Heartbeat September 2018

September 2018 

Sandwell and West Birmingham 

NHS Trust 

The pulse of community health, Leasowes, Rowley Regis, City and Sandwell Hospitals Issue 108 

Feel stress free with new mental 

health support programme Page 3 

L-R: George Baquian, Business and Admin Manager; Avnash Nanra, Ward Manager; Erin Lacey, Psycho-education 

Trainer (The Kaleidoscope Plus Group); Becky Scollen, Staff Nurse and Dave Pickard, Business Development and 

Research Manager (The Kaleidoscope plus group) 

Students brighten 

Extra time for 

Smoke free 

A new hope 

up fracture clinic 

parents of prem 

countdown 

against flu 

at Sandwell 

babies 

Page 4 

Page 7 

Page 9 

Page 14-15

FROM THE CHAIR 

HELLO 

Stars in our eyes 

Welcome to September’s issue of 

Heartbeat, which also marks the 

start of our annual flu campaign – 

turn to pages 14 and 15 for more 

information on this. 

Elsewhere you can read a lovely story 

about a young patient who raised 

money for Your Trust Charity (page 10) 

and there is an update on the Black 

Country Pathology Service (page 21). 

Finally – don’t forget to take part in 

our back page competition to be in 

with a chance of winning Love2Shop 

vouchers. 

Contact us 

Communications Team 

Ext 5303 

swbh.comms@nhs.net 

Communications Department 

Ground Floor, Trinity House 

Sandwell Hospital 

Published by 

Communications Team 


Hospitals NHS Trust 

Designed by 

Medical Illustration, 

Graphics Team 


Hospitals NHS Trust 

Submit an idea 

If you’d like to submit an idea 

for an article, contact the Editor, 

Emily Smith 

Ext 5877 

emily.smith46@nhs.net 

Stay updated 

We send out a Communications 

Bulletin via email every day and you 

can now read Heartbeat articles 

throughout the month on Connect. 

Don't forget you can follow us on: 

This edition of Heartbeat will hopefully 

reach you just before our annual Star 

Awards ceremony that will take place on 

12 October at Villa Park. As you know, 

this event focuses on celebrating the 

best we can do for patients, judged by 

peers and partners. 

The awards night itself is the culmination 

of a process of nominations, long-listing, 

shortlisting, voting and panel decision. I was 

delighted that over 500 nominations were 

made this year, from patients, staff and 

GP colleagues, demonstrating how much 

we have to be proud of. Winners of our 

monthly Compassion in Care awards are also 

included. 

Sadly we can’t accommodate everyone who 

was nominated in the awards ceremony. 

The shortlisting process and votes to decide 

the winner are always difficult. The Board 

recognises there are always unsung heroes 

who do great work simply seeing it as their 

job. Everyone who was nominated is a 

winner and deserves high praise. The stories 

described in the nominations are extremely 

moving and the difference that people make 

to patients’ lives day in day out is to be 

commended. 

Your Board will be there on the night and I 

know they will all enjoy the opportunity to 

say thank you to the stars of SWBH for your 

outstanding commitment. 

It’s heartening to know that this organisation 

and our awards event is held in high 

regard by other organisations we work in 

partnership with. This year we have raised 

our highest amount ever in sponsorship 

so the event is at no cost to taxpayers. 

I’d like to thank the below organisations 

for their generosity and support. Without 

them we wouldn’t be able to put on such a 

celebratory night. 

Let’s Connect 

Wolverhampton University 

Oracle 

HCi 

Siemens Healthcare 

Aston University Medical School 

Sandwell College 

Ocean’s Blue 

TMP worldwide 

Inhealth group 

Tusker 

Cerner 

Capsticks 

Clevermed 

IronMountain 

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce 

We have a new category this year, for 

fundraiser of the year and our nominees 

in that category have shown their 

determination in raising valuable funds for 

Your Trust Charity. 

If you aren’t there on the night you can 

still follow all the action on social media 

(#SWBHSA18) and next month’s Heartbeat 

will have the full round-up of all the winners. 

I hope you will join with me in wishing all 

the best luck to everyone who has been 

shortlisted and my heartfelt thanks and 

congratulations to everyone who was 

nominated this year. You are what makes 

SWBH such a special organisation. 

Thank you and good luck! 

Richard Samuda – Trust Chairman 

Chairman, Richard Samuda 

2

wemind – manage your mental health 

and feel stress free 

When times get tough and stress builds 

up in our hectic lives, we often think 

about disappearing off to a tropical 

island and leaving our worries and 

woes behind. This may sound like a 

pipe dream but the development of a 

new mental health programme aims to 

bring this to reality. 

This month World Mental Health Day (10 

October) takes place and also sees the 

launch of a fun, exciting and pioneering 

programme of mental health support which 

brings together traditional mental health 

services in the form of counselling and 

advice with a brand new tropical island app, 

which tracks your mental health from your 

mobile phone. 

Delivered by leading organisations in 

mental health provision, Care First and 

Kaleidoscope, wemind – our new mental 

health programme - brings together all of 

the key support mechanisms needed when 

people see a decline in their mental health 

and aims to give colleagues the tools they 

need to track and manage their moods and 

mental wellbeing, whilst also only being a 

click away from speaking to a counsellor. 

Launching the new programme of support, 

Director of People and Organisation 

Development, Raffaela Goodby spoke to 

Heartbeat about the new provisions. 

She said: “wemind brings all of our key 

mental health services under one banner, so 

when someone needs some help they know 

exactly where to go, any time of the day or 

night. 

“Our new ‘Feel Stress Free’ app is key to 

our service, it brings in a new element of 

proactive mental health management, 

where traditionally mental health services 

are there in times of crisis, our new app lets 

colleagues track their mental health and 

wellbeing proactively, so if there is ever a 

time when they need support, they have 

invaluable information at their fingertips 

that might be able to help them.” 

Raffaela added: “We also have a new 

24/7 counselling service that is entirely 

confidential, provided by Care First. 

Expert counsellors are on hand to provide 

counselling for any issues that are worrying 

you, whether that is at home or at work. 

They can set up a six week counselling 

programme and refer you on if you need 

additional support. 

“Added to these support services are 

the mental health workshops run by 

Kaleidoscope who have been providing 

workshops on a range of topics for 

any colleague to attend. These include 

workplace stress management, experiencing 

grief and loss and sleep techniques. The 

full schedule is on Connect and I would 

urge everyone to see what’s on offer and 

make time to attend. It may be a colleague, 

relative, friend or member of your team 

that could need help and by understanding 

the issues you can be in a better position to 

provide the right support.” 

For 24 / 7 access to confidential 

counselling contact 0800 174319. 

To access online resources and support, visit 

www.carefirst-lifestyle.co.uk (Username: 

sandwellnhs; Password: employee). 

The ‘Feel Stress Free’ app is available 

from the Apple App Store as well as 

the Google Playstore, simply search for 

‘Feel Stress Free’ and sign up using the 

organisation code SWBH0001. 

Forthcoming mental 

health workshops 

World Mental Health Day 

Special Event 

Date: Wednesday 10 October 

Venue: Oldbury Library, Halesowen Street, B69 

2AJ 

Time: 11am - 3pm 

Our library team will be supporting this special 

event, which will feature workshops on stress 

awareness and depression, delivered by 

Kaleidoscope and Black Country Partnership 

Foundation Trust. 

Introduction to mindfulness 

Date: Tuesday 9 October 

Venue: Anne Gibson Committee Room, 

City Hospital 

Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm 

Date: Thursday 22 November 2018 

Venue: The Berridge Room, Sandwell Hospital 

Time: 10am – 1pm 

Mental Health Training for Managers 

Date: Thursday 4 October 

Venue: Anne Gibson Committee Room, 

City Hospital 

Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm 

Date: Thursday 1 November 



Sleep hygiene and relaxation 

techniques seminar 


Venue: Anne Gibson Board Room, City Hospital 


Date: Wednesday 16 January, 2019 



CORPORATE AND GENERAL 

NEWS 

The feel stress free app brings in an 

element of proactive mental health 

management 

Experiencing grief and loss 

Date: Tuesday 2 October 



Date: Thursday 8 November 


Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm 

Assertiveness/Confidence/Resilience 

training 

Date: Tuesday 12 March, 2019 



Workplace stress management 

Date: Tuesday 6 November 



Date: Tuesday 22 January 2019 


Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm 

Managing low mood and depression 



Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm 

Introduction to managing anger and 

frustration 

Date: Wednesday 14 November 



Suicide awareness – safeTALK 

Date: Wednesday 17 October 



Date: Wednesday 12 December 


Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm 

To book onto these workshops contact Jatinder Sekhon / Emma Williams – 3306 option 4 

3

4 

Hospital chaplain urges Asian 

community to join the register 


NEWS 

Hindu Chaplain, Rakesh Bhatt, 

whose wife underwent a lifesaving 

kidney transplant after a 

12 year wait, has urged the Asian 

community to join the register. 

The 53-year-old revealed his family’s 

journey during Organ Donation Week 

(September 3- 9). His wife Bhavana 

Bhatt, 49, was told in 2006 that 

both her kidneys were failing due 

to complications caused by Henoch- 

Schonlein purpura (HSP) - a disease 

which causes blood vessels in the skin, 

kidneys, intestines and joints to become 

inflamed and start leaking. Bhavana 

went on the waiting list, but a match 

wasn’t found until 2018. 

Dad-of-two Rakesh said to Heartbeat: 

“Bhavana had the transplant but we 

were told it had failed within 48 hours 

and she went back onto the list. She had 

already waited seven years for the first 

transplant and we were left devastated 

when it didn’t work. 

“Afterwards we were worried about 

how much longer we would have to 

wait for another match to come forward 

as the Asian community is very reluctant 

to join the register, which means there is 

a shortage of donors.” 

It wasn’t until February this year that a 

match was finally found – 12 years after 

Bhavana first joined the register. 

“We were still hopeful that it would work, 

despite our previous experience. The 

operation was a success, and Bhavana’s 

body hasn’t rejected the kidney. She is doing 

extremely well. 

“I have witnessed first-hand, through my 

work as a hospital chaplain that Asian patients 

in need of a donor are waiting longer than 

others. 

“We need to encourage more people within 

our Asian communities to come forward. I 

think there is a general lack of awareness 

around organ donation and so we need to 

carry out more community events to promote 

how joining the register can save lives. This 

would work especially well if it is done by 

religious leaders. 

“I also work within a temple, and I regularly 

invite clinicians from organ donation teams 

to come along and talk about the subject and 

why it is so important to join the register.” 

Both Sandwell and City sites held events 

earlier this month, during Organ Donation 

Week, to raise awareness around the subject. 

A life size version of the game Operation was 

at the Birmingham Treatment Centre, where 

patients, visitors and staff will be able to have 

a go at removing organs from “Cavity Sam”. 

Judith Martin, Specialist Nurse Organ 

Donation, said: “It’s a fun and interactive 

way to learn about organ donation and this 

is what we’d like people to do with their 

families for Organ Donation Week – just have 

a chat. 

“If you are unsure about donation, please ask 

yourselves as a family; what would you do 

if one of you needed a transplant? Would 

you accept a life-saving organ? If you’d take 

an organ, shouldn’t you be prepared to 

donate?” 

Millions of people are already on the 

NHS Organ Donor Register, join them 

today and tell your family you want to 

save lives. Register at organdonation. 

nhs.uk. 

Kidney transplant 

patient Bhavana 

Bhatt with her 

husband Rakesh 

Bhatt 

Just four months 

after her kidney 

transplant Bhavana 

Bhatt is fighting fit 

L-R: Sandra Annikey-Gordon, Senior Sister 

on Critical Care; Kelly Birks, Sister on 

Critical Care; Patrick Thompson from Kreate 

company; Judith Martin, Organ Donation 

Nurse: Reverend Ann Stevenson and Phil 

Barrett from Kreate company 

Fracture clinic given revamp by budding 

art students 

Black Country art students have 

patients, staff and visitors. 

transformed the waiting room in the 

fracture clinic at Sandwell Hospital by 

creating a colourful mural on the wall. 

The “enchanting” handiwork, named 

"Window on the World” has been painted 

by students from Sandwell College. The 

budding artists took on the challenge as 

part of their community arts module. It was 

co-ordinated by healthcare charity Kissing 

it Better. 

The clinic had no natural light, so they 

designed a mural featuring large windows 

depicting scenes of the borough’s 

multicultural communities. 

Sam Beck, Matron for the clinic, explained: 

“It’s a really impressive piece of work that 

has brightened up the area. We wanted 

to create an environment for our patients 

which was uplifting and we feel like the 

students have done just that. We want to 

thank them and Kissing it Better for all their 

help in creating this mural and transforming 

the clinic by painting the walls.” 

Jessica Morera is one of the students who 

painted the mural. She said: ”This project 

will make a real difference to patients. 

There are no windows in the reception area, 

so we wanted to paint some onto the walls, 

giving people the feeling that they can see 

something beyond the clinic.” 

The makeover was conceived and organised 

by Kissing it Better, a national healthcare 

charity that promotes simple ideas to 

improve patient experience. The charity 

works at both Sandwell and City hospitals, 

creating projects where students can 

use their talents to make a difference to 

Jill Fraser, CEO of Kissing it Better, said: 

“The hospital waiting experience can often 

be boring and stressful. The students have 

given families visiting Sandwell Hospital’s 

fracture clinic the gift of an enchanting and 

uplifting waiting experience.” 

L-R: John McKeon, Head of Section for Construction 

at Sandwell College, Jackie Roxborough, from Kissing 

it Better, Lisa Comfort, Ward Sister at Fracture Clinic, 

Helen Sweeting, Art and Design Lecturer at Sandwell 

College.

NHS Hero Kathryn Gill – 

Consultant surgeon 


NEWS 

Consultant Surgeon and Deputy Director of Research and Development, Kathryn Gill 

Our organisation is full of remarkable, 

motivated people, who give a lot to the 

communities we serve. Since 2014, we 

have been recognising our quiet heroes 

who come from a wide variety of 

backgrounds, and do a wide variety of 

jobs across our organisation. Each week 

we shine a spotlight on one of those 

heroes, and following an interview by 

our press office the Sandwell Chronicle 

publishes these inspirational stories. 

She is a leading medic who is dedicated 

to finding the best treatment for faecal 

incontinence, a condition that affects one in 

10 people across the country. 

Consultant Surgeon, Kathryn Gill, who is 

also the Deputy Director for Research and 

Development, has been working for SWBH 

for 10 years and for her, no two days are 

the same. 

She said: “When I first came to the Trust, I 

was asked to set up the FINCH team (Faecal 

Incontinence and Constipation Healthcare) 

and now, it is one of the largest pelvic floor 

services in the country. 

“I’m very proud of the team. We are a 

group of doctors and nurses who work 

together to provide specialist care to 

patients. The team has received a number 

of awards for its innovative approach in 

managing the condition safely within the 

hospital and community.” 

She continued: “We work in a fast-paced 

environment where we make sure we give 

patients the best care possible. We regularly 

hold meetings to ensure we are up-to- date 

with patients’ progress and that they receive 

the right care at the right time in the right 

place.” 

Beside her clinical work, Kathryn also 

focuses on carrying out research as she 

believes it is the key to improving patient 

care. She said: “I am certain that R&D helps 

us provide better care to our patients. 

“Currently, I am leading the FINCH team to 

take part in an international study, called 

SUBSoNIC, which aims to determine the 

effectiveness of a new surgical treatment 

for faecal incontinence. 

“Faecal incontinence is an inability to 

control bowel movements, resulting in 

involuntary soiling. This condition can lead 

to a social or hygienic problem. 

“The new treatment, called sacral 

neuromodulation, uses a stimulator that 

sends electrical impulses to the nerves 

and muscles that control the lower bowel, 

which may improve continence. 

“The results of the SUBSoNIC study will 

hopefully give us a clear understanding of 

how well the device works for patients. At 

the moment, we are recruiting patients to 

this important study.” 

As the Deputy Director for R&D, Kathryn 

has a clear vision of how she would like 

to fulfil her role. She said: “One of our 

organisation’s priorities for R&D is to focus 

on improving the engagement with 

patients. 

“We believe that patients play an 

important role in research and we want 

to engage with them more closely. 

“We held our first research patient 

involvement group in July. The aim 

of this group is to provide a channel 

of communication through which 

patients and members of the public 

can help shape research at the Trust. 

Through their input, we, as healthcare 

professionals will have greater 

understanding of what the public want 

and how to deliver this. 

“In addition, I’m very excited that we 

are going to open two research facilities 

at Sandwell and City hospitals later this 

year, where patients and researchers can 

work together. 

“The places will also become central 

research hubs where researchers, from 

different professional backgrounds, can 

come together and collaborate.” 

Outside work, Kathryn enjoys painting, 

a hobby that she picked up only two 

years ago. She said: “I have always 

appreciated art. So when my husband 

bought me some brushes and painting 

material, I started painting right 

away. And now, I’m a member of the 

Worcester Society of Artists.” 

Kathryn’s new talent for art has earned 

the well-deserved fame, as she scooped 

the title Artist of the Year 2018 for Best 

Beginner animal and wildlife artist. She 

said: “I was shocked when I was told 

that I won the award. There were more 

than 2,000 submissions, so it was a 

pleasant surprise to receive the news.” 

She added: “My hero would be 

Mohandas Gandhi. His peaceful 

approach in negotiation has a large 

influence on me. 

“I find his work inspirational and I 

apply his philosophy in the work that 

I do every day, using communications 

to resolve differences and to achieve 

positive outcomes.” 

If patients, who are suffering from 

faecal incontinence, would like to 

take part in the SUBSoNIC study, 

please contact consultant surgeon 

Kathryn Gill via email at kathryn. 

gill@nhs.net. 

5

Board story: Learning from our 

patients’ experience 

CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS 

Paul Harris was paralysed following 

a terrible road traffic accident 34 

years ago. His injuries required 

major treatment at a special centre 

for spinal injuries in Oswestry and 

he remains under their care. He has 

since been involved in another car 

accident that has again required 

specialist treatment. Paul has been 

treated at Sandwell Hospital in the 

past and is due to return. 

Paul came along to the Trust Board 

meeting on 6 September, held at Rowley 

Regis Hospital, to tell Board members 

about his experiences and his trepidation 

at returning for a planned admission. 

Paul said: “When I had my first accident 

there was a real focus on rehabilitation 

and it was drummed into me that I had 

to learn to do things for myself. I am 

the person that best knows about how 

my disability affects my activities of daily 

living. 

“I always worry when I get admitted to a 

general hospital. I try to talk to the staff 

about my needs but sometimes I don’t feel 

that they really listen to me and understand 

me. 

“I have to look after my skin, my bowels and 

my bladder function. When I am well I can 

manage this, but if I don’t take care, it can 

cause serious problems.” 

Paul stressed the importance of a holistic 

approach to patients with disabilities and 

urged the Board to support staff in looking 

at the whole patient, not just the condition 

for which they are being treated. 

He added: “I get frustrated when I have 

raised an issue and it gets forgotten. When 

I am well I can advocate for myself but if I 

get ill I could become confused so I worry 

about what happens then. I had a bad 

experience when I needed to visit the toilet 

on a previous attendance and the ward toilet 

wasn’t accessible. I had to use a public toilet 

that wasn’t clean. The wound I had wasn’t 

dressed and I worried about infections. 

“I don’t want to complain or be negative but 

I do think we can all learn and improve the 

experience of others.” 

welearn: Sharing innovation 

throughout our organisation 

A brand new innovation and idea 

sharing initiative launched this 

month and is set to change the face 

of how we transfer knowledge 

within our organisation. 

welearn is a brand new programme 

of development which encourages 

colleagues to think outside the box, 

innovate, improve and most importantly 

share their knowledge with colleagues 

and counterparts. 

Sharing good practice, quality initiatives, 

innovations, partnerships and research 

and development has resulted in 

improvements for patients’ relatives and 

colleagues and this competition aims to 

build upon that. 

This month saw the launch of the 

welearn quality improvement half day 

poster competition, which will become 

the platform from which colleagues 

are able to share their knowledge, be 

celebrated as well as rewarded, with 

entries judged the best being in with a 

chance to win a share of £5,000. 

Chief Nurse, Paula Gardner with patient Paul 

Harris who spoke at the September Board 

meeting about his experience at our hospital 

welearn will give colleagues the opportunitiy to share their innovative ideas which are making a 

difference to our patients 

To find out more about the programme, 

Heartbeat caught up with Kam Dhami, 

Director of Governance to find out more. 

“Innovation and improvement is at the heart 

of our organisation, its work that colleagues 

pride themselves on and the welearn 

programme will support them to showcase 

their work and share their invaluable 

knowledge,” said Kam. 

“We are looking to see improvement 

projects and programmes written up and 

captured in a poster. Don’t be put off by this 

because help is available. Medical illustration 

Olwen Dutton is vice-chair of the Trust 

Board and Chairs our Quality and Safety 

Committee. She said: “As Paul described so 

eloquently to the Board members, we need 

to make sure we care for the whole patient, 

not just look at a single condition. We need 

to really listen to people who are experts 

in their own healthcare and take on board 

their individual needs.” 

will provide support to design and produce 

the poster and you can discuss your ideas 

on content with the library services team.” 

The closing date for submissions to the 

poster competition is the 26 October with 

posters being exhibited in the education 

centre as well as Hallam Restaurant from 19 

November. 

For more information or to discuss 

your ideas, please contact Preeti 

Puligari, Library and Knowledge 

Services Manager on extension 3112 

or email preeti.puligari1@nhs.net. 

6

Red Bag 

Sandwe l 

Red Bag 

Sandwe l 

Sandwe l 

Sandwe l 

Extra time off for parents of 

premature babies 

Our organisation has become the 

first in the region to offer extra time 

off to parents whose babies are born 

prematurely. 

We have pledged to sign up to The Smallest 

Things ‘Employer with Heart’ Charter - 

which means that mums and dads will 

receive full pay until the point that their 

maternity or paternity leave was due to 

start. 

Current NHS terms and conditions afford 

new mums whose baby has been born 

prematurely to split their maternity leave, 

allowing them to take two weeks leave 

immediately after childbirth, and the rest 

following their baby’s discharge from 

hospital. 

One in eight babies are born prematurely 

and subsequently parents have a reduced 

time to bond with their baby as maternity 

or paternity leave starts from the date of 

birth. Some newborns are kept in hospital 

for several weeks or more which will mean 

that parents find themselves having to go 

back to work without having spent much 

time at home with their new baby. 

Paula Gardner, Chief Nurse, said: “We are 

pleased to become the first organisation 

in the West Midlands to offer this 

commitment to parents. 

“Colleagues are dedicated to their jobs and 

work hard to ensure their patients receive 

high quality care, so we believe that we 

should return that sentiment by looking 

after them when they need our help in their 

personal lives. 

“By signing up to this charter, it means that 

we will be able to help new mums and dads 

who are facing a difficult and worrying time 

after experiencing premature labour.” 

Catriona Ogilvy, founder and chair of The 

Smallest Things charity, says: “We're delighted 

that Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS 

Trust has recognised the unique needs of 

families of premature babies and is signing up 

to our Employer with Heart charter. 

“Giving birth prematurely and spending time 

on a neonatal unit for weeks, sometimes 

months, is terrifying and traumatic for 


parents. The last thing they should be 

worrying about is work and whether 

they can afford to spend time at the 

incubator or cot of their fragile baby. We 

know that the journey often doesn't end 

when a premature baby is allowed to 

go home either. This extra time will go 

some way to supporting parents' mental 

health, the baby's medical needs and 

ultimately aid a smoother transition back 

to work when the time comes." 

Parents at our organisation will now be 

able to spend quality time with their 

premature babies, without worrying about 

financial implications. Pictured are parents 

Parvinder Lidder and Amarjit Kaur with 

baby Harvey 

Red bag scheme launching for care 

home patients 

Care home residents who are 

transferred to hospitals at our 

organisation will be given a ‘Red 

Bag’ as part of a new initiative 

to keep their medication and 

belongings safe. 

The bag stays with the patient from the 

time they leave their place of residence 

to go to hospital until they return to 

their care home at the end of their stay. 

It means clinicians treating the patient 

will know their personal information, 

who they are, what their health and 

social care needs are and when they 

are well, and what their wishes and 

preferences are. They will also know 

why they are in hospital. 

It also ensures that there is clear 

communication between all care 

providers. 

The red bag Sandwell scheme, which 

is currently being promoted as best 

practice but will soon be mandatory, has 

been developed by Sandwell Council. 

As well as a smoother handover, it 

also ensures consent, less time spent 

phoning care homes for information 

and standardised paperwork. 

Clinical colleagues are being asked 

to ensure the red bag stays with the 

patient at all times and that an indicator 

of the red bag is included in the 

patient’s folder, so all staff know the 

patient is a care home resident and they 

have one of the bags with them. 

When they are discharged from hospital, 

colleagues must pack the red bag and 

complete a checklist, and then hand 

it to the driver who is transporting the 

patient home. 

Red Bag 

Sandwell 

Red Bag 

Sandwell 

Red Bag 

Sandwell 

Red Bag 

Red Bag 

Sandwell 

Red Bag Sandwell is provided by the Better Care Fund, 

working together to integrate health and social care services in Sandwell 

With thanks to Sutton Homes of Care vanguard for use of designs 

www.sandwell.gov.uk/redbag 

Red Bag 

7

Sun shines on the annual sustainability 

garden party at City Hospital 


Our colleagues, visitors, and patients 

soaked up the sunshine when they 

attended a special garden party at 

City Hospital, which encouraged 

people to be more environmentally 

friendly. 

More than 100 people came to the 

event which was praised by colleagues 

for its informative and engaging 

activities. 

Francesca Silcocks, Sustainability Officer 

said: “We organise the sustainability 

garden party every year to showcase 

to our colleagues and visitors our 

great work in making our organisation 

become more sustainable. 

“At the event, people have the 

opportunity to meet with representatives 

from different organisations and have 

a discussion around cutting down on 

waste and their transport options. 

“Over the past few years, our 

organisation has carried out many 

initiatives to reduce our impact on the 

environment. For example, our general 

waste is no longer sent to landfill, but 

instead to a local materials recycling 

facility where it is either recycled or 

reprocessed. We have also saved 

£16,000 a year, thanks to having two 

food waste digesters at Sandwell Hospital, 

helping us to dispose of food in an 

environmentally friendly way.” 

Colleagues who attended the event 

were treated to free food and had the 

opportunity to ride smoothie bikes. Their 

energy from peddling powers a blender 

and at the end of the work out they can 

reward themselves with a glass of fresh 

juice. 

Dawn Hall, Waste Manager, added: “It is 

very important that everyone knows how 

to dispose of waste correctly. Not only is 

that action good for the environment, but 

also it helps the organisation save a lot of 

money.” 

Jorena Bell, Ward Service Officer, said: “I 

really enjoyed the event and I found it very 

Sustainability Officer, Fran Silcocks (second 

from left) with colleagues and volunteers who 

helped on the day 

useful. I have learned more about ways to 

be more sustainable. 

“I have also been made aware of the new 

bus routes and I also now know how to 

use a bus application on my phone, which 

I find very useful for my commute to work 

every day.” 

Debbie Knight, account manager from 

Weir Waste, who attended the event, 

gave her three tips to cut waste at 

home: 

• Donate old clothes to charity, 

instead of throwing them away. 

• Avoid buying fruit wrapped in 

plastic bags. 

• Always recycle at home. Make 

sure you wash the used tins and 

bottles, so they can be recycled, 

instead of going to landfill. 

L-R: Bimla Devi, Apprenticeship Team 

Administrator and Manjit Purewal, Data Coordinator 

test out the smoothie bike 

Midland Met Cup – SWBH reign 

triumphant! 

As England took on the might of 

India at test match cricket, an overcast 

Sunday played host to valiant battle 

between physicians and GPs at West 

Bromwich Cricket Club for the hotly 

contested Midland Metropolitan Cup. 

For the 5th year in a row SWBH faced 

Sandwell Clinical Commissioning Group 

in the annual ‘friendly’ cricket match 

with each party drawing together their 

dream team of players from across their 

organisation eager to win the prized cup. 

The honour of opening batting fell to our 

star batsman, Consultant Geriatrician, 

Asim Majeed who alongside Conflict 

Resolution Trainer, Richard Burnell - the 

two of whom proved their worth when 

they sent the first six of the game sailing 

clear over the top of the fence at West 

Bromwich Cricket Club. 

Whilst our team settled into a steady batting 

rhythm, the real battle started when nine 

wickets had fallen and the CCG began their 

batting response slowly but surely fighting 

their way back up to just three runs short of 

SWBH, ending the game at 175 runs for our 

triumphant 178. 

Still jubilant about the glorious victory, our 

captain, Chief Executive, Toby Lewis caught 

up with Heartbeat. He said: “After a close 

Our winning cricket team 

finish, we’ve managed to keep the Midland 

Met Cup again, in a year where we’ve fought 

hard to keep the Midland Met Hospital on 

track, it’s only proven our tenacity by keeping 

the cup in our hands too”. 

If you’re a budding cricketer and would 

like to be considered for next year’s 

team to take on the CCG, contact 

Clare Dooley on ext 3837 or email 

claredooley@nhs.net 

The Midland Met Cup 

8

Smoke free countdown: 

300 days to go 


Consultant Respiratory Physician, Dr Arvind Rajasekaran and Buyer, Parmdeep Singh both recorded 

videos for our social media platforms to mark 300 days until we go smoke free 

As announced by Chief Executive, 

Toby Lewis on the 70th anniversary 

of the NHS, our organisation will be 

smoke free from 5 July 2019. Earlier this 

month (8 September) we marked 300 

days until the ban on smoking comes 

into play and colleagues are being 

encouraged to kick the habit. 

As an organisation we want to support any 

colleagues who are interested in quitting 

smoking. If this applies to you, you can 

access free stop smoking services during 

working hours, where you can find support 

to quit smoking and improve your health 

and wellbeing. 

Alongside traditional coaching and support, 

12 weeks of free nicotine replacement 

therapy to help manage cravings is also 

available. 

Heartbeat caught up with Parmdeep Singh, 

a buyer in our procurement team who 

has been attending the smoking cessation 

group. 

He said: “I joined smoking cessation 

about seven to eight months ago after 

being a heavy smoker for seven years. 

Occupational health have been encouraging 

and supporting me to attend the weekly 

sessions and they have been providing a lot 

of accessories such as nicotine patches and 

mouth sprays. 

“Since I have attended the group, I have 

reduced to only smoking one or two 

cigarettes a day and I believe the patches 

and sprays do help. 

“The smoking cessation group is very 

welcoming and helps staff get together and 

share different experiences and what different 

things they can do together and encourage 

each other to stop smoking.” 

As part of our promotion of the 300 days to 

smoke free, we shared a video of Consultant 

Respiratory Physician, Dr Arvind Rajasekaran 

on our social media platforms. Dr Rajasekaran 

explained the benefits of going smoke free 

and the film has had over 1,000 views. 

He said: “I am very pleased indeed to 

introduce our Trust decision to go smoke free. 

Lung cancer still remains as the single largest 

cause of cancer related deaths in the UK and 

lung cancer is principally caused by smoking 

cigarettes. 

“This decision to go smoke free will be part of 

a wider action plan to increase awareness of 

Stop smoking clinics are 

available at our Trust, with 

each session taking sessions 

taking 20-30 minutes. 

• Sandwell clinic Monday: 

8.30am-12.30pm 

• City clinic Tuesday: 

9.30am-1.30pm 

the harmful effects of smoking and also 

our efforts to help people to give up this 

habit.” 

Paul Fisher, Consultant in Public Health 

at Sandwell Council also recorded a 

video for us to share. He said: “I am fully 

supportive of the actions of the NHS 

Trust to go smoke free. 

“Lots of organisations across 

England now are going smoke free, 

(lots of universities and other large 

organisations), to help protect the health 

of their staff. Hopefully this activity will 

reduce the exposure to second hand 

smoke to the staff, to the visitors, to 

the patients at the hospitals and it will 

hopefully encourage people to consider 

quitting smoking.” 

One of the first steps in our journey 

to going smoke free was the recent 

removal of the smoking shelter at the 

rear of Trinity House. This shelter has 

been the subject of a number of Your 

Right to be Heard letters in Heartbeat 

after the last couple of months, as 

colleagues in offices close to the shelter 

were uncomfortable with the amount of 

second hand smoke created by people 

using the shelter. 

Anil Patel, Digital Media Officer, who is 

based in an office directly behind where 

the shelter was said: “It’s a big relief 

now that the shelter has been removed. 

We are able to open our windows freely 

without having to be concerned about 

second hand smoking.” 

Keep your eye on our social media 

coverage of our journey to smoke 

free by searching #SWBHsmokefree 

If you would like to take the 

opportunity to begin your journey 

to quitting smoking, contact 

the occupational health and 

wellbeing department on ext. 

3306. 

You can also visit the Healthy 

Sandwell Hub which has lots of 

information on quitting smoking. 

9

Triathlon triumph for 10 year old Stan 

YOUR TRUST CHARITY 

@SWBHCharity To donate 

to the Your Trust Charity text 

“SWBH16 £5” to 70070 

A 10-year-old patient has raised 

nearly £1,500 for Your Trust Charity – 

after taking on a gruelling triathlon. 

The youngster waded through a 

freezing lake, completed a 1km 

run and a 2km bike ride – despite 

suffering from the serious illness 

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP). 

Stan Green decided to take part in the 

event to raise funds for the paediatrics 

department, as a way of saying thank 

you for the care he has received over the 

years. 

He said: “When I was diagnosed with 

HSP, I never thought two years later I 

would be in a fit state to complete a 

triathlon. I even had to learn to ride a 

bike. 

“But here I am today, having finished 

the challenge in 21 minutes. I’m really 

pleased to be able to do this and raise 

Stan Green, who raised £1,500 for the 

paediatrics department by completing a 

triathlon, with his medal 

money for such a worthy cause.” 

Stan’s problems began when he began 

suffering with cold-like symptoms. But 

this soon escalated and his mum Tegan 

rushed him to Sandwell Hospital when he 

complained of severe pain and developed 

a rash. 

She told Heartbeat: “I was worried sick 

that Stan had meningitis especially when 

I spotted the rash. But it was the doctors 

here at Sandwell Hospital who were quick 

to realise that he actually had HSP. The 

early diagnosis meant that he was given 

immediate treatment, which helped his 

recovery immensely.” 

Stan added: “The pain felt as though 

someone was twisting a knife into my 

stomach – it was horrendous. I do still 

suffer with pain; however it comes and 

goes in episodes.” 

Added to Stan’s intermittent pain, is the 

fact that bumps and grazes have a long 

lasting effect on his body and he also 

experiences swelling of his joints. 

Tegan explained: “Stan is always covered 

in bruises - even the slightest touch will 

leave him black and blue. However, the 

treatment and care Stan is receiving from 

the doctors and nurses is amazing and has 

certainly made a difference to the severity 

of his condition. I know of another child 

from another area who has HSP, and her 

recovery has not been great as there was a 

delay in diagnosis.” 

As well as suffering from HSP, Stan also has 

chronic asthma and a heart murmur. 

Amanda Winwood, Fundraising Manager 

for Your Trust Charity, said: “Stan is 

an amazing individual who is not only 

brave, but also one of the most generous 

fundraisers I have come across. 

“He managed to put aside his illnesses to 

take on this very difficult challenge. Not 

only did he complete it in an impressive 

time, but he also raised a tremendous 

amount of money for Your Trust Charity, 

which will go straight into the paediatric 

pot.” 

The money will be used to buy more game 

consoles for older children who are treated 

at the hospital. 

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) 

is a disease involving inflammation of 

small blood vessels. It most commonly 

occurs in children. The inflammation 

causes blood vessels in the skin, 

intestines, kidneys, and joints to start 

leaking. 

One4Every1 - support Your Trust Charity 

Your Trust Charity has recently 

launched a new initiative called 

One4Every1. 

Whether you’re a keen cyclist, runner 

or simply a walker, we’re looking for 

you to join our brand new sponsorship 

campaign. All you need to do is sign up 

to our ‘One4Every1’ campaign where 

you’re able to connect your Strava, 

Runkeeper or Fitbit apps and set up your 

very own fundraising challenge where 

family and friends can sponsor you for 

each and every mile you walk, run or 

cycle. 

The initiative is supported by Give Penny, 

a new type of connected fundraising 

that helps build innovative ways to help 

charities to raise more money for their 

causes. 

Your Trust Charity currently supports 

vital services for over 530,000 people 

across the Sandwell borough and West 

Birmingham but is seeking funds so they 

can continue to support patients and the 

local community as a whole. 

Acting Director of Finance, Dinah 

McLannahan, enjoys keeping fit and is 

encouraging colleagues to sign up to their 

own challenge and raise money for Your 

Trust Charity. 

“I would like to encourage all my 

colleagues to make their own challenge, 

using their fitness tracker. You could pledge 

to walk 1 million steps this year or run a 

marathon every month by adding up your 

miles – it can be as unique as you wish. 

“I call my exercise regime my therapy, as 

well as keeping my physically fit, it really 

helps me cope with work and busy life 

demands. To now be able to raise money 

for our wonderful charity at the same time 

is fantastic.” 

To sign up and find out more please 

visit https://www.givepenny.com/ 

charity/your- trust-charity or contact 

Amanda Winwood on ext. 4847 or 

amanda.winwood@nhs.net 

10

Shout out has been a regular feature 

in Heartbeat for a year now and it is 

fantastic to see colleagues regularly 

taking the time to give positive 

feedback to each other. 

We regularly receive positive feedback 

from our patients too, and this month 

we wanted to share some of those heartwarming 

messages which have been 

sent via our website and social media 

platforms. 

To: Jacqui Moore 

Being a fantastic leader, she's always 

supportive to staff during difficult 

challenges. Always goes the extra mile, 

kind and willing to help the team. 

From: Alice Sibanda 

To: Olivia Agar and Chris Lewis 

Thank you for helping the neonatal unit 

on 23/08/18 when they had a staffing 

issue it was really appreciated and great 

to know that maternity and neonates 

work so well together. 

From: Nicky Robinson 


To: Lyndon 5 

Great idea from Vikki and Jane 

regarding the 'Candle of Calm' 

hoping it does help to create 

a quieter environment for our 

palliative patients and their families, 

as well as for others on the ward too 

at sensitive times. Thank you! 

From: Jo-Anne Tarbet 

To: Curtis Hutchinson 

Curtis is our porter in ED and is a 

pleasure to work with. The staff and 

patients all appreciate his kind and 

caring personality. Nothing is ever too 

much trouble. 

From: Stacey McCormick 

To: Caroline Dawes 

Fantastic shout out for Caroline Dawes 

and her help with the Flu Film. She was 

a natural in front of the camera, had 

a great message to give and is a star 

in the making. We need her in more 

messages. Thanks also to her managers 

for allowing her the time to attend for 

filming. 

From: Tracy Lees 

To: Cardiology team and Ward D7 

Thank you to all the amazing cardiology 

team who acted so efficiently and 

provided fantastic care to my Dad. We 

are so grateful for everything you did 

for him. Thank you so, so much! 

From: Rebecca Talbot 

To: Helen Clarke 

Personally door delivered a patient's 

letter during out of hours to avoid 

cancellation of surgery. Patient's phone 

details in our CDA were not reachable. 

This is the definition for commitment to 

patients’ care! 

From: Ananda Dhanasekaran 

To: Curtis Hutchinson 

Curtis is a porter who covers ED at 

City - he is so hard working, caring, 

considerate and fantastic with patients. 

He is an absolute pleasure to work with 

and such an asset to us here in ED! 

From: Rebecca Jeavons 

To: Suki Tagger 

Suki, you have a lovely personality, 

thank you for making me laugh 

although I was in a lot of discomfort. 

You made my day! 

From: Doreen Kelly 

To: Petra Davis 

Petra was on shift in A&E when my gran 

was admitted and she was so helpful 

making the appropriate referrals and 

putting our minds at ease. This in 

turn meant my gran did not require 

a hospital admission. Myself and my 

family would like to thank her so much. 

From: Laura Sperring 

To: Lauren Wilcoxs 

Thank you Lauren for being a 

hardworking and proactive team 

member, providing exceeding patient 

care. In addition to offering your 

support and advice to other team 

members. You will be missed when you 

go to Sandwell! 

From: Critical Care Team 

To: Heart Failure team 

Really don't know where the Trust 

would be without these amazing 

nurses. Fabulous support especially 

for end of life care to our colleagues, 

patients and relatives. Ensuring 

that the last days of people’s lives 

are a positive experience for all and 

helping those cope with their heart 

failure when well to go home once 

treated. Thank you for all you do we 

all appreciate it! 

From: Laura Taylor 

To: Jamil Johnson 

Jamil is a big personality within our 

team, always ensuring he leaves a 

lasting smile on all patients faces! His 

patient care is outstanding and he 

always goes above and beyond. He is 

an extremely valued member of our 

team and will be truly missed when 

he transfers to the Sandwell site. 

From: Critical Care Team 

To: Sarah Jones and Tanisha Roberts 

I would like to thank Sarah, Tanisha 

and the emergency care team 

in resus as a whole for looking 

after my grandmother. All the 

paramedics, doctors and nurses were 

exceptionally polite and friendly; 

they explained everything clearly and 

made my grandmother feel at ease. 

Whilst the team was extremely busy 

they attended to each patient with 

utmost care and diligence. Thank you 

for working arduously to keep our 

families safe and out of harm’s way. 

From: Amandeep Sandhu 

11

Your Voice results out: Improvement 

in engagement but more to do 


Scores for the latest Your Voice 

survey suggest colleagues continue 

to feel motivated and involved in 

their teams. 

Our overall engagement score; which 

includes data about colleague motivation 

and involvement as well as how positive 

you feel about recommending our Trust 

as a place to work or receive treatment 

has increased to 65 percent. 

Director of Communications, Ruth 

Wilkin said: “It is great news that our 

engagement score is rising. We are also 

delighted that the overall response rate 

has gone up slightly to 21.5 percent. 

“The biggest impact was from 

colleagues in the imaging group who 

had a response rate of over 35 percent – 

almost twice as many people filled in the 

survey this time than six months ago. 

“We have been working with managers 

over the last few months to ensure they 

share and discuss the Your Voice results 

with their teams. So it’s encouraging 

to see that this measure has improved 

to 37 per cent but clearly there is more 

to do to routinely share the feedback 

from Your Voice with our teams and 

demonstrate that we act on people’s 

suggestions and comments.” 

In this survey we asked people how 

informed they felt about Unity, our new 

electronic patient record. More people 

Coming soon... 

feel sufficiently well informed about this 

new system than in the last survey which is 

good news as we continue to prepare for 

go-live. 

We also asked additional questions about 

how colleagues feel about the area they 

work in. 

63% 

of colleagues feel 

they are able to show 

initiative or make 

suggestions to improve 

their team 

Nearly 70 per cent agree that patient 

feedback matters, 36 percent receive praise 

for doing a good job and 49 percent feel 

supported when things go wrong. 

The latest Your Voice results are available on 

Connect. 

66% 

of colleagues would 

recommend the Trust 

as a place to work or 

receive treatment 

64% 

of colleagues are 

enthusiastic and look 

forward to coming to 

work 

Imaging have really improved their response rate. Almost twice as many people completed the 

survey this month, than six months ago 

connec 

The next survey you will see will look a 

bit different. We have been working with 

a NHS Trust in the North West that has 

managed to, over time, improve colleague 

engagement and therefore performance. 

Learning from their experiences and their 

model of engagement means that we will 

soon see different activities across the Trust 

with lots of opportunities to get involved. 

You’ll be able to put your ideas forward, 

take part in team development and make 

the most of what we already have on offer. 

The next time you are invited to take 

part in a survey will likely be either the 

national staff survey (carried out in every 

NHS organisation once a year) or our new 

weconnect survey. 

Please take this chance to respond. 

Good prizes are on offer once again. 

12

Community contact centre 

goes digital 

Every year we send a colossal amount 

of post to patients who are eagerly 

awaiting appointments, results and 

referrals. However thanks to an 

innovation in the community contact 

centre, the team are leading the way in 

embedding the use of email in patient 

contact. 

To learn more about what the team are 

doing, Heartbeat caught up with Lucille 

Hedges, Community Contact Centre Lead. 

She said: “We are the single central point 

of contact for eight community services and 

for a long while now have been looking to 

see what we could do to develop how we 

manage our patient correspondence. 

“We take approximately 16,500 calls a 

month; processing referrals, booking and 

rescheduling appointments, many of which 

lead to notifications being sent to the 

patient. Traditionally this has always been a 

letter being posted but since a high number 

of our patients now have a smart phone, 

we began looking into emailing our letters 

directly to patients.” 

Community Contact Centre Agent, 

Christopher Lal 

The community contact centre took 

the decision to embark on collecting 

patient email addresses as part of our 

organisation’s digital strategy for electronic 

communication to patients. This process 

also involved asking the patients to 

undertake an electronic verification process 

on the community patient administration 

system, SystmOne provided by TPP. 

The service also lobbied TPP to enable 

attachments to be included in the email 


NEWS 

which means patients can receive their 

outcome letters electronically. 

Lucille added: " The new processes 

mean we’ll soon not only be saving time 

in not having to print, pack and post all 

of the letters we generate, but we’ll also 

be saving a significant amount of money 

spent on processing outcome letters." 

To bring the new vision to life, the 

community contact centre team has 

pledged to ask each and every patient 

they come in to contact with for their 

email address, adding to their already 

healthy total of approximately 12,000 

patients who will soon be moving from 

snail mail to email. 

To find out more about the work 

that the community contact centre 

are doing, email Lucille Hedges on 

lucille.hedges@nhs.net 

“One of the best LiA events I have been 

to.” 

A second Listening into Action (LiA) 

session, organised by the volunteer 

service, has been praised for being an 

informative and engaging event. 

Liza Gill, Volunteer Service Manager, said: 

“We were pleased that the event was 

successful and we received great feedback 

on ways of improving our service. 

“It was also a good opportunity for us to 

explain to colleagues the benefits of having 

volunteers in their teams and to address 

their concerns, such as what volunteers 

could do and could not do, and to reassure 

everyone that volunteers are here to 

support the teams, not to replace paid 

employment." 

Everyone was also invited to share their 

thoughts on different topics, such as how 

to raise the profile of the volunteer service 

across the organisation and identify which 

teams might need support. 

Matron, Natalie Whitton, who went to the 

event, said: “I really think this is one of the 

best LiA sessions I have been to. 

“I have learned a lot more about the service 

and how the team can help us to find the 

right people to support our patients. 

“I think having volunteers will definitely 

make a big difference. For example, they 

could spend time with patients by having 

a conversation with them, or helping them 

with any mobility issues they have. The 

options are endless. 

“I would recommend colleagues visit similar 

events in the future. It’s such a good way to 

learn more about what is going on within 

the organisation and share their knowledge 

within their teams.” 

Volunteer Karamjit Kaur, shared her story 

with the audience. She said: “I have been 

volunteering at AMU 1 for four months 

and I love every bit of it. 

“I enjoy spending time with patients and 

it’s worthwhile when patients thank me 

for helping them. 

“Volunteering really motivates me to 

become a nurse in the future and I 

always look forward to coming into the 

hospital and supporting the team.” 

Do you want a volunteer? Get in 

touch with the volunteer service 

email swbh.volunteer@nhs.net or 

call extension 4855. 

L-R: Jonathan Maddison, Volunteer Project Manager; Senior Sister, Jane Burton; Matron, Natalie 

Whitton; Ward Manager, Joy Walker and Volunteer, Barbara Emms 

13

Launch 

Events 

Week 1: 

1– 5 October 

Sandwell 

Monday 1 October 10-3.30pm 

OH Dept, Courtyard Gardens 

Tuesday – Friday 07:30 – 15:00 

Main Reception 

City 

Wednesday 3 October 10-3.30pm Old Foot 

Health Clinic by main reception 

Thursday – Friday 07:30 – 15:00 Old Foot Health Clinic 

by main reception 

Week 2: 

8 – 12 October 

Monday – Thursday 7:30 – 15:00 

Main reception Monday – Friday 7:30 – 15:00 

Friday 7:30 – 15:00 


Old Foot Health Clinic by main 

reception 

Week 3-6: 

15 Oct – 9 November 

Tuesday & Thursday 08:30 - 12:00 

Main Reception 

Friday – 13:00 – 16:00 


Tuesday & Thursday 08:30 - 12:00 

Old Foot Health Clinic by main reception 

Friday – 13:00 – 16:00 

Old Foot Health Clinic by main reception 

ROWLEY 

Ask for availability of the Flu vaccinators at reception. 

COMMUNITY 

If you are unable to attend one of our drop in sessions, you can book an appointment on ext 3306 and when 

possible we will send a vaccinator to your department. 

The FluMobile will visit community sites from 22 October until 15 November. Check the Flu Calendar 

via Connect and the Flu Webpage for timetable. Alternatively ask your 

line manager for details of your departmental Flu Vaccinator. 

Leading the fight against the dark side is: 

Flu type A 

Michigan 

H1N1 

(swine flu) 

Toby ‘Luke 

Skywalker’ Lewis 

Flu type A 

Singapore 

H3N2 

(Aussie 

flu) 

Paula ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ 

Gardner 

Our annual flu campaign will launch on Monday 1 

October, at Sandwell Hospital and on Wednesday 

3 October at City Hospital, you can get your flu 

vaccination there and then and there are two very 

good reasons why you should have yours early. 

Firstly, the vaccine can take up to two weeks to 

work, so it’s important to get vaccinated early 

in the programme. Secondly, everyone who has 

their flu vaccination in the first six weeks will be 

entered into a prize draw for the following items; 

£300 love2shop vouchers, an extra annual leave 

day, Google Home and an Amazon Fire Stick. 

Announcing the start of our fight against flu, Chief 

Executive, Toby Lewis said: “This is the start of 

Flu type B 

Colorado 

Victoria 

David ‘Han Solo’ 

Carruthers 

Flu type 

B Phuket 

Yamagata 

Raffaela ‘Princess Leia’ 

Goodby 

our annual flu campaign. Last year four out of 

five colleagues got vaccinated. This year, the flu 

vaccine is going to be more effective, because the 

Australian strain is in what we are deploying. 

“So in October and November, what we need is to 

all get vaccinated. If we get above 80 percent we 

know we will get herd immunity and stats show 

that there is a 10 percent impact on our sickness 

absence in the organisation if we get vaccinated. 

“I know we do it every year, but it is your job, your 

obligation, your chance to get yourself vaccinated 

so please join me, and other members of the Trust 

Board in doing just that.” 

Who is Flubacca ? 

A tall, hairy, mysterious figure, 

nicknamed ‘Flubacca’ has been spotted 

roaming around our sites over the last 

few weeks. 

We are desperately trying to find out his 

true identity and question him about his 

motives, but we need your help. 

The hairy “man” was seen lurking at 

the salad bar at Hallam Restaurant, 

and peering through some bushes in 

the Courtyard Gardens. Sightings have 

also been reported outside D5 and in 

the gardens at City Hospital. 

If you think you know who he is then 

please help us by completing the ‘who 

is Flubacca?’ form on the occupational 

health page on Connect. 

Anyone who is able to correctly identify 

‘Flubacca’ will be put into a draw to win 

Love2Shop vouchers. 

14 

15 

14 

15

Staff Health & Wellbeing 


NHS Trust 

Tusker 

Cars 

Cycle To 

Work / 

Halfords 

Copthorne 

Hotel 

Dunham 

McCarthy Will 

Writing 

Kaleidoscope 

Wednesday, 3rd October 2018 

Postgraduate Centre, City Hospital 

from 11-2.30pm 

SWBH 

Trust 

Charity 

Staffside 

and Trade 

Unions 

Occupational 

Health 

Employee Benefits & 

Winter Wellness Event 

Launching Flu Vaccination Programme 

Personal 

Group - SWBH 

Benefits 

Get your ticket for the FREE prize draw from the 

Health & Wellbeing stand to be in with a chance to 

win: 

• Sono Play 1 

• 2 night getaway 

• £50 Halfords Voucher 

• Hamper Dunham McCarthy 

• Hotel Chocolate Hamper 

• Holistic Therapy Voucher 

• Pamper Hamper 

• Free Video Doc Membership 

BME Staff 

Network 

Debt 

Service Payplan 

Health & 

Wellbeing 

Neyber 

BHSF 

Let’s Connect 

Home Tech / 

Smartphones 

Sandwell 

College 

NHS Health 

Checks 

Refreshments available 

Sandwell 

College 

Mindful Yoga - 

Taster Sessions 

Stop 

Smoking 

Service 

Care First 

Holistic 

Therapy 

Library

??? 

Unity corners come to town 

Colleagues working on McCarthy ward 

at Rowley Regis Hospital are enjoying 

access to a new room specifically set 

up for them to become more familiar 

with Unity – our new electronic patient 

record (EPR). 

Using allocated time, colleagues have 

been familiarising themselves with the 

workstations on wheels and using the Unity 

play system in order to gain confidence and 

understanding of the EPR before go-live. 

Senior Ward Sister, Lady Ann Ordona said: 

“When we heard of the opportunity to set 

up a Unity corner, we took a step further 

and provided a quiet room where the team 

could really take time out to learn about 

the EPR. 

“The Unity room has been very well 

received by the team as it has been set up 

as a learning environment and contains all 

the information colleagues need including 

communications, training dates and Unity 

contacts. The room is also used for the 

weekly Unity targeted coaching sessions 

delivered by the clinical informatics team.” 

All clinical areas are being encouraged to 

set up Unity corners to help teams become 

more familiar and confident about the new 

system. If you would like to set up a Unity 

corner in your area please contact the team 

at swbh.Digital-Champions@nhs.net 

??? CORPORATE & GENERAL NEWS 

L-R: Ward Siser, Lady Ann Ordona; HCA, Lisa 

slater and Ward Sister, Memory Seka and 

Magreth Mugoti 

Dress rehearsal of Unity takes place in 

focused clinical areas 

‘A useful exercise but more training is 

required’ was a running theme from 

the feedback of over 90 colleagues who 

took part in the second dress rehearsal 

of Unity. 

The dress rehearsal was in focused areas at 

Sandwell and City hospitals including critical 

care, ED, BMEC, cardiology and BTC. In 

their feedback colleagues were enthusiastic 

about Unity but also highlighted issues that 

require resolving before we are ready for 

go-live. 

Shafiq Ullah is responsible for ensuring a 

smooth go-live of Unity, he explained more 

to Heartbeat. 

“The dress rehearsal was very useful for 

everyone who took part. Issues were raised 

and we have logged these and will be 

working through them over the coming 

weeks to ensure a resolution. We will also 

work closely with colleagues to inform them 

of progress regarding any queries raised.” 

The purpose of the dress rehearsal was to 

identify issues and drive out risk before 

go-live of the new system. For the selected 

operational teams, the dress rehearsal was 

an opportunity to verify that Unity works in 

a business as usual context. 

So we asked Shafiq how he felt we 

measured up against the aims. He said: 

“The user engagement was very positive; 

colleagues felt that this was a worthwhile 

exercise and especially now they were able 

to use Unity with some of the devices such 

as printing and scanning. 

“We also had the opportunity to test our 

process for managing IT issues, both locally 

with colleagues and through the service 

desk - logging IT issues through the service 

desk enables us to identify any common 

problems across the organisation. This 

will be a crucial process at go-live as we 

will seek to resolve issues as quickly as 

possible.” 

Shafiq continued: “Additionally, I am aware 

that many areas were looking forward to 

participating in the dress rehearsal, and to 

ensure we don’t lose the opportunity to 

engage we have planned to visit a number 

of specific areas to carry out further Unity 

activities similar to the dress rehearsal using 

the live system.” 

Heartbeat spoke to colleagues who took 

part in the rehearsal and a continuing 

theme was the requirement for more 

training and ensuring that colleagues are 

provided with opportunities to keep their 

knowledge fresh. 

Comments from colleagues 

“We are certainly aware that this was 

a key issue for many colleagues,” said 

Shafiq. “The availability of the Unity play 

system will certainly help colleagues to 

maintain familiarity with Unity. There 

are also plans in place to develop some 

online learning. Colleagues can also 

keep engaged with Unity by making 

use of the Unity corners which can be 

found in many departments. And the 

clinical informatics team also deliver 

weekly targeted 121 coaching sessions 

across our sites. There are plenty of 

engagement activities taking place 

across the Trust, and I would urge 

colleagues to look out for these and 

speak to their digital champions and 

clinical sponsors for further support and 

information.” 

Amy Bray, ED Nurse - “Colleagues may be worried about go-live and I appreciate 

some may not use computers very often. However, I can assure you Unity is very easy 

to use even though it may take some getting used to. I’m not great at computers, so 

if I can use it, then so can others.” 

Mark Zimmerman, Doctor, Critical Care - “My first impressions are that Unity can be 

a massive help and a big improvement on the current systems. It is safer for patients as it can 

alert doctors to certain drug interactions and potential adverse reactions that patients can 

have. I still have a lot to learn (about Unity) but I’m excited about what the future holds.” 

BMEC ED nurses - “We took part in the previous dress rehearsal and it certainly felt more 

comfortable this time round. The support from the Unity project team was fantastic. We 

now need more training to ensure we remember everything we have learned.” 

17

Paediatrics party delight raises 

over £500 

WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH 

On Friday 24 August, Your Trust 

Charity hosted their first garden 

party to celebrate the fantastic work 

our children’s services deliver across 

the Trust. 

The party was open for all to enjoy 

and played host to a variety of fun and 

games from arts and crafts, to hook a 

duck with all the money raised from 

the special occasion going towards the 

children's department trust fund. 

The rainy weather arrived early on, but 

organisers and party-goers alike didn’t 

let that dampen their spirits with the 

party being swiftly moved into the recently 

renovated Education Centre. 

Children at the party had the opportunity 

to meet Dippy the Clown, Paw Patrol’s 

Marshall and Poppy from Trolls whilst 

enjoying a wide selection of delicious treats 

from ice cream to slushies. 

The celebration was then topped off with 

a raffle prize draw and a highly anticipated 

appearance of Fifi - the miniature Shetland 

pony who visited the Trust earlier in the 

summer. 

Jez Jones, Maton - Acute Paediatrics was 

delighted with how the party went: “Thank 

you to everyone who worked so hard to 

make the party such a success. 

"We had lots of people who donated items, 

baked cakes and gave their time in helping 

set up on the day. 

“It was lovely to see so many smiles on 

faces and it’s safe to say the adults enjoyed 

it as much as the children. 

“Colleagues in paediatrics are constantly 

looking for ways to improve our service for 

our young patients and to have raised over 

£550 will go towards this.” 

Your Trust Charity hope to hold similar 

events in the future so be sure follow them 

across all their social media platforms for 

more information. 

If you would like to get involved with 

the charity in capacity or would like to 

find out more, please contact amanda. 

winwood@nhs.net. 

The party raised over £500 and put plenty of smiles on faces 

18

Waits cut for surgical patients 

SURGICAL SERVICES 

L-R: Trainee Nursing Associate, Lauren Davies; Senior Sister, Angie Smith; Staff Nurse, Jane Whyte; 

Sister, Rosy Hill and Matron, Amanda Green 

Our surgical assessment unit (SAU) 

at Sandwell Hospital recently 

implemented a new way of working, 

resulting in a smoother pathway for 

patients. 

This new method will mean that patients 

who go to the emergency deparment will 

now have direct access to SAU, reducing 

waiting time for them. In addition, patients 

will have the opportunity to be booked in 

for time-slotted appointments meaning that 

waiting time at the hospital will be vastly 

reduced. 

Having time-slotted appointments for 

patients will give senior doctors on wards 

the ability to be able to action plan for 

patients prior to them visiting. It will also 

result in clinical colleagues across SAU 

becoming more productive as they will be 

able to plan ahead. 

With this new system in place, GPs will have 

access to SAU so they have the ability 

to refer patients directly, likewise with 

clinics. 

Senior Sister, Angie Smith believes 

efficiency will be improved as a result 

of this and said: “By introducing this 

new way of working we will ensure our 

service as a whole will become more 

direct. 

“There will be a better turnover of 

patients which will reduce patient 

waiting time, improving the patient 

journey at Sandwell Hospital.” 

Matron, Amanda Green echoes 

these thoughts and added: “Patient 

satisfaction is a key priority within our 

organisation so to be able to improve 

the patient journey in any capacity can 

only be seen as a good thing. 

“Time management can always 

be challenging when working in a 

consistently demanding clinical area so 

to be able reduce patient waiting times 

is always a positive. 

“The new way of working was 

introduced on 15 August and we’re 

already reaping the rewards so long 

term, I think it will only prove beneficial 

for the Trust.” 

Radiation doses slashed thanks to 

new system 

New software has been introduced 

by our nuclear medicine team which 

has a number of benefits around 

patient care. 

The new tracer, called Tektrodyd, 

assesses neuroendocrine tumours. 

Tektrotyd replaces an older tracer called 

‘Octreoscan’ and has the following 

benefits: 

• 70 percent lower radiation dose to 

the patient 

• Shorter imaging time 

• Can be performed in one day 

rather than, making the test more 

convenient for patients 

• Staff have greater flexibility 

to arrange the appointment 

and setting up a scan is more 

straightforward 

• More readily available 

• Better image quality (sharper images 

and less noisy). 

Ruth Bateman, Chief Technologist, said: 

“Essentially, Tektrotyd is more practical for 

us to use and produces better pictures. 

“A real bonus is the test can be performed 

in a few hours rather than a few days. As 

well as being more convenient for patients, 

it also means the team have more time 

available to get on with other patient 

studies.” 

Wendy Sanders, Radiopharmacy 

Operational Manager, added: “Tektrotyd is 

also safer for us to handle when we prepare 

the product for use.” 

IMAGING 

The two images show the differences in 

quality. 

*images courtesy of Dr Kat Dixon, Poole Hospital 

19

Woodland hike proves huge hit with 

diabetic children 

WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH 

Children with diabetes at Sandwell 

Hospital participated in a woodlands 

hike at Woodlands Adventure in 

Aldridge, Walsall 

Woodlands Adventure specialise in both 

residential and non-residential outdoor 

activities for school trips, youth and 

uniform groups, colleges and universities 

and sports/social clubs. 

The woodlands hike was organised by 

the diabetes team and was funded from 

a variety of fundraising sessions and the 

Your Trust Charity paediatric diabetes 

trust fund. 

The annual trip aimed to give children 

and young people experience of insulin 

adjustment in regards to managing their 

glucose during exercise. 

Amanda Whitehouse, Paediatric 

Diabetes Nurse helped organise the trip 

and believes it was beneficial. 

The paediatric diabetes team organised a special day trip for young diabetics 

She said: “The woodlands trip proved to 

be a real success as it gave our diabetic 

children the opportunity exercise safely 

while controlling their blood glucose levels. 

“It reinforced good habits such as checking 

their blood glucose before and after 

exercise and judging dose of insulin to give 

for meals.” 

Dr Chizo Agwu, Consultant Paediatrician in 

Diabetes and Endocrinology also attended 

the woodland trip and said: “With a 

variety of activities on offer including a zip 

wire, obstacle course and canoeing, the 

Patients breathe easy at new 

support group 

MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY 

CARE 

The first meeting of a support 

group for sufferers of a serious 

lung condition, organised by the 

respiratory team has been hailed a 

success. 

More than 20 patients and relatives 

came along to the pulmonary fibrosis 

support group session, held at West 

Bromwich Library earlier this month. 

Sarah Evans, Clinical Nurse Specialist 

has helped to set up the group, which 

will meet every second Thursday of the 

month. 

It is open to sufferers of idiopathic 

pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) which affects 

around 6,000 people each year. The 

condition was recently highlighted after 

it was revealed legendary TV presenter 

Keith Chegwin died of the condition 

and Katie Price’s mum Amy is currently 

battling it. 

Tracy Hacket attended the event with 

her sister Tina Woodhouse. 

Tracy said: "Having a support group in the 

Sandwell area is a fantastic idea. There was 

nothing like this for our dad at the time of 

his diagnosis. He had to travel further away, 

which was sometimes an issue because he 

couldn't get there due to his illness. 

"We feel like we are able to now talk about 

our experience with our dad, so that we can 

help others." 

Sarah added: “The first meeting has been 

very successful. There have been around 20 

patients and carers here sharing their stories 

and many have said what a wonderful idea 

this is. 

L-R: Sarah Evans, Clinical Nurse Specialist, 

with Tina Woodhouse and Tracy Hackett, 

whose father suffered from IPF 

day meant that the children had ample 

opportunity to partake in strenuous exercise 

under supervision whilst learning how to 

better control their bloods.” 

Liz Hudson, Paediatric Diabetes Liaison 

Nurse thinks the woodland hike has had a 

positive impact on all who attended. 

She said: “The trip helped the children and 

young people meet others children with 

diabetes allowing them to empathise with 

each other in terms of their condition as 

well as make new friends”. 

"IPF is a debilitating illness which can have 

quite an emotional effect on sufferers. It 

limits their quality of life in a big way and 

they have to overcome this and learn to 

manage their symptoms which include 

shortness of breath, a persistent dry cough, 

tiredness, loss of appetite, weight loss and 

rounded and swollen fingertips. 

She added: “Within the last year, we 

have started to deliver a nursing service 

for patients with pulmonary fibrosis. We 

were approached by the charity action 

for pulmonary fibrosis about setting up a 

support group for sufferers of pulmonary 

fibrosis – we agreed as we also felt that 

this was something that was needed in the 

area. 

“The meeting is open to people living in 

the area who are affected by the condition 

and would like peer support, hearing how 

fellow sufferers deal with their symptoms 

and day-today challenges.” 

The next meeting will be held on 

11 October at West Bromwich Library, 

High Street, between 1-3pm. 

20

Introducing… The Black Country 

Pathology Service 

PATHOLOGY 

Jonathan Walters, Director of Operations for Pathology and Imaging has praised colleagues in 

pathology for how they have coped with the changing circumstances of their employment 

1 October sees a major milestone in the 

creation of the Black Country Pathology 

Service – a new, single service to 

provide pathology for the four acute 

Trusts in the Black Country – Dudley 

Group NHS Foundation Trust, Sandwell 

& West Birmingham Hospitals NHS 

Trust, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS 

Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. 

Pathology colleagues who work in 

each of the four trusts currently will see 

their employment transfer to The Royal 

Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) at the 

start of October. This is an important step 

towards the new single service which will 

have a pathology hub at New Cross Hospital 

and essential services laboratories at each 

acute hospital, all run by RWT. 

Heartbeat caught up with Jonathan Walters, 

Director of Operations for Pathology and 

Imaging at our organisation to find out 

more: 

HB : Tell us a bit about the new Black 

Country Pathology Service? 

JW: We started discussing the creation of 

a single service over 18 months ago with 

a view to seeing what we can best do 

together to improve the services as a whole 

across the Black Country. We know we have 

an exemplary service here, providing timely 

access to tests and results for our clinical 

teams as well as external organisations. 

What the four trusts are aiming for is a 

service that is better together than apart, 

knowing that we can make savings by 

joining things up and improving the service 

that is delivered across the Black Country as 

a whole. 

HB: Is this change only happening in the 

Black Country? 

JW: No. The NHS nationally has asked every 

trust to be part of a local network to deliver 

shared services. We were well on the way 

with our discussions at that point. 

HB: What does this mean for our 

pathology colleagues at Sandwell and 

West Birmingham? 

JW: Most pathology staff will have their 

employment transferred over to RWT from 1 

October. 

Initially they will remain in their current roles 

at their existing bases but over time some 

roles will change and we expect there to be 

more colleagues based at the new hub at New 

Cross and a smaller number at Sandwell and 

City Hospitals. This doesn’t affect everyone; 

however, as we have a number of successful 

specialist services that we run here that we 

are still working through in terms of the best 

options going forwards. 

I am really proud of the teams here who 

have coped really well with the changing 

Meet the Clinical Director, 

Dr Paul Harrison 

Paul was appointed into this role in July 

following the interim leadership of Dr Ye 

Lin Hock. Paul, from Dudley Group NHS 

Foundation Trust, has chaired the Clinical 

Reference Group that was set up to advise 

on the clinical aspects of the transition 

towards the new single pathology service. 

He is a consultant haematologist by 

background and has held a number of 

senior management roles within the NHS 

in the Black Country. 

circumstances, uncertainty and the 

consultation process over the past few 

months. 

HB: What will be the management 

arrangements for the teams 

remaining under our employment? 

JW: The Primary Care, Communities 

and Therapies group is welcoming 

the phlebotomy and anticoagulant 

service, as well as immunology, chemical 

pathology and the mortuary. Transfusion 

practitioners will be part of corporate 

nursing services. 

HB: When will the new hub open at 

New Cross? 

JW: The Black Country trusts were 

successful in securing some capital 

funding to extend the laboratory at New 

Cross to create the new hub. There is 

also investment for IT systems so that the 

service can operate efficiently on a single 

system. We expect the hub to go live in 

2020 with final completion of the single 

service when the Midland Met Hospital 

opens in 2022. 

HB: What do we do to order tests? 

JW: The usual arrangements remain in 

place for ordering of pathology tests and 

if there are changes we will make sure 

that all colleagues are notified. 

Paul said; “This is a really exciting time for pathology services across the Black 

Country. Whilst change is always challenging, I think that by building on the 

excellent foundations that we already have, we have an opportunity to be part 

of something truly outstanding. As clinical director, I am already meeting and 

working with colleagues across the four BCPS Trusts and l have been impressed 

with the skills, dedication and friendliness our staff.” 

To find out more about the Black Country Pathology Service go to 

www.royalwolverhampton.nhs.uk/black-country-pathology-service/latest-news/ 

or email rwh-tr.bcps@nhs.net 

21

Over 2,000 people view our 

outstanding end of life service 

PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES 

AND THERAPIES 

A new video has been made to 

showcase our connected palliative 

care service, which was rated as 

outstanding by the Care Quality 

Commission. 

The two-minute video, which was 

produced in-house, has reached more 

than 2,000 people on Facebook and 

helped the team to promote its services 

to the wider community. 

Heartbeat caught up with Anna Lock, 

Palliative Medicine Consultant, to find 

out more about the new video. Anna 

said: “Our team thought that producing 

a video would help us to introduce our 

services to more people. 

“It was great to work with the 

communications team to carry out this 

Patient, Margaret Mandis features in the 

two minute video and describes how our 

connected palliative care service helped her 

project. We were involved throughout 

whole the production process; from drafting 

scripts and getting our colleagues to star in 

the video, to helping to edit the clips and 

pull the final video together.” 

She added: “The video shows how our 

teams work together to provide integrated 

care for patients and their families. Having 

a mix of doctors, nurses, and patients in the 

video is a good way of helping people to 

easily understand the way we work and the 

different roles people play. 

“We also filmed a patient speaking about 

how using one of our services had helped 

ease her mind, which I thought was very 

powerful. We believe the feedback will give 

patients and their families confidence in 

using our services. 

“The video was put on a number of 

platforms, such as our external website, 

Connect, and social media pages. 

“Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical 

Commissioning Group also plan to upload 

the video onto its website. 

“We will include the video in our online 

newsletters, which will be sent across to 

acute, community services, primary care 

partners and care homes.” 

If you would like to watch the video, 

please visit https://www.swbh.nhs.uk/ 

services/connected-palliative-care/ 

Dermatology team scoop prestigious 

award for their new research findings 

A 10-year research project which 

explores the link between skin 

cancer and organ transplantation 

in children has been awarded 

‘Best Scientific Session paper’ 

by the British Association of 

Dermatologists. 

The study called a ‘10-year longitudinal 

follow-up study of a UK paediatric 

transplant population to assess for skin 

cancer’, has been published this month 

in the British Journal of Dermatology 

and has found no evidence to support 

the link between skin cancer and organ 

transplants in children, as has been seen 

in adults. 

Lead researcher, Dr Michelle Thomson, 

Consultant Dermatologist, said: 

“Research has shown that adults, who 

are recipients of organs, are very likely to 

develop skin cancer due to side effects 

of the medication used to help prevent 

the immune system from attacking 

(“rejecting”) the donor organ. 

“We know that skin cancer accounts for 

13 to 55 per cent of all cancers in adults 

who have undergone a transplant. 

“However, the connection between skin 

cancer and organ transplantation in 

children had not been explored before. 

“In that light, we started this study in 

2004 where we recruited 90 patients aged 

between five and 15, who had undergone 

transplants including liver, kidney, and 

multi-organs. 

“We met 45 of the patients again in 2014 

to study their progress. Whilst none of 

them showed symptoms for skin cancer, 

11 patients had developed more than 50 

benign moles over the decade. 

“This was a concerning sign, as having 

more than 50 means the patient is at high 

risk of developing melanoma, a type of skin 

cancer.” 

Dr Thomson added that they also found 

patients had very little knowledge of how 

to look after their skin. 

“Seventy-eight per cent of patients reported 

sunburn whilst 22 per cent of them 

admitted they had been using sunbeds 

regularly. 

“We believe that children, who are organ 

recipients, still remain at risk of developing 

skin cancer. Therefore, our recommendation 

is to have a skin cancer surveillance system 

in place, where organ recipients can visit 

skin experts to check their skin regularly, 

and young patients should be more 

educated about looking after their skin.” 

The study was carried out by skin experts 

from our organisation, University Hospitals 

Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, and 

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS 

Foundation Trust. Dr Michele Thomson 

added: “It has been a great journey and I’m 

so proud of my team for their hard work 

and contribution. 

“I also want to thank the British Association 

of Dermatologists for recognising this 

study.” 

Consultant Dermatologist, Dr Michelle 

Thomson presenting their research findings 

at the British Association of Dermatologists 

annual conference 

22

Pulse 

News in brief from around our organisation 

If you have a story you would like to appear 

on the Pulse page, please email a photo and a 

short explanation to emily.smith46@nhs.net 

Gary celebrates 40 years 

Biomedical Scientist, Gary Stanton recently 

celebrated 40 years in our organisation. 

He joined Hallam Hospital in September 

1978 and became a senior in 1987. He 

has worked across both City and Sandwell 

Hospitals since 2008 and is still going! 

Congratulations Gary and thank you for 

your incredible service. 

Noddy brings joy to Rowley 

Colleagues and patients at Rowley Regis 

Hospital enjoyed the company of Noddy 

the therapy dog earlier this month. 

Noddy, who is part of the pets as therapy 

programme, spent time visiting the wards 

at Rowley and was certainly a hit! 

Dr Funmi Ajibona Memorial 

Service 

Earlier this month, the chapel at City 

Hospital hosted a memorial for our friend 

and colleague, Dr Funmi Ajibona who 

tragically passed away, along with her 

family, in July last year. 

During the service, which took place on Dr 

Ajibona’s birthday, Dr Sinha and Mrs Bhatti 

presented a special compassion in care 

award, named in Funmi’s memory, to Dr 

Emmanuel Emoven. 

Thank you to Trust Chaplains, Ann 

Stevenson and Mary Causer for leading the 

special service. 

Biomedical Scientist, Gary joined our 

organisation in 1978 

Newton 5 film afternoon 

The team on Newton 5 recently held a film 

afternoon for their patients, who were able 

to enjoy Peter Rabbit and Boss Baby – a 

welcome distraction from their illness and 

treatment. 

Matron, Jo Thomas said: “Nursing isn’t just 

about giving medicine; it’s about going the 

extra mile for patients.” 

We think this is a great idea – well done 

Newton 5! 

Therapy Assistant, Janette Scott with Noddy 

Diabetes team take on 5k 

Congratulations to the paediatric diabetes 

team who took on a 5K fun run earlier 

this month, to raise money for the Your 

Trust Charity Paediatric Diabetes fund. 

They completed the course and raised 

over £1,000 in the process, which they 

will use to organise different events for 

those children with diabetes, such as 

Christmas parties, bowling, trips and 

education sessions to enhance both the 

children’s’ and their families knowledge of 

their condition. 

Dr Emmanuel Emoven is presented with the 

Funmi Ajibona memorial award 

Karen waves farewell 

Karen Whitehouse from our learning works 

team has moved onto pastures new this 

month. 

Her colleagues at the learning works threw 

her an impressive party as they wished her 

well for the future, which includes a trek of 

the Great Wall of China. 

Good luck Karen! 

Patients on Newton 5 enjoyed a film 

afternoon earlier this month 

The paediatric diabetes team with their 

medals 

Karen Whitehouse pictured at her leaving 

party 

23

Phil Harvey, Chief Registrar 

This month, we introduce our new Chief 

Registrar, Phil Harvey. 

Phil, who is currently a registrar in 

gastroenterology and general medicine, 

may be a familiar face to some at SWBH. 

For the last two years he has been working 

here, undertaking research using large scale 

administrative datasets in conjunction with 

the University of Birmingham, to look at 

outcomes from endoscopic procedures. 

Although Phil will continue with his clinical 

training in general medicine and gastro, he 

will spend a few days a week in his new role 

as our chief registrar. This will include some 

quality improvement work, trying to improve 

the working lives of junior doctors, and to 

provide a trainee viewpoint when reviewing 

clinical pathways. 

Phil said: “I am really looking forward to 

this challenge and learning the new skill set, 

which I believe will make me a better medical 

registrar. 

“This organisation has a great reputation for 

being a friendly and supportive Trust for junior 

doctors to train in. I am really keen to build on 

this reputation.” 

Phil Harvey, Chief Registrar 

Wave goodbye to… 

Joy Haywood retires after 

almost 40 years 

Paediatric Ward Manager, Joy Haywood 

will be retiring after over 39 years with 

the NHS. 

Joy started her career at St Margaret’s 

Hospital in Great Barr, until she was able to 

start her nurse training at 17 years old. She 

trained at what was then known as Dudley 

Road Hospital in 1980 - Joy attended the 

school of nursing which was situated where 

D41 and D42 are now. 

Joy undertook children’s nurse training in 

Stoke-On-Trent in 1984 before returning to 

Dudley Road, where she progressed from 

staff nurse, to a sister and then to a clinical 

nurse specialist. 

After a brief return to adult nursing, Joy 

realised her heart lay with paediatrics and 

managed the moving of the seven day 

surgical ward to the day-case unit in the 

Birmingham Treatment Centre. 

She retires from a position where she is 

responsible for looking after children’s 

outpatients and the surgery/medical day 

units across our sites. 

Heartbeat caught up with Joy to get 

an insight into her last 39 years at our 

organisation and to find out more about her 

plans for retirement. 

HB: What are the biggest challenges you 

have faced while working here? 

JH: The challenges of all the health 

reorganisation under different governments, 

and the decisions where paediatrics would 

be. Building a great team who go cross 

site and maintain great standards, with the 

changing services during the merges and reconfiguration. 

HB: If you hadn’t have worked for 

the Trust, what would you have done 

instead? 

JH: I would still have been a nurse 

somewhere I think. 

HB: What career advice would you give 

to your young self? 

JH: Go for it, it’s been a challenge to be a 

nurse over my entire career. But well worth 

it with the patients and staff that you meet 

along your way. 

HB: Any special plans now that you are 

leaving? 

JH: Just to enjoy shorter days and spend time 

with my family. I plan on going to do some 

traveling as well as decorate my house from 

top to bottom and may do a little bank work. 

Joy pictured at her retirement party, organised by her colleagues in paediatrics 

24

Letters, of less than 200 words please, can be sent to the Communications Department, 

Trust Headquarters, Sandwell Hospital or by email to swb-tr.SWBH-GM-Heartbeat@nhs.net 

YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD 

Can wearing uniforms outside 

spread infection? 

Dear Heartbeat, 

Having had a relative at Sandwell Hospital 

last week, I was alarmed at the amount 

of staff that were walking to work in their 

uniform. How does this protect patients 

from infections, when they are catching the 

bus, walking the street with all the petrol 

fumes and smoke that then embed on 

clothing. 

Surely staff should change out of their 

outdoor clothes info a uniform at work, 

not arrive in it! Isn’t this just allowing for 

infections and germs to spread? 

Also, as a non-smoker I was disgusted 

to see patients in their pyjamas outside 

smoking too. I know that it is their right to 

smoke – but in their bedclothes? Isn’t this 

only going to cause the ward to smell of 

smoke as it absorbed in their clothes? It’s 

not pleasant any my aunt felt sick because 

the patient next to her smelt of nicotine. 

Something needs to be done. 

A concerned member of staff and a 

relative. 

Shouldn’t we all adhere to the 

uniform policy? 


It’s a big of a bug bear of mine, as stated 

in the uniform policy, we should all cover 

our uniforms when going outside or going 

home. 

So why is it I see porters sitting outside 

the pub across the road, drinking beer 

with uniforms on? Is this not a rule for 

all members of staff who wear uniforms? 

It looks very unprofessional and it’s not 

setting a very good example. I also see 

people getting onto public transport with 

scrubs and uniforms. I always change out 

of my uniform, regardless of me driving 

home or getting on public transport, it 

takes all of five minutes to change. 

Thank you. 

Dear colleague, 

Thank you for your observations about 

uniforms and your concern for infection 

control which is something we all need 

to be vigilant about to prevent the 

spread of infections. 

Our uniform policy sets out the 

standards of dress for all colleagues 

as well as uniform requirements for 

certain groups of staff including 

clinicians. 

We do expect staff to either change 

at work or keep their uniform covered 

when travelling between sites or to and 

from work (this includes in your own 

car) in order to ensure that we maintain 

a professional image. This applies to all 

colleagues who wear a uniform and can 

be identified as working for our Trust. 

However, there is no evidence to 

suggest increased risk of infection 

from clothing or uniform worn 

when travelling to and from work. 

(Department of Health 2010 Guidance 

on uniform and workwear policies for 

NHD employers). 

I acknowledge your concerns about 

smoking and the impact this can have 

on patients who can smell smoke on 

the clothing of others. All of our sites, 

including the grounds, will be entirely 

smoke free from 5 July 2019 and we 

have begun our countdown to give 

people ample notice of this change. It is 

my hope that people who are smokers 

will take this opportunity to access the 

wide range of support available that 

can help them cut down and quit. 

Kind regards, 

Paula Gardner 

Chief Nurse 

Where is the security at City? 


Every day when I leave work in City 

Hospital I am shocked by the number of 

drunks, drug addicts and beggars that 

are allowed to hang around across the 

entrance. Just last night as I left there was 

a man in hospital scrubs on the floor asleep 

outside A&E and two further people on 

the grass opposite. When I came in this 

morning I was met by one outside the main 

entrance. 

We make a big fuss about smoking outside 

the hospital but seem not to care about the 

dangers to staff and patients these people 

pose and how it affects the hospital - 

something needs doing and security needs 

sorting ASAP. 

Disgusted. 

Dear Colleague, 

Thanks for raising your concerns. 

The security team at City work hard to 

support the staff, patients and visitors 

both within and outside our buildings. 

They are often out patrolling the site, 

checking the CCTV and dealing with 

incidents to help keep people safe. 

Our Trust serves the healthcare needs of 

a large and diverse population and that 

includes those who are homeless or 

who may be alcohol or drug misusers. 

We have a fantastic homeless team 

and alcohol service who are providing 

specialist treatment for this population 

and their services are continuing to 

change the lives of patients and their 

relatives and families. 

If you feel unsafe you should seek help 

either from a colleague or through 

contacting our security team. 

Best wishes, 

Rachel Barlow 

Chief Operating Officer 

Where is the praise? 


I wish to ask the senior management why 

an individual’s good work isn’t recognised 

or indeed praised? However when there is 

a complaint with regards to an individual 

it addressed and managed. The hard work 

was published in this magazine but the 

individual not recognised. 

A concerned HCA. 

Dear Colleague, 

Thank you for your letter. I am sorry 

you feel that there is an individual who 

has been overlooked and not been 

recognised for positive work. I would 

be happy to look into this matter if you 

contact me directly with the details. 

We have a number of ways to recognise 

colleagues who have provided 

excellent care or outstanding services. 

These include being featured in this 

magazine, in the local media and 

also through our monthly and annual 

awards programmes. The shout-out 

system on Connect that also feature in 

Heartbeat allows anyone to praise a 

colleague or thank them for going the 

extra mile. 

We all need encouragement in our 

work and I hope you feel you can make 

use of our reward and recognition 

systems by putting your colleagues 

forward, contacting the Heartbeat 

team or simply saying “thank you” and 

“well done” to someone who has done 

a good job. 

Kind regards, 

Ruth Wilkin 

Director of Communications 

25

YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD 

How is the PDR moderation 

process fair? 

Dear Hearbeat, 

I thought that the point of the PDR process 

was that we were supposed to be graded 

by our managers and given targets for 

improvement. 

Everyone in my department has done that; 

so imagine our surprise when our manager 

says that he has been asked by HR to 

adjust our scores down as there are too 

many people with the same score. 

So we can apparently be marked as a 3 

by our managers but then be told by HR 

that our scores are wrong and need to be 

adjusted for what they have decided they 

are. 

If HR have already decided what all of our 

scores are going to be; then what is the 

point of managers doing PDRs with staff 

at all. Clearly the decision has been taken 

regardless of any feedback from affected 

departments. 

It’s also a massive slap in the face for staff 

to be told “HR have decided you aren’t as 

good at your job as your manager; even 

though they don’t work with you or have 

any clue what you do”. 

I though the point of PDRs was they were 

supposed to show the staff members 

who needed support and departments 

that needed help; not to put staff in pre 

decided categories. 

Are we really deciding that departments 

can only have so many good members 

of staff? Based on what? Are we limiting 

good performance to percentages? 

Because if we are seriously going to 

proceed down this route, then I don’t 

know how you except to keep good 

staff in the trust. If a department has 10 

members of staff in it; can only 5 of them 

be scored 3? 

For those of us who come into work and 

do our best every day; this is nothing short 

of an insult. 

It also puts our manager in a very awkward 

position. Where apparently his opinion is 

overwritten on the basis that the figures 

don’t match up with what has been either 

decided or is expected. 

I work hard in my role; my colleagues in my 

department and across the trust work hard. 

This sends out the clear message not to try 

at anything. 

On Staff Comms it does say that PDR scores 

are being moderated to ensure that they 

are fair and consistent. Consistency does 

not mean that more than a set level should 

not be the same; nor does moderation 

mean that the numbers should be changed 

to suit a pre-determined agenda or set of 

statistics. 

What it should mean is that all of the 

staff across the trust are held to account 

for their actions; that they are expected 

to improve and provide goals for 

improvement. I’m not sure how changing 

PDR scores with no further conversation 

can do this. 

The only thing that it does do is create bad 

feeling. You simply can’t identify the staff 

who need help or where there are errors 

if you are going to alter the information to 

suit a separate agenda. 

I would also question why specific PDR 

data is being shared around; I completed 

my Data Security Awareness recently and it 

seemed pretty clear that this is the kind of 

thing that shouldn’t be happening. 

Thank you. 

Dear colleague, 

Thank you for taking the time to raise 

your concerns about PDR moderation. 

I hope that you had a useful PDR 

conversation with your manager. 

As you know, the new Aspiring to 

Excellence performance development 

review process is different to previous 

PDR arrangements and all managers 

have been trained in this new process. 

For the first time we are scoring 

people’s performance and behaviour, as 

well as their potential to develop. 

I recognise that there has been some 

confusion about the different scoring 

levels so I want to reiterate that a score 

of 2 is a reasonable score. Someone 

who scores a 2 is performing well, 

meeting most of their objectives and 

with evidence of behaviours that are in 

line with our care promises. We expect 

in this first year that the majority of 

employees would score a 2. To score 

a 3 you would need to meet in full all 

of your objectives and to score a 4 you 

would need to be truly outstanding at 

delivering significantly more than your 

objectives. 

The moderation process has been put 

in place to ensure that there is fairness 

in scoring across the organisation – so 

that all staff are scored against the 

same criteria and to allow for scores 

to be adjusted if a manager has 

incorrectly interpreted the criteria. This 

could mean a manager has been too 

harsh or too generous in their scorings. 

Scores are being adjusted up and down 

as a result of moderation. 

I want to be absolutely clear that 

there is no “quota” or statistics we 

are expecting in this process. The 

PDR is to ensure people have a good 

conversation with their manager 

about performance, behaviours and 

development and build up the right 

support to meet their objectives over 

the next 12 months. 

I also want to clarify that no-one in 

HR is telling anyone what score they 

should receive! The moderation panels 

are comprised of group and directorate 

leads who are checking the range of 

scores within their group and seeing 

whether any team looks like an outlier 

against the rest of the organisation. 

The panel will then look into that 

team’s scores to judge whether the 

scoring has been fair. If not it may be 

adjusted based on further information. 

This is the first year of the new process 

and we, like you, are all learning how 

best to deliver the most effective PDR 

that supports people’s careers within 

this organisation. 

We have listened to feedback and 

extended the deadlines on moderation 

and during October we are holding 

structured review workshops to see 

how we can improve the PDR and 

moderation process for next year. 

Best wishes 

Raffaela Goodby, 

Director of People and Organisation 

Development 

26 

26

Toby writes about….. our number one safety 

priority – working IT all week 

TobyLewis_SWBH 

TOBY’S LAST WORD 

Last month's purple edition of Heartbeat 

focused on what it would take to make 

our organisation truly outstanding. That 

is, I hope, your ambition for us, and 

it is certainly mine. The features we 

listed showed me, and I think everyone, 

that we have many of them in place 

that we need to progress. Not only 

do we have a commitment to personal 

development and quality improvement, 

but we can evidence how we are 

making a difference to care with large 

scale projects like our safety plan and 

specific initiatives like our pet therapy 

or changes in parental leave policies for 

parents of premature babies. 

But the basics need to be right. Using 

TeamTalk and using our latest Speak Up Day 

we have been focusing on ‘simple things 

done well’: choosing what we need to get 

right to make your working life easier. There 

is still time to vote and contribute to that 

engagement work. The list of options is 

below, and you can use the link on Connect 

to make your voice heard. 

• More flexible working approaches 

• Improved communication about change 

• Raising concerns being simpler 

• More printers and computers 

• IT that works every day 

• The vacancy process being too slow 

• The right uniform to do my job 

• Getting equipment fixed quickly 

• Guaranteed car parking 

• Improved personal security at work 

it, and it means developing our staff in IT, 

and ensuring that the balance of permanent 

and bank staff shifts back towards the 

former. 

This month we would expect our WiFi to 

kick into working consistently. Our external 

connection through N3 has been developed, 

changed and we think may have been now 

resolved. Great work has been done by 

the team over the last two weeks on our 

server configuration. Later in October we 

implement changes to our infrastructure 

to create resilience. And the Board has 

requested a rapid plan to migrate many of 

our systems away from local data centres. 

We will need both capacity and capability to 

do this and you have my assurance that that 

has been and is being put into place. 

Of course, this is a prelude to going live 

with Unity in 2019. Lots of colleagues have 

now had the initial product training. The 

feedback is that more training is needed, 

and department specific induction into the 

system. But that once we have Unity in 

place it will improve our work – with singletime 

data collection which we can rely upon, 

and the move to electronic prescribing – with 

outpatient digitalisation happening six 

months after go-live. 

There is real appreciation of the 

frustrations that technology can create. 

We cannot have a digital future unless 

the basics of IT work well. And we 

cannot get to outstanding without those 

basics in place. By 2019, our IT issues 

list needs to be application specific, 

and the underlying arrangements for 

infrastructure and WiFi have to be 

reliable. The Board’s new committee 

will hold the executive and others to 

account for those changes, and staff 

representatives will be part of that 

governance too. My ask of you is to get 

your password up to date and your wider 

registration accurate, so that we reduce 

pressure on our helpdesk, and achieve 

compliance with information governance 

rules. Meanwhile, the management 

of the Trust will drive to get resilient IT, 

and a department behind that IT with 

the habits, skills and culture to deliver 

consistently. 

I will hazard a guess that IT, or technology or 

digital, will feature in many colleagues’ top 

three. I have spoken and written elsewhere 

about the Board’s overwhelming focus on 

our IT. It consumes a huge amount of time 

inside the organisation, it undoubtedly saps 

energy and drive, but of greatest concern 

is that the way in which clinical risk is being 

created. Frustratingly, despite attention, 

and money, and focus, we are making 

slow progress with moving things forward. 

Martin Sadler started work last week as our 

new chief informatics officer. He leads a 

management team whose focus is on these 

issues, on hearing from you what needs 

to be fixed, and on tackling underlying 

problems as well as the immediate 

difficulties. That means good management 

of our suppliers, using the data we have 

which alerts our IT capacity and responds to 

L-R: Acting Director of Finance, Dinah McLannahan and Freedom To Speak Up Guardian, Susan 

Whalen spoke to colleagues at Rowley Regis Hospital on Speak Up Day 

27

Events Diary October 2018 

EVENT DATE TIME VENUE 

Flu Campaign Launch (Sandwell) 1 10am – 3.30pm OH Department, Courtyard Gardens 

Winter Wellness Event 3 11am – 2.30pm Postgraduate Centre, City Hospital 

Flu Campaign Launch (City) 3 10am – 3.30pm Old foot health clinic by main reception 

Public Trust Board 4 9.30am – 12.30pm Anne Gibson Board Room 

Star Awards 12 6.30pm – 12pm Aston Villa Football Club 

SWB TeamTalk 24 

11am 

1pm 

1pm 

Committee Room, Rowley Regis Hospital 

Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital 

Hayward Lecture Theatre, City Hospital 

August 2018 staff lottery results 

1st 193.75 

Elizabeth Broome 

Name: ___________________________________________ 

2nd £116.25 

Mr Muchiyapiwa Sibanda 

3rd £77.50 

Sharon Graham-Scott 

In this month's 

Don’t forget that the Trust Charity lottery costs just £1 a month and 

anyone who works for the Trust can join. Payment is deducted from your 

wages each month. To take part email amanda.winwood@nhs.net. 

2 

Name: ___________________________________________ 

In this month's Heartbeat 

5 

Date: ___________________ 

4 

6 

1 

2 3 

4 

10 

Take a break: 

5 


________________________________________ 

6 

Test your knowledge of the news in Date: this ___________________ 

month's Heartbeat by completing the 


crossword below. You can e-mail your answers to swbh.comms@nhs.net and all 

correct answers will be put 7 into 8 a draw to win 9vouchers - good luck! 

11 

12 

7 8 

5 

6 

2 3 

4 

10 

11 

12 

1 

Across 

5. What is the prize pot for our new welearn programme? 

6. What is the name of our sustainability officer? 

7. What is the theme of this year's flu campaign? 

10. What is the name of our new engagement programme which will be 

launching soon? 

11. Who is this month's NHS hero? 

12. What is the name of our Hindu chaplain? 

Down 

1. Wh 

supp 

2. Ho 

3. Wh 

4. Wh 

8. Ho 

9. Wh 

10 

Across7 8 9 

5. What is the prize pot for our new welearn programme? 

6. What is the name of our sustainability officer? 

7. What is the theme of this year's flu campaign? 

10. What is the name of our new engagement programme which will be 

11 

launching soon? 

11. Who is this month's NHS hero? 

12 

12. What is the name of our Hindu chaplain? 

Down 

1. Who shared their story about reducing their smoking habit with 

support from occupational health? 

2. How many strains of flu will the vaccine protect you from this year? 

3. Who shared their story at this month's Board meeting? 

4. Who has celebrated 40 years at our organisation this month? 

8. How old is Stan Green? 

9. Which ward has introduced an improved patient pathway? 

Down

Heartbeat September 2018

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?