />
workforce. She said: “I am keen to hear<br />
from all trainees within the organisation<br />
if they have any concerns and also<br />
on how learning and training can be<br />
improved.<br />
“I am keen to have continued<br />
Dr Vaish Kumar – new chief registrar<br />
involvement in junior doctors’ wellbeing whilst<br />
my main project for the year is to deliver<br />
a leadership and management course for<br />
registrars/middle grades in the Trust.<br />
“I’ve witnessed some great examples of good<br />
leadership in the Trust during the first wave<br />
of COVID, so it made perfect sense for me to<br />
take on the chief registrar role here as I learn<br />
more about leadership. Along with good<br />
training opportunities, staff wellbeing has<br />
been a big priority for the Trust, and this<br />
has encouraged me to stay on to take the<br />
additional role.<br />
“As a trainee, COVID has had a major<br />
impact on my training, especially specialist<br />
training. Clinically, I worked mainly on the<br />
acute medical unit during the pandemic<br />
and was not able to provide any care in the<br />
outpatient setting where I am mainly based<br />
during my specialty training time. I am back<br />
to doing what I enjoy but anxious about the<br />
growing number of cases.<br />
“My message to colleagues across the<br />
Trust is to keep doing what you are doing,<br />
be kind and to my fellow trainees, please<br />
contact me if you are experiencing any<br />
issues or worries. Even if I cannot solve<br />
the problem myself, I can help to signpost<br />
and escalate issues. Please email me on<br />
vaishnavikumar@nhs.net.”<br />
5
Safe spaces in place for prayer<br />
and worship<br />
COVID-19<br />
New social distancing and infection<br />
control measures have been put into<br />
place which will ensure the safety<br />
of those colleagues who wish to use<br />
the chapel and prayer rooms.<br />
Jummah (Friday) Prayers have resumed<br />
in the chapels at Sandwell and the<br />
Birmingham Treatment Centre, with<br />
three-time slots at 1.15 pm, 1.30 pm<br />
and 1.45 pm. Prayer times are staggered<br />
so that there are only a maximum<br />
number of people using the room at any<br />
one time.<br />
Rev Mary Causer, Lead Chaplain, said<br />
the measures were essential in ensuring<br />
the areas were COVID-safe. She added:<br />
“We have drawn up these plans so that<br />
anyone who wishes to pray can do so in<br />
a manner that reflects social distancing<br />
measures.<br />
The new-look chapel at Sandwell, which<br />
shows markings on the floor where prayer<br />
mats should be placed<br />
“We have worked with the infection control<br />
and estates teams to rearrange the rooms,<br />
which have markings on the floor where<br />
prayer mats should be placed. It is important<br />
that the chapels remain open and accessible<br />
during these very trying times.”<br />
At Sandwell, 11 people will be allowed in at<br />
each time slot, whilst at City, 10 worshippers<br />
will be able to use the pray room during<br />
each time slot. Volunteers will hand out<br />
face masks, distribute hand sanitiser and<br />
a reusable travel prayer mat which has<br />
been provided by private donations and<br />
the chaplaincy, to each individual using the<br />
facilities. Please note, there may be a wait<br />
due to the number of people wishing to use<br />
the space.<br />
Christian services will resume shortly, and<br />
more details about this will follow. The<br />
chapels at both sites remain open for<br />
individual worship, and both rooms are set<br />
out to reflect social distancing measures.<br />
The chaplaincy has continued to provide a<br />
service throughout the pandemic, and every<br />
Sunday they light candles for colleagues<br />
and patients.<br />
If you would like a candle lit for a<br />
loved one who has passed away or is<br />
sick, please contact Mary Causer, Lead<br />
Chaplain, via email at mary.causer@nhs.<br />
net or call her on ext 3552.<br />
Reunited in time for their anniversary<br />
A couple from Great Barr got to<br />
celebrate their anniversary back in<br />
each other’s company after the wife<br />
returned home following months of<br />
treatment for COVID-19.<br />
A tearful Hanifabibi Shaikh left City<br />
Hospital to applause, as staff formed<br />
a socially distanced guard of honour<br />
to mark the end to a long period of<br />
treatment. Treatment which began<br />
when Hanifabibi fell seriously ill to the<br />
Coronavirus back in March, requiring a<br />
spell on the hospital’s intensive care unit<br />
before beginning a slow recovery on<br />
City’s D47 rehabilitation unit.<br />
Now, although her journey is not yet<br />
over, Hanifabibi is recovered enough<br />
to go home to finish her recuperation<br />
in the company of her loving husband<br />
Abdul.<br />
The Shaikh family had been in regular<br />
contact with staff during Hanifabibi’s<br />
treatment and developed a special<br />
relationship with those helping her. They<br />
even presented ward staff with a special<br />
book, full of messages of thanks from<br />
relatives far and wide.<br />
Staff in return presented Hanifabibi with<br />
two cards – one a best wishes card,<br />
but another for the couple’s wedding<br />
Hanifabibi Shaikh pictured with team members that looked after her during her stay at<br />
City Hospital<br />
anniversary which they were delighted to be<br />
able to spend together. At the same time,<br />
others caught up with family news, expressing<br />
sadness they would miss their regular updates.<br />
“It’s a very special day for me today,”<br />
Hanifabibi Shaikh told Heartbeat. “I’m going<br />
home after coming here in March but as<br />
happy as I am going home I’m going to miss<br />
all the friends I’ve made on D47. Although<br />
they are my health carers, my nurses, they all<br />
treated me as a friend. They have given me a<br />
second chance at life. I cannot find sufficient<br />
words to express what I feel about them all – I<br />
thank the Lord for giving me a second chance,<br />
but so many people have played a part in<br />
it.”<br />
Memory Seka, Senior Sister on D47<br />
rehabilitation unit added: “We’re both sad<br />
and happy to see Hanifabibi leave after so<br />
long needing treatment. It’s heartwarming<br />
to see her reunited with Abdul and we all<br />
wish her the very best in her continued<br />
recovery. I’m very proud of all the staff<br />
on D47 for all they have done to support<br />
Hanifabibi and her family while she has<br />
been under our care. They have maintained<br />
and upheld the care promises set out by our<br />
Trust.”<br />
6
Colleagues invited to share their<br />
stories of COVID-19<br />
COVID-19<br />
Putting on PPE to deliver treatment<br />
It's been quite a year so far, and for<br />
many of us, it has made an impact that<br />
we will remember for the rest of our<br />
lives.<br />
But we must move on and continue to<br />
support each other through the challenges<br />
that COVID-19 brings us, whether that<br />
be in the changes to the simple tasks we<br />
do almost without thinking about, buying<br />
our groceries, to how we do our jobs,<br />
with the added burden of PPE, and the<br />
constant thought of preventing the spread<br />
of infection.<br />
The diary of an infection control<br />
nurse during COVID-19<br />
<strong>2020</strong> will always be synonymous with<br />
COVID-19. It has impacted all of our<br />
lives both personally and professionally<br />
and, it will no doubt have a lasting<br />
impact on how we do things within the<br />
NHS.<br />
If we look back to the start of the surge<br />
we all took decisive action to ensure we<br />
had the right people in the right places to<br />
ensure we could effectively respond to the<br />
many challenges that unfolded. We actively<br />
recruited former colleagues, calling on their<br />
expertise to help us tackle the Coronavirus.<br />
One such person was Kath Hughes, an<br />
Infection Control Nurse with many years’<br />
experience under her belt.<br />
Talking to Heartbeat, Kath explained: “In<br />
December 2019, having worked for many<br />
years in the NHS I retired. The plan was to<br />
enjoy travelling, spending time with my<br />
grandchildren and some quality time with<br />
my loved ones. Well, COVID-19 had other<br />
plans, and we all know what happened<br />
next. Who would have guessed a global<br />
pandemic would strike soon after I retired?”<br />
“I was contacted by Julie Booth, Lead<br />
Nurse, Infection Prevention and asked to<br />
join the Trust to help the team. After the<br />
initial surprise of being back at work, I soon<br />
got used to the systems and processes. I<br />
had worked at another Trust before retiring<br />
Our memories are very important to help us<br />
move on through the year, so we are bringing<br />
together a commemorative book, to tell<br />
the stories of how we coped and adapted<br />
and supported each other to get through<br />
the pandemic – even as we face a potential<br />
second wave.<br />
You may work in any area of the Trust, caring<br />
for patients, or supporting those that do,<br />
frontline or back office, we’ve all had changes<br />
to make, and all lived through lockdown.<br />
We are planning for our book to be a lasting<br />
Retired colleague, Kath Hughes returned to<br />
work to help our Trust during the pandemic<br />
and what surprised me was how well this<br />
team works together.<br />
“The team works flexibly and effectively to<br />
keep patients and colleagues safe. They have<br />
delivered over 17,000 FIT tests to not only<br />
our staff but to other healthcare professionals<br />
from local care homes and other Trusts. I<br />
thought perhaps it was just me who was<br />
impressed by how the team worked together,<br />
but having taken complimentary calls and<br />
comments from grateful staff, many from<br />
reminder of the year, and a valued piece<br />
of our Trust history so would invite you<br />
to participate if you feel able to.<br />
Some time ago the communications<br />
team were delighted to find a treasure<br />
trove of back issues of ‘The Corridor’<br />
– the forerunner to Heartbeat – dating<br />
back over 60 years. It doesn’t take<br />
a history buff to enjoy looking back<br />
through the pages of news written by<br />
and about our colleagues of yesteryear.<br />
Perhaps this book will fulfil the same<br />
purpose in years to come.<br />
If you would like to share your story,<br />
thoughts and memories of working<br />
through the pandemic, please<br />
contact Vanya Rogers, Head of<br />
External Communications, by email<br />
vanya.rogers@nhs.net<br />
outside our Trust, I know I’m not alone in<br />
thinking this.”<br />
Kath added: “All members of the team<br />
have their own roles, but they all help<br />
each other freely. This small team is<br />
unique in that they look after staff and<br />
patients across all the different areas.<br />
During the peak of COVID-19, things<br />
changed daily and to say the team made<br />
it look seamless is an understatement.<br />
“I will always look back at my postponed<br />
retirement with a warm glow as I<br />
had the chance to work with a team<br />
who welcomed me so warmly and<br />
appreciatively as if I had always been<br />
working alongside them. Thank you IPC<br />
team!"<br />
Melanie Roberts, Deputy Chief Operating<br />
Officer commented: “At the start of<br />
this pandemic, there was a need for us<br />
to expand our teams to help meet the<br />
demand placed on us by COVID-19. We<br />
actively sought experienced colleagues<br />
to help support our teams and that<br />
involved contacting some people that<br />
had retired. Kath was one of the people<br />
that agreed to join us, and we thank<br />
her, and all former NHS colleagues,<br />
for showing such professionalism and<br />
dedication during what has been a<br />
demanding time for all of us.”<br />
7
Live and Work programme gets a VIP<br />
visit from Andy Street<br />
COVID-19<br />
Andy Street, the West Midlands<br />
Mayor, visited the Live and Work<br />
programme to find out more about<br />
how it will progress to the second<br />
stage.<br />
The project is a partnership between<br />
the Trust and homeless charity St Basils<br />
and aims to provide apprenticeship<br />
opportunities and living accommodation<br />
to young people. Disused buildings,<br />
situated at the foot of the Hallam Street<br />
staff car park at Sandwell, have been<br />
revamped and turned into homes for<br />
those taking part in the scheme.<br />
Now the Trust and St Basils are looking<br />
to transform another building so that<br />
the project can be expanded. The Mayor<br />
visited to see the work that has already<br />
been done and hear about how the<br />
project will be developed further.<br />
Raffaela Goodby, Director of People<br />
and Organisation Development, said:<br />
"We were delighted to invite Andy to<br />
our Trust site and to share our vision for<br />
the Hallam Youth Village. The Live and<br />
Work project remains important for us<br />
as a Trust as we work with St Basils to<br />
provide a home and a job for young<br />
people who may be at risk of becoming<br />
Mayor, Andy Street with members of our Trust<br />
homeless. We look forward to welcoming<br />
the Mayor back when the accommodation<br />
is revamped and ready to welcome the new<br />
residents’.<br />
Lawrence Kelly, Learning Works Co-ordinator,<br />
added: “During his time here, the Mayor<br />
was able to speak to an apprentice who has<br />
firsthand experience of the Live and Work<br />
scheme and learn about how it has helped<br />
her, both in a professional and personal<br />
capacity.<br />
“She has been able to complete her<br />
apprenticeship and has had a safe and<br />
comfortable place to live which is also<br />
convenient for her work. She has gone on<br />
to secure work through Trust Bank whilst<br />
she studies at university. This is a shining<br />
example of how this scheme is doing exactly<br />
what it set out to do. The apprenticeship<br />
team led by Maxine Griffiths have given this<br />
young person a fantastic platform to build<br />
upon for her future journey ahead.”<br />
8
THE AWARDS<br />
GO DIGITAL<br />
The show must go<br />
on – Star Awards<br />
<strong>2020</strong> goes digital<br />
<strong>2020</strong> has been a year we’ll all remember.<br />
With so many changes it has become even<br />
more important that we recognise the best of<br />
the best within our Trust. Without a doubt,<br />
colleagues across our organisation at all levels<br />
have pulled out all the stops and gone the<br />
extra mile to ensure patient care has not been<br />
compromised during these trying times.<br />
This year, we’ve had over 700 nominations and<br />
everyone that was put forward for an award<br />
should be hugely proud of that achievement. The<br />
executive judging has been completed and, we<br />
have now completed the colleague nominated<br />
vote.<br />
We’ve enlisted your help to decide who will walk<br />
away with a coveted award in these categories and<br />
the winners of the voted awards will be announced<br />
on the night!<br />
• Employee of the Year<br />
• Clinical Team of the Year (Adults)<br />
• Clinical Team of the Year (Children)<br />
• Non-Clinical Team of the Year<br />
???<br />
Looking ahead to the awards ceremony ??? itself, the<br />
Trust has decided to take the awards ceremony<br />
online. With so much of what we do moving<br />
online this year anyway, it was the most practical<br />
and safe choice for us as an organisation.<br />
So what can you<br />
expect from this<br />
year’s ceremony?<br />
It will be an evening event so nothing is stopping<br />
you from getting dressed up (if you can) to join in<br />
with the fun on the night.<br />
The awards ceremony itself will be streamed live to<br />
the internet and you’ll be able to watch, engage<br />
and participate from the safety of your ward, office<br />
or home.<br />
ITV Weatherman, Des Coleman will be once again<br />
hosting our awards ceremony. Last year, he set<br />
the room alight with his glittering personality and<br />
serenaded the crowd with a song or two. This year,<br />
his stage will be online, and he will be helping us<br />
celebrate the work of exceptional colleagues across<br />
our Trust.<br />
Ruth Wilkin, Director of Communications,<br />
said:<br />
“ We are thrilled to be able to host an awards<br />
ceremony this year. Recognising our people<br />
for everything they do is more important<br />
than ever.<br />
“ We will be doing things a little differently,<br />
and I’m sure you can all appreciate why<br />
that is. Nevertheless, we will be saying thank<br />
you to our colleagues for their fantastic work<br />
and, I’m pleased that everyone got behind<br />
this year’s voting and recognised over 700<br />
co-workers. It shows just how much good<br />
we do collectively, and we look forward<br />
to recognising those achievements shortly.<br />
Watch this space to find out when we’ll be<br />
hosting Star Awards <strong>2020</strong>.”<br />
9
???<br />
THE RULE OF SIX<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
???<br />
??? You must not gather<br />
socially in groups of<br />
more than six.<br />
The rule of six applies in<br />
any setting, indoors or<br />
outdoors at home or in<br />
the pub.<br />
Extra restrictions have now<br />
been brought in including the<br />
‘rule of six’ with guidance to<br />
encourage people to work<br />
from home where possible.<br />
The rule of six now<br />
excludes paid or<br />
unpaid child care of<br />
children under 14.<br />
IN ADDITION TO NATIONAL RESTRICTIONS, THERE ARE FURTHER RESTRICTIONS IN<br />
BIRMINGHAM, SANDWELL, SOLIHULL AND WOLVERHAMPTON.<br />
Residents in these areas are no<br />
longer able to mix with people<br />
they don’t live with, in their homes<br />
or gardens.<br />
Your household is defined as the<br />
people you live with and any<br />
support bubble.<br />
Households that have formed<br />
a support bubble with another<br />
single adult household behave as<br />
if everyone lives in the same house.<br />
HANDS FACE SPACE<br />
The doctor dances… again!<br />
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic<br />
our organisation has, again and<br />
again, stressed that both the<br />
physical and mental wellbeing of<br />
staff is paramount and one of the<br />
best ways to shake off the cobwebs<br />
is to dance. Dancing helps both<br />
physical fitness and is shown to help<br />
mood – so it’s the perfect antidote to<br />
a bad day.<br />
With the encouragement of Your<br />
Trust Charity, a new monthly dance<br />
event is being held across the Trust:<br />
#Dance4Wellbeing. At the end of each<br />
month, a new dance routine will be<br />
posted on the Trust’s YouTube channel,<br />
the first being set to Sister Sledge’s 1979<br />
hit “We Are Family”. Highly appropriate<br />
considering our own #SWBfamily<br />
hashtag.<br />
The routines are being led by none<br />
other than our doctor of dance Dr Nick<br />
Makwana, Consultant Paediatrician<br />
and Group Director of Women and<br />
Dr Nick Makwana dons his dancing shoes<br />
to help colleagues keep fit<br />
Child Health. Regular Heartbeat readers<br />
will remember Nick’s last turn on the dance<br />
floor, cutting a rug (if we had one there)<br />
at Sandwell Hospital’s main reception in a<br />
12-hour dance-a-thon to raise money for<br />
Children in Need.<br />
“Why am I doing this? I think I was asked<br />
and I sillily agreed,” joked Nick to Heartbeat.<br />
“But more importantly, we know that dance<br />
is a great way of improving wellbeing.<br />
It strengthens emotion, your cognitive<br />
skills, your brainpower. It improves your<br />
physical ability and improves social interconnections,<br />
as very rarely do you dance<br />
alone.<br />
“From a physical aspect, it’s a great calorie<br />
burner. Indeed, when I did my 12-hour<br />
dance-a-thon I burnt 6,000 calories within<br />
12 hours. So, I’m surprised I’m still here, to<br />
be honest!<br />
“Because you’re using different parts of<br />
your body it also helps with coordination,<br />
concentration, balance and your physical<br />
ability. From a mental health point of view,<br />
there’s been research done using dance<br />
movement therapy, showing that it can<br />
improve symptoms of depression and<br />
anxiety. So there are lots of good reasons to<br />
dance.”<br />
The We Are Family video can be found<br />
on the Trust’s YouTube channel: http://<br />
www.youtube.com/SWBHNHS1<br />
10
Nurse scoops top award for work<br />
with incontinent patients<br />
Congratulations to Kelly Stackhouse<br />
who leads our FINCH Service, delivering<br />
care and support to patients who have<br />
bowel dysfunction, regardless of cause,<br />
including patients who have undergone<br />
bowel surgery.<br />
The lead nurse has scooped Continence<br />
Nurse of the Year in the prestigious<br />
British Journal of Nursing Awards. Kelly<br />
is recognised for devising a specialist<br />
treatment pathway for patients with faecal<br />
incontinence, constipation and those who<br />
have undergone an anterior resection – a<br />
surgical procedure to remove the diseased<br />
portion of the bowel and rectum.<br />
Kelly set up the FINCH Service (Faecal<br />
Incontinence and Constipation Healthcare)<br />
10 years ago, which offers intervention<br />
to all patients undergoing this nature of<br />
surgery providing support, advice, treatment<br />
and peer support.<br />
Kelly said of the win: “I am so honoured<br />
to have received this prestigious award. It<br />
Kelly Stackhouse who received the<br />
prestigious Continence Nurse of the Year<br />
award<br />
shows how important a service like this is, as<br />
it has provided invaluable support for patients<br />
who have had this nature of surgery and who<br />
also suffer from other bowel-related issues,<br />
improving their quality of life.<br />
“This is a very unique pathway and other NHS<br />
Trusts are now beginning to adopt this as a<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
result of the work we have been doing<br />
and the recognition it has received.<br />
“I hope that this will provide a further<br />
platform to assist us in our mission to<br />
‘break the taboo and talk poo’ which<br />
in turn will help more people who are<br />
suffering in silence.”<br />
The service has received national<br />
attention. In March, Kelly and her<br />
team were the focus of the Radio 4<br />
programme Inside Health interviewed<br />
by Trust Me I’m a Doctor presenter, Dr<br />
Saleyha Ahsan.<br />
The programme is known for discussing<br />
health issues which people struggle to<br />
understand.<br />
To contact the FINCH team email<br />
swb-tr.SWBH-GM-FINCH@nhs.net.<br />
Introducing Emma Barton – our new<br />
staff side convenor<br />
Most staff in any hospital are members<br />
of a trade union or professional<br />
organisation, and this is certainly<br />
true of our workplace. With over<br />
13 different groups represented, it’s<br />
important for managers to keep up to<br />
date with their collective feedback.<br />
Emma Barton has recently taken on the<br />
mantle from Chris Rickards as our new<br />
staff side convenor and will continue the<br />
task of taking the views of all trade unions<br />
and professional organisations to decision<br />
makers in the Trust.<br />
A clinical nurse specialist by trade, we<br />
caught up with Emma to find out why<br />
she has decided to take on this new and<br />
important role in our organisation. “I’ve<br />
been involved in unions and professional<br />
organisations for the majority of my<br />
career,” said Emma. "I have been a rep for<br />
Unite and enjoy helping and supporting<br />
colleagues at work.”<br />
“Believe it or not, I also love reading<br />
through policies and help with their<br />
development,” she laughed. “I am<br />
excited to be taking on this role and very<br />
encouraged that we now have a huge<br />
number of new staff side colleagues from<br />
Emma Barton, Staff Side Convenor<br />
varied professions choosing to become<br />
reps.”<br />
Emma would like to hear your views<br />
about how the service could be<br />
improved.<br />
She added: “I welcome all feedback to<br />
ensure the service is as representative<br />
as it can be. I aim to set up a shared<br />
mailbox that the unions can use to<br />
communicate with colleagues, as well as<br />
them being able to communicate with<br />
existing members through their union.<br />
There are also plans for a monthly staff<br />
side newsletter which will feature the<br />
matters staff side are working on.”<br />
Since qualifying as a nurse in 1998,<br />
Emma has worked in a variety of<br />
roles including in the community, the<br />
prison service and for local authority<br />
public health. Away from work, Emma<br />
spends time with her four children,<br />
grandchildren and her dog. She loves<br />
cooking and going to the gym.<br />
To contact Emma email emma.<br />
barton1@nhs.net or call<br />
079723344210.<br />
11
International Year of<br />
the Nurse and Midwife<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
This year marks International NEWS Year of the Nurse and Midwife,<br />
CORPORATE a campaign AND by the GENERAL World Health Organisation in honour of<br />
the 200th birthday of NEWS Florence Nightingale.<br />
Staff Nurse<br />
Helen Taylor<br />
Each month we profile some of our<br />
wonderful nurses as part of our<br />
<strong>2020</strong> Year of the Nurse and Midwife<br />
celebrations.<br />
For <strong>September</strong>, we feature Lead Nurse<br />
for the Homeless Patient Pathway,<br />
Helen Taylor.<br />
Helen has worked for the Trust in her role<br />
as lead nurse for the homeless pathway<br />
team for seven years, setting up the service<br />
in 2013. As a registered mental health<br />
nurse by background, Helen has also<br />
worked in mental health and addiction<br />
services as a dual diagnosis lead.<br />
Helen plays a pivotal role in the leading<br />
of the homeless patient pathway team<br />
working with complex and vulnerable<br />
adults that are homeless with drug and<br />
alcohol dependencies, alongside physical<br />
and mental health conditions.<br />
“Our team work to improve the experience<br />
of our homeless patients by providing them<br />
with much-needed interventions such as<br />
support securing accommodation, advice<br />
and signposting, GP registrations, food,<br />
clothing, toiletries, and care packages<br />
to ensure safer and more dignified<br />
discharges,” said Helen.<br />
Helen added: “In 2019, of the 650 patients<br />
referred to our service, 94 per cent received<br />
interventions from our team reducing the<br />
potential rough sleeping rate by successfully<br />
housing patients into new accommodation<br />
or supporting them to return to their<br />
original accommodation.<br />
“Patients can be signposted to other<br />
relevant agencies where necessary,<br />
assisted to register with a GP, provided<br />
with prescriptions and essential food and<br />
clothing discharge packs. In doing this the<br />
team have saved the trust 480 bed days<br />
equating to £192,000.”<br />
Alongside helping homeless patients and<br />
Helen Taylor, Lead Nurse for the Homeless<br />
Patient Pathway<br />
reducing hospital admissions by 86 per<br />
cent, Helen was also nominated as one<br />
of our NHS Heroes in August 2019.<br />
She was also shortlisted along with her<br />
team for two awards at the 2019 Star<br />
Awards - Clinical Team of the Year and<br />
the Award for Equality and Diversity<br />
Champion. Most recently her team<br />
has been shortlisted for this year’s Star<br />
Awards in the Equality and Diversity<br />
Champion category.<br />
12
Shout out has been a regular feature<br />
in Heartbeat and it is fantastic to see<br />
colleagues regularly taking the time to<br />
give positive feedback to each other.<br />
We regularly receive positive feedback from<br />
our patients too, and this month we wanted<br />
to share some of those heart-warming<br />
messages which have been sent via our<br />
website and social media platforms.<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
To – Rea Bell<br />
Rea Bell has been so helpful going the<br />
extra mile to help and advise us for our<br />
ward requirements. Nothing has been too<br />
much trouble -A big thank you!<br />
From – Jane Ferguson<br />
To – Danielle Graham<br />
Priory 2 is a very busy high acuity surgical<br />
ward. Due to the rolling clean of the ward<br />
they were asked to move to N3 for a ward<br />
deep clean. Danielle led the move of 23<br />
patients, all the patients and equipment<br />
were transferred in a swift timely manner.<br />
Thank you to you and your team.<br />
From – Kawsar Miah<br />
To – Tony Dyer<br />
Tony had helped me resolve some the<br />
IT issues recently. The whole process<br />
was effective, very well organised and<br />
reassuring. Thanks a lot, Tony.<br />
From – Essie Li<br />
To – Linda, Liz, Sarb, Monica and Nula -<br />
Ward Service Officers<br />
Ladies and gents thank you all for your<br />
hard work Saturday and Sunday giving the<br />
switchboard offices a deep clean and all<br />
with a smile. Much appreciated.<br />
From – Mel Halligan<br />
To – Rafiah Masood<br />
Always smiling, always grafting in CT.<br />
Always a pleasure to work with<br />
From – Nick Harding<br />
To – Tom Knight<br />
Thanks for supporting A&E nurses with a<br />
difficult patient. He always comes to the<br />
department to see if he can help. He is an<br />
amazing doctor.<br />
From – Kirsty Best<br />
To – Imaging Support Workers<br />
A massive thank you to you all for the hard<br />
work you’re doing to help get the waiting<br />
lists down across all modalities. There are<br />
so many extra shifts and many of you are<br />
covering them at short notice. It’s really<br />
appreciated. You have all been amazing!<br />
From – Louise Thompson<br />
To – ADAU team and bank colleagues<br />
The ADAU team and bank colleagues have<br />
continued to work diligently throughout<br />
the summer to cover staff shortages. The<br />
bank midwives have supported the team,<br />
a testament to their relationship with each<br />
other to help deliver safe quality women's<br />
care.<br />
From – Lorraine Williams<br />
To – Robert Hornsby<br />
For reassuring a young nervous patient<br />
undergoing a very difficult procedure. You<br />
really did go that extra mile.<br />
From – Room 1 Imaging Team<br />
To – Selina Meghan<br />
A big thank you to Selina Meghan<br />
(Radiographer) Absolutely stunned by her<br />
kindness. I was having a really bad day at<br />
work to make it worse I used my expired<br />
debit card by mistake to make a payment<br />
at Hallam restaurant, which of course<br />
declined! To save me from embarrassment<br />
Selina paid for my sandwich. I was<br />
completely speechless. I don't think she<br />
even knew that I work for the Trust.<br />
From – Mo Islam<br />
To – Chantell Smith<br />
Thanks for being one of the kindest,<br />
caring, thoughtful, compassionate and<br />
considerate 3rd year nursing students I<br />
have met. Your warmth and mannerism is<br />
beyond words. You should be truly proud<br />
of yourself, especially during these difficult<br />
times. You will be an amazing nurse. All<br />
the best.<br />
From – anon<br />
To – Mairgan Meah (Madge)<br />
Madge is a volunteer for our Trust and<br />
has been volunteering at the Lyng bloods<br />
department. There are multiple services in<br />
one area and Madge goes out of her way<br />
to be kind and helpful to all patients and<br />
staff. Madge goes above and beyond and<br />
really does deserve recognition for her<br />
hard work and dedication.<br />
From – Frances Edwards<br />
To – Reece, Marcus and the Informatics<br />
Team<br />
I'd like to give a huge shout out to Reece,<br />
Marcus and the Informatics Team who have<br />
been so helpful in restoring my access and<br />
getting my devices back up and running<br />
after my maternity leave. Thank you for<br />
your patience over several phone calls and<br />
for working so quickly to resolve the issues.<br />
From – Vanessa Lloyd<br />
To – Tracey Cartwright<br />
Tracey has been working throughout<br />
COVID-19. She has worked 6 weeks as a<br />
lone receptionist when the rest of the<br />
staff were either off sick or shielding. She<br />
even offers to come in to do bank on her<br />
annual leave. She has worked very hard<br />
and deserves a medal. Thank you Tracey for<br />
all your hard work and support since you<br />
joined us in Antenatal at City.<br />
From – Colleen Marsh<br />
To – Paul Smith and Rob Kemp - removal<br />
team<br />
Paul and Rob came to remove four filing<br />
cabinets and three smaller ones. These guys<br />
are great, they never complain, always<br />
happy to help, always smiling. A huge<br />
thank you, and a big shout out from D25.<br />
From – Janet Jeffers<br />
To – Rhiannon Sanders<br />
You have been a great member of the<br />
team during COVID on AMUA, your<br />
support, commitment and hard work has<br />
been appreciated. Congratulations on your<br />
blues and welcome to the team!<br />
From – Beth & Kiran Sandhu<br />
13
Celebrating our<br />
stars of the week<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Lucy Kynaston and Joanne<br />
Bradley, assistant practitioners<br />
in imaging<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Carl Bellamy<br />
e-Learning Manager<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Nicole Miles<br />
Charge Nurse<br />
Congratulations are in order for both<br />
Lucy Kynaston and Joanne Bradley,<br />
assistant practitioners in imaging.<br />
Lucy and Joanne have been invaluable<br />
during the pandemic surge. They have been<br />
recognised for their flexibility in covering<br />
shifts, being pro-active in using Capman<br />
and Unity and training others in how to<br />
use them. In addition to this they regularly<br />
exceed the department’s key performance<br />
indicators making them both hugely<br />
valuable to their team and the Trust as a<br />
whole.<br />
Congratulations are in order for Carl<br />
Bellamy, e-Learning Manager.<br />
Carl has made a huge contribution to the<br />
Trust with his amazing technical skills and<br />
direction in particular with the filming and<br />
editing of wellbeing content during the<br />
pandemic.<br />
He has also filmed numerous other videos<br />
to support and disseminate important<br />
information and contribute to medical<br />
education with many being at short notice<br />
all whilst maintaining a supportive and<br />
positive attitude throughout.<br />
Congratulations are in order for Nicole<br />
Miles, Charge Nurse on the neonatal<br />
unit.<br />
Nicole Miles has been described as ‘a<br />
breath of fresh air on the neonatal unit’.<br />
During the COVID-19 restrictions, Nicole<br />
introduced V-Create to the neonatal unit<br />
enabling colleagues to take photos and<br />
videos of our youngest patients and send<br />
them to their parents when they are unable<br />
to come in. This aids close and loving<br />
relationships, reducing parents stress and<br />
anxiety during an already hard time for<br />
them.<br />
Nicole is a great advocate of family<br />
integrated care, educating colleagues and<br />
patients on developmental care.<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Paulette Duzan, Team Leader, health visiting service<br />
Congratulations are in order for<br />
Paulette Duzan, Team Leader in our<br />
health visiting service<br />
Paulette has been nominated by several<br />
of her colleagues for the support she has<br />
given them during the pandemic. She has<br />
set up daily meeting with colleagues in<br />
the Oldbury team to enable colleagues<br />
working from home and shielding to<br />
remain connected to the team.<br />
She is an example of kindness and<br />
consideration for others, sets a brilliant<br />
example and is deserving of this<br />
prestigious award.<br />
If you have someone in your team that has gone above and beyond the call of duty, put them forward<br />
as a Star of the Week. Visit Connect to find out more.<br />
14
NHS National Staff Survey - Keeping a<br />
finger on the pulse of NHS Trusts<br />
Over the coming weeks almost 1.4<br />
million NHS colleagues across the<br />
country as well as everyone at our<br />
Trust will be receiving the annual NHS<br />
Staff Survey and be given an ideal<br />
opportunity to share their thoughts on<br />
how they feel about working for their<br />
organisations.<br />
The national survey is mandatory for all NHS<br />
organisations with the results being used<br />
to inform national initiatives that can help<br />
support improvements in staff experience and<br />
wellbeing. Data captured through the survey<br />
is used to benchmark organisations against<br />
similar Trusts, identifying where they excel and<br />
where there is room for improvement.<br />
The results of the national NHS Staff Survey<br />
are also used by NHS England to support<br />
national assessments of quality and safety.<br />
The Care Quality Commission uses the results<br />
to inform their intelligent monitoring work<br />
to help to decide who, where and what to<br />
inspect.<br />
Heartbeat caught up with Ruth Wilkin,<br />
Director of Communications who told us<br />
more. “The national NHS staff survey gives<br />
everyone in our workplace the chance to have<br />
their views heard by the people who develop<br />
national policies on health.<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
“Surveys will be distributed predominantly<br />
through email with a small number of<br />
colleagues receiving papers copies through<br />
the post to their home addresses. If you<br />
have received an email invitation or the<br />
survey has dropped through your post box,<br />
please make every effort to complete it. It<br />
is only through listening carefully to your<br />
comments that we can truly make our Trust<br />
a great place to work.<br />
“The results will be reviewed and acted<br />
upon so we can make our organisation a<br />
great place to work. There are fantastic<br />
prizes on offer too, with £200 worth of<br />
shopping vouchers up for grabs.”<br />
The survey will be distributed from<br />
early October and will be open until the<br />
end of November.<br />
Proactively supporting staff with<br />
their health<br />
A new policy has launched recently<br />
which focuses on supporting<br />
colleagues to remain at work and to<br />
more quickly return to work, looking<br />
positively at what colleagues can do<br />
rather than what they cannot.<br />
The newly revised and renamed Attendance<br />
at Work Policy (formerly known as Sickness<br />
Absence) launched on the 1st August and<br />
is the result of significant joint working<br />
and consultation with our trade union<br />
partners. The policy has been written to<br />
ensure we have robust processes in place<br />
to manage sickness absence and to ensure<br />
our colleagues are provided with proactive<br />
support during times of ill health and to<br />
give them the opportunity to return to<br />
work sooner, which we know is better for<br />
our mental and physical health.<br />
To find out more about the new policy and<br />
the changes it brings, Heartbeat caught up<br />
with Director of People and Organisation<br />
Development Raffaela Goodby, she said,<br />
“ The change in policy name has been a<br />
deliberate decision in support of the Trusts<br />
focus on promoting an attendance culture<br />
that recognises that it is generally better for<br />
an individual's health and wellbeing to be<br />
at work, ensuring that the focus should be<br />
on supporting what an employee can do<br />
to remain in work or return to work, rather<br />
Colleagues can have a massage at our wellbeing sanctuary to help with their health and wellbeing<br />
than focussing on what they are unable to do.<br />
“The policy has changed, for example with<br />
changes to the sickness episodes triggers and<br />
how we treat multiple absences in a short<br />
amount of time. We have also included a firm<br />
commitment to the Trade Union Congress<br />
'Dying to work 'voluntary charter, which<br />
outlines how our colleagues will be treated<br />
with dignity, respect and compassion if<br />
diagnosed with a terminal illness.<br />
“It’s really important that all colleagues<br />
take some time to read and understand the<br />
revised policy, as all sickness absence from<br />
1 August (unless being managed within an<br />
existing process) will now be managed in<br />
accordance with these new parameters.<br />
To help colleagues understand the<br />
changes, we have drafted a briefing<br />
paper, some frequently asked questions<br />
and a toolkit of supporting documents.<br />
These are available on our dedicated<br />
sickness absence page on Connect. We<br />
are also planning a series of training<br />
sessions and information sessions to help<br />
you understand the new policy. “<br />
For more information on the<br />
changes, contact the HR team by<br />
calling 0121 507 6680 or emailing<br />
swb-tr.swbh-GM-HR-Enquiries@nhs.<br />
net<br />
15
As we head towards the winter, our<br />
thoughts turn towards confronting<br />
the upcoming flu season head-on.<br />
The disruption, upheaval and anguish<br />
of Coronavirus is still in the minds<br />
of many of us as we head towards<br />
another potential surge, but the<br />
biggest challenge we are set to face<br />
is the possibility of flu and COVID-19<br />
outbreaks being present at the same<br />
time.<br />
Unlike COVID-19, we know the flu is<br />
coming so over the past few months,<br />
we have been busy making plans to<br />
ensure we are able to protect our<br />
colleagues, families and friends with a<br />
well-planned vaccination programme.<br />
Put simply, flu is a preventable infection<br />
and we’re keen to ensure that everyone<br />
is protected and ready to tackle winter<br />
safely.<br />
This year we are going bold and bright.<br />
Taking inspiration from ABBA, our<br />
Flu-Per Troopers are ready and waiting<br />
to swing into action to help protect our<br />
organisation. We’ll be taking a different<br />
approach to how we administer the flu<br />
vaccine in <strong>2020</strong>. Our Flu-per Troopers<br />
will represent areas right across our<br />
Trust – we’re going local and getting<br />
personal coming to an area near you to<br />
ensure everyone has the chance to have<br />
their flu jab.<br />
So, it’s time to play your part and get<br />
your flu jab!<br />
If you are undecided, there are some<br />
key points to highlight that may help you<br />
reach your decision:<br />
• You can have the flu and show no<br />
symptoms at the time meaning you<br />
can be spreading the virus to our<br />
patients as well as your friends and<br />
family without even realising.<br />
• It’s important to have the flu<br />
vaccination as soon as possible. It<br />
can take up to two weeks to work<br />
so the earlier you have your jab, the<br />
safer you are.<br />
• Our staff flu vaccines do not contain<br />
any porcine products and we have<br />
an egg free alternative vaccine<br />
available for anyone with an allergy.<br />
This month we introduce you to two of<br />
our school health staff nurses who have<br />
volunteered to suppor t this year’s Flu-Per<br />
Trooper campaign.<br />
First up is Laura Logan, a School<br />
Health Staff Nurse at the Lyng Centre.<br />
Q – What made you want to become a<br />
Flu-per Trooper?<br />
A – I’m quite a new member of the<br />
school health team so I wanted to<br />
use this opportunity to get to know<br />
my colleagues. We’ll all be working<br />
closely together so it’s important to be<br />
protected against the flu and I wanted to<br />
play my part in helping to do that. I also<br />
wanted to improve my knowledge by<br />
completing the flu training online.<br />
Q - What are you looking forward to<br />
about the flu campaign this year?<br />
A – Protecting my colleagues against<br />
the flu whilst I serenade them with<br />
ABBA songs (It’s an optional extra and I<br />
take requests!).<br />
Q – Tell us your favourite ABBA song?<br />
A – Fernando<br />
Q&A’s<br />
Next we say hello to Harbinder Mattu, a<br />
School Health Staff Nurse<br />
Q&A’s<br />
Q – What made you want to become a<br />
Flu-per Trooper?<br />
A - This has been a challenging year<br />
for us all, but knowing we can make<br />
a difference for our colleagues and<br />
protecting them from the flu is what<br />
being a Flu-per Trooper is all about for<br />
us as nurses.<br />
Q - What are you looking forward to<br />
about the flu campaign this year?<br />
A – Being a nurse I enjoy sharing my<br />
knowledge. I want to help educate<br />
people about the importance of having<br />
the flu jab and will really like this year’s<br />
ABBA inspired theme.<br />
Q – Tell us your favourite ABBA song?<br />
A – It has to be Super Trouper!
The flu isn’t just a bad cold,<br />
on average flu kills over<br />
11,000 people each year –<br />
some years this number<br />
is much higher – and it<br />
hospitalises many more.<br />
The flu is mainly spread<br />
from person to person via<br />
respiratory droplets by<br />
coughing and sneezing.<br />
Although transmitted from<br />
person to person the virus<br />
is also able to temporarily<br />
survive outside the body on<br />
contaminated hands and<br />
surfaces enabling further<br />
transmission to occur.<br />
People with mild or no<br />
symptoms can still infect<br />
others.<br />
Vaccination protects<br />
and reduces the risk of<br />
spreading flu to colleagues,<br />
patients and family<br />
members..<br />
You can’t get the flu from<br />
the vaccination. The vaccine<br />
is not live and therefore<br />
cannot give you the flu.<br />
The vaccine can take up to<br />
two weeks to work properly<br />
so early immunisation is<br />
essential to stop the spread<br />
of flu.<br />
Pregnant women should<br />
especially get the flu<br />
vaccine since their immune<br />
systems are weaker than<br />
usual. The inactivated flu<br />
vaccine is safe at any stage<br />
of pregnancy.
Fab Change Day and randomised<br />
coffee chats coming this autumn<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
As part of weLearn programme in<br />
the Trust, our library and knowledge<br />
services are set to launch two new<br />
engaging initiatives in an effort to<br />
learn from the current pandemic and<br />
bring colleagues closer together.<br />
The first of these initiatives is Fab<br />
Change Day - a social movement for<br />
sharing health and social care ideas,<br />
services and solutions that work<br />
throughout the NHS. The Trust has<br />
decided to adopt this special day and<br />
use it to reflect the global pandemic and<br />
the impact it has had on the Trust itself<br />
and colleagues. We will be celebrating,<br />
reflecting, sharing and learning from<br />
COVID-19.<br />
“Fab Change Day aims to recognise,<br />
celebrate and share the innovations<br />
and changes within each part of SWB that<br />
have arisen from the pandemic,” said Preeti<br />
Puligari, Library Services and Knowledge<br />
Manager.<br />
“We want teams to dig deep and share the<br />
changes, both big and small, that have been<br />
made as well as include what has and hasn’t<br />
worked so well.”<br />
Stacey Richards, Librarian at the Sandwell<br />
Education Centre echoes these thoughts<br />
and is urging both clinical and non-clinical<br />
colleagues to get involved with Fab Change<br />
Day. “During the week of 19 – 23 October,<br />
the Trust will be capturing your stories on film<br />
and sharing them across the organisation so<br />
be sure to look out for the details on Connect<br />
and the communications bulletin. We look<br />
forward to hearing all your unique stories.”<br />
The second initiative is “Randomised Coffee<br />
Chats” which will be running throughout<br />
November giving staff colleagues the chance<br />
to meet and chat for 20 minutes with another<br />
colleague about projects, new developments<br />
or sharing best practice.<br />
Eczema “herbal” creams are no<br />
miracle warns mum of patient<br />
The mother of a paediatric patient<br />
has warned against the use of socalled<br />
miracle creams that “heal”<br />
eczema which contain high levels of<br />
dangerous steroids.<br />
Baljit Guraya was given a herbal cream to<br />
try on her daughter Avneet, who suffers<br />
from severe eczema, in a bid to try and<br />
cure her symptoms. But unbeknownst to<br />
her, the “pink” cream contained potent<br />
levels of steroids which falsely appeared<br />
to clear up her daughter’s skin, only for<br />
eczema to return even more aggressively<br />
after they stopped using it.<br />
Avneet, is under the care of allergy<br />
specialist, Dr Nick Makwana, at our<br />
Trust. He has since tested the cream to<br />
find out what was in it and confirmed it<br />
contained powerful steroids. Since then,<br />
Baljit has been offered another herbal<br />
remedy, called the “orange” cream<br />
which has also turned out to contain<br />
potent steroids.<br />
She said: “Like many parents, we<br />
desperately wanted to heal Avneet’s skin,<br />
so we tried this pink cream. People have<br />
since approached us suggesting that we<br />
try the pink cream. We tried to explain<br />
that the cream contained steroids, but<br />
people were unwilling to listen to us. This<br />
just shows how far and wide news of<br />
Avneet suffers from severe eczema<br />
these creams has been spread and how much<br />
work needs to be done to convince people<br />
these creams are harmful.”<br />
Avneet has had eczema since birth. A rash<br />
appeared when she was just six weeks old<br />
behind her ears and in her neck creases. Baljit<br />
recalled: “By her first birthday she had eczema<br />
on most of her body. She always looked red<br />
and sore. The scratching was intense especially<br />
at night times and she would struggle to sleep<br />
because she was always so itchy and irritable<br />
because of her eczema.<br />
“We discovered that Avneet was allergic to<br />
milk when we started to wean her around six<br />
months. She was prescribed topical steroids,<br />
moisturisers and antihistamines to control<br />
the rash. They worked to an extent, but<br />
then they wore off. That’s when we tried the<br />
pink cream. The second cream had listed its<br />
main ingredients as saffron and petroleum<br />
Spearheaded by Nicola Ager, Service<br />
Development Librarian, the chats are<br />
a way to help establish and build new<br />
relationships as well as bring people<br />
together who wouldn’t usually have met.<br />
Nicola commented: “We will pair people<br />
up at random with someone else in the<br />
organisation to have a relaxed conversation.<br />
The chat can be virtual or in person,<br />
whichever you prefer.<br />
“Randomised coffee chats are free, easy<br />
and informal and more importantly will help<br />
staff connect and learn from each other.”<br />
To find out more about Fab Change<br />
Day <strong>2020</strong> please email swbh.<br />
welearnnhsfabchangeday@nhs.net<br />
and if you wish to get involved with<br />
randomised coffee chats please email<br />
swbh.welearnrandomisedcoffeechat@<br />
nhs.net by the 23 October with your<br />
name, job title, department and<br />
location.<br />
jelly, there was no mention of steroids. I<br />
immediately gave it to Dr Makwana to test<br />
without using it.<br />
“We were lucky that we had a willing<br />
professional that agreed to test both of<br />
the creams for us and so could make an<br />
informed opinion about their use. Others are<br />
not so fortunate.”<br />
Dr Makwana said: “We are aware that<br />
eczema is a distressing condition in young<br />
infants and parents are often looking for<br />
a cure. We know that eczema cannot be<br />
cured, but the symptoms can be controlled<br />
with treatment until the child hopefully<br />
grows out of the condition themselves.<br />
“It is important to ensure that the child is<br />
reviewed by a health professional and the<br />
correct treatment prescribed. Depending on<br />
the level of severity of eczema we would<br />
use steroids, but they would be at an<br />
appropriate strength suited to the child’s age<br />
and skin.<br />
"Many of these miracle creams contain<br />
very potent steroids which can lead to<br />
longer-term damage to the delicate infant<br />
skin. If any parents are unsure about<br />
creams they have been recommended,<br />
then it is important to discuss with a health<br />
professional who could send the cream for<br />
testing to look for steroids as we did to help<br />
Avneet.”<br />
18
Thinking of improving your fitness?<br />
Get an e-bike<br />
Colleagues are being encouraged to<br />
take part in a study to monitor health<br />
and wellbeing improvements by<br />
commuting with an e-bike.<br />
As part of the study, you can get an e-bike<br />
on loan for three months during which your<br />
bike usage will be monitored through the<br />
Strava app - available on most smartphones.<br />
In addition, there will be a simple test to<br />
complete at the start, the midway and end<br />
points of the trial. Colleagues will be able to<br />
view and receive personal usage data and<br />
will be guided on how to interpret usage<br />
data for information purposes. You will<br />
also be provided with a helmet and fitness<br />
wearable device to monitor journeys to and<br />
from work.<br />
Heartbeat caught up with James Pollitt,<br />
Assistant Director Strategic Development<br />
who is championing the scheme. He told<br />
us: “The Trust aims to provide colleagues<br />
with access to e-bikes for trial periods<br />
where they can fully experience the benefits<br />
that e-bikes can provide.<br />
“Our aim is simple; to promote the message<br />
that improvements to health and wellbeing<br />
can be achieved by simply changing lifestyle<br />
and travel habits. Recent news and research<br />
suggests that regular exercise may reduce the<br />
risk of serious and potentially life-threatening<br />
complications with COVID-19.”<br />
James also told us there are many benefits to<br />
e-bikes including:<br />
• Improved health and wellbeing<br />
• Greener travel options<br />
• Faster commuting times at<br />
peak periods<br />
• Access to premium e-bike products<br />
through Ebikebrum cycle to work<br />
scheme<br />
• Membership to a dedicated cycling<br />
club, if desired<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
• Access to free community-led rides<br />
• Discounts available for bike/e-bike<br />
purchases.<br />
If you wish to purchase a bike after the<br />
loan period, Ebikebrum will be available to<br />
discuss all possible options either directly or<br />
through our partner cycle to work scheme.<br />
All types of bikes/e-bikes are provided<br />
including:<br />
• Commuter/hybrid<br />
• Road bikes<br />
• Mountain bikes<br />
• Step-through<br />
• Folding bikes<br />
• Gravel bikes<br />
For further information, get<br />
in touch with Ebikebrum at<br />
info@ebikebrum.com.<br />
Going green – Birmingham pushes<br />
ahead with new transport plans<br />
Smoke, congestion, pollution<br />
and poverty are four things that<br />
have become synonymous with<br />
inner-city living with the steady<br />
increase in the number of private<br />
vehicles on the roads and the rush<br />
of people wanting to get around.<br />
However, things are set to change in<br />
Birmingham shortly.<br />
With City Hospital bordering the Clean<br />
Air Zone our Trust has joined in with<br />
the efforts to improve air quality in the<br />
region. To find out more, Heartbeat<br />
caught up with Sustainability Officer, Fran<br />
Silcocks. She said: “We’re committed to<br />
ensuring that we limit our impact on the<br />
local environment.<br />
We employ almost 7,000 people at our<br />
Trust, with a significant proportion of these<br />
people commuting to and from work by car.<br />
We must explore other options and support<br />
staff to help improve air quality.”<br />
We will be installing circa 100 electric vehicle<br />
charging sockets across City, Sandwell and<br />
Midland Met in the near future to support<br />
staff, patients, visitors, and the public.<br />
Providing this infrastructure will support<br />
those that want to drive low emission<br />
vehicles, making it easy for people to charge<br />
their vehicles on our sites. We also offer a<br />
car purchase scheme via Tusker with low<br />
electric and hybrid vehicles on offer.<br />
For those that prefer two wheels instead of<br />
four, across our Trust we now have facilities<br />
to support colleagues to cycle to work. We<br />
have secure cycle parking across our main<br />
sites, cycle lanes at the main entrances, a<br />
cycle to work scheme offering discounted<br />
bikes and equipment, free electric bikes to<br />
loan, and many more.<br />
We are also working with the local<br />
public transport bus providers to support<br />
colleagues. Through National Express, we<br />
offer discounted bus passes as well as a new<br />
flexible bus pass for those that are working<br />
remotely.<br />
19
Research pass provides access to<br />
management journal collection<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Our library services now have<br />
access to Emerald Insight<br />
with over 300 peer reviewed<br />
e-journals from over 13 subject<br />
collections. This collection<br />
covers areas such as accounting,<br />
finance and economics; business,<br />
management and strategy;<br />
education; health and social care;<br />
HR, learning and organisation<br />
studies; knowledge management;<br />
operations, logistics and quality;<br />
property management and build<br />
environment.<br />
You can access Emerald Insight<br />
content via www.emerald.com/<br />
insight<br />
Use your research pass token that the<br />
library services have bought for you to<br />
access full text articles on the website.<br />
You will also need your SWB Athens<br />
login to access the content. If you do<br />
not have one, you can register here<br />
https://openathens.nice.org.uk/<br />
For more help and support, please<br />
contact SWB library services on<br />
swbh.library@nhs.net or x3587<br />
(Sandwell) x4491 (City)<br />
Did you know that you can download<br />
treatment-specific patient information<br />
leaflets from the EIDO Healthcare<br />
website for FREE?<br />
EIDO has hundreds of patient leaflets for different procedures that<br />
are being carried out across the Trust.<br />
They are available in an easy-to-read format and<br />
in different languages.<br />
Patient information for hundreds of procedures carried out across<br />
the Trust can be downloaded for free and passed on to patients<br />
to help them better understand the procedure they may be<br />
undergoing. Many of these are available in different languages and<br />
formats and help patients to give informed consent.<br />
Visit Connect Clinical Systems EIDO PT Leaflets.<br />
For more information, please contact the communications team<br />
on ext.5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />
20
Cheryl Shepherd is awarded the<br />
Shiela Lorimer Award<br />
The Shiela Lorimer award is an annual<br />
award, presented to a nurse on the<br />
acute medical unit (AMU), in memory<br />
of Acute Medicine Nurse Practitioner,<br />
Shiela Lorimer who sadly passed away<br />
in 2013.<br />
Shiela worked in our organisation for<br />
over 20 years. She was the first nurse<br />
to start nurse-led discharge and medical<br />
clerking which has led to advanced nurses<br />
discharging patients out of hours on all the<br />
medical wards; helping immensely with<br />
bed capacity, flow and patient experience.<br />
This award is to salute her work but also<br />
to recognise young nurses like Shiela, who<br />
want to develop themselves, be the best<br />
nurse possible and deliver high-quality care.<br />
This year the award was presented to<br />
Cheryl Shepherd, who has been part of our<br />
organisation since 1993.<br />
Cheryl has worked in acute medicine for<br />
five years and has been a senior sister in<br />
AMU for nine months. After qualifying<br />
in 1993 at Dudley Road Hospital, Cheryl<br />
worked in acute respiratory medicine and<br />
then made a move to manage a team at<br />
the National Blood Service before finally<br />
branching into critical care. She has a<br />
Winner of the Shiela Lorimer award, Cheryl<br />
Shepherd, Senior Sister on AMU<br />
diploma in Health Service Management and a<br />
BSc in Nursing.<br />
MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY<br />
CARE<br />
AMU Consultant and Deputy Medical<br />
Director, Sarb Clare told Heartbeat why<br />
Cheryl was the standout candidate for<br />
the award this year.<br />
“This award is recognition of nursing<br />
excellence and Cheryl demonstrates<br />
these qualities every day and truly shone<br />
through during the pandemic.<br />
“Cheryl is passionate about ambulatory<br />
care and passionate about her patients<br />
- she a true leader who takes her team<br />
with her. She is well-loved by the entire<br />
team and is an inspiration to all of us.<br />
Cheryl said: “I’m humbled to receive<br />
this award. I just come in every day to<br />
do my job the best way I can, so this<br />
recognition is truly unexpected and<br />
amazing. I couldn’t have achieved all<br />
that I have without the support of the<br />
entire team. I am truly proud to work<br />
with such lovely, committed colleagues.<br />
I humbly accept this award and will<br />
continue the great work that Shiela<br />
started here years ago.”<br />
Ain’t no mountain high enough<br />
The only way is up! Team members making<br />
their way to the top of Mount Snowden<br />
On 23 <strong>September</strong> Julie Thompson,<br />
Group Director of Nursing, Medicine and<br />
Emergency Care set off on a charitable<br />
climb with her team that saw them scale<br />
new heights for a cause very close to<br />
their hearts.<br />
The medicine and emergency care matrons<br />
decided to take on the challenge of<br />
climbing Mount Snowden to help raise<br />
funds for colleagues in recognition of their<br />
commitment during the COVID-19 surge.<br />
Julie explained: “The teams gave so much<br />
to patients at what was a very demanding<br />
time and we wanted to give something back to<br />
them as a management team.<br />
“This was a significant challenge as the<br />
majority of the matrons had never embarked<br />
upon anything like this before; some have<br />
never been on a long walk, let alone a climb up<br />
a mountain. Everyone trained before the climb<br />
to make sure they were up to it. Some of the<br />
team had to buy walking boots and suitable<br />
clothing, but once that was all sorted we were<br />
ready for our adventure. Two matrons even<br />
went on a visit ahead of the climb for a trial<br />
run to get a feel for the terrain.”<br />
Alarms were set early on the day of the climb<br />
itself, and the minibus departed City Hospital at<br />
6 am prompt. As the song goes ‘the wheels on<br />
the bus go round and round’ and three hours<br />
later the team arrived at their destination. Filled<br />
with anticipation and excitement, they set off<br />
on their very personal charity challenge.<br />
The matrons set off down the country road<br />
as they made their way towards the highest<br />
mountain in Wales. Set at 1,085 metres above<br />
sea level and located in Snowdonia National<br />
Park it offers stunning views both from the<br />
bottom and the top. Julie remarked: “It<br />
was breathtakingly beautiful and a little bit<br />
daunting all at the same time. We knew what<br />
we had committed to so we set off for the<br />
summit. As first-time climbers, we took<br />
the Llanberis Path as it was the most<br />
gradual route to the top.”<br />
Eight hours after beginning their climb<br />
the team reached the peak and saw<br />
for themselves the stunning views of<br />
Snowdonia. “It was all worth it,” said<br />
Julie. “This was a unique experience<br />
and, we were under no illusions as to<br />
how much it would test us, but with the<br />
support of each other we saw it through<br />
and I’m glad we did. Aside from the<br />
fundraising element, another thing we<br />
wanted to focus on was team building.<br />
We work closely together, and we wanted<br />
to strengthen our already tight bonds by<br />
doing something outside of work as a<br />
team.<br />
“I must say a huge well done to all of the<br />
matrons who took part. Steph Coates,<br />
Jody Stubbs, Sam Waldren, Helen Mallard,<br />
Antoinette Cummings, Annabel Botterill,<br />
Michael Brennan, Helen McGivney<br />
and Deb Fretwell - thank you for your<br />
dedication and such a memorable day.”<br />
You can still show your support for<br />
the team by donating via https://<br />
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/<br />
julie-thompson62<br />
21
Wellbeing event shines a spotlight<br />
on colleague experiences<br />
SURGICAL SERVICES<br />
Wellbeing and wellness took centre<br />
stage at a recent event for the<br />
surgical nursing teams on Lyndon<br />
3 and Newton 3. Led by Sonia Bal,<br />
Sister, the wellbeing team-building<br />
afternoon was designed to offer<br />
a safe space for colleagues to talk<br />
openly about their experiences<br />
during the pandemic and to explore<br />
the wellbeing support available to<br />
them.<br />
As many of you will be aware, the last<br />
few months has seen colleagues move<br />
to different areas to help us tackle<br />
Coronavirus and continue to look<br />
after patients effectively. In response<br />
to the many changes colleagues have<br />
experienced, the organisation has<br />
placed further emphasis on ways to help<br />
colleagues look after their physical and<br />
mental wellbeing.<br />
One of the key aspects of the agenda<br />
was exploring all of the different<br />
support options available to staff. Sonia<br />
explained: “The agenda of the day<br />
focused very much on the wellbeing of our<br />
team members and it allowed everyone to<br />
speak openly and highlight any struggles that<br />
they may be facing - for example, dealing<br />
with their emotions. As a management team,<br />
we wanted to be able to put some dedicated<br />
time aside to sit down, talk and listen to<br />
everyone to understand any concerns and<br />
look at things we can do differently to support<br />
where needed.<br />
“This event was also an opportunity for<br />
us to say thank you to colleagues and to<br />
acknowledge the sacrifices individuals made<br />
to continue with their jobs at a time filled with<br />
uncertainty. We had guest speakers on the<br />
day from the wellbeing sanctuary, the alcohol<br />
team, the therapy team and senior leaders<br />
took the time to join in too. I’d like to thank<br />
our Matron, Donna James for supporting<br />
us with this event and Di Eltringham, Group<br />
Director of Nursing for Surgical Services. We<br />
very much appreciate everyone coming<br />
together to make this a success.”<br />
Matron, Donna James remarked:<br />
“Managing your psychological health at<br />
this time is as important as your physical<br />
health. Taking care of yourself and learning<br />
some coping strategies can help to provide<br />
stability and comfort.<br />
“I was pleased that everyone felt<br />
comfortable enough to talk openly and<br />
honestly about their personal experiences.<br />
We shared stories that made us laugh,<br />
some that made us cry and some that<br />
inspired reflection within ourselves. We<br />
supported each other as a group, and I<br />
want that to be a continuing part of how<br />
we work together.<br />
Eye theatre goes under the sea<br />
Great care isn’t simply defined<br />
by having a team of experts at<br />
hand, the environment in which<br />
care is delivered has a surprisingly<br />
significant impact on patient<br />
experience and satisfaction, none<br />
more so than when children are<br />
involved.<br />
Whilst all of our spaces are clean and<br />
tidy, there are always things we can do<br />
to make them that much better. Whilst<br />
form and function take centre stage, it’s<br />
easy to forget that some of the patients<br />
using our facilities will be young, scared<br />
and in desperate need of some engaging,<br />
enlightening and altogether eye-catching<br />
surroundings, simply to take their mind<br />
off of why they’re at the hospital.<br />
Recently following a paediatric service<br />
review at the Birmingham and Midlands<br />
Eye Centre (BMEC), one of the<br />
recommendations made highlighted<br />
the need to make BMEC eye theatres<br />
more welcoming for young patients in<br />
particular. With this request, the BMEC<br />
team sprang into action calling on<br />
support from Your Trust Charity.<br />
Jim Morrissey, Acting Theatre Manager<br />
alongside his team took on the challenge<br />
BMEC gets makeover courtesy of Your Trust<br />
Charity<br />
of transforming the space.<br />
He said: “Though fully functional, many parts<br />
of BMEC were looking a little plain and generic<br />
and needed a little spruce up. We were keen to<br />
bring in elements of distraction therapy to put<br />
some of our young patients at ease.<br />
“It’s a difficult and sometimes distressing<br />
time for children to come into hospital for an<br />
operation, and whilst we would love to put<br />
them at ease by explaining how good we are<br />
at our job, it probably wouldn’t have much<br />
effect. However, we know that distraction<br />
therapy is proven to be beneficial, taking their<br />
mind off why they’re here and getting them<br />
cool, calm and collected, ready for our team to<br />
make them better.”<br />
Answering the call for help from Your Trust<br />
Charity was Amanda Winwood, Fundraising<br />
“We also took the opportunity to signpost<br />
colleagues to some of the resources we<br />
have available within the Trust, for example,<br />
the Thrive app, our wellbeing sanctuary and<br />
the counselling service. If anyone needs any<br />
support, I would ask them to speak to a<br />
member of the management team. We’re<br />
all in this together and our door is always<br />
open for a confidential chat, cuppa or any<br />
help you may need. Thank you to everyone<br />
for joining in on the day.”<br />
Manager. She said: “The team at BMEC<br />
were fantastic in taking on the challenge of<br />
redecorating their space. It didn’t take long<br />
for us to develop an underwater theme to<br />
immerse our young patients in as they make<br />
their journey from the waiting room into<br />
theatres. On the way to the theatre, they<br />
also have hot air balloons, clouds and planes<br />
to take them on their journey.<br />
“All it took to transform the space was a<br />
bright idea from the BMEC theatres team, a<br />
lick of paint and a few favours called in from<br />
our colleagues in the estates team, and in no<br />
time at all, the new space was ready!”<br />
She added: “With traces of the NHS blue<br />
that we’ve all come to recognise and love,<br />
it’s all now part of our underwater landscape<br />
that surrounds BMEC theatres, putting a<br />
smile on everyone's faces and boosting their<br />
spirits.”<br />
Jim was thankful for everyone’s efforts and<br />
said: “On behalf of everyone at BMEC, I<br />
would like to say a massive thank you to<br />
Your Trust Charity and everyone who has<br />
offered a helping hand in bringing our new<br />
space to life, redecorating and ultimately<br />
enhancing the experience of everyone using<br />
our services whether that be patients, their<br />
families or colleagues.”<br />
22
Virtual walk through shows patient<br />
journey in theatres<br />
A video which shows a patient journey<br />
when attending our Trust for surgery<br />
has been developed. The virtual<br />
walkthrough follows the pathway a<br />
patient would take when coming to the<br />
Birmingham Treatment Centre at City<br />
site, for day case surgery.<br />
It takes into account the new infection<br />
control procedures that all those coming<br />
on-site have to follow and the new<br />
checking in procedures which have been<br />
put in place during the pandemic.<br />
When a patient arrives they will be greeted<br />
by a security officer at the main entrance<br />
and a volunteer who will check their<br />
appointment letter. They will then go inside<br />
and be given a fresh surgical mask to wear<br />
and given hand gel. COVID-19 screening is<br />
carried out and they are then taken to the<br />
theatres, where they are given instructions<br />
on how to safely prepare for the operation.<br />
Amber Markham, Clinical Lead Theatres,<br />
said: “We want the public to feel reassured<br />
that when they come into our hospitals<br />
for a procedure they will be in a safe<br />
environment and this video shows step-bystep<br />
how we do this.<br />
“There are several strict measures to ensure<br />
we are COVID-19 safe. These include<br />
screening, giving out a face mask, socially<br />
distanced waiting areas, as well as screens<br />
to protect colleagues and patients. The<br />
video also shows the process of going<br />
into theatre and what it’s like after your<br />
operation.<br />
“It’s important that we can get this pathway<br />
out there for patients to see so they know<br />
what to expect.”<br />
The BTC, where filming took place to show the patient journey<br />
SURGICAL SERVICES<br />
You can view the video on YouTube<br />
at https://www.youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=2LvsLBmAiQA<br />
Have you got a<br />
MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY<br />
CARE<br />
story?<br />
23<br />
We’d love to hear from you if you have…<br />
• An event or special occasion in your<br />
department<br />
• If you work with an inspirational colleague<br />
• Does your department do something that<br />
makes a real difference to our patients?<br />
Please get in touch if you’d like to be featured in an<br />
upcoming edition of Heartbeat!<br />
Email swbh.comms@nhs.net to submit your story idea.<br />
23
Leading the way - Karen Jones<br />
joins imaging<br />
IMAGING<br />
Imaging welcomes Karen Jones as<br />
their new lead radiographer. Excited<br />
to hear about everything she has<br />
been up to since she joined the Trust,<br />
Heartbeat caught up with her for a<br />
chat.<br />
Karen’s career began in 1983 when she<br />
qualified as a radiographer from the<br />
School of Radiography in Birmingham. She<br />
told us: “I was trained by the one and only<br />
Miss Muriel Chesney – she was a leading<br />
authority in teaching radiography.<br />
“After qualifying, I went on to work at<br />
numerous hospitals both NHS and private.<br />
I was an x-ray superintendent at Royal<br />
Orthopaedic Hospital for several years<br />
and gained specialised knowledge of<br />
Karen Jones, Clinical Radiographer Lead<br />
orthopaedic radiography. I have a great sense<br />
of gratitude to all of my colleagues that have<br />
helped me along the way since I started in my<br />
career.”<br />
When asked what her most interesting place to<br />
work has been so far, Karen commented that it<br />
had to be the accident hospital in Birmingham<br />
which is sadly no longer standing. “A helicopter<br />
would land outside on Bath Row directly in front<br />
of the major injuries unit.”<br />
Looking to the future here at SWB,<br />
Karen remarked: “My role here as clinical<br />
radiography lead enables me to support<br />
radiographers whilst ensuring the department<br />
improves to its optimum potential. I have<br />
introduced some quality improvements to the<br />
service and hope to work alongside colleagues<br />
to incorporate more of their ideas regarding<br />
improvement.<br />
“I’ve hit the ground running with COVID-19<br />
setting the pace of what we do and changing<br />
how we work. It’s been a great time to start in<br />
my new role as everyone has been so friendly<br />
and I felt like part of a family straight away.”<br />
Outside of work, Karen enjoys playing golf<br />
and when the weather breaks; she puts her<br />
knitting skills to good use and makes bonding<br />
squares for the neonatal unit. She has passed<br />
an advanced driving course, holds an IAM<br />
roadsmart membership and is currently<br />
teaching her daughter to drive.<br />
Virtual ward will treat COVID-19<br />
patients in first for West Midlands<br />
PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES<br />
AND THERAPIES<br />
A unique project will see confirmed<br />
and suspected COVID-19 patients<br />
monitored via a virtual ward by our<br />
clinicians in the community.<br />
Patients referred to the Monitoring You At<br />
Home (MYAH) Service via their GP or from<br />
within the Trust, will be given an oximeter,<br />
to measure their oxygen saturation levels<br />
for early signs of hypoxia.<br />
COVID mainly affects the lungs and<br />
causes a viral pneumonia that can lead<br />
to low oxygen levels. By measuring the<br />
oxygen levels using the oximeter probe<br />
that sits on the patient’s finger, clinicians<br />
are able to identify early when a patient’s<br />
health deteriorates and can recommend<br />
corrective measures.<br />
The programme is for patients who have<br />
suspected or confirmed COVID-19, who<br />
are not unwell enough to be admitted to<br />
hospital but need to be monitored with<br />
oximetry for 14 days. Those under MYAH<br />
will be given instructions on how to record<br />
their oxygen saturation and their pulse<br />
as well as keeping a check on general<br />
symptoms.<br />
All clinical data will be entered into the<br />
electronic patient record on SystmOne<br />
COVID-19 patients will benefit from a unique<br />
service being led by Kelly Redden-Rowley<br />
(pictured)<br />
and the team will be in contact with them daily.<br />
The MYAH Service data will be collected by NHS<br />
Digital and will contribute to the national pilot<br />
and help to inform the future development of<br />
NHS Services.<br />
The MYAH Service comes under the umbrella of<br />
PRISMM, an integrated approach to improve the<br />
care of respiratory patients across, secondary,<br />
community and primary care.<br />
Dr Arvind Rajasekaran, Respiratory Consultant<br />
commented: “The front line clinicians have<br />
worked tirelessly over the past six months and<br />
we are now witnessing a steady increase of<br />
COVID-19 again in the community. Our Trust is<br />
making preparations for winter and a potential<br />
increase in both COVID and flu cases. MYAH is<br />
an example of such preparedness.<br />
“We are the only Trust in West Midlands to<br />
be part of this national pilot. The community<br />
respiratory team has developed pathways of<br />
monitoring that will allow them to identify<br />
patients who are deteriorating. Working<br />
alongside the respiratory consultants, they<br />
can arrange early treatment interventions<br />
or transfer patients to specialist care in the<br />
hospital.”<br />
Kelly Redden-Rowley, Service Manager for<br />
Community Respiratory and Heart Failure<br />
Services, said: “Our project is unique as it<br />
is the only one to include a rehabilitation<br />
and recovery phase following the 14-day<br />
monitoring as well as wellbeing follow up calls<br />
after the patient completes a rehabilitation<br />
programme.<br />
“There are several benefits, which include<br />
providing essential monitoring to detect<br />
deterioration and provide the appropriate<br />
treatment and support sooner. It will increase<br />
capacity within the acute setting for those<br />
with severe COVID-19, whilst also providing<br />
safe and quality care to patients at home.<br />
“It will also optimise limited resources within<br />
the community, acute and primary care, and<br />
reduce risk to staff by limiting face-to-face<br />
contact. There will be an admission and<br />
inclusion criteria for patients, who can be<br />
referred through a number of ways via the<br />
Trust, their GP and the community. The service<br />
will operate between 8 am-8 pm, seven days<br />
a week, 365 days a year.<br />
For more information please contact Kelly<br />
Redden-Rowley on 07854 420 584.<br />
24
Portraits capture souls of NHS<br />
colleagues during the pandemic<br />
Clockwise from top left: Kate Palser (artist: Timothy Sutton @timothysuttonuk), Simran Mandara<br />
(artist: Samantha Knight @samknight.art), Steph O'Toole (artist: Becky Cohen @bekicohen), Lyne<br />
Wright (artist: Patricia Samanta @patriciafineart), Becky Johnson (artist: Kaci Magill @chayimart),<br />
Claudia Forrest (artist: Veronika Smart @smartartbyv), Jess Sumner (artist: Nina Jenkins<br />
@ninajenkinsvision), Ellie Savage (artist: Darren Gouldsbrough @redfoxart)<br />
It all started when Speech and<br />
Language Therapist, Kate Palser saw a<br />
feature on BBC news online about the<br />
#portraitsfornhsheroes campaign on<br />
Instagram - a project kicked off by the<br />
artist Tom Croft back in April, offering a<br />
free oil portrait to the first NHS frontline<br />
worker to message him.<br />
The initiative then extended to thousands<br />
of other artists who offered to do the same,<br />
working from photos and providing the<br />
portraits free of charge - with the aim<br />
to have an exhibition once lockdown<br />
restrictions were lifted.<br />
Kate felt it was important to make sure<br />
that speech and language therapy as a<br />
profession was represented. She contacted<br />
artist Timothy Sutton who kindly agreed to<br />
do her portrait.<br />
Spotlight on nutrition and<br />
hydration week<br />
As frontline colleagues across the Trust<br />
will attest to, providing excellent clinical<br />
care is what we strive to offer to each<br />
person that we look after. Providing<br />
great patient care can be varied, and<br />
there isn’t one size that fits all.<br />
Guided by our care promises, we have<br />
outlined the standards we expect for<br />
how we treat patients, staff and visitors.<br />
Recognising that there was an opportunity<br />
to help improve patient rehabilitation, Lyne<br />
Wright, Advanced Speech and Language<br />
Therapist spearheaded the launch of a<br />
nutrition and hydration week that was a<br />
multi-disciplinary team event.<br />
Lyne told us: “The idea for the awareness<br />
week came about following observations<br />
that our patients on Newton 4 were not<br />
progressing with their rehabilitation in part<br />
due to reduced oral intake - an average meal<br />
size consumed was less than half for most<br />
patients.<br />
“Newton 4 is a stroke rehabilitation unit<br />
with 50 per cent of patients currently<br />
taking either modified diet or fluids or<br />
both following a diagnosis of dysphagia,<br />
swallowing difficulty associated with foods,<br />
liquids and saliva. Dysphagia can result in<br />
avoidable complications, such as malnutrition,<br />
dehydration, weight loss, reduced stamina,<br />
poor physical and psychological recovery,<br />
pressure ulcers, reduced wound healing,<br />
infections and increased mortality.<br />
“Staff reported that they were struggling<br />
to support oral intake, with patients often<br />
declining main meals and refusing to eat<br />
for varied reasons, i.e. no appetite, feeling<br />
nauseous, dislike of the food available. We<br />
decided to observe staff feeding patients and<br />
identified goals that may support an increase in<br />
diet and fluids. Some of our main observations<br />
included poor positioning for eating and<br />
drinking, lack of appetite and training needed<br />
around pressure bolus, sensory bolus and hand<br />
over hand feeding.”<br />
PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES<br />
AND THERAPIES<br />
Heartbeat caught up with Ellie Savage,<br />
Speech and Language Therapist who<br />
told us more. “Kate received her portrait<br />
back in May and that was when I<br />
became aware of the project,” she said.<br />
“I was so impressed with Kate's portrait,<br />
I decided I'd like to have one done too<br />
as a memento of working during this<br />
unprecedented time."<br />
“It was easier said than done trying to<br />
match with an artist, as the project had<br />
become so popular that the moment<br />
artists were announcing their availability,<br />
people were snapping them up."<br />
“I did eventually manage to get matched<br />
and, from there, offered to help match<br />
any other colleagues who wanted a<br />
portrait. The aim was to get portraits of<br />
as many of the team done as possible."<br />
“The result is the eight different portraits<br />
in the picture - all by different artists<br />
who used different mediums and styles.”<br />
Search the hashtag<br />
#portraitsfornhsheroes on Instagram<br />
to browse the thousands of different<br />
portraits created of and for NHS<br />
colleagues.<br />
Nutrition and Hydration Week took<br />
place week commencing 21 <strong>September</strong>.<br />
Lyne told us: “The week aimed to raise<br />
awareness of some of the difficulties<br />
our patients face. Also, we wanted to<br />
focus on how we, as therapists could<br />
support the nursing team and health care<br />
assistants to encourage patients to meet<br />
their nutritional and hydration needs.<br />
Another key aim was to enable feeding<br />
within a limited timescale using the<br />
increased knowledge around positioning<br />
and feeding techniques.<br />
Matron, Michael Brennan commented:<br />
“This was an exceptionally well organised<br />
week. It saw colleagues from all<br />
disciplines come together to enhance<br />
the patient experience. It highlights<br />
Lyne's dedication to stroke services, her<br />
passion for exceptional patient care and<br />
her amazing team. I must say thank you<br />
to everyone involved for showing their<br />
support.”<br />
25
Tiniest patients and parents reunited<br />
through VCreate<br />
WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH<br />
A brand new video messaging<br />
service has been reconnecting<br />
worried parents with the little<br />
bundles of joy being cared for in our<br />
neonatal unit at City Hospital.<br />
When the happiest moment of your<br />
life suddenly takes an unexpected<br />
turn and your newborn needs urgent<br />
and intensive care you would be in no<br />
better hands than those of the team<br />
within the neonatal department at City<br />
Hospital. And as much as you would<br />
want to spend every waking moment<br />
next to your child, there are going to be<br />
occasions when you have to step away,<br />
look after siblings or simply get some<br />
rest. It’s these moments where parents<br />
often feel they miss key moments, and<br />
it’s an area where VCreate is making its<br />
mark.<br />
VCreate is a secure online video<br />
messaging platform designed to<br />
reconnect parents and their babies<br />
Neonatal Discharge Planning Sister, Nicole Miles<br />
shows off one of the VCreate tablets<br />
who are being cared for in hospital. When<br />
parents are away, and the babies are in the<br />
care of colleagues in the neonatal unit, they<br />
can capture, create and securely share short<br />
videos with parents, ensuring they don’t miss<br />
a moment.<br />
Neonatal Discharge Planning Sister, Nicole<br />
Miles was a key driving force in the<br />
introduction of the new platform in the Trust.<br />
Sharing her thoughts she said: “VCreate<br />
finally gives us a safe way to document and<br />
share those crucial little moments in a baby's<br />
early life. One of the most important things<br />
we try to facilitate is for parents and their<br />
newborns to interact and have their time<br />
together and this platform helps us do that<br />
even when the parents aren’t here.<br />
“Often parents have other children they<br />
have to look after and need time to rest<br />
themselves. And when they’re not here,<br />
we can continue looking after their babies,<br />
filming, photographing and sharing their<br />
precious moments with them.<br />
“Most parents expect the pregnancy to last<br />
for 40 weeks and to walk away from the<br />
hospital with a baby in their arms. When<br />
it doesn’t go to plan, it can be a scary<br />
and traumatic time. This technology goes<br />
a long way to helping calm their nerves,<br />
with the steady stream of pictures and<br />
videos providing them with much needed<br />
emotional support and reassurance.<br />
“The platform has been especially useful<br />
during the COVID-19 pandemic where<br />
we have had to be extra cautious,<br />
whilst parents have been able to visit,<br />
unfortunately, siblings and grandparents<br />
have not. VCreate has given us the means<br />
to give parents a lifeline into the hospital to<br />
see how their baby is at any time and share<br />
their development with their family.”<br />
To find out more about vCreate,<br />
contact Nicole Miles on email:<br />
nicole.smith7@nhs.net.<br />
The introduction of midwifery<br />
families<br />
By Nicola Tomkins, Community<br />
Midwifery Manager<br />
In line with Better<br />
Births, the community<br />
midwives’ vision is<br />
to create kinder,<br />
personalised, familyfriendly<br />
care in the<br />
community, so we<br />
have developed<br />
a model that<br />
encompasses just<br />
that.<br />
To ensure women receive continuity<br />
during their pregnancy and after the birth<br />
of their baby, we have created smaller<br />
pockets of ‘midwife families’ across the<br />
whole of Sandwell and West Birmingham.<br />
Each ‘family’ will include a select number<br />
of midwives and support workers who<br />
will offer antenatal and postnatal care to<br />
women in a geographically smaller area.<br />
Women will therefore get to know their<br />
named midwives and support workers<br />
from the start of their pregnancy and be<br />
welcomed into their ‘families’ for their<br />
care. Not only will women receive the high<br />
standard and personalised care already given<br />
here at SWB but each woman will know who<br />
their ‘midwife family’ is, have easier access to<br />
them and will have a familiar face throughout<br />
their care.<br />
Our ‘families’ have been named after precious<br />
gemstones (jade, amethyst, topaz, amber,<br />
ruby, opal, coral and sapphire) to reflect the<br />
rarity and solidity of our growing ‘families’.<br />
Precious gemstones have, through the ages,<br />
been used for storing and transferring wealth<br />
from one person to another. The wealth of<br />
knowledge within each ‘family’ is there to be<br />
shared and the aim is to equip women with<br />
the knowledge and information they need to<br />
have a safe pregnancy and birth experience at<br />
home or in hospital.<br />
A new style ‘family’ leaflet is currently under<br />
development (in different languages) and will<br />
include contact details, appointments and<br />
important information for women such as<br />
monitoring the movements of their babies<br />
from 24 weeks and health advice.<br />
In addition to this, the leaflet will also include<br />
a picture and biography of each midwife so<br />
that women can identify their named midwife<br />
from the beginning of their pregnancy at<br />
booking. There will also be a checklist at<br />
the back of the leaflet so that women<br />
(and midwives) can see at a glance and<br />
tick off the essential milestones such<br />
as whooping cough vaccines, 28-week<br />
bloods and when to obtain the allimportant<br />
MATB1.<br />
Our next step is to secure facilities for<br />
family hubs. This will ensure that all low<br />
risk antenatal and postnatal care will be<br />
in one place for the women. We will also<br />
increase opportunities to hold parent<br />
education classes, feeding support<br />
groups and a chance to meet other<br />
mums in the community.<br />
For more information regarding family<br />
geographical areas, venues and birth<br />
options you can contact the following<br />
people via the switchboard:<br />
• Terri Franklin<br />
• Pamela Dangarembwa<br />
• Angela Mack<br />
• Kelly Bullock<br />
• Nikki Poole<br />
• Amy Wright<br />
• Claire Zareazadeh<br />
• Tracy Parchment.<br />
26
Pete Evans on the run<br />
Pulse<br />
News in brief from around our organisation<br />
Runner takes on 120 mile<br />
challenge – weeks after hit and<br />
run<br />
Fundraiser Pete Evans has shown<br />
his dedication to Your Trust Charity<br />
by running 120 miles in August, just<br />
weeks after being hit by a car.<br />
The dad-of-two pounded the streets raising<br />
nearly £500 for the cause after deciding<br />
to take up the challenge despite being<br />
involved in an accident whilst out running<br />
in May. He was hit by a drunk driver as<br />
he ran across a street and was rushed<br />
to hospital suffering from a number of<br />
injuries.<br />
Luckily no bones were broken, but he<br />
suffered injuries to his ribs, knees, elbows<br />
and legs. Pete said: “I was taken to hospital<br />
during the height of the pandemic and was<br />
impressed with how the nurses and doctors<br />
treated me.<br />
“I wanted to say thank you to the NHS<br />
for the care I received and thought that I<br />
If you have a story you would like to appear<br />
on the Pulse page, please email a photo and a<br />
short explanation to swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />
IMAGING<br />
would do this by raising money through my<br />
running. Getting back out onto the road<br />
was a difficult thing to do – I was fearful<br />
about being hit again. But I knew I couldn’t<br />
give up and having the goal to raise money<br />
for the charity gave me that incentive.<br />
“I chose Your Trust Charity because my<br />
wife works at the Trust and I’ve seen and<br />
heard about all the good things that the<br />
charity does for the patients, staff and their<br />
families.”<br />
Amanda Winwood, Fundraising Manager,<br />
added: “We’d like to thank Pete for his<br />
dedication and for stepping out so soon<br />
after his accident to fundraise for the<br />
charity.<br />
“It must have been a very difficult thing<br />
to do especially after such a traumatising<br />
experience. But he put that aside to make<br />
sure he completed the challenge, getting<br />
up at 5 am every morning. Well done,<br />
Pete.”<br />
You gotta be in it to win it –<br />
Balfour Beatty launch Midland<br />
Met raffle<br />
Making Midland Met<br />
#morethanahospital is not just a<br />
strapline. It’s what we are collectively<br />
working towards as a Trust and we<br />
have so much planned for our new<br />
acute hospital that is set to open in<br />
2022.<br />
We have an ambitious fundraising project<br />
underway to deliver two million pounds of<br />
funding towards arts and heritage projects<br />
with a clear focus on developing relaxing<br />
areas outside of a clinical setting.<br />
Our partners, Balfour Beatty are hugely<br />
supportive of our fundraising project and<br />
have launched a big raffle to help us reach<br />
our target for our ‘We Are Metropolitan’<br />
appeal. With prizes on offer from an<br />
Amazon tablet to an iPad, vouchers, a<br />
golfing day and Formula One merchandise<br />
there is something for everyone. Tickets<br />
cost just £2 for a strip of five and can be<br />
purchased online by searching for https://<br />
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/<br />
BigBalfourBeattyRaffle.<br />
Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity,<br />
remarked: “Our charity appeal is firmly<br />
underway and we are keen to maximise<br />
A selection of the prizes up for grabs as part of the Midland Met raffle<br />
opportunities and awareness to help us<br />
deliver our £2 million fundraising target.<br />
Our build partners for the Midland<br />
Metropolitan Hospital, Balfour Beatty have<br />
very generously launched a raffle that has<br />
so far raised almost £1,400. The target is<br />
£2,000, so please support us if you can.”<br />
Sarah Fletcher of Balfour Beatty, said:<br />
“Midland Metropolitan University Hospital<br />
is a landmark build. It will deliver so<br />
much in the local area beyond acute care<br />
and that’s something we recognise. This<br />
pandemic has highlighted the sacrifices<br />
our healthcare professionals make and,<br />
this is our way of doing our part. We’ve<br />
reached out to a number of our partners<br />
and they have been only too happy to help<br />
us put this raffle together with a number of<br />
fantastic prizes.<br />
“We hope everyone will get behind the<br />
raffle and show their support for Midland<br />
Met. It’s a project filled with endless<br />
possibilities and, we look forward to<br />
continuing to collaborate with the Trust to<br />
help bring it to life.”<br />
27
???<br />
???<br />
???<br />
Mike Carr<br />
Group Director of Operations, PCCT<br />
from busy acute services and allows patients<br />
to live the lives they want to. Coming to an<br />
integrated organisation such as this one, I<br />
hope there will be even more opportunities to<br />
achieve these goals.<br />
“The ambition of this Trust to be the best<br />
integrated care organisation is what attracted<br />
me to this role. There is a buzz about this<br />
place, a desire to develop the services of the<br />
future - that's a journey I wanted to be part<br />
of.<br />
Mike Carr – Group Director of Operations, PCCT<br />
This month we say hello to Mike Carr,<br />
our new Group Director of Operations,<br />
PCCT. Joining us from Shropshire<br />
Community Health Trust as the Deputy<br />
Director of Operations, Mike brings<br />
a wealth of experience into his new<br />
position.<br />
Speaking to Heartbeat, he said: “I started<br />
my healthcare career when I was 18<br />
working in the medical staffing team of a<br />
mental health trust. After that, I worked<br />
as a mental health support worker for a<br />
charity in Stafford whilst I was at university.<br />
After graduating, I joined the NHS<br />
Graduate Management Training Scheme.<br />
My placements were in Derby, which is<br />
where I spent several years as the general<br />
manager for cancer and palliative care. That<br />
was a fantastic and rewarding job - one of<br />
the major projects at the time was overseeing<br />
the merger of those services when Derby and<br />
Burton's hospitals merged to form University<br />
Hospitals of Derby and Burton.”<br />
More recently, Mike’s career has had more of<br />
a community focus. "My last job in Shropshire<br />
was my first role working predominantly with<br />
community services. Since starting that role,<br />
I’ve become excited by the opportunities<br />
that exist within community services to help<br />
keep people well in their own homes for<br />
longer and get people back home as soon<br />
as possible. This takes the pressure away<br />
“My interests are focused on creating<br />
patient-centred services with an emphasis on<br />
the holistic needs of our patients, ensuring<br />
their physical needs are met to the highest<br />
standards, as well as focusing on their<br />
psychological and social wellbeing to keep<br />
them well. Equally, with a background of<br />
working in the charitable sector, I’m keen<br />
to ensure we develop effective partnerships<br />
between the NHS and charitable organisations<br />
who I know can provide excellent, valueadding<br />
services to our patients. As a newbie<br />
to the organisation, I’m always open to offers<br />
to go and spend time with services and<br />
similarly, if people want to get in touch with<br />
me to discuss ideas then I’d be happy for<br />
them to do so.”<br />
Outside of work Mike enjoys playing rugby.<br />
“I’m fairly new to the area, but I have played<br />
rugby for my team Eccleshall against local<br />
teams such as Wednesbury and Handsworth<br />
on many occasions.”<br />
Be sure to give Mike a warm SWB<br />
welcome if you see him out and about.<br />
28<br />
28
Wave goodbye to…<br />
Dr Bill Thomson<br />
Consultant Physicist and Head of<br />
Physics and Nuclear Medicine<br />
A 'fissionary' retires<br />
After a 49 year career within the NHS,<br />
of which 36 years have been spent<br />
as our Head of Physics and Nuclear<br />
Medicine we say goodbye to Dr Bill<br />
Thomson.<br />
Taking time out of his busy schedule to<br />
speak to Heartbeat, Bill told us how his<br />
career began. “I graduated from Edinburgh<br />
University (also my home city) with a firstclass<br />
honours degree in Physics in 1971.<br />
Having enjoyed a summer job in medical<br />
physics, I decided to go to the University<br />
Hospital of Wales, which at the time was<br />
a brand new hospital about to open to<br />
patients.<br />
“I was able to pursue a PhD using a new<br />
whole-body counter system, very accurately<br />
measuring radioactivity in patients. With a<br />
large haematology research department,<br />
I developed gamma spectra computer<br />
analysis techniques that led to routine<br />
and research studies of iron kinetics,<br />
blood loss, iron absorption, vitamin B12<br />
absorption and total body potassium and<br />
electrolyte studies. I also developed a new<br />
technique for red cell volume measurement.<br />
Renal analysis was another area where I<br />
developed a new technique and presented<br />
on at conferences recently.”<br />
In 1984, Bill joined our organisation and<br />
took on the head of department position.<br />
Together with Dr Harding, the consultant<br />
at the time, they carried out many<br />
investigations around radiation protection in<br />
nuclear medicine, an underdeveloped area.<br />
Some of this work was used in the 2002<br />
national guidance notes and his interest<br />
in this work continues. He has provided<br />
updated regulations for the new guidance<br />
document due in 2021, and lectures<br />
on the national Endocrinologist ARSAC<br />
training course. His radiation protection<br />
interest continues, and he has developed<br />
a new model for dose estimation from<br />
radioactive contamination, and given invited<br />
presentations at three national conferences<br />
this year.<br />
Dr Bill Thomson<br />
Perhaps one of Bill’s defining career<br />
moments has been his work on the krypton<br />
generator service which was just developing<br />
in 1984. “Over the years this has grown<br />
into the unique national service that it now<br />
is. It supplies the country with krypton gas<br />
generators, generators for lung ventilation<br />
imaging; a vital part of the V/Q study for<br />
pulmonary embolus (PE) diagnosis. Along<br />
with ensuring the continued development<br />
of the service, Bill has developed dosimetry<br />
models, and also other techniques for using<br />
krypton gas effectively.”<br />
His interest in radioisotope measurements<br />
also led him to develop a filter system<br />
for the accurate measurement of I123<br />
and In111. He had to overcome strong<br />
resistance from the National Physical<br />
Laboratory. But they now endorse its<br />
use and he helped write their guidance<br />
document on isotope calibrators. A<br />
company now markets these filters, calling<br />
them the Thomson copper filter.<br />
Bill has a long history of professional<br />
involvement. He was on the Council of<br />
the Hospital Physicists Association in the<br />
late 1970s. He also represented them<br />
on the national Whitley Councils in the<br />
80s, chairing the group for scientists. He<br />
was chair of the regional committee for<br />
physicist training in the late 1980s and<br />
was a national assessor through the 90s.<br />
Bill was a member of the national ARSAC<br />
committee for ten years from 2002, the<br />
national government body that regulates<br />
the administration of radiopharmaceuticals<br />
and certification of consultants. Bill was also<br />
an honorary senior lecturer at Birmingham<br />
University for 12 years from 2001 and<br />
ran the nuclear medicine syllabus of their<br />
Medical Physics MSc.<br />
Bill told us how proud he is to have been<br />
a part of so many organisations over the<br />
years. “Professional involvement in all these<br />
groups has been such an honour for me.<br />
I’ve had the chance to pursue my passion<br />
and support individuals and groups along<br />
the way. One thing I look back on fondly<br />
is being awarded the Normal Veall medal<br />
from the British Nuclear Medicine Society in<br />
2014 for an outstanding contribution to the<br />
science of nuclear medicine.”<br />
Bill is pleased to have been part of such<br />
an active department. He has shared over<br />
500 papers, presentations and posters at<br />
conferences and, it is something the team<br />
will continue to do after his retirement.<br />
Asked what he’ll be getting up to, he said<br />
he’d be looking into further developments<br />
of computer programmes, and playing<br />
classical guitar. He was hoping to spend<br />
more time with his grandchildren, but plans<br />
have been put on hold for now due to<br />
COVID-19.<br />
“I have many interests. I was until<br />
COVID-19 hit, indoor climbing and playing<br />
racquetball every week. Despite a serious<br />
climbing fall in the Swiss Alps 10 years ago,<br />
I still love mountaineering and climbing,<br />
particularly in Europe and the UK, and I<br />
have a strong interest in photography. I<br />
have been up five 5000m unclimbed peaks<br />
in the Tien Shan range (Kyrgyzstan). I also<br />
love skiing and ski mountaineering but<br />
have moved over to hut-to-hut ski touring<br />
in Arctic Sweden and Norway, in the last<br />
few years going solo. In March this year, I<br />
had to dig a snow hole to survive the night<br />
as I was hit with a sudden big storm, with<br />
the temperature at -10C in a remote area<br />
between huts.”<br />
From all of us at the Trust – thank<br />
you, Bill, and here’s to a very happy<br />
retirement.<br />
Bill cross country skiing in Arctic Sweden<br />
Bill climbing in the Bugaboos, Canada<br />
29
Letters, of less than 200 words please, can be sent to the Communications Department,<br />
Trust Headquarters, Sandwell Hospital or by email to swb–tr.SWBH–GM–Heartbeat@nhs.net<br />
YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD<br />
Help me keep my area clean<br />
Dear Heartbeat,<br />
At the start of this pandemic, there was<br />
a very clear focus and direction from the<br />
Trust about what we should be doing to<br />
protect ourselves. I recall seeing frequent<br />
communications about washing your<br />
hands, PPE and keeping our areas clean.<br />
Recently I have seen less in the way of<br />
cleaning supplies around office spaces. I<br />
work as part of the team that are rotating<br />
when we are at work. As such, people are<br />
sometimes sitting at each other’s desks.<br />
I would like to be able to clean my area<br />
effectively before and after starting work<br />
so that I am confident I am not exposing<br />
myself to any unnecessary risks to my<br />
health. Please can you let me know if there<br />
are plans in place to distribute cleaning<br />
supplies to all areas of the Trust so that<br />
staff can wipe down their areas?<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Anon<br />
Dear colleague,<br />
Keeping areas across our Trust clean is<br />
vitally important. We all have a part to<br />
play to keep each other safe at work.<br />
We have cleaning teams working across<br />
the organisation in both clinical and<br />
non-clinical areas. However, we need<br />
colleagues in non-clinical areas to<br />
help us keep their work environments<br />
hygienic. There are several touchpoints<br />
that we would ask are cleaned daily.<br />
These include your:<br />
• Desk<br />
• Phone<br />
• PC<br />
• Door handles<br />
• Keyboard<br />
• Light switches<br />
Please use disposable gloves and<br />
Clinell wipes to sanitise office areas.<br />
Remember to keep your desk area<br />
tidy and wash your hands for twenty<br />
seconds or longer as often as you<br />
practically can using soap and water.<br />
Should you need to order any cleaning<br />
supplies for your area please contact<br />
distribution and supplies.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Janet Clarke, Head of Support Services<br />
A bit of food variety and<br />
increased quantity would be nice<br />
Dear Heartbeat,<br />
I know our canteens and restaurants have<br />
fallen on hard times with the pandemic<br />
meaning business isn’t booming as it once<br />
was, but I was wondering if we could get a<br />
bit more variety and quantity in the canteen<br />
(especially at Sandwell).<br />
Staff are working hard in there from what I<br />
can see so I can’t fault them on that. However,<br />
I don’t usually make it to the canteen for<br />
midday due to a busy day, so by the time I get<br />
there at 1.30 pm, there is never anything left<br />
apart from the odd side which can’t be made<br />
into a proper meal exactly.<br />
I do try and go earlier when I can, but this is<br />
not always feasible due to the demands of my<br />
work, especially during the current pandemic.<br />
Could we perhaps think about cooking a bit<br />
more in terms of quantity of food so more<br />
of the good stuff is left? This would then I’m<br />
assuming convert into more sales. Recently<br />
I have had to bring my lunch in to save<br />
disappointment.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Anon<br />
Dear colleague,<br />
Thank you for your letter.<br />
You are quite right, the pandemic has<br />
had a significant impact on the catering<br />
business, however, we have maintained<br />
the opening of all of our units along with<br />
a selection of meals on offer.<br />
The Sandwell catering manager is<br />
continually monitoring the number<br />
of meals produced to balance choice<br />
against waste food. Hallam restaurant<br />
lunch service offers four main course<br />
choices plus hot snacks, and we have also<br />
reopened Crumbles sandwich/salad bar<br />
three days a week.<br />
We are now carrying out daily checks to<br />
ensure that we have at least three meals<br />
choices available from 1.30 pm till the end<br />
of lunch service at 2 pm and will adjust<br />
the food production numbers accordingly<br />
to maintain a selection of meals for<br />
customers.<br />
We are trying to maintain business as<br />
usual as much as possible and hope that<br />
you continue to support our services<br />
and would like to thank you for your<br />
comments.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Jane Owen, Trust Catering Manager<br />
It’s good to talk<br />
Dear Heartbeat,<br />
As we start to see our number of COVID cases<br />
increasing, my thoughts turn to how we will<br />
keep in touch with each other. If we do enter<br />
another surge, it will be incredibly busy as we<br />
all know.<br />
I’ve noticed over the last few months that<br />
not everyone displays their contact details<br />
on emails. It would be helpful if we could<br />
encourage colleagues to do this as it helps<br />
with questions and queries. As people<br />
are working from home a lot more at the<br />
moment, having a number to contact them on<br />
would make all the difference.<br />
I’ve had times where I have searched for a<br />
phone number but not been able to find one,<br />
or I’ve called departments and not received<br />
an answer. I appreciate everyone is busy,<br />
but if we could all make an effort to make<br />
communicating with each other a bit easier, it<br />
would help get things done swiftly.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Anon<br />
Dear Colleague<br />
You are right that the COVID-19<br />
pandemic has taught many of us how<br />
important it is to keep in touch so that we<br />
can best support each other.<br />
Many colleagues have found several ways<br />
useful to keep in touch, particularly as<br />
people have been working in a new or<br />
different area, or working remotely. Some<br />
tips from teams across the Trust include:<br />
• A regular drop-in virtual breakfast<br />
meeting (or lunch or tea!). You can<br />
set this up on WebEx. To get set up<br />
to use WebEx just contact the IT<br />
service desk on 4050.<br />
• A WebEx group or a WhatsApp<br />
group for your team for instant<br />
messaging and to share important<br />
information.<br />
• Building in time during your day<br />
to video call or telephone at least<br />
one colleague to ask how they are.<br />
You suggested that it would be good to<br />
have an up to date phone directory and<br />
there are a number of ways colleagues can<br />
help to get this right.<br />
• Add an email signature with your<br />
telephone number / mobile phone<br />
number.<br />
• Update your details on ESR. The IT team<br />
are putting in place a system to pull<br />
this into active directory meaning you<br />
can search for people’s details through<br />
the MS Outlook email system.<br />
• Log into Connect (use your normal<br />
computer login) and find your name in<br />
the staff directory. You can update your<br />
details here too for all colleagues to<br />
see.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Martin Sadler, Chief Informatics Officer<br />
30
David talks about: Unity's first birthday<br />
and beyond<br />
Professor David Carruthers, Medical Director and Acting Chief Executive<br />
Toby Lewis is away<br />
DAVID’S LAST WORD<br />
This month we celebrated our first year<br />
anniversary of implementing Unity. Like<br />
many of you, I can’t quite believe a year<br />
has passed, particularly considering all<br />
that has happened over the past 12<br />
months. It would be easy to pass this<br />
anniversary and miss the opportunity<br />
to reflect on this considerable<br />
achievement for our Trust.<br />
Implementing Unity was a whole-<br />
Trust, major transformation that was<br />
several years in the planning. Hundreds<br />
of Trust staff were employed in the<br />
development of Unity, based on the<br />
Cerner Millennium product. Although<br />
the basics of the electronic patient<br />
record were in place, the system had<br />
to be built to fit our Trust’s needs.<br />
Many clinical leads were added to the<br />
Unity programme either on a parttime<br />
or full-time basis to develop and<br />
confirm the system pathways, review<br />
the training programmes and the<br />
competency requirements, as well as<br />
lead the engagement with colleagues<br />
across the Trust. Many more colleagues<br />
were involved in shaping and delivering<br />
the training, setting up the play<br />
domain, the competency checklists and<br />
the operational requirements to ensure<br />
a safe implementation. And of course,<br />
all of you had your working lives<br />
impacted by the introduction of Unity,<br />
whether you are working in a clinical or<br />
a corporate service. You have all had to<br />
get to grips with a new system, reduce<br />
your reliance on paper records and<br />
learn how best to document care and<br />
treatment.<br />
This project was a huge undertaking<br />
and one which we can look back on<br />
with pride. Of course, putting in the<br />
new system had its teething problems<br />
and took time to get right but I know<br />
that, from my own experience, and on<br />
speaking to colleagues, the vast majority<br />
of us would not go back to our previous<br />
multiple systems for documenting patient<br />
care. Page 3 and the front cover in this<br />
edition highlights some of the many<br />
thousands of things that have taken<br />
place during our first 12 months of using<br />
this new system.<br />
There are several future developments<br />
that we will implement over the next<br />
year, including the Patient Portal. This<br />
feature will allow our patients to see<br />
their records from the comfort of their<br />
own homes, hopefully improving their<br />
knowledge of their own health needs and<br />
treatment plans. For many patients the<br />
NHS can feel like a system that they don’t<br />
fully understand and sometimes patients<br />
don’t know where to go to get the<br />
answers they need. By opening up their<br />
health care records, without the need to<br />
apply for access, patients will be able to<br />
see first-hand what plans are in place for<br />
their care, as well as whether diagnostic<br />
tests have been arranged or results<br />
received. By no means will this replace<br />
the need for continued conversation<br />
between a patient and their clinical team<br />
but being able to see their own health<br />
care notes at their convenience is aimed<br />
to help patients be better informed.<br />
The Unity journey does not end here,<br />
however, and we continue to work on<br />
how we can best use the system to<br />
free up clinical time for care, as well<br />
as provide better quality, safer care for<br />
patients. The Unity Optimisation metrics<br />
are well known within each clinical group<br />
and it is these that we will be beginning<br />
to track so that we can learn, and share,<br />
the best ways of doing things using<br />
the system. Undoubtedly Unity is<br />
helping us to provide safer patient<br />
care – as an example, electronic<br />
prescribing is one major benefit<br />
that is reducing medication errors.<br />
There remain some basics that we<br />
still need to get right, and it is no<br />
surprise that I mention the way we<br />
order tests and acknowledge that<br />
a result has been reviewed. This<br />
has been something that we have<br />
discussed and monitored in the lead<br />
up to Unity go-live, and need to<br />
continue to improve. Safe patient<br />
care includes a robustness about<br />
checking diagnostic results and<br />
documenting that we have done<br />
so. By doing this, patients can have<br />
confidence that their health care<br />
needs are being investigated and<br />
reviewed thoroughly.<br />
Digital champions and super users<br />
were crucial as we implemented<br />
Unity, and it is vital that these roles<br />
continue. We need to continue to<br />
ensure that all our colleagues (new<br />
and existing) have access to either<br />
first-time or refresher training and<br />
are able to receive peer support<br />
in Unity usage. I would hope that<br />
how we use Unity is a regular<br />
conversation in your 1:1s with your<br />
line manager as it can support<br />
improving the quality of care that<br />
we provide. Do take the opportunity<br />
to talk about use of Unity within<br />
your teams.<br />
We know that there is much we can<br />
learn from others as we continue in<br />
our digital transformation journey.<br />
31
Local BAME communities to benefit as<br />
hospital charity secures £50,000 grant<br />
@SWBHCharity To donate<br />
to the Your Trust Charity text<br />
“SWBH16 £5” to 70070<br />
Your Trust Charity is celebrating after<br />
being awarded a £50,000 grant to<br />
help support BAME communities in<br />
Sandwell and West Birmingham.<br />
The charity confirmed late last month<br />
that they had been awarded the sum by<br />
NHS Charities Together - a membership<br />
organisation representing, supporting<br />
and championing NHS charities.<br />
The sizable sum, which comes from<br />
funds being allocated to help support<br />
activities being undertaken during the<br />
COVID-19 outbreak, will be used to help<br />
fund work within and in partnership with<br />
local BAME communities. Specifically,<br />
it will be used to help tackle the<br />
acknowledged disproportionate health<br />
and social issues that have arisen or been<br />
exasperated by the pandemic.<br />
The charity has used some of the cash<br />
donations received during the pandemic<br />
to match fund this award. This means<br />
that £100,000 is available to tackle issues<br />
directly within the community.<br />
The charity is in the process of setting<br />
up a funding panel that will be<br />
representative of the communities the<br />
project will support. Once the panel<br />
is up and running, it will identify and<br />
fund areas where support is most<br />
needed. Areas of funding could include<br />
supporting isolated older people or<br />
working with schools to support children<br />
at risk. But fundamentally the panel<br />
will listen to those who work in and on<br />
behalf of BAME communities so that<br />
funds can be allocated appropriately.<br />
Edward Edmead, Major Grants Manager for<br />
Your Trust Charity, said: “We have worked<br />
hard to support staff and patients through<br />
these unprecedented times and that will<br />
continue. But we are also going to work<br />
within the BAME community to address<br />
the disproportionate impact COVID-19 is<br />
having within their homes, families and<br />
communities. How funds will be used<br />
remains to be seen, as COVID-19 has<br />
resulted in health, social and mental health<br />
issues.<br />
"Projects might well include funding<br />
counselling sessions for isolated older<br />
people or helping with fitness classes for<br />
those who are in recovery. Working to<br />
support anxious expectant mothers or to<br />
aid BAME young people in accessing work<br />
opportunities, learning catch up sessions,<br />
or providing mentors to aid with their<br />
educational recovery.”<br />
Previous grants made under the scheme<br />
have been spent on the creation of support<br />
YOUR TRUST CHARITY<br />
packs for staff. These bags full of<br />
toiletries, skin cream and energy filled<br />
snacks were said to be a 'godsend' to<br />
staff working often gruelling shifts at<br />
the beginning of the outbreak. Food<br />
and toiletry packs were also distributed<br />
to patients isolating at home following<br />
discharge, families in need, homeless<br />
patients and prisoners on release.<br />
Your Trust Charity has also been able<br />
to help support the Trust's ongoing<br />
efforts around mental wellbeing. The<br />
Trust has gone on record multiple times<br />
over the last four months about its<br />
concern regarding staff welfare during<br />
COVID-19. Your Trust Charity was able<br />
to fund, through grants, the creation<br />
of a 'wellbeing sanctuary' with holistic<br />
therapies, classes and coaches to help<br />
staff within the community cope with<br />
their negative experiences.<br />
The sizable sum of money from NHS Charities Together will be used to help fund work within and in<br />
partnership with local BAME communities<br />
<strong>September</strong> <strong>2020</strong> staff lottery results<br />
1st £185.50<br />
Joanne Page<br />
2nd £111.30<br />
Angela Gibson<br />
3rd £74.20<br />
Jenna Akbar<br />
Don’t forget that Your Trust Charity lottery costs just £1 a month and anyone<br />
who works for the Trust can join. Payment is deducted from your wages each<br />
month. To take part email amanda.winwood@nhs.net.