Heartbeat October 2019

Thank Crunchie for Dr Nick!
CORPORATE AND GENERAL
NEWS
Telling his story the Trust Board,
sixteen year old Jasim Talib was
only four months old when he
was diagnosed with a severe
dairy allergy after being rushed
to hospital following a severe
reaction to porridge. He explained:
“Throughout my childhood I was
always acutely aware of food, and
the danger of eating the wrong
thing. Primary school was very hard
as I felt left out, as I couldn’t have
hot school dinners, but had the same
sandwiches every day. Holidays were
hard too, as I had to take an extra
suitcase of dairy free food I could
safely eat, and hot food choices
abroad meant a diet of chips as
they were the only things that were
considered safe from dairy.
“Chocolate treats were a big problem too
during my childhood, as parties and school
events invariably produced chocolate bars
as prizes, so if I ever won anything I was
unable to eat it, but brought it home for my
parents.
“However all that changed when Dr Nick
Makwana told my mum about a treatment
to cure my dairy allergy, which sounded
Young patient Jasim Talib with his mum Nasmah Talib and our Chief Nurse, Paula Gardner
good, but at first I was nervous, as I’d lived
my whole life staying away from dairy. But it
was exciting too, so I started the treatment
which took six months to cure me. It began by
me drinking milk that was diluted with water.
Gradually the amount of milk was increased
until I could drink a whole glass. That was
amazing. I couldn’t get enough of it! Then,
Dr Nick suggested I try to eat something dairy,
and I knew immediately what I wanted to
try. A Crunchie! It felt like I’d been waiting all
my life for this taste, and it was wonderful!
Crunchies are now my favourite chocolate bar.
“It is thanks to Dr Nick that I want to become a
paediatrician like him, and help other children
like me. He changed my life so I’d like to follow
in his footsteps.”
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Midland Met takes a big step forward
Saturday 12 October saw us take
step closer to the opening of the
Midland Metropolitan Hospital
following an announcement from
the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
It means the Trust can work towards
completion of the construction contract
with preferred bidder Balfour Beatty so that
they can restart work on the super hospital,
based in Smethwick. Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Sajid Javid, said “It is absolutely
right that the Midland Metropolitan
Hospital is completed so that doctors and
nurses working for our NHS across the West
Midlands can deliver excellent care in brand
new, state-of-the-art facilities.”
The news has been welcomed by Toby
Lewis, Chief Executive. He said “Midland
Met is a vital regeneration project for
Smethwick, and part of the wider
Commonwealth Games development across
Work on the long awaited Midland Met will
soon be restarting
Birmingham, including Perry Barr.
“We are working hard to open the hospital in
2022, and getting Balfour Beatty on site from
December 2019 alongside our new Facilities
Management partner, is a key step in that
journey. Today’s announcement by the Treasury
is hugely welcome news. We are working
round the clock to conclude commercial close,
and the agreement of the Final Business Case
and appointment of a Preferred Bidder is the
last national approval hurdle overcome.”
“The promise from Government in February
2018 was that no local NHS funds would need
to be diverted to remedy the national collapse
of Carillion. That promise has been honoured
in full, which has the overt support of all local
stakeholders from across political divides.
“We very much wish to deliver on the dividend
across Sandwell and west Birmingham that
uses the opening of the long-awaited new
specialist acute hospital to release workforce
time and NHS funds to better support primary,
mental wellbeing and preventative services
locally.
“Our integrated care plans for local
neighbourhoods are at the forefront of work
in the Midlands to create a sustainable future
NHS, and we look forward to delivering
real change and better outcomes for the
communities that we serve.”
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