SWBH Connect: Recent Episodes
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
David Carruthers, Medical Director
Toby is away
Sunday was a special day, when we saw the NHS celebrated nationally for providing free healthcare at point of use to our communities for 72 years. As we joined in the celebrations, this year was all about thanking our communities for their support to the NHS during the pandemic. You will have seen on social media photos of our sites (City, Leasowes, Rowley and Sandwell) lit up in blue. I am grateful to those of you who put a light in your windows to say thank you to all those who have stood with us.
With the further easing of lockdown this past weekend and social distancing measures, it is now more important than ever to ensure we do not relax our approach to COVID-19. We have all worked so hard to offer patients the best we can under challenging circumstances. We must continue to maintain our handwashing, mask wearing, good use of PPE and social distancing (in our workplace we will continue to observe the 2m social distancing rule).
As we continue to play our part in finding out more about COVID-19, I’m pleased that our research and development team have announced the launch of the SIREN study. It aims to determine if previous COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers confers future immunity from having the infection again. It will also look at any new infection and therefore will involve both repeat swab and the antibody blood test every two weeks on average (variable from 1 to 4 weekly sampling), for one year. Dr Masood Aga, Consultant and Specialty Lead in Occupational Medicine is leading the study, please consider whether you can help and contact the team for more information.
Tackling COVID-19 means ensuring that we are doing all we can to keep you safe at work. Over the past week you will have received an email from occupational health asking you to complete your risk assessment. Over 2,000 have now done this – thank you. If you haven’t already done so, I would urge you to do so as soon as possible. Your response will help us to assess your level of risk and enable managers to be provided with the actions they are required to take to keep you safe at work. Follow this link to complete the form COVID Risk Assessment Form
Your health and wellbeing remains a significant part of our offer as we fight COVID-19. I do encourage you to take advantage of the services we have on offer. See Connect for further details and take that first step to look after your wellbeing.
At Public Health & Equality Committee this week we discussed the ‘countdown plan’ to launch the healthy weight element of our staff wellbeing programme. This is due to go live on 14 August, and over the coming weeks you will begin to see a preview of some of the exciting offers we will launch next month. Our wellbeing programme is part of our wider wellbeing strategy which aims to tackle the rising incidence of obesity in our locality. More information will continue to be shared in the communications bulletin, please get involved and share your views.
It was good see the Junior Doctors and Medical Students Common Room, finally open on Tuesday. The new area boasts comfy sofas, a kitchenette, and two rest rooms, which each house a reclining chair and black out blinds. There are lockers and two computers where colleagues are able to continue with any work they need to. This is a fantastic resource for our medical colleagues. Thank you to doctors Alison Eastaugh and Eoin Dore for coming up with the idea and seeing it to fruition.
Congratulations to Dr May Yan who has taken over as Clinical Specialty Lead for Acute Medicine. May’s immediate priority is to help the team ‘restore and recover’ to some normality, to identify useful changes and new ways of working from our COVID-19 experience and how to sustain them, and to also to focus on the team’s training, education and wellbeing. May will play a vital role in integrating our City and Sandwell acute medicine teams in preparation for our move into MMUH...
Just over a year ago, the brand new clinical research facility (CRF) celebrated its launch. The CRF which boasts nine clinic rooms and associated facilities is available for research clinics and research related procedures. During May this year, new monitors with webcams were installed to ready the facility for Visionable web-clinics.
Prior to suspension of face to face clinics, the CRF was regularly used to approach and consent discussions and follow up visits for a variety of research projects for patients with a number of health conditions including cardiac problems and metabolic disorders, gastroenterology and haematology. Preparations to transfer in Dr Diana Kavanagh’s Friday respiratory clinic had been underway immediately prior to the shutdown of non-essential face to face clinics at the start of the pandemic. There are also plans to move in some of the haematology outpatients.
“You don’t have to only see patients who are going to be taking part in research to use the clinical research facility,” said Gina Dutton, Head of Research and Development. “Clinics that are suitable to take place in the CRF are those where a high proportion of patients are suitable to take part in research. So we would expect you to have a study open or ready to open and a plan for pipeline of studies to use the facility for a full clinic. “The CRF has been an excellent investment and has meant that we have the facilities available to enable Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust to be chosen to deliver staff research.
“We are keen for new investigators to come forward and make grant applications to expand both within Trust research and to have a wider influence.”
The CRF is an ideal location to undertake research where a new treatment modality or intervention which can be delivered in an outpatient setting can be tested. There is a research laboratory with facilities to process blood and other samples for refrigeration and freezing for storage and dispatch to analysis labs. The CRF is also used for research project site initiation visits and monitoring visits, where sponsors visit the Trust to check source data for licencing studies. Face to face external visitor meetings are temporarily suspended and so our new web equipment has proved invaluable in making sure that these important activities can continue.
Colleagues are encouraged to contact R&D early in your discussions about new SWB originated research. The team can show you the facilities available as well as provide advice on grant applications and ethics and approvals processes. Contact Zaida Khalil on zaida.khalil@nhs.net.
Be sure to check out this short video featuring Gina Dutton, Head of Research and Development talking about our clinical research facility at the Trust.
The local organisations listed below have confirmed to the Trust that they will be operating holiday play clubs on a limited basis for children up to 11 years of age.
Colleagues wishing to access their facilities should make contact with them directly as soon as possible as places are limited.
Note: As part of their risk assessment arrangements parents may be required to provide details of schools/childcare facilities children have attended during the COVID-19 pandemic to enable them to comply with current public health guidance and maintain consistent child groups or bubbles.
The Gap Centre, Hargate Lane, West Bromwich. Tel 0121 525 4442, website: thegaponline.org
Kaidrums Childcare, Yew Tree Estate, Walsall. Tel: 07800 590 548, email: kaidrums2902@gmail.com
Victoria House Holiday Playscheme, Corbett Street, Smethwick. Tel: 0121 555 6361
Bright Lights Day Care , Great Arthur Street, Smethwick B66 1DH. Email: hickman@svps.sandwell.sch.uk
Kings Camp – Birmingham (Blue Coat School and King Edwards Boys School). Website: kingscamps.org
Further details of other child care facilities including childminders can be found by clicking here.
For more information please call 0121 507 3566.
An important note for those at both City and Sandwell Hospitals regarding PPE and scrubs.
As of Monday 13 July the PPE hub at City presently on D18 will be relocating to the reception area outside the Foot Health and Diabetes Outpatients Clinic – on the first floor above Arches Café.
This area is sufficient for PPE but unfortunately cannot facilitate space for scrubs. Scrubs should therefore only be collected from the wards where they are delivered daily. Similarly, scrubs will no longer be available from the PPE area at Sandwell (outside the Bryan Knight Suite). Again, scrubs should be collected from the wards.
The Good Clinical Trials Collaborative would like anyone who has actively working on a randomised clinical trial since the beginning of the year to complete a short survey of experiences of conducting research during the COVID-19 pandemic including where you have had to make changes to your practice.
Note: A short introductory video and the survey can be found at the link below.
Our Star of the Week Award this week goes to Catherine Morris, Clinical Nurse Specialist.
Catherine has gone above and beyond the call of duty for the past few months. she has managed to juggle her professional role by working within the acute setting and within the community hospital (Leasowes). Catherine always remains approachable, bubbly, caring and professional despite the pressure from the pandemic. Cath has adapted well to the changes made within the team. She has had to put her new job role on pause to ensure that there is enough support for colleagues within both settings and for the patients. Catherine is very thorough in her role, values the points of others and ensures that others are informed at all times. She gets on well with everyone and has supported and guided the therapists within the acute setting and at Leasowes during the pandemic.
Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and beyond the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the Week by clicking here.
The transfusion practitioners will be doing training for blood collection on Wednesday 15 July at Sandwell Education Centre (Room 5). The team currently have nine appointments available.
Note: Training is by appointment only.
To book please email swbh.bloodtransfusion@nhs.net or call ext 2494.
As we prepare to go live with the upgrade of Unity on Wednesday 26 August we are upgrading single document capture on Monday 13 July at 7.30pm.
We have deliberately chosen a time to do this change where the single document capture function is not in great use in order to minimise impact.
Unity will remain operational however there will be no ability to scan documents directly in to Unity and archived reports will be unavailable.
Should you have any queries please contact the 24 hour IT helpdesk on ext. 4050 or 0121 507 4050 for home workers.
Caring midwives at Serenity birthing unit have proved that it takes more than a pandemic to stop a birthday celebration. Marking 10 years of babies born on the same day as the International Day of the Midwife – 5 May – the unit was pleased to welcome baby number 12,274.
Taking to Instagram to share their big day, the team explained to their followers that although they had a much bigger party planned – before the pandemic – nevertheless they still wanted to mark the day with the age old tradition of tea and cake, to the sound of a newborn baby’s cry. Wellwishers were quick to add their messages of support on social media with one user congratulating the midwives social distancing party photo.
Sarah explained: “Originally we had planned a garden party celebration to mark our birthday but had to change our plans. We wanted to invite families who had used Serenity over the last 10 years, along with staff who have moved on and retired. However, we are hoping to reschedule later in the year or next year depending on when restrictions are eased, and it is safe to do so.
The 10th anniversary was a time to look forward to the future, and in so doing, to remember the past. In looking back to the very beginning and the first baby born in the unit, Lead Midwife Sarah Figg recalled baby Sakinah Mariam Yusuf, who was born to proud parents Donna Corbin and Abdur Yusuf. They were so impressed with their surroundings and the care they received they named their precious girl Sakinah (which is Arabic for Serenity) after the unit.
Speaking at that time, Donna said: “My first impressions of the unit were wow! It is such a special unit and I had a fantastic birth. The midwives allowed me to listen to what my body was telling me and the midwives on the unit have been incredibly supportive. Dad Abdur added: “I think the beautiful environment and positive attitude of the midwives here really makes a difference, which has led to Donna and myself having a very special birthing experience. As a dad, I have been made to feel very welcome and it is great to see a birthing centre like this that has been designed with dads also in mind.”
Serenity has been nominated for a number of prestigious awards including the RCM award for promoting Normal Birth in January 2013, Team of the Year via the British Journal of Midwifery in 2013 and, the BJM Innovation in Practice Award. The unit is also a beacon site for midwifery units.
Speaking of the team, Sarah told us: “Of the original staff from our launch in 2010, myself, Mani Bahia, Amanda Brown, Maike Lehmann-Sander, Helen Powell, Sue Wainwright, Jas Kaur, Anna Kipps, Amie McGovern and Anita Taylor are still here and loving the job we do. We have been joined by many more brilliant midwives and maternity support workers, some of whom went on to complete their midwifery training, in the last 10 years.
“Some of our midwives have given birth to their babies here as well (Jo, Gemma and Anja) and Lynne’s grandchildren were born here. Mandy has attended the births of over 1000 babies and our much loved Helen Giles retired this April after being a team leader for eight years.”
Supporting further education and advancement is a prominent part of our culture. So when Monica Quinlan completed her Masters in Advanced Clinical Practice at Birmingham City University (BCU), it took her on both a personal and professional journey that has changed her life. Heartbeat caught up with Monica who shared her heartfelt story with us.
“I completed my Masters in February 2020. It was a three-year part-time course funded by the Trust. Being able to join this course meant so much to me. I required the academic side to support and underpin my advancing role, and I was determined to complete the course. It involved combining practical work placements and classroom sessions.”
“I was due to complete my course in October 2019; however I took four months off from studying as I lost my husband, who also worked at the Trust, in December 2018. He took his own life and, as you can imagine, my world fell apart.
“My older son was at university at the time, and my younger son was completing his GCSEs – both were distraught. My eldest son did his best to support us through what was the most traumatic time of our lives.”
Looking towards a brighter future, Monica explained how her studies helped her to find the focus she needed to start rebuilding her life. “I found strength in focusing on my academic work; it gave me the distraction I needed to overcome some of my weakest moments. My studies helped me discover the strength, focus and determination to move forward during this painful time, and I am thankful to the Trust for that.”
Monica is also grateful to everyone that supported her over the last few months. She told us how the kindness and compassion of those around her made such a positive difference. “The Trust, my department, my late husband’s colleagues, BCU, my family and friends have all been a huge support to me. The wellbeing department has been on hand to help me navigate the different stages of my grief – their support has helped me to start looking ahead to the future.”
She added: “So many people cheered me on to help me achieve my goal of completing my course. I’d like to say a special thanks to all of those people and in particular the library staff. Nicola Ager and her team have been a huge help over the past three years. Having a resource like a library within our organisation is invaluable.”
After months of hard work, the Junior Doctors and Medical Students Common Room, finally opened yesterday (Wednesday 8 July).
The new area, formerly the physiotherapy gym at City Hospital, boasts comfy sofas, a kitchenette, and two rest rooms, which each house a reclining chair and black out blinds.
There are lockers and two computers where colleagues are able to continue with any work they need to.
Raffaela Goodby, Director of People and Organisation Development, attended the opening, alongside the Wellbeing and Medical Education Team who have worked together with Rita Brown from Estates to bring this project to life. The medical students from University of Birmingham and Aston University will be sharing the space with our junior doctors. This is a huge step forward in supporting the wellbeing of both groups and developing the relationships and transition from medical student to junior doctor trainee.
Watch the video below to see what the facility looks like.
An ambition within our Trust’s public health plan, primary care plan, and featuring in both integrated care partnership (ICP) plans, is to tackle the rising incidence of obesity. We are implementing a strategy to support improved wellbeing among:
Our own workforce
Our patients
Our communities, with a focus on children
We have begun an 8 week countdown plan to launch the healthy weight element of our wellbeing programme with colleagues on 14 August.
We would like to ask you some short questions on the menu of options we will launch which will support our:
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Mental wellbeing
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Physical health (activity and exercise)
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Nutrition (food and drink)
You can complete the survey by clicking the link below.
Note: All of your answers will remain anonymous and will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
This is our weekly bulletin and will be issued every Wednesday. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. We are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of. Kindness remains the guiding principle of all the actions in our work to tackle the virus – kindness in how we look after patients, visitors, and one another.
Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (Wednesday 1 July’s totals)
Number of our patients confirmed with COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of positive COVID-19 patients who have been discharged during the pandemic
Number of patients who have died in our hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of patients entered by the Trust into a COVID-19 research trial to date
Number of COVID-19 positive patients who are inpatients with us today
Number of people who have had antibody tests including partner agency staff
Number of our staff absent due to ill-health or isolation today
1332
(1329)
926
(913)
385
(384)
156
(155)
22
(32)
11108
(9344)
478
(518)
- Don’t forget to complete your COVID-19 assessment
Our Trust is providing COVID-19 risk assessments for all of our colleagues to help categorise the level of risk to each individual person and enable managers to be provided with the actions they are required to take to keep colleagues safe at work. We launched the risk assessments a few weeks ago and colleagues to date have been able to contact occupational health to have their assessment completed.
Unless you have already had this assessment with occupational health please complete the form here: COVID Risk Assessment Form
Completed risk assessments should be sent to swbh.riskassessmentoh@nhs.net.
Thank you to the many colleagues (over 2000 of you) who have already completed and sent back their risk assessment form. Anyone who has responded so far should get a response letter from occupational health this week.
All the data is collated and aggregated within occupational health. As an organisation we are required to report nationally on the following:
Number of staff risk-assessed and percentage of whole workforce.
Number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff risk assessments completed, and percentage of total risk assessments completed and of whole workforce.
Percentage of staff risk-assessed by staff group.
Additional mitigation over and above the individual risk assessments in settings where infection rates are highest.
For more information please call 0121 507 3306.
- Red vs Blue: New ED streaming criteria
Changes to the red/hot and blue/cold ED streaming criteria, as agreed by the ED, acute medicine, respiratory and microbiology teams rolled out yesterday.
Patients presenting with following conditions should be streamed to the RED stream:
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An influenza like illness or fever >37.8, with one of the following respiratory symptoms, which must be acute in onset: a new persistent cough (with or without sputum), hoarseness, nasal discharge or congestion, shortness of breath, sore throat, wheezing or sneezing.
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A new loss of sense of smell or taste (anosmia) either in isolation or combination with any of the other symptoms.
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A new onset of persistent cough.
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A new and unexplained shortness of breath.
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A recent COVID-19 positive test (within last 28 days) with any new systemic or unexplained symptom.
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History of exposure to a COVID-19 positive patient within the last 14 days and symptomatic with any of the above symptoms (contacted by NHS Test and Trace).
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Any patient in cardiac arrest, needing AGP ( Airway management/support in low GCS patients or conscious sedation), needing chest procedures (seldinger/surgical drain) should be streamed to the RED
The following patients can be streamed to the BLUE stream :
- Patients known to have COPD/asthma or cardiac failure presenting with sym...
Following the recent upgrade to Pulse, we now need colleagues to ensure they allow the installation to take place on their machines.
If you have not yet done so, please click on the ‘Upgrade’ button when you are presented with the ‘Software upgrade for Sandwell Pulse VPN’ window.
This is an official pop up,safe to accept and will ensure that your service is up to date with the latest software.
The upgrade should only take a few minutes to complete but will mean you momentarily lose connection to the network.
If you have any further queries then please contact the IT Service Desk on ext. 4050.
Each Friday, Chief Executive, Toby Lewis writes a message to all colleagues, which is published on the front page of Connect. He discusses important topics or events that have occurred during the week.
David Carruthers, Medical Director wrote the blog as Toby is away. He spoke about the Trust’s recent AGM meeting via WebEx which saw our non-executive directors, executive team and chairman talk about the last 12 months and the future of the Trust going forward.
He also covered:
NHS 72nd Birthday celebration – check out our thank you video by clicking here
Star of the Week, Eoin Dore
Upcoming 2020 Star Awards
The latest Trust annual report which you can check out by clicking here
You can read the full message by clicking here.
You can read previous messages by clicking here.
This is our weekly bulletin and will be issued every Wednesday. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. We are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of. Kindness remains the guiding principle of all the actions in our work to tackle the virus – kindness in how we look after patients, visitors, and one another.
Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (Wednesday 24 June’s totals)
Number of our patients confirmed with COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of positive COVID-19 patients who have been discharged during the pandemic
Number of patients who have died in our hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of patients entered by the Trust into a COVID-19 research trial to date
Number of COVID-19 positive patients who are inpatients with us today
Number of people who have had antibody tests including partner agency staff
Number of our staff absent due to ill-health or isolation today
1329
(1326)
913
(906)
384
(383)
155
(150)
32
(37)
9344
(7341)
518
(531)
- Swabbing patients – Do you know when and how often you should be swabbing?
It is vital that inpatients are not only placed in the right care environment (Red, Lilac , Blue ward) but also that swabbing is carried out appropriately and effectively in each environment.
Remember:
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Every patient MUST be swabbed on admission.
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Patients on Lilac wards MUST be swabbed every 3 days.
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Patients on Blue wards MUST be swabbed every 5 days.
Alongside swabbing at the right time, it’s critical that swabbing is carried out using the right swabbing kit and collected in the right manner.
White\Green\Yellow swab kits should be used for all inpatient swabs and for retesting in blue and lilac areas. Black swabs are only for urgent testing in pre-agreed areas.
Guidance on how to collect samples is available in the linked document.
COVID-19 Patient Swabbing Guidance
Where swabs are taken, colleagues must ensure that they are hand delivered to the pathology departments as soon as possible so that they can be tested and reported without delay. Samples must not be left on wards for extended periods of time as this significantly delays the time taken to report results and ultimately puts patients and colleagues at risk.
Triple bagging swab samples for safety
Remember when you are bagging your swab sample, you must ensure the red topped bottle is first put in a clear specimen bag, this should then be placed in a clear zip lock bag and finally packaged in a blue specimen bag alongside any paperwork.
- Face masks and ID badges – it’s for your safety and that of your colleagues’
As with last week, we remind ALL colleagues that when entering the buildings where clinical services are being provided you must ensure you use hand sanitiser and put on a fresh Fluid-resistant surgical mask (FRSM). You are also required upon entry to show security colleagues your ID badge. This is so we can keep you, colleagues, patients and approved visitors safe and help reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
Additional stations with PPE are now in place at entrances. You must not take more masks than you need or take any home for use outside work. We are monitoring stock levels closely and checking what is being taken using CCTV.
Our security team are on hand at all main entrances to our clinical buildings to remind you. Please ensure that you give these valued colleagues the respect they deserve when they are implementing this approach. Any occasions of disrespect or discourtesy will be not be tolerated. Incidents will be reported and investigated in line with our Trust policies.
For more information about face masks see our FAQs here.
- Colleague risk assessments
Many of you have completed a risk assessment with the Occupational Health department that takes into account your individual risk of COVID-19,...
The mental health and wellbeing of colleagues is important and we want to ensure that everyone is able to get help when they need it.
As a result colleagues have exclusive access to the Thrive: Mental Wellbeing app, which is there for the prevention, screening and management of anxiety, depression and stress.
The app tackles common stressors such as sleep, bereavements, work issues and more. It also signposts to external support services – with users able to seek immediate help directly from the app.
To find out more about how Thrive can help you, and how to access it, click here.
You can also access the full range of health and wellbeing support on Connect.
TeamTalk took place on Wednesday 24 June where colleagues were briefed digitally due to social distancing measures on national and regional updates.
If you were not able to make one of the sessions you can download a copy of the briefing presentation.
TeamTalk Briefing – June 2020
Do you know an individual or team who has exhibited best practice in providing safe care, who has openly raised awareness of safety issues, championed transparency or introduced new ways of working to a service or treatment that has improved patient safety?
Nominate them for the Patient Safety Award in this year’s upcoming Star Awards!
Ways to nominate:
You can complete a paper nomination form which you can download by clicking here.
You can send in a video nomination for free to swbh.comms@nhs.net via www.wetransfer.com Choose go to free. When doing the recording remember to state clearly who you are and the name of the person/team you are nominating.
You can complete the online form by clicking here.
Be sure to check out this video featuring last year’s winner Sarah Oley.
If you have any questions regarding the Star Awards, please contact the communications team on 0121 507 5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net.
For more information, please visit our dedicated Star Awards page on Connect.
We offer free will writing services for all colleagues including junior doctors courtesy of Dunham McCarthy Estate Planning and Will Specialists.
For more information please see Will Writing – NHS Offers
To find out more about employee benefits at the Trust please contact amir.ali1@nhs.net.
Our myConnect app aims to enable colleagues to access news and information from across the organisation from the comfort of their smartphone.
Our COVID-19 weekly bulletins are available here as they are published and are a great way to get information from the Trust as it happens.
You can now also access all of the Unity Quick reference guides, standard operating procedures and Trust policies through the app.
myConnect is compatible with both iPhones and Android handsets, and is available to download from the Apple Appstore as well as the Google Playstore, simply search for ‘SWBH MyConnect’.
If you have any questions on how the app will work or if you would like to be able to share your content through the app, contact Subtan Mahmood, Internal Communications Manager on Subtan.Mahmood@nhs.net or ext. 4840.
Colleagues can now claim a free will with Farewill. Colleagues who wish to take up this offer must follow the the instructions below:
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Go to farewill.com/nhs and register with your NHS email address
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Use the solicitor-approved guide to write your will online in 15 minutes
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Submit your will to be checked by the Farewill experts – then print and sign it at home
For more information regarding staff benefits please contact amir.ali1@nhs.net.
Carers Week is celebrated yearly and aims to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities thus drawing attention to the importance of the 6.5 million carers across the UK. It also helps people who don’t think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support.
For more information and to get involved in Carers Week please visit
Please be aware essential maintenance is taking place today (Wednesday 10 June) affecting Alfresco. The work is scheduled to begin at 7pm and should be completed by 10pm.
During this time for up to 3 hours access to Scanned Clinical Patient notes will not be available in Unity/CSS.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Should you have any queries on this please contact the IT helpdesk on ext 4050
This week’s tip of the week comes from Viraj Shah, Anaesthetics ST4:
“Get rid of empty rows in Assessments/Fluid Balance by unclicking ‘Show Empty Columns/Rows’ in Options (which will default this selection) or manually by clicking on the icon.”
We are encouraging colleagues at all levels across the Trust to suggest any quick wins or top tips they have for using Unity in their ward, area or department.
All suggestions are welcome so please get in touch! The best suggestions will be featured in our Unity Tip of the Week every Wednesday on Connect.
If you have a tip of the week please send it to swbh.unitytips@nhs.net.
The strong research and development culture at our Trust has once again come to the forefront as our R&D team has stepped forward and stepped up our involvement in a range of research trials looking in to COVID-19.
With innovation and ideas flowing from clinicians across the world, all with the aim of tackling COVID-19 and stopping it in its tracks, research trials have stepped up pace and nowhere more evident is that than our own Trust where to date, we have already managed to recruit over 63 patients in to a range of studies.
To find out more about the work of R&D in COVID-19, Heartbeat caught up with Gina Dutton, Head of Research and Development, she said, “Our Trust is proud of its long track record of excellence in clinical research and we’re keen to use all of our knowledge and ability to develop more effective ways of looking after our patients. COVID-19 has undoubtedly had a significant impact on both patients and healthcare professionals and it’s an ideal opportunity to support research in to innovations in treatment and care of COVID-19 patients.
“The portfolio of COVID-19 studies is increasing rapidly and I am proud to say that we have already opened or have in set up six of the most important COVID-19 clinical trials and observational studies, completing local governance checks and set up processes in record time. Key to this has been our close working relationship with the trials pharmacy team. This has been a whole Trust effort with all colleagues in various medical specialties pulling together to ensure that patients are offered these studies during their hospital stay.”
Shortly after it was announced that the prestigious RECOVERY trial had nationally recruited its 5000th participant, the Trust recruited its 50th. This study is looking at a range of drug treatment options for patients who are admitted to hospital with COVID-19. It is a rapidly changing study so that it can assess a range of treatments quickly. The current medications in the study include Lopinavir-Ritonavir, a commonly used HIV drug, Low-dose Dexamethasone – a type of steroid, which is used in a range of conditions typically to reduce inflammation, Hydroxychloroquine (anti-malarial drug), Azithromycin (antibiotic) and Tocilizumab (an anti-inflammatory treatment).
Two other treatment trials are for patients who are more poorly; REMAP-CAP is a drug trial using similar treatments to RECOVERY and RECOVERY RS: Respiratory Support is looking at different types of breathing support, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and High flow nasal oxygen (HFNO). A fourth treatment trial, PRINCIPLE, is in set up with our GP colleagues in Your Health Partnership.
Two other studies are collecting data and samples to improve the understanding of genetics of COVID-19 and how it impacts on patients.
Victor Dinoo sadly died at the end of May from COVID-19. He was a valued member of the Trust working as a senior staff nurse. He worked on D11 and also undertook a number of bank shifts across SWB. He had also worked at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham.
As part of Victor’s funeral service on Thursday 11 June, he will be brought to City Hospital (via Aberdeen Street) at 9.45am where he will be for 10 minutes should any colleagues want to pay their respects.
All are warmly welcome, and please do spread the word to former colleagues who may not receive the news.
AA are providing free breakdown service to and from work during the Coronavirus crisis, whether you’re an AA member or not.
If you break down travelling between home and work, call them 24/7 on the dedicated NHS number 0800 072 5064. AA will send out a patrol to try and fix your vehicle on the spot. If they can’t, they will take you to where you need to be.
For details please click here.
Note: You don’t need AA membership and you won’t be charged for calling the AA out to help. Just give them a call and show your NHS ID to the patrol when they arrive.
Be sure to check out this short video from Samantha Morgan, alcohol specialist nurse about staying well in regards to alcohol concerns.
Support sessions available to colleagues
Our alcohol team will be hosting online support sessions for friends and families of people who are dependent on alcohol via Zoom every Wednesday from 7pm. These sessions are open to everyone.
Note: You will need download the Zoom app in order to join the session. The meeting ID is 81498967810.
For more information and support, please contact arlene.copland@nhs.net.
Do you have an idea for a digital ambition?
Digital ambitions are the technological solutions we plan to implement over the next few years to enable improvements in how we communicate and work, with the aim that we are able to deliver faster and more co-ordinated care to our patients and use technology to support better diagnosis and treatment. We are asking you to discuss with you what digital ambitions you have to support your patient, their carers, your team, and the health and social care partners with which you work. Do you have any ideas which may be able to be implemented fairly easily and quickly (a ‘quick win’)? Such as improved clinical communication across the Trust using video conferencing. What are the strategic ambitions for your team or patient cohort that technology could support you to achieve? e.g.
reducing outpatient visits may be enabled through virtual consultations, patient access to their health record, live webchat clinical advice. Do you have any new care models or new ways of working that are being developed which may benefit from using new technology or existing technology in a new way? If so, what are these?. Have you seen an amazing use of technology you would love to see at Sandwell and West Birmingham?
Name*
First Last
Department/Team*
Group
Please pick from the list belowEstatesOrganisational DevelopmentStrategy and GovernanceOperationsNursing and Patient Support ServicesFinanceMDOPrimary Care, Community and TherapiesWomen’s and Child HealthMedicine and Emergency CareSurgical ServicesImaging
Your idea*
Details of your idea, including if it is being used elsewhere
Benefits*
What benefits do you think it will bring
Your contact details*
Contact details so we can let you know the outcome of your idea
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TeamTalk is our monthly Trust-wide team briefing system led by Toby Lewis, Chief Executive. The next session will take place today (Wednesday 27 May) at 1pm.
Please ensure you are able to access a computer with speakers or headphones to enable you to participate.
Details on how to login are as follows:
To join the session from your computer click on the following link:
Event password is SWBTEAMTALK2020
If you have any questions about how you join the briefing, contact Subtan Mahmood by email: subtan.mahmood@nhs.net.
A special WebEx to hear from people who have been working from home is taking place today (Thursday 14 May) at 2.30pm.
Visit: to join.
The meeting password is SWBWFH.
If you have any questions about how you join the briefing, contact subtan.mahmood@nhs.net
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the homeless team are available seven days a week until 31 May. ~~~~
The team is now operating 7 days a week, 9am – 5pm. Please refer patients as normal via Capman, telephone and email.
For more information please contact helen.taylor54@nhs.net.
In order to manage supplies going forward pharmacy will be removing stock of Lorazepam from wards to be kept centrally.
The following clinical areas will retain a supply in their fridges:
Sandwell ED
AMUA
Lyndon 1
Lyndon Ground
City ED
AMU 1 and 2
PAU (D19)
D43
Henderson Ward
Leasowes Ward
Both pharmacy emergency cupboards (City and Sandwell)
Please see Lorazepam sheet for details.
Lorazepam is a short-acting benzodiazepine, licensed and used at SWBH for the following indications:
The treatment of acute anxiety states, acute excitement or acute mania in patients over 12 years
The control of status epilepticus in adults and children
For more information please contact the pharmacy department (City ext. 5263, Sandwell ext. 3783).
This is our every night bulletin. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. Throughout May we are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of. Kindness remains the guiding principle of all the actions in our work to tackle the virus – kindness in how we look after patients, visitors, and one another.
Last night’s Prime Ministerial “roadmap” explained that the economic issues and care issues are both twin challenges to be faced, and that is reflected in our work to date. The guidance on returning to work, school, and other activities does not alter any existing Trust arrangements put in place for the Pandemic. The Working From Home guidance we have remains in place and is being reviewed via last week’s questionnaire and this week’s WebEx. We will revisit the social distancing arrangements for all office based environments during May to ensure we comply with soon-to-be published HSE requirements. Car parking remains free and nationally funded presently, albeit our available car parking will lessen in June as construction works kicks off on our new Car Parks!
Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (Yesterday’s totals)
Number of our patients confirmed with COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of positive COVID-19 patients who have been discharged during the pandemic
Number of patients who have died in our hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of patients entered by the Trust into a COVID-19 research trial to date
Number of COVID-19 positive patients who are inpatients with us today
Number of our staff absent due to ill-health or isolation today
1116
(1116)
725
(727)
318
(313)
105
(105)
73
(76)
592
(605)
- Visionable – “new normal” for care locally
Visionable is our online tool that enables us to hold virtual clinics with patients via a videolink working from both laptops or desktops. Patients can use their mobile phones or a tablets. The Visionable system is now available for colleagues and will be the default system to use for clinic appointments. A handful of pre-agreed exceptions for certain circumstances will be in place where a face to face appointment is necessary. Visionable enables clinicians to see patients safely whilst practicing social distancing. It also supports the involvement of family members who do not live locally.
To see how Visionable works look at the film here where Consultant Paediatrician Nick Makwana demonstrates a typical virtual consultation using the Visionable platform. Further information on the usage is available in the attached Standard Operating Procedure.
For more information on the new system or to obtain your access, contact Mark Whitehouse on markwhitehouse@nhs.net
- Birmingham’s Treatment Centre reopens today #greenshoots
Today the Treatment Centre (BTC) opened up to patients with thanks to the Big Clean Up operation undertaken by our Ward Services team. You will notice some changes to the area, including markings on the floor to support social distancing, perspex screens to protect staff, new handwashing zones and new flooring. It’s all part of our six week programme of recovery and restoration. Later this week surgical procedures, diagnostics and essential face-to-face clinical appointments will resume.
The separate entrance and lay-out will help provide reassurance that services are separated from acute COVID-19 care which is why we are starting our #greenshoots work here. Over the coming days we will work with staff involved on how the new BTC will operate over a six or seven day week. It’s a big change for catering staff, ward service officers, reception staff and clinicians.
Watch the video below to see the changes that have been made.
- Collection arrangements for patient property
Arrangements have been made for relatives to collect patient belongings from locations at City and Sandwell Hos...
The April edition of Heartbeat is now online! You can read the latest news from around the Trust on Connect. Find out about our fight back against COVID-19 and read some of our inspirational survivor stories.
Click here to read this edition.
This is our every night bulletin. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. Throughout May we are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of. Kindness remains the guiding principle of all the actions in our work to tackle the virus – kindness in how we look after patients, visitors, and one another.
A huge thank you to everyone working within our Red Areas. We still have multiple wards and much of our critical care units looking after people with COVID-19. Coming into work, while others talk about going back to work, in these circumstances is terribly difficult. Though most patients with the virus survive, very many do not. We will use our QIHD time on Wednesday to consider what more we could do to improve the chances each person has of recovering in our care.
Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (Yesterday’s totals)
Number of our patients confirmed with COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of positive COVID-19 patients who have been discharged during the pandemic
Number of patients who have died in our hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of patients entered by the Trust into a COVID-19 research trial to date
Number of COVID-19 positive patients who are inpatients with us today
Number of our staff absent due to ill-health or isolation today
1116
(1116)
727
(726)
313
(312)
105
(105)
76
(78)
(605)
- Shape your future at Wednesday’s QIHD
The Trust’s final plan for Restoration and Recovery is being developed this month for approval at June’s Trust Board. There will be #nogoingback so please do grab this chance to say what works best in your view, both for your team and for our patients. QIHD is the place where teams debate the evidence, consider ideas for improvement, and discuss future plans. Details of the topics under discussion will come out tomorrow, but make sure you know the WebEx details for your team and find some time to contribute.
- Big Clean Up continues at Rowley Regis
Our programme is all about restoring public confidence in care in order to ensure that those in need seek help. This will help us to get moving with services like endoscopy, cardiac physiology, some surgical procedures and infusion treatments. During May, and through to the end of the summer we expect to be providing services ringfenced for COVID-19 patients, but also restarting our work. Rowley Regis has a specific part to play:
It is our blue and lilac streams for community discharge. But in addition is a major outpatient facility away from an acute hospital setting. Most outpatients will be undertaken by video technology now and in the future, but for those people who need to attend a site Rowley will play a key role in our future.
You will find new hand hygiene requirements on entry and a general ‘tight regime’ around infection prevention and control across our sites. Please work with staff implementing those rules, they are there to protect us and they apply to everyone. Let’s not let the green brigades’ hard work be wasted!
- Testing patients for COVID-19: Use the correct swab
It helps to follow the correct process for sampling of swabs from our patients. This will ensure that the swabs are able to be processed by the labs so that results are returned quickly and swabs are not wasted.
The pathway sets out clearly who should be swabbed, which swabs to use, how to take a sample, and the arrangements to collect and transport the specimens. Follow the directions on the swab guidance document linked below.
COVID-19 Swab Guidance
- Smoking– red lines, COVID-19 and uniforms...
Since July 1 2019 the Trust has been Smokefree, because smoking kills. We know that research on COVID-19 recovery suggests that smoking is a contributory factor to people who struggle to recover. So there is every reason to stay away from smoking or to switch to vaping.
If yo...
March marked Safer Sleep Week an annual campaign spearheaded by The Lullaby Trust, whose vision is to reduce and prevent where possible the unexpected deaths of babies and young children.
The Lullaby Trust actively fund research into both the causes and prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). They also provide support to parents and engage with medical professionals to help promote child health.
With approximately 700,000 babies born every year in the UK, the focus of this year’s campaign was to provide practical tips to help new parents survive sleep deprivation.
The Safer Sleep Week campaign was enthusiastically embraced by our community maternity team. The team shared tips to equip parents with the knowledge to establish safe sleep routines.
This included having a Moses basket set up to demonstrate both the correct and incorrect way to put a baby to sleep. The team were also on hand to answer any questions and, they had a display of posters and leaflets available too.
Speaking to Heartbeat, Dionne Mullings, Community Team Manager said, “We’re passionate supporters of Safer Sleep Week. We aimed to reach all of our new parents with some key messages to help to reduce the risk of SIDS occurring. Sleep deprivation can be hard for new parents to adjust to, but we’re here to help. We have a vast array of experience on the team and, between us we wanted to reinforce the message that it’s important to establish safer sleep routines early on.”
This is our every night bulletin. Please use this bulletin and cascade arrangements within care and corporate groups to guide your actions. Throughout May we are determined to reduce avoidable harm and death in the people we are taking care of. Kindness remains the guiding principle of all the actions in our work to tackle the virus – kindness in how we look after patients, visitors, and one another.
On Wednesday 13th May we hold our latest virtual QIHD. In April 30+ teams took part. This month we will be focusing on ‘learning from COVID-19 @SWBHnhs; so far’. This is your chance to shape your future and our plans. Please get involved, talk to your QIHD lead, your group management team, or the governance team. The Trust’s final plan for Restoration and Recovery is being developed this month for approval at June’s Trust Board. There will be #nogoingback so please do grab this chance to say what works best.
Numbers not statistics: Today’s totals (Yesterday’s totals)
Number of our patients confirmed with COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of positive COVID-19 patients who have been discharged during the pandemic
Number of patients who have died in our hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic
Number of patients entered by the Trust into a COVID-19 research trial to date
Number of COVID-19 positive patients who are inpatients with us today
Number of our staff absent due to ill-health or isolation today
1116
(1116)
726
(723)
312
(307)
105
(103)
78
(86)
605
(605)
- Recharge: Let’s learn from you #welearn
Getting involved with the booth can be in two ways: Listening in, or volunteering to share your story. These stories are important learning for all of us. Please consider if sharing your experience would help you or us.
The Recharge Booth will be open every Thursday from 2pm for 20-30 minutes to hear a different story each time from a colleague who has put themselves forward to share an experience that they want to talk about – it can be anything but likely to be COVID-19 related to begin with. We start on Thursday May 14th – get in touch with Claire Hubbard and Richard Burnell if you want to be involved.
- Big Clean washes into Rowley Regis
Today saw the continuation of our recent Big Clean programme, this time at Rowley Regis Hospital. Teams volunteered to get things cleaned up as part of Restoration work the Trust is undertaking with partners in Ladywood, Perry Barr and across Sandwell #greenshoots.
Our programme is all about restoring public confidence in care in order to ensure that those in need seek help. This will help us to get moving with services like endoscopy, cardiac physiology, some surgical procedures and infusion treatments. During May, and through to the end of the summer we expect to be providing services ringfenced for Covid-19 patients, but also restarting our work.
You will find new hand hygiene requirements on entry and a general ‘tight regime’ around infection prevention and control. Please work with staff implementing those rules, they are there to protect us all. And they apply to everyone.
The Big Clean at Rowley continues tomorrow. Thank you to everyone involved.
- Do you know what to do if someone discloses domestic abuse?
Tragically, during lockdown we know that domestic abuse is more prevalent with less opportunity for people to find help. Some testing sites across the country and other locations where people have been attending for health care needs have had cases of people presenting to disclose a domestic abuse situation.
Support services remain open including Black Country Women’s Aid with a 24 hour helpline and whatsapp message service. Information on how to get help is on the gov.uk site that includes free, confidential helplines as well as West Midlands Police information
- Proning patients with COVID-19 to improve clinical outcomes
We are working every day to save lives. One of the recommended ways tha...
This is our once a day COVID-19 bulletin. This will take all national and professional guidance and information and tell you which changes we are implementing when and how. The plan to manage through April is our Operation Mary Seacole mobilisation. Remember KINDNESS is our watchword in implementing our plans.
If you have not heard of our Purple Wristbands policy, please take a look at yesterday’s Covid Bulletin. This is an important change to improve safety for patients during the Pandemic. We launch tomorrow and it is vital that ward based staff on all sites are aware of the implications and expectations.
- Raise concerns and incidents so we can be safer during Covid-19
It is vital that during this period we continue to raise, investigate and act on IR1s.
There has been a drop in reporting in the last few weeks. There is no change to our policy, go onto Connect, click on corporate systems, and the third icon on the right says Incident Reporting. Let us know what you see and what is not working as we would all want.
Thank you to staff raising concerns direct with the Chief Executive, Medical Director and Chief Nurse, or locally. This is positive and helpful. It will make a difference.
- Trust guidance on managing underlying health conditions – updated
As indicated in the WebEx briefings on Wednesday, the ongoing issue of national shielding letters is one of several factors which make assessment of individual employee risk an ongoing rather than a one off process. As we move through temporary redeployment and indeed volunteering into brigades it is important line managers, employees, and OH work together to find practical solutions.
The attached summary and annexes are not wholly new. However, they provide a simple recognition of workplace/employee risk and acknowledge new opportunities for high employees to work via technology and a commitment from the Trust to consider enhanced PPE for medium risk employees in higher risk workplace environments. These documents replace prior issue.
Summary of Trust Guidance on Underlying health Conditions
- Brigades – next steps, act now please
During Good Friday we are writing back to everyone who volunteered to join a brigade last Friday. Thank you. Most of you volunteered for blue or red, some for yellow. We wanted to clarify that the Green Cleaning Brigade does not necessarily involve close work in patient facing areas. Anyway, if the colours of the Rainbow are confusing you – read our second piece of Brigade guidance!
Brigade Guidance Update 2
If you have not volunteered yet please do via volunteerbrigade.swbh@nhs.net
Corporate departments are reviewing their staffing structures with the Chief Executive with a view to releasing significant numbers of back-bone workers into front-line temporary duties.
- Who to contact if your swab test result has gone missing
Before March 25th, we tested a large number of staff, and a proportion could not get a result. Since then our testing has been through a series of suppliers, mainly via Boots, and increasingly with our own Black Country Pathology team. Some staff from those services have not had a result. Sometimes that is because the key details entered for the employee were inaccurate or incomplete. We have therefore now organised a central email address for all swab queries. Typically it will take 48 hours from a test to get a result. If you have already emailed either Mel Roberts or Toby Lewis for a result, those queries have been passed now to the central team.
swbh.occyhealthcovid19@nhs.net
Next week we expect to launch a Swab Service based at the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. This will focus on workers who are not NHS employees and will in time target community hotspots too. This is a key part of the local Exit Strategy plan to move on from the coming Surge.
- Pop up shop goes large
For the last few days we have run a Pop Up Shop at Sandwell for staff whose new work schedule makes i...
Mary Seacole was voted the greatest ever Black Briton in 2004. Awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991. Mary was an exemplary nurse who worked to tend to the sick in the Crimean War. As a role model to nurses she has pride of place in this the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. Her statue stands opposite the House of Commons, beside St Thomas’ Hospital where the Prime Minister is, we hope, recovering from COVID-19. This Trust is engaged in a huge mass mobilisation of effort and kindness both inside and outside our hospitals.
Our field hospital spans every ward and converts theatres into critical care units. We are having to adapt best practice to circumstance, demonstrate extraordinary resilience, speak truth to power, and challenge assumptions night after night. Given the scale of our operation we have chosen Mary as our figurehead in fighting this pandemic, conscious of the many colleagues on our staff drawn from different traditions, faiths, and communities. Mindful that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting some local people. Mary’s bravery is part of her legacy to the profession.
It is perhaps important that everything we say and do is not about COVID. Or put differently everything is about COVID. To clarify – parents not taking their kids to ED is a COVID issue, delays in eye saving care are a COVID issue, isolation from hearing loss without access to a hearing aid likewise, making sure we tackle domestic violence is an issue that includes COVID, getting building work restarted on our sites is too. So everything is changed by COVID, and we need to talk about those things that get less of a mention.
We have focused this week on reorganising Cancer Services to make sure we can still provide the most curative treatments for tumours that march to their own time. In the next two weeks the Board will oversee construction of our post COVID Recovery Plan; starting to think not just about how we scale up to meet the need backlogged in our diagnostic and outpatient services, but also how we proactively search out disease and risk in people who have not been to see one of our GPs, or whose mental wellbeing has been rent by the tragedies of the current pandemic. I know it is too early to implement that plan, but it is definitely not too early to be preparing for it.
I continue to be overwhelmed by the incredible determination I see in teams across our organisation. This bank holiday weekend will never be repeated. Colleagues in driving shuttle buses on normal service. Estate staff in testing and retesting oxygen supply. Portering team leaders pulling extra night shifts. Senior managers manning the control centre, or even better doing the ‘management’ by walking about, that was my Heartbeat appeal. Nurses cancelling leave to help us properly staff wards or open critical care. So thank you to all involved in the Nightingale but let me be very clear. We are the first responders. This pandemic simply would overwhelm Perry Barr, Ladywood and Sandwell, if it was not for you and your efforts.
Sometimes though, as I have tried to convey in this week’s COVID Updates @SWBHnhs, the situation can feel overwhelming. Scale and effort, compassion and kindness, need to be matched by skill, innovation and precision. There’s a picture above of a constructed FIT testing mask, created by parts from a local supplier, made and validated overnight to help us keep testing. Don’t think bin bags – we are not having to make up kit that is unsafe. We are finding safe if unusual routes of supply.
Or remember Lawrence Barker and his team (and we will in the Star Awards in October) finding solutions to link ventilators from abroad to UK standard oxygen supply. I am not a clinician so you must never take clinical practice advice from me, but I attach the Proning Guidance now being used Trust-wide. Read it carefully and consider its applicability in your ward as well as across Intensive Care. There are things individuals are doin...
Guest writer, Dr Niroshini Karunasekara has given us an insight into the upcoming changes in the law around organ and tissue donation.
In what is shaping up to be an unprecedented year for our NHS, there is a concern that the imminent introduction of the donor opt-out system in England may be overshadowed.
The Organ Donation Act 2019 was passed by Parliament resulting in the planned implementation of an opt-out system. The change in the legislation applies to both organ and tissue donation. In real terms, it means that all patients will be considered to have consented to donation unless otherwise stated.
When discussing this topic, it is important to distinguish between organ donation and tissue donation. Organ donation has strict criteria regarding who is eligible to donate and deals with organs such as lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas and small bowel.
Tissue donation, on the other hand, includes heart valves, corneas, skin, bone and tendons and almost everyone is considered suitable.
Although incorporated within the act, the subject of tissue donation will still need to be broached by medical professionals for the patient’s information to be passed onto the National Referral Centre (NRC).
According to NRC data, tissue donation is a huge area that is still overlooked nationally. A reluctance to approach families near or after death means that many potential donors are missed, and tissues are not utilised. Unlike with organ donation, patients do not need to die in an emergency department or intensive care unit to donate tissue after death. Crucially, a donation must take place within 24 – 48 hours of death. This means introducing the topic early to a patient’s family is vital. This will help to maximise the number of tissue donations in the UK.
In 2011, NICE published guidelines aimed at improving donor identification and consent rates. Not only does this document recommend that all potential donors should be identified as early as possible, but also that donation should be considered as a usual part of end-of-life care.
There will be no further collection of airflow mattresses and pumps from wards for the foreseeable future. They need to be cleaned (please see local guidelines for PPE use) and stored on your wards for reuse.
Please carry out the following for all airflow mattresses and pumps that have been used by any patient:
Leave mattress inflated to facilitate easier cleaning
Thoroughly wipe down each mattress and pump and cable with Chlor clean
Ensure all surface areas are cleaned on the mattress (top, underneath, sides)
Leave to dry
When dry – Place in separate clear bags and secure with cable tie
Store in suitable place on your ward for re-use
Faulty mattresses and pumps:
Follow the above cleaning (please see local guidelines for PPE use)
Place in separate clear bags and secure with cable tie
Complete ‘The Declaration of Contamination Status’ forms fully for each item
Place the form and item in a second clear bag
Secure with a cable tie
Label item for collection
Contact TVS who will collect and leave a replacement in the ward store.
If you require any further mattresses or have any queries, please contact the tissue viability team on ext. 3278.
There is currently an increased demand for oral/enteral calcium preparations. This has been matched with inconsistent supply and availability from manufacturers / distributors. As a result we have various oral/enteral calcium preparations in stock, containing differing calcium content. Some preparations can be crushed for enteral administration and others should not.
Please see Oral and enteral calcium drug safety sheet for details.
For more information please contact the pharmacy department (City ext. 5263, Sandwell ext. 3783).
Essential maintenance is taking place tonight which will mean that the H drive share will be temporarily unavailable from 2am to 2.30am.
Colleagues are reminded to please ensure they have saved any open documents that they are storing on the H drive before it is taken offline at 2am.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
This is our once a day COVID-19 bulletin. This will take all national and professional guidance and information and tell you which changes we are implementing when and how. The plan to manage through April is our Operation Mary Seacole mobilisation. Remember KINDNESS is our watchword in implementing our plans.
Guidance has been issued to managers on ensuring that staff are set up on rosters when working pre-agreed enhanced or extra hours. Such hours must be locally agreed and not assumed. Revised guidance on nursing unlocking forms will be issued by April 16th to ensure that those working bank and extra shifts in April do get paid! Wage-slip payment for car parking ends in your April pay.
- Temporary deployment: Conscious incompetence
Right now many doctors, HCAs, nurses and therapists are changing role. From non-ward areas onto our wards, and from both ward and non-ward work into NIV and Critical Care. Thank you. Associated with those changes are a series of training courses and some observational practice. It is really important that for each individual we hold the right records and paperwork of the work you have done to be ready. These must be filled centrally. If you have not already done so or are unsure what is required, speak up.
Crucial to these filings is your declaration of concern and of gaps in your knowledge and competence. We will be safer together if we know what someone does not know. An assessment of the overall staffing risk we face combines both quantity (how many on shift) with an assessment of the quality of skills we have in place. The personal competency declaration form is attached.
Personal Competency Declaration Form
eLfH resources for ward working
- Introducing Purple Wristbands during this Pandemic
As our Chief Executive explained in today’s COVID Update 11 @SWBHnhs we are introducing a new wristband across our sites to support safe care at this challenging time. The attached document explains why, when and how. We are hoping to assist patients who need the right care at the right time in accordance with their express wishes.
Purple Wristband Introduction
- Services relocating or reducing with COVID-19
Our services are changing. Some have moved to remote technology offerings. This is not just outpatients as last week, but ward rounds this week. Allowing isolating colleagues to play their part in care. Other services have relocated between our sites. That position continues to evolve. A register is maintained in the silver tactical meetings that every Group is part of.
The attached document summarises just current state changes:
Service Log Under COVID-19 as at April 8
No services should stop taking or electronically registering referrals. Doing so allows us to triage patients and begin to scale our response to a long term recovery plan.
- Quality Improvement Half Day next week...
There are lots of meetings and events cancelled this month and next. Some have proceeded by WebEx, like our Trust Board. Increasingly we are undertaking clinical practice using these technologies. Last week in outpatients, and this week for some ward rounds. This is helping isolating experts to help care for our patients.
COVID-19 is a huge learning opportunity. And a chance to share and support one another in and across teams. That is why April and May’s Quality Improvement Half Days are still going ahead. Using technology! The topic will be COVID-19! Next Thursday using some of the time between 13.00-17.00 – agendas issued early next week.
- Weekend weekday working....
Thank you to everyone for responding to the Call To Action to make sure this Bank Holiday works for acute and emergency services, and key clinical and ancillary services, as if it was four more weekdays. This decision reflects the Surge and the need to make sure we have people on site able to be trained and to work in new teams.
If you are a medical secretary you are unlikely to be expected in. If you drive ou...
Heartbeat is the Trust’s internal magazine which colleagues receive monthly. We’re always seeking for colleagues to share their stories with us.
Have you got an event or special occasion in your department?
Do you have an inspirational colleague?
Does your department do something that makes a real difference to our patients?
Above are examples of the types of stories we would like to hear about, but if you have anything else that you feel would be good to include in Heartbeat, please do get in touch.
You can contact the Heartbeat editor by e-mail at famena.nawaz@nhs.net or ext. 3409.
Whether directly or indirectly, most people with thoughts of suicide invite help to stay safe. This three hour accredited session prepares participants to recognise these invitations and connect a person with thoughts of suicide to intervention resources. Powerful videos illustrate the importance of suicide alertness, while discussion and practice stimulate learning.
Participants will be better able to move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss or avoid suicide, recognise people who have thoughts of suicide, and apply the TALK steps (Tell, Ask, Listen and Keep Safe) to connect a person with thoughts of suicide to a suicide first aid intervention caregiver.
Date: Wednesday 8 April
Venue: The Berridge Room, Courtyard Gardens, Sandwell Hospital
Time: 10am–1pm
Note: Future dates and alternative venues are available for all sessions.
For bookings and information please contact Jatinder Sekhon or Emma Williams on ext. 3306.
If you are an annual travel card holder please be aware, your annual travel card purchased through City Hospital will expire on Saturday 14 March. Below you will find a renewal form for completion.
City 2020 renewal form
Please see City bus pass notice for further details. For more information please contact audrey.hender@nhs.net.
The mobile device management team will be stationed at D29 at City Hospital every Wednesday for colleagues having issues with their Trust mobile phone devices.
For more information please call ext. 5134.