Heartbeat December 2019

December 2019 

Sandwell and West Birmingham 

NHS Trust 

The pulse of community health, Leasowes, Rowley Regis, City and Sandwell Hospitals Issue 123 

2020 Quality Improvement drive starts 

early with poster excellence on a 

grand scale: We’re Good! page 3 

Using PDSA to improve sepsis screening wins the top prize with Frailty at the Front Door and Nasal Photo Therapy 

worthy runners up, and an updated referral pathway for cancer patients taking the people's vote 

The devastating 

reality of flu 

Pioneer teams 

celebrate success 

Artificial 

Intelligence arrives 

in radiology 

CQC praise 

elderly care at 

City Hospital 

page 4 

page 5 

page 8 

page 19

HELLO 

Welcome to this festive edition of 

Heartbeat. This is the last one of 

2019 and what a year it’s been for 

our workplace. 

This month we celebrate the 

achievements of our apprentices, say 

goodbye to Dr Chand and catch up 

with Staff Nurse, Agnes Mutia. 

A special thank you to everyone that 

has contributed a story this year. 

With your help we’ve celebrated your 

successes, showcased your 

accomplishments, innovations and so 

much more. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and 

a happy, healthy 2020. 

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 

FROM THE CHAIR 

New Midland Met contract 

brings new opportunities 

First and foremost, thank you to 

everyone who is and has been working 

over the Christmas and New Year period 

– especially in what are undoubtedly 

times of sustained system pressure and 

some pretty dismal weather. To our 

patients, you are indeed the heroes of 

the NHS who continually sacrifice your 

time with family and friends to look 

after those who are ill and in need at 

this time of year. 

During the last month of 2019 there has 

been much to celebrate. I was delighted to 

finally be able to sign the contract with our 

partners Balfour Beatty to complete Midland 

Met. This great hospital will provide state of 

the art healthcare facilities for many of you 

to work in. Patients will receive their care 

in modern, up to date environments and 

Midland Met will welcome in people from 

the surrounding areas with its ample range 

of community facilities - a very different care 

model to what we are able to offer currently 

and one in line with our drive for integrating 

services with our of hospital care. 

Although this is just a signature on a piece 

of paper, it should signal to all of us the 

restart of the work to bring teams together 

and prepare for the new pathways that we 

will need to put in place. I am excited about 

the new opportunities we have, in just two 

years, to get this right. 

I was also proud to see the quality 

improvement schemes that were put forward 

in the weLearn poster competition. 70 

fantastic entries – every single one has made 

a difference to patients or staff. 

The 13 finalists are to be congratulated 

along with the winners. As well as being a 

moment of celebration the real purpose is 

to use those posters to share what works 

well across our Trust. Do take a moment 

to view the posters on our digital screens 

and in the Education Centre at Sandwell 

and think whether you could incorporate 

some of that quality initiative into your own 

service area – a great way to plan your QIHD 

sessions possibly? This process shows the 

latent potential and drive which is there to 

be tapped. 

One of the privileges of being Chairman is 

constantly seeing areas of our services where 

teams are [perhaps too] quietly leading the 

way in improving and innovating services for 

patients – such as our approach to striving to 

change public health outcomes. Many staff 

say to me that it is this that motivates them 

especially when so many services are under 

pressure. 

I’ve enjoyed seeing the many religious 

celebrations across the Trust including Diwali 

and Christmas. So many people have been 

involved in taking part and sharing these 

special times of year with colleagues and 

patients. 

May I wish you a happy Christmas and a 

prosperous New Year. 

Best wishes 

Richard Samuda – Trust Chairman 

Submit an idea 

If you’d like to submit an idea 

for an article, contact the 

communications team 

Ext 5303 


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: 

Chairman Richard Samuda

weLearn – Innovation and 

improvement from around the Trust 

This month saw the finalists of 

our annual weLearn QIHD poster 

competition come together to share 

and showcase their shortlisted posters, 

all to be crowned the winner and 

get their hands on the grand prize of 

£5,000. 

From 70 posters submitted, 13 shortlisted 

finalists had the opportunity to present 

their poster to an audience of their peers 

and judges, highlighting how their work 

shows good practice, provide quality 

improvements, supports innovation, 

research or partnership working, and 

most importantly how it has resulted in 

improvements for patients, relatives and 

colleagues. 

After almost 500 votes from colleagues 

were cast, and weeks of scrutiny under the 

watchful eye of our judging panel. This was 

made up of: 

• Non-Executive Director - 

Mick Laverty 

• GP - Dr Paramjit Marok 

• Chief Operating Officer - 

Rachel Barlow 

• Chief Information Officer - 

Martin Sadler 

• Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon - 

Mr Kanthan Theivendran 

Each shortlisted candidate waited with 

bated breath to hear the results. 

Announcing the results of the staff voted 

for ‘People’s Choice Award’ fell to Rachel 

Barlow who awarded it to Dr Aftab Fazal 

and Dr Naveed Asif for their innovative 

approach to developing a new referral 

pathway for suspected cancer patients who 

present at ED. Presenting the award, Rachel 

highlighted how the work had transformed 

the pathway for patients who present with 

suspected cancer and provided clinical 

teams with a referral system they could rely 

on to safely progress patients onwards. 

Announcing the highly commended runners 

up fell to Mick Laverty who awarded Emma 

Hibbs for her poster titled ‘Frailty at the 

front door’ which highlighted the hard 

work of the rapid response therapy service 

in supporting frail patients who present 

to ED, ensuring that they can provide care 

and support at an early stage and reducing 

length of stay. 

The last highly commended award was 

presented by Dr Paramjit Marok to the 

paediatric allergy service for their poster 

entitled, ‘Nasal Photo Therapy for Difficult 

to Manage Perennial and Seasonal Allergic 

Rhinitis from a patient and nursing 

perspective’. 

The winner of the £5,000 grand prize 

was announced by Chief Executive, Toby 

Lewis and went to Martin Chadderton 

for his poster, ‘Using PDSA to improve 

sepsis screening’. Announcing the award 

Toby said: “Sepsis remains as our number 

one quality priority and this poster shows 

how we have used the Plan, Do Study Act 

principles to transform our sepsis screening 

and ultimately improve patient care.” 

If you haven’t yet seen the posters, they will 

remain on display in the Education Centre 

at Sandwell as well as on the digital kiosks 

around the Trust, enjoy viewing the posters 

and finding out about the great quality 

improvement initiatives taking place across 

the Trust, and encourage your colleagues to 

do so too. 

CORPORATE AND GENERAL 

NEWS 

For more information about the 

QIHD poster competition, contact 

Preeti Puligari on ext. 3587 or email 

preeti.puligari1@nhs.net 

Using PDSA to Improve 

Sepsis Screening -Winner 

A NEW referral pathway for 

suspected Cancer patients 

presenting to the ED 

-People’s Choice Winner 

Nasal Photo Therapy for 

Difficult to Manage Perennial 

and Seasonal Allergic 

Rhinitis from a patient and 

nursing perspective 

-Runner up 

Frailty at the Front Door 

-Runner up 

PReCePT (Prevention of 

Cerebral Palsy in Preterm 

babies) -Shortlisted 

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's 

the portable EEG Checklist 

-Shortlisted 

Improving patient safety 

culture in Primary Care 

-Shortlisted 

Sleep…..is the best medicine 

-Shortlisted 

The MAP Stop: Facilitating 

Difficult Conversations 

- A Paediatric Quality 

Improvement Project 

-Shortlisted 

How to facilitate team 

mergers with leadership 

-Shortlisted 

Purple Point -Shortlisted 

Say Hello to Me 

Initiative: breaking down 

communication barriers in 

the ED -Shortlisted 

Some of this year's weLearn competition winners and runners up. L-R Emma Hibbs - Specialist 

Physiotherapist, Martin Chadderton - Acting Head of Improvement and Faye Mathias - Allergy 

Nurse 

Safe Administration and 

Availability of I.M Adrenaline 

in treatment of Anaphylaxis 

for Paediatric In-Patients 

-Shortlisted 

3

The devastating reality of flu 


NEWS 

A colleague who has been a part 

of our Trust for 10 years as a ward 

services officer has issued a heartfelt 

plea to his co-workers about getting 

their flu jabs. Speaking to Heartbeat, 

Roger Hackley shared his touching 

story in the hope that others do not 

go through anything like he has. 

Roger begins by telling us that he’s 

a family man. He has two adopted 

boys aged 10 and eight and his niece 

who he took in as a young girl. Family 

is incredibly important to him but 

the person that glued their home 

life together; his wife, sadly passed 

away this January within four days of 

contracting the flu. 

Having met Ruth over 20 years ago he 

describes her as “A beautiful lady. She 

was my soulmate, my best friend.” In 

January, Ruth became ill with the flu 

and neither she nor Roger realised just 

how serious it could be. He adds: “Ruth 

had the flu several times; she didn’t go 

the doctors, it was just the usual thing 

– taking paracetamol and lots of fluids. 

We didn’t realise how dangerous the flu 

was.” 

4 

Each year Roger has had his flu jab 

at City Hospital but Ruth hadn’t had 

hers. “I used to say to Ruth you need 

to get your flu jab, there’s nothing to 

worry about. Ruth caught the flu virus 

and had it over three days; she passed 

away on the fourth day.” Roger recalls 

how Ruth was rushed into hospital but 

went on to suffer a cardiac arrest before 

sadly passing away. “I think if Ruth had 

the vaccination it would have made a 

difference. If people get their flu jabs it 

will save lives.” 

Speaking candidly Roger comments: 

“The cause of Ruth’s death was 

Influenza A. It shut down her heart and 

her organs. There was nothing there to 

protect her. I hope that the nursing staff 

caring for Ruth had their vaccinations to 

protect other vulnerable patients.” 

It’s Roger’s experience that has prompted 

his appeal to colleagues. He doesn’t 

want anyone else to go through the 

heartache he is enduring. “The message 

I would give to staff is please, please get 

your flu vaccination. It not only protects 

you but it also protects others as well as 

your family and loved ones. I wouldn’t 

want anyone else to go through what 

I’m going through. I beg you – please, 

please get your flu jab.” 

Roger lost his wife because of flu 

Roger admits adjusting to life without Ruth 

has been hard in lots of different ways. 

Coming to terms with what happened 

has been difficult for him. “If I’d been a 

bit quicker, got her to the hospital the 

weekend before she passed away maybe 

she could still be here today. Part of the 

story is I blame myself because I didn’t 

realise how bad the flu virus was.” 

Financially it has also been hard-hitting 

for the family. Roger comments: “It’s been 

really bad, there have been debt problems, 

trying to keep the house together, having 

two children who want to know why their 

mom passed away. It’s a struggle.” 

Reminiscing about happier times spent as a 

family, Roger describes how they’d always 

do activities together. “As a family, we 

went out on day trips; we went swimming 

together, to the park together, shopping, 

holidays. Tenby, Wales was our favourite 

place to go with the children.” Since 

January the family have found it hard to 

adjust to life without Ruth. “I wish she 

was still with me now. The times we had 

together were absolutely fantastic. I miss 

her every single day.” 

Looking ahead to the family’s first Christmas 

without Ruth, Roger says he will be keeping 

her memory alive by buying her gifts just as 

he’d done every year they were together. 

“This is the first Christmas with me, the 

boys and my niece. I will buy Ruth a 

poinsettia as I bought her one every year. I’ll 

also buy her a Yankee Candle as she loved 

those. I’ll be lighting that for Ruth on 24 

December. I’ll try and make Christmas the 

best I can for us as a family. Ruth will always 

be in my heart, always.” 

It's not too late to get your flu 

vaccination. Find your peer vaccinator 

or call occupational health. 

If you’d like to speak to someone 

confidentially about bereavement, 

please contact occupational health via 

ext. 3306.

Midland Met construction deal 

is signed 

The deal to finish the Midland 

Metropolitan has been signed; 

promising the local community that 

the much needed hospital will be 

completed in 2022. 

Midland Met brings together acute 

healthcare services for the population 

of Sandwell and West Birmingham onto 

a single site in Smethwick, providing 

state of the art clinical facilities and 

equipment, serving over 600,000 

people. 

Signing the contract was Richard 

Samuda, Chairman of Sandwell and 

West Birmingham NHS Trust, and 

Chief Executive, Toby Lewis, who lead 

the organisation that will run the 

new facility, and Dean Banks, Chief 

Executive Officer of Balfour Beatty UK 

Construction Services whose company 

won the bid, and have been working on 

an early works contract on the emerging 

building for the past year. 

Richard commented: “The people of 

Sandwell and West Birmingham have 

been waiting for this hospital for too 

long, as have our staff who are doing 

an incredible job delivering health care 

services from some buildings that are no 

longer best suited for modern healthcare 

services. This news cannot come soon 

enough for those colleagues. Reaching 

this milestone is testament to the 

determination of Trust colleagues and 

leaders in partner organisations, who, 

with the support of cross party political 

leaders, have enabled us to agree this 

contract to complete the hospital.” 

Toby Lewis, Chief Executive added: “Today 

is about moving on and looking to the 

future, as we shortly welcome the return of 

all works and trades to the site to complete 

this vital facility. The Commonwealth 

Games come to Birmingham in 2022, and 

we would like to be in our new home by 

then, bringing our clinical teams together 

to deliver the best acute services for our 

patients and their families.” 

Dean Banks, Chief Executive Officer of 

Balfour Beatty UK Construction Services, 

said: “This is a key project for the Midlands 

and a long-awaited moment for healthcare 

services in the local community. Following 

the successful completion of the Early 

Works phase, we are pleased that we have 

been entrusted to deliver the final elements 

of the scheme. 

“Our wealth of experience and expertise 

will ensure that the Midland Metropolitan 


NEWS 

Hospital will service future generations 

for years to come.” 

Midland Met replaces acute and 

emergency services at Sandwell and 

City Hospitals. Those sites will continue 

providing outpatient clinics, day-case 

surgery and routine diagnostics. Our 

community beds are already in place 

to support the new model of care. Our 

specialist Eye Centre (BMEC) and the 

Birmingham Treatment Centre (BTC) 

remain at City Hospital. A 24/7 Urgent 

Care Centre will be housed on the 

Sandwell Hospital site with intermediate 

care facilities at both hospital sites. 

Our facilities at Sandwell are being 

refurbished to provide similar quality 

accommodation to that of the BTC and 

Midland Met. 

L-R: Tom Edgcumbe - MD for North and Midlands Balfour Beatty, Dean Banks - CEO Balfour Beatty, 

Richard Samuda – Chairman SWBH Trust and Toby Lewis – Chief Executive – SWBH Trust 

View of the Winter Garden at Midland Met 

5

Pioneer teams celebrate 

engagement success 


NEWS 

Following a six-month improvement 

journey, eight teams gathered 

together earlier this month to 

celebrate their successful completion 

of the weConnect Pioneers 

Programme. 

The weConnect Pioneer Programme 

which launched in June aims to partner 

teams with a specially trained connector, 

support from their HR business partner 

as well as an executive director sponsor, 

all with the shared aim of improving 

engagement within teams. 

Joining the programme in June, all 

eight teams took part in a survey to 

gain a better understanding of the levels 

of engagement in their areas. They then 

set about working with their connectors 

and teams to transform their department. 

After six months of hard work, the teams 

completed a final survey which showed 

how they had developed. 

Congratulating the teams on their hard 

work, Director of Communications, Ruth 

Wilkin said: “We began the weConnect 

programme as a Trust in 2018 and the 

pioneer programme builds upon that. Our 

organisation takes part in a quarterly survey 

and as a Trust; we have been scoring 3.8 

out of 5. Our ambition is to get to 4.0 out 

of 5.0 to be amongst the best in the NHS.” 

The medicine therapy and rapid response 

therapy services team were one of the 

highest-scoring teams. They showed that 

the working relationship was their strongest 

enabler with resources being their most 

enhanced areas during their improvement 

journey. Completing their final survey, 

members of the medicine therapy and 

rapid response therapy services team wrote, 

“Really enjoy my role within the team. The 

team I work for are very supportive of both 

work and out of work concerns.” 

Yew Tree and Hately Heath health visiting 

team were also amongst the highestscoring 

teams taking part and showed that 

clarity, work relationships and trust amongst 

their highest enablers with colleagues 

commenting, “Everyone in management 

or supervisory roles are very approachable 

and always support me when I feel unclear 

about practice.” 

Congratulations to the first cohort of the Pioneers Programme. Wave 2 pioneer teams will be selected in January to begin their programme 

Going ga ga for Radio SWB as it 

heads online 

Hospital radio has long been a friend 

at the bedside of patients at our 

organisation and has this month not 

only been revamped but also now 

has an international reach through its 

online stream. 

The newly rechristened Radio SWB will 

bring you the hits from over the years, 

feature length shows as well as hard hitting 

discussions. 

Station Manager Suzie Box spoke to 

Heartbeat about the changes and plans for 

the station: "2019 hasn't so much been a 

year of change for Radio SWB but more of 

evolution. Getting the station broadcasting 

online is just part of many projects we're 

currently pursuing to get us where we 

want to be, a more effective, modern and 

efficient hospital radio station that serves 

the patients and public well." 

The new online platform will see shows 

streaming out to desktops, mobile phones 

and internet radios across the Trust. It will 

also allow relatives, former patients and 

new listeners find out more about what is 

happening at the station and in the Trust. 

With two broadcasting studios as well as 

a talk studio Radio SWB is now ready to 

take on their next challenge. Colleagues 

can listen in to the radio on Connect or the 

Trust website on www.swbh.nhs.uk 

6

Ground-breaking cements our 

care partnership 

Chief Executive, Toby Lewis (right), with (left to right) Nicola Plunkett, a patient at Lyndon Health 

Centre and Dottie Tipton, Primary Care Liaison Manager 

An official sod-turning ceremony 

marked the start of building work on 

a new £6 million medical centre. This 

will see two existing GP practices move 

onto the Sandwell Hospital site. The 

new facility will be built as part of a 

plan to streamline and improve medical 

care in the area, ahead of the opening 

of the new Midland Metropolitan 

Hospital in Smethwick. 

It will house Carters Green Medical Centre 

and Lyndon Health Centre, which are both 

relocating to the new facility. The Your 

Health Partnership Primary Care Network, 

of which the Trust is a part, will be the lead 

provider of services, for almost five per cent 

of the borough’s population. 

The changes are a result of a decade long 

promise, made during the consultation 

which looked at how services would change 

once the new multi-million pound hospital 

had been built. 

The Sandwell Hospital site will house 

an urgent care centre, which will work 


NEWS 

alongside primary care colleagues to 

create a single menu of urgent care 

options for local residents in line with 

the NHS Long Term Plan. A pharmacy 

will be co-located with other facilities on 

the site to offer local people the right 

options for care. 

Welcoming the formal start of the 

development, Chief Executive, Toby 

Lewis, said: “When complex hospital 

services move or change, they are often 

replaced by services that it is more 

difficult for people to see, or know that 

they are there. This creates a sense that 

trust has been broken, and services lost. 

“I am delighted that, in addition to 

the 200 community based beds that 

we have opened since 2015, and the 

forthcoming care home development 

led by the local authority, we can now 

point to this purpose built GP practice, 

which opens before Midland Met and 

the acute care changes at Sandwell. We 

are keeping our promises to re-shape 

the local health service for 2030 and 

beyond. Doing that in partnership with 

Your Health Partnership, with whom 

we have an ever closer alignment, is 

a logical step for us towards a more 

integrated model of care across 

Sandwell.” 

We make the Inclusive Top 50 UK 

Employers list 

Our Trust is proud to be recognised in 

the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers list. 

We're featured in the coveted list of 

UK based organisations that promote 

inclusion across all protected characteristics, 

throughout each level of employment. 

We ranked 26th, recognised for our 

continuous dedication to diversity, equality 

and inclusion. As well as addressing areas 

of improvement, we have developed and 

delivered high impact initiatives to actively 

implement solutions. 

Donna Mighty, Assistant Primary Care 

Liaison Manager said: "It is good to receive 

recognition once again for the work that is 

being undertaken within our organisation. 

We must continue to strive and do what is 

right in the pursuit of equity for all.” 

The list is compiled by a dedicated panel 

of judges. Organisations featured have 

provided sufficient evidence on a range of 

topics including recruitment procedures, 

training and a host of diversity-related 

initiatives. 

Demonstrating the promotion of all strands 

of diversity including age, disability, gender, 

LGBT, race, faith and religion; the list 

focuses on representation at management, 

senior, executive and board level. 

To see the full list go to https:// 

www.inclusivecompanies.co.uk/ 

inclusivetop50/201920list/ 

Donna Mighty, Assistant Primary Care 

Liaison Manager 

7

Trailblazing use of artificial 

intelligence: First for the NHS 


NEWS 

We have become the first Trust 

in the UK to incorporate artificial 

intelligence in the patient workflow 

within radiology, that will enhance 

the quality of our reports. 

The Trust is working with IBM to introduce 

the software, called Clinical Review 3, 

which will support our radiologists who 

analyse X-ray and CT imaging results. 

Fresh from presenting the programme to 

several hundred delegates at the prestigious 

2019 Radiological Society of North America 

105th Scientific Assembly and Annual 

Meeting in Chicago, Dr Sarah Yusuf, Group 

Director for Imaging at the Trust, explained: 

“This is an exciting time for us, to work 

on an AI project, and the beginning of an 

exciting collaboration to work on other 

future projects, which aim to release expert 

clinician time to focus on reports which 

need specialist expertise. 

“Our radiologists analyse around 350,000 

imaging studies every year, and this figure 

is growing. Radiological diagnoses are not 

Dr Sarah Yusuf presents in Chicago at the 

prestigious 2019 Scientific Assembly and 

Annual Meeting 

straightforward and are subject to legitimate 

differences of expert opinion. We think CR 3 

will aid the quality of those reports, improve 

patient experience and safety.” 

“The clinical conditions we expect the system 

to identify across both X-ray and CT scans 

are in the chest and abdomen, including 

rib fractures, pneumothorax, emphysema, 

abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms, 

pulmonary embolisms and pulmonary nodules. 

“The technology uses AI algorithms to identify 

potential differences between what they would 

expect (based on data from similar tests) and 

what the radiologist actually reports. This is 

then reviewed by the radiologist who decides 

whether a second look is needed. 

“If the radiologist feels an addendum is 

Diwali celebrations 

To celebrate Diwali, our chaplaincy 

team hosted Diwali celebrations at 

Sandwell and City. 

The joint Hindu and Sikh Diwali celebrations 

took place at our chapels and all colleagues 

were invited to come along and join in the 

festivities. 

Both celebrations were opened with a 

short prayer from Rakesh Bhatt, our Hindu 

chaplain, where he gave blessings to all and 

wished good health upon our colleagues 

and patients. This was then followed by a 

thank you speech from Joga Singh, Sikh 

Chaplain, who expressed his gratitude to all 

those in attendance. 

The Diwali celebrations were then 

concluded with an array of traditional 

Indian and Desi style foods and sweets for 

all to try and enjoy. 

Rev. Mary Causer, Lead Chaplain, attended 

both events and believes they were a great 

way to bring colleagues together. 

She said: “Whether you’re Hindu, Sikh, 

or have another religious belief, the 

celebration was a fantastic way to unite 

staff. The Diwali celebration also educated 

everybody about Hindu and Sikh traditions 

Our chaplaincy team ahead of the Diwali festivities 

and gave everyone a better understanding 

of Diwali and why it is so significant within 

Indian culture.” Mary added: “It was also 

really nice to be able to indulge, again, 

in some of the delicious Indian treats on 

offer." 

Diwali usually takes place over five days 

between the end of October and November. 

Hindus celebrate Diwali as they believe it 

marks the return of deities Rama and Sita 

to Ayodhya after their 14-year exile. This is 

as well as the Goddess Durga destroying 

a demon called Mahisha. Sikhs celebrate 

appropriate, the report will be amended. Any 

clinical decisions are then made more promptly 

which will help minimise potential patient 

harm. Data identifying patients will not be 

shared with IBM or leave the U.K. 

“The main benefits of the trial will be to drive 

comprehensive reporting, help clinical teams 

support the quality of reporting and support 

informed care decisions.” 

Trust Chief Executive, Toby Lewis added: 

“This should be a game-changer for us. We 

are already in talks with suppliers to progress 

further developments in AI throughout next 

year including for prostate imaging, fracture 

detection in our emergency departments, and 

neuroradiology. These changes do not replace 

our expert clinicians, they help them to do their 

work, and release time to focus on the most 

complex patient needs. 

“We have an established relationship with IBM 

Watson, and whilst we are not tied in to one 

single supplier, that partnership is key to taking 

forward this project at pace. Meanwhile, we 

are talking to our neighbours in the region 

who have been researching this technology 

for some time and have expertise in it, such as 

colleagues at our nearby universities, and local 

primary care partners as well.” 

Diwali as it marks the release of the sixth 

guru, Hargobind Singh from prison in 1619. 

The foundation stone of the Golden Temple 

in Amritsar was also laid on Diwali in 1577. 

The word Diwali comes from the Sanskrit 

word “deepavali” which translates to a row 

of lightened lamps. This ties in with many 

traditions around Diwali which include the 

lighting of lamps in houses and fireworks as 

well as worship around the Hindu goddess 

of wealth, Lakshmi to bring blessings for 

the New Year ahead. 

8

SHOUT 

OUT 

Shout out has been a regular feature 

in Heartbeat 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: Ground floor domestic team (Sandwell) 

Shout out for coming to our rescue in 

children's outpatients on 9 November 

when we had a huge flood! Fantastic team 

and a great help! 

From: Natalie Jones, Sarah Duflot, Adele 

Jepson 


NEWS 

To: Karen Morsley 

Thank you so much for coming in on 

your day off to deliver manual handling 

training to a family in need, they were 

so keen to get their relative home and 

you helped make it happen. 

From: OPAU team 

To: Willow Team Midwives 

The introduction of the first continuity 

of care midwifery team has proven very 

successful for their patients on labour 

ward. The Willow team midwives are an 

amazing asset to the labour ward team, 

always more than willing to come in and 

care for their clients, showing enthusiasm 

and passion. 

From: Labour Ward Midwives 

To: Andrea Walker 

Andrea is an asset to Priory 4. I attended 

an EMRT she was so knowledgeable and 

provided a comprehensive patient history 

to the team. Reassured the patient at 

all times in a caring and compassionate 

manner. 

From: Joanne Cella 

To: Sandra Reid 

Stayed late and gave a helping 

hand when the ward was having a 

challenging week on Newton 5. She 

went beyond her duties. Big thank you 

Sandra - you certainly went the extra 

mile. 

From: Kim Smith 

To: Postgraduate staff at City 

Thank you so much for all your help to 

facilitate the HCA recruitment day. From 

sorting the rooms to photocopying and 

helping organise and direct 100 potential 

employees with a friendly smile and hello. 

From: Jo Thomas 

To: Dr Makwana 

Amazing Dance-a-thon, I couldn't get 

across to Sandwell but I have been 

watching all the videos. Amazing work. Go 

Nick and everyone that has joined in. I will 

be donating :). WELL DONE! 

From: Nikki Smith 

To: Everton Brown 

Big thank you to Everton for 

replacing a majority of PCs in medical 

engineering. It was a smooth and 

painless transition. The necessary 

software was preloaded onto the new 

machines causing little or no disruption. 

From: Gary Howse 

To: Kimberley Kitching 

Shout out to our new manager who is 

injecting new ideas to our department 

it's really made a significant change to 

our dermatology department. Things are 

so much more efficient more organised 

MASSIVE well done to her. 

From: Millicent Seville 

To: Lauren Weigh, Libby Marshall, Helen 

Colbourne, Emma Hill 

I want to thank all of these ladies for 

supporting me whilst completing my 

Business Administration Apprenticeship. 

They are all lovely and a credit to the team 

they work for. They genuinely care for all 

of their students and cannot do enough 

to help. An extra big thanks to Lauren my 

assessor who was so attentive and kind. 

From: Rachael Gallagher 

To: Stephen Shilvock and Anas Bhayat 

Thank you for picking up the phone and 

not ignoring me when I have jobs to chase. 

Both chaps are very helpful and always go 

the extra mile. 

From: Natalie Brown 

To: Alpha Suite – Gynaecology 

Thanks to the team who have been 

so committed and enthusiastic about 

introducing routine domestic abuse 

screening in their clinic. Well done! 

From: Carolyn Hawkins 

To: Rachael Gallagher 

Rachael is fun to work with but still very 

professional. She is always on hand if I 

need any help or advice. 

From: Natalie Brown 

To: Karl Baraks 

Thank you Karl for your amazing 

support and knowledge. Your advice 

and expertise aided me to remain at 

work and helped my recovery after 

months of being in immense pain daily. 

Keep up the great work that you do. 

From: Chan Sangha 

To: Amy Sturdy, Laura Sperring, Angela 

Gibson 

Well done for passing with flying 

colours the EPLS training, important 

enhanced skills development and 

contribution to delivering patient care. 

From: Cheryl Newton 

9

Ward competition highlights 

importance of medicines safety 


NEWS 

During the last week of November, 

we celebrated International 

Medicines Safety Week across the 

organisation. 

International Medicines Safety Week 

focuses on safe use of medicines and 

reporting of adverse drug reactions, 

particularly in patients on multiple 

medicines. The awareness week is 

recognised across the globe every year and 

is usually celebrated during the last week of 

November. 

To help increase awareness of the safety 

week, our pharmacy department hosted 

a drop in session across Sandwell and City 

Hospitals around the topic of medicine 

in general. They also addressed medicine 

safety concerns of both colleagues and 

patients. 

“The events were a great tool for our team 

to inform our staff, patients and visitors of 

the importance of medicines and the yellow 

card reporting scheme” said Suki Tagger, 

Lead Pharmacy Technician. 

“Both our Sandwell and City events played 

host to a medicine safety quiz which gave 

anybody in attendance the opportunity to 

be in with the chance win a prize. The quiz 

was made up of pharmacy and medicine 

related questions which all aimed to increase 

knowledge around medicine and what we 

do whilst keeping everything fun. Also, 

congratulations to Dean Lavender who won 

first prize in the individual quiz.” 

Wards that were unable to attend any of the 

events were encouraged to participate in 

the ‘survival of the safest ward challenge,’ a 

medicine and pharmacy focused competition 

Suki Tagger, Lead Pharmacy Technician and Christopher Anton, Administrative Coordinator in 

Pharmacy hosted medicine safety drop in sessions across Sandwell and City during International 

Medicines Safety Week 

Patients breathing easy after 

relocation of respiratory hub 

targeted at clinical wards and departments. 

The completion was designed to bring 

colleagues together, all in massive effort to get 

everyone involved across the Trust. 

Christopher Anton, Administrative Coordinator 

in pharmacy believes the week was vital as it 

reminded people about implications of drugs. 

He said: “Clinicians should always be alert 

to the possibility of an adverse drug reaction 

in their patients and Medicines Safety Week 

is great at drawing attention to this, the 

existence of the regional yellow card centre 

in the Trust and the work of pharmacy in 

promoting medicines safety in general.” 

In November our respiratory 

service was transformed with 

the development of a respiratory 

inpatient hub which moved all 

inpatient respiratory care under one 

roof at City Hospital on wards D15 

and D17. 

The development of the respiratory hub 

at City Hospital has now meant that 

patients who have a respiratory condition 

that is expected to result in an inpatient 

stay longer than two days will stay within 

the newly formed respiratory hub. 

Outpatient clinic appointments remain 

running at both Sandwell and City 

Hospitals with specialist consultants 

and the respiratory team continuing to 

see patients who are admitted through 

to the assessment units or wards at 

Sandwell Hospital. 

Sharing his thoughts on the development 

Respiratory Hub nursing team 

of the new hub, Respiratory Consultant Dr 

Arvind Rajasekaran said: “The development 

of the new respiratory hub at City means 

that our respiratory beds are now together 

on one site so for patients who need to 

stay in hospital, they will be able to be seen 

more quickly and by the most appropriate 

clinician. Reducing delays in treatment and 

having specialists on hand will inevitably 

improve patient outcomes and also reduce 

length of stay.” 

“Reconfiguration of services of such a scale 

required careful planning and over the past 

several months we engaged and worked 

with several teams both within and outside 

of our organisation. 

This is a time to reflect on this hard work 

and acknowledge the impact of all of the 

colleagues who have made this possible. 

I would like the specifically thank the 

patient forums for their suggestions and my 

clinical colleagues who have changed their 

working patterns to make this a reality. 

Special thanks are also due to the 

Emergency Department team, Estates, West 

Midlands Ambulance Service, IT and the 

Respiratory Hub project team.” 

For more information about the change 

to the respiratory services, contact 

Dr Arvind Rajasekaran via arvind. 

rajasekaran@nhs.net. 

10

Occupational Therapy Week – 

small change, big impact 

iCares and social service occupational 

therapists joined forces to celebrate 

Occupational Therapy Week in 

November. 

During Occupational Therapy Week, 

therapists across the country held thousands 

of events and activities throughout the UK to 

promote the profession within a wide variety 

of settings. 

This year’s theme was ‘small change, big 

impact,’ with the aim being to celebrate 

and champion the impact of occupational 

therapy on services, people’s lives and the 

communities they live in. 

“To celebrate the special occasion in 

Sandwell we hosted awareness stands at 

Sandwell Council House as well as Rowley 

Regis Hospital," said Helen Bessant, Clinical 

Team Leader. 

Kirsten Cashford and Hannah Downey, 

occupational therapists in iCares hosted an 

awareness stand at Sandwell Council House to 

raise awareness of occupational therapy week 

“Our occupational therapists were on hand 

to answer any questions people had and talk 

about the client group they work with. In 

addition to this our therapists spoke about 

the little changes that have the biggest 

effect.” 

Feeling the heat at Sandwell 

Hospital 


NEWS 

Deborah Eden, Occupational Therapist 

believes the joint collaboration of 

Sandwell iCares and social services 

occupational therapists was a fantastic 

way to generate awareness. She said: 

“The collaboration between the two sets 

of occupational therapists was gratifying 

to see as it showcased the great work all 

the therapists do in the local area. 

“If by us recognising Occupational 

Therapy Week brings the profession to 

the forefront of people’s minds for that 

one week, it will have definitely have 

been worthwhile in my opinion.” 

Picture this – the alarm is sounding 

and you realise there’s a fire engulfing 

the tunnels of our hospital. Would you 

know what to do? Luckily for us, we 

have dedicated fire safety, security and 

estates teams that know every inch of 

our estate and plan for such events. 

In October you might have thought you 

were seeing an emergency unfold before 

your eyes if you saw fire engines on-site 

at Sandwell Hospital. In fact, what you 

would have seen was a controlled fire safety 

exercise that had been carefully planned 

with West Bromwich Fire Station. 

Each year we work with the local fire 

station to help simulate a real-life 

emergency call out. This is very much a twoway 

exercise as it allows both the fire crew 

and our teams to check their procedures 

and practises are as efficient and effective 

as they need to be. Using the hospital 

provides a safe environment to prepare for 

complex situations that may arise in real-life 

situations. 

Taking the lead on our side was Sarah 

Ludlow, Specialist Fire Training Officer. 

Working with Dale Pound, Crew 

Commander and Pete Finazzi, Watch 

Commander together they planned the 

event from start to finish. This exercise had 

some unexpected twists and turns thrown 

in to really test those taking part on the day. 

West Bromwich Fire Station crew onsite at Sandwell Hospital 

This included the threat of chemicals and 

contractors that had been unaccounted for. 

Sarah commented: “Preparation for this 

event took over two weeks of collaboration 

with Dale and Pete. We went into great 

detail to ensure that we had every 

opportunity to fully test the procedures in 

place for both the Trust and the fire station. 

Lots of people lent their support and we 

all played various roles. This included 

everything from the police to ambulance 

crews. Santokh Sagoo and Phil Hanson from 

our security team even joined us as well to 

make this as realistic as possible. Overall it 

was a good exercise and both sides took 

learnings away from it.” 

Dale said: “The outcome from the exercise 

was that all the casualties located in 

the basement area of the hospital were 

found by crews. It took slightly longer 

than expected which we will review. Our 

biggest learning on the day was not to 

overthink and to deploy our crews quicker.” 

He added: “We’d like to thank everyone 

from the hospital for use of the excellent 

facilities.” 

11

Health watchdog highlights 

board rounds as “good practice” 


NEWS 

Our Trust has been hailed by a 

leading health watchdog as having 

good practice when it comes to 

patient care. 

We were highlighted in the report 

“Caring for doctors, Caring for patients” 

for the General Medical Council. It 

looked at how better solutions around 

patient care can lead to the better 

wellbeing of doctors. 

Our “board rounds” are scheduled daily 

and are discussions held by doctors, 

nurses, physiotherapists as well as 

other clinicians. They are used to share 

information about patients so that they 

receive the best care possible. 

The report by the GMC found these 

types of initiatives could be a “model for 

the world” in how to develop workplace 

cultures that support doctors’ core work 

David Carruthers - Medical Director 

needs if these solutions were consistently 

applied. 

David Carruthers, Medical Director said: “This 

is one of the many ways we are working to 

support our junior doctors, not only in the 

direct provision of care to our patients but 

Shaping the future of NHS 

procurement 

also for their general well-being, reducing 

work-related stress and anxiety. These 

factors will all contribute to improving the 

quality and safety of care we provide to 

patients and maintain a supportive work 

environment for our junior doctors.” 

Other recommendations for health service 

leaders include improvements to teamworking, 

culture and leadership, and 

workloads. 

Charlie Massey, the GMC’s Chief Executive, 

said: “Medicine has always been a highpressure 

career, but doctors are telling us 

that the demands on them are now so great 

they risk becoming unmanageable. As a 

result, their health suffers, and patient care 

is compromised. 

“Solutions are not easy, but this report 

shows that there are already many examples 

of great practice to build from. As a 

regulator, we will use all our influence and 

powers to support doctors and medical 

students.” 

Clinical colleagues have once again 

stepped forward to share their expert 

knowledge on a national stage helping 

to shape the future of clinical NHS 

procurement. 

Recently, when NHS Supply Chain 

was tasked with developing their new 

framework for non-invasive sleep therapy 

they turned to non-other than colleagues 

in our respiratory physiology team at 

Sandwell and City Hospitals to help shape 

their specifications for Continuous Positive 

Airway Pressure devices. 

Sharing the news with Heartbeat, Head of 

Clinical Product Management at the Black 

Country Alliance (BCA) Elena Slater said: 

“I am so proud of the clinicians we have 

at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS 

Trust, this is only one example of many 

where our clinicians are helping to shape 

the future of NHS procurement and protect 

our patients by ensuring the national clinical 

specifications for the procurement of 

CPAP devices (in this example) are clinically 

acceptable and we not only that we get 

value for money on a national scale but also 

ensuring that patient care remains as the 

number one priority. 

"Mike Lang, Head of Respiratory Physiology 

and Amina Mohammed, Deputy Head of 

Respiratory Physiology, have been very 

helpful by facilitating visits from Walsall 

sleep service to show them how we can 

improve patient care, not only at our 

organisation, but across the Black Country 

Alliance by using remote monitoring of 

patients and adopting innovations in 

Mike Lang, Head of Respiratory Physiology 

practice. A fine example of how our clinical 

engagement programme is showing not 

only savings but clinical benefits across the 

BCA and nationally. 

Sharing best practice is the key and our 

clinicians at SWB are at the forefront 

of this nationally inputting on national 

specifications for many other clinical areas.” 

Amina Mohammed, Deputy Head of 

Respiratory Physiology 

12

Heartbeat set to 

go digital 

We’ll soon be relaunching Heartbeat 

as an online magazine that will 

be available across various digital 

platforms. This is YOUR Trust 

magazine and we’re currently 

working on a redesign project to 

give Heartbeat a fresh new look. 

So, what changes can you expect to 

see? Well that depends on you. We 

want the revamped Heartbeat to be a 

reflection of what you want to see and 

read so your feedback will be vital to the 

look and feel of the magazine. 

Look out for the opportunity to give your 

feedback via the communications bulletin 

and there will also be a chance to take part 

in focus groups too. If you’d like to take 

part in a focus group or give your feedback 

please email swbh.comms@nhs.net with 

‘Heartbeat focus group’ in the header. 

You can expect to see the new look 

Heartbeat by Spring 2020. 


NEWS 

Apprentices celebrated in 

awards ceremony 

In November, the apprenticeship 

provider team hosted their second 

annual awards ceremony. It was a day 

of celebration as people from across our 

organisation came together to collect 

their awards after completing their 

apprenticeships. 

Bethan Downing, Deputy People Director 

opened the ceremony. She commented: “As 

we change our workforce, it’s important 

that our people can develop into roles 

they’d like to move into.” 

This very much set the tone for the 

ceremony. Each apprentice had taken 

ownership of their development and was 

empowered by our organisation to do so. 

The awards ceremony recognised 

apprentices in the following categories: 

• Business and Administration 

Level 2 

• Customer Service Practitioner 

• Level 2 

• Health Care Support Worker 

Level 2 

• Team Leader/Supervisor Level 3 

To be considered for an apprenticeship 

certain eligibility criteria needed to be 

met. Where extra support was needed the 

apprenticeship provider team helped to 

upskill learners to improve and refresh their 

literacy and numeracy skills. 

All training was delivered in house. As a 

registered apprenticeship provider within 

Sandwell and West Birmingham, the team 

act as trainers, assessors and coaches. 

The class of 2019 

Together, they deliver apprenticeship 

standards across healthcare, business and 

administration, customer service and team 

leader programmes. They provided bespoke 

training and support to each apprentice 

throughout their learning journey. 

This cohort exceeded all expectations. 

In particular, all the team leader and 

customer service practitioners passed with 

a distinction. It was the first time as a Trust 

we’d put learners through these two new 

apprenticeship standards. 

Maxine Griffiths, Widening Participation 

Manager told Heartbeat how thrilled she 

was about this. “For us this was a first, 

extending our apprenticeship programme 

in this way had not been done before. Each 

learner put so much effort and dedication 

into their studies and achieving a distinction 

is wholeheartedly deserved.” 

Since completing their apprenticeships, 

eight individuals have gone on to 

secure higher banded posts, become a 

nurse associate or move on to a Level 3 

qualification. 

Libby Marshall, Apprenticeship 

Coordinator added: “It’s important 

for us to recognise each individual as 

we’ve done here today at our awards 

ceremony. They’ve all worked so hard 

and should be proud of everything 

they’ve achieved. As a team, it brings 

us great pleasure knowing that we’ve 

helped each person grow personally 

and professionally. We look forward to 

seeing what great things they all achieve 

in their careers.” 

If you’d like to find out more about 

apprenticeship opportunities, please 

contact the apprenticeship team on 

07976 683565. Alternatively, please 

email swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net 

or visit Connect. 

13

DISCOVER 

WHAT 

YOU’RE 

MADE OF 

Proud sponsor of 

FIND OUT WITH US AT WLV.AC.UK 

14

Keeping our local communities 

safe and well 

Teaming up with West Midlands Fire 

Service, members of our inpatient 

therapy team have helped to bring Safe 

and Well Checks to our Trust. Working 

together, the two areas have been able 

to introduce a formal referral pathway 

that will help our most vulnerable 

patients. 

Safe and Well Checks are an initiative carried 

out by West Midlands Fire Service. Free of 

charge, they are designed to help people 

stay safe in their homes. As an organisation, 

we can also refer patients that are bedbound, 

have reduced mobility or that are 

limited to the upstairs of their property. This 

allows the fire service to flag individuals on 

their system as ‘at risk’ if a fire breaks out in 

their home. 

The visits are carried out by operational 

firefighters. Based at 38 community fire 

stations, the checks usually take around an 

hour. The fire service aims to complete these 

checks within 72 hours of discharge. Possible 

indications for a referral may include but are 

not limited to: 

• Smoking, alcohol, medication and 

drugs 

• Mental health 

Members of the occupational therapy team with 

West Midlands Fire Service 

• Cognitive, visual or sensory 

impairments 

• Mobility including slips, trips 

and falls 

• Hoarding 

• Loneliness and social isolation 

• Healthy eating and lifestyle 

• Home security/fire checks/monoxide 

detector and alarm fitting 

• Road safety 

The partnership aims to ensure vulnerable 

patients receive as much support as possible 


NEWS 

when returning to their homes. Jannine 

Hall, Occupational Therapist explains: 

“This is the first time we’ve introduced 

the Safe and Well Checks to our 

organisation and so far it’s going well. 

Working closely with West Midlands Fire 

Service means we can further develop our 

links to the local communities in which 

we work. The service helps to make 

homes safer by preventing trips, slips 

and falls which otherwise may result in 

readmissions.” 

West Midlands Fire Service commented: 

“It was good to see the positive 

interaction between all parties in support 

of a common vision. Thank you all for 

your help – we look forward to working 

with you all more closely.” 

You can get a copy of the referral 

form from jannine.hall@nhs.net. 

Please send all completed forms to 

westmidlands.fireservice@nhs.net. 

Proud sponsor of 

15

'Tis the season - Trust celebrates 

Christmas throughout December 

This year the festivities have got 

underway early as we've enjoyed lots 

of special events and visits to mark the 

festive season. 

With everything from Christmas carols to 

chairman's drinks, our Trust has gone all 

out this year to make December special for 

patients, staff and visitors. Our Christmas 

decoration competition has been embraced 

across the Trust with beautiful displays 

everywhere to be seen. The winners of this 

year’s competition will be announced on 

Connect and the daily bulletin shortly. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! 

A Christmas tree dressed by West Bromwich 

Building Society 

Ryders Green school carol singing at Sandwell Hospital 

Trust colleagues preparing the Christmas carol 

concert 

Sukhjot Kaur from Eaton Valley Primary 

School. Winner of the Your Trust Charity 

Christmas card competition with her winning 

card design. 

The team from West Bromwich Building Society decorating our neonatal department 

Our revamped chapel at Sandwell Hospital 

Operational Accounting from Birmingham HQ 

at HSBC decorating our chapel at Sandwell 

Hospital 

Bristnall Hall Academy helping to decorate 

Lyndon 1 

December 2019 staff lottery results 

1 st £192 

Mary-Ann Babaran 

2 nd £115.20 

Santosh Shekhar 

3 rd £76.80 

Hannah Goodwin 

Don’t forget that Your 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.

CQC City spot check praises 

elderly care 

MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY 

CARE 

Elderly care at City Hospital has 

been praised as “safe and effective” 

following an unannounced 

inspection. 

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) 

carried out the spot check on City 

Hospital’s two elderly care wards, D26 

and D11. 

The inspectors praised the recently 

introduced “blue pillows” initiative 

which uses cushions to elevate patient 

heels, relieving pressure and reducing 

the risk of pressure ulcers. It also helped 

staff to identify quickly the patients on 

the ward who were at risk. 

The report highlights safeguarding 

training as an area for improvement 

Joy Walker is ward manager on D26, which was 

recently praised by the Care Quality Commission 

along with ensuring all patient records 

were completed and updated within the 

recommended timeframe. However, it also 

found patients at risk of pressure ulcers and 

pressure damage, were reviewed correctly 

by clinicians who could easily access special 

equipment to relieve symptoms. 

Those who were not able to eat properly 

received supplements in the form of 

readymade milkshakes and juices and 

were properly monitored. Colleagues were 

able to speak to dietitians and seek advice 

from tissue viability nurses when needed. 

It added that staff were competent in their 

roles and were supported by their manager, 

whilst they were also able to make decisions 

for those patients who did not have the 

capacity. 

Toby Lewis, Chief Executive, said: “We 

welcome this inspection’s findings which 

are consistent with our own assurance - 

that our staff are dedicated and caring. 

Mandatory training is something we 

complete annually and by the end of each 

fiscal year we are confident of complying 

with our standards.” 

SWBH Women’s Clinician Network- 

“Women Empowering Women” 

Following the success of the “Women 

Empowering Women” conference 

in May this year, there was an 

overwhelming demand for a clinical 

network. Colleagues who flocked to 

the conference felt so strongly about 

the empowering messages that they 

felt they should develop an ongoing 

network to continue their work and so 

the SWBH Women’s Clinician Network 

was born. 

Launching the network, Heartbeat caught 

up with Deputy Medical Director and 

Consultant in Acute Medicine, Dr Sarb 

Clare. She said, “When we launched 

the first Women Empowering Women 

Conference we knew there was a desperate 

need for women to be heard, empowered 

and encouraged to be the best that they 

can be. It wasn’t long in to the conference 

that we knew this couldn’t be a simple one 

off event, there needed to be an ongoing 

momentum to this work and before we 

knew it, the SWBH Women’s Clinician 

Network was born. “ 

The network has four simple but powerful 

aims and objectives, to encourage role 

modelling, offering mentoring and career 

advice, promoting leadership and most 

importantly being a safe place to raise 

concerns. 

Founding members of the network include: 

• Dr Sarb Clare - Deputy MD and 

Consultant Acute Medicine Lead 

• Raffaela Goodby- Executive Director 

for People and Organisational 

Development 

• Dr May Yan - RCP Tutor and Consultant 

Acute Medicine 

• Dr Sarah Faloon - CMT2 

• Dr Christine Wright - Safety Guardian, 

Consultant Haematologist 

• Dr Alison Eastaugh - RCP Chief 

Registrar, SpR Elderly Care 

• Miss Mei Ju Hwang - Consultant Breast 

Surgeon 

Dr May Yan, Dr Sarb Clare and Dr Sarah Falloon 

• Dr Huma Naqvi - FY1 Tutor, Ortho- 

Geriatrician 

The network will also be launching sessions 

on positive thinking and how to manage 

inappropriate verbal and non verbal 

language in the New Year with the help of 

this year’s Star Awards Employee of the year 

and Organisational Development Specialist 

Trainer Richard Burnell. 

If you would like to join the network 

or simply raise a concern you have, 

you can contact them on email swbh. 

WomensClinicianNetwork@nhs.net 

where one of the team will be able to 

help, guide and support you with any 

issues raised. 

18

A special time to remember - critical 

care hold annual memorial service 

On Sunday 24 November critical care 

hosted their 14th annual memorial 

service. Held in our hospital chapels this 

year 104 people attended services at 

City and Sandwell Hospitals. 

The critical care bereavement team is 

made up of 12 nurses all of whom have an 

interest in ensuring excellent end of life care 

as well as providing ongoing support for 

families and friends. Working closely with 

the chaplaincy team they host a memorial 

service annually. It offers relatives and 

friends a chance to reflect and reconnect 

with those that looked after their loved 

ones. 

Reverend Mary Causer opened the service 

with a simple prayer. Speaking to Heartbeat 

she said: “The service was open to all faiths 

and I talked about how grief becomes 

different over time. It’s important to look 

after your heart and soul when grieving and 

find ways to prepare for the next season. I 

think that was something everyone could 

relate to - the emotion in the room was 

powerful.” 

One attendee commented: “Heartwarming, 

made me feel closer to the person 

l lost” whilst another said it was “emotional 

but comforting.” 

Members of the critical care bereavement 

team 

Each member of the bereavement care 

team had a part to play whether it was 

sharing a reading, a poem or even a song. 

Catherine Beddowes, Senior Sister said: 

“The service was emotional. It wasn't, 

however, a sad occasion, it was about 

celebrating life. We read out the names of 

everyone that has passed away in the last 

twelve months as a sign of respect.” 

Jane Ulfig, Sister commented: “The service 

gives us as a team a chance to talk to 

families and see them months later as they 

are going through the healing process. 

It’s nice to keep that continuity. For the 

families, they’re able to talk openly about 

their own experiences with others who have 


CARE 

gone through something similar in a 

safe environment. We’ve also found that 

some families return year on year so they 

can maintain that contact with those 

that looked after their relatives.” 

Based on the theme of forget me not 

the service incorporated lots of special 

touches. Each attendee was given a bag 

of forget me not seeds that once sewn 

will flourish into a remembrance plant. 

A symbol of love and memories, this 

small but thoughtful gesture is a sign 

of just how much the team care about 

those they look after. Candles were lit 

and messages shared on our prayer tree 

allowing families to be actively involved 

in the service. 

Catherine commented: “Year on year 

relatives are surprised that we do 

a service like this but are always so 

thankful. Their appreciation makes it all 

worthwhile. Unexpectedly at this service, 

a family donated £1,500 as a thank you 

for how their relative was treated in our 

care. It makes you feel very humble.” 

Learning from deaths – making life 

and death decisions 

Death, it’s often a taboo topic, rarely 

spoken about and often veiled in 

statistics and mortality figures. However, 

death is one of the unfortunate 

inevitabilities that colleagues across the 

NHS deal with regularly. 

Making sure that life and death decisions that 

have to be made are done so respectfully, 

ethically and with the best interests of 

the patient puts a huge strain on clinical 

colleagues who carry the responsibility. With 

this in mind, Dr Alison Eastaugh in her role 

as Chief Registrar and Dr Sarb Clare, Deputy 

Medical Director and enthused colleagues 

from across the Trust gathered at City Hospital 

to learn more about what they can do when 

they need to make a life and death decision. 

The day covered acute care, challenges of the 

post take ward round, DNR decisions as well 

as great tales and anecdotes from Dr Angus 

Mackenzie. 

Dr Sarb Clare shared her thoughts, “Whilst 

we hope for the best outcomes for each 

patient often tough decisions have to be 

made and difficult conversations had, whether 

it is talking to a family about DNACPR 

Colleagues learnt more about the care Alfred 

Haden received at the learning from deaths 

conference 

or advanced care planning and palliative 

care. The burden of these tasks falls on the 

shoulders of clinicians and our decisions 

reverberate through whole families.” 

The 50 colleagues that attended the 

conference also had the opportunity to hear 

from Anna Whitehouse. Her father (Alfred) 

was admitted to hospital with a suspected 

urinary infection which later transpired to 

be a perianal abscess. Through a series of 

unfortunate events, Alfred later contracted 

C difficile and developed chest infections 

during his stay. Through her words, Anna 

described her father as a man who led an 

independent life and who through his failing 

health and illnesses went from someone 

who was very much able to do things for 

himself to someone who lost the ability to 

communicate. 

Shockingly, during Alfred’s failing health, 

the family were unable to speak to a 

consultant for almost two months. When 

the time came to discuss DNACPR, a doctor 

seemingly dropped the life-changing 

decision in the family’s hands without any 

thought or feeling. Whilst most of the 

care Alfred received was in a neighbouring 

hospital, Alfred was transferred to our care 

when on the supportive care pathway. 

“Alfred’s story was eye-opening. It 

highlights how a range of decisions, 

miscommunications and failings had a dire 

effect on the failing health of a man who 

until his hospitalisation was fit and healthy. 

Whilst clinicians didn’t conspire to provide 

poor care, a series of failings ultimately led 

to a significant decline in his health and 

ultimately to his passing.” 

If you'd like to learn more 

about upcoming acute medicine 

training conference, email swbh. 

acutemedicalsecretariesamu1@nhs.net. 

19

Joint working improves 

paediatrics care 


CARE 

The children’s emergency 

department at City Hospital 

successfully transferred into their 

new temporary home which will 

mean a temporary reduction in the 

cubicles and the space available to 

treat young patients. 

To support the children’s ED during the 

decant period the paediatric assessment 

unit (PAU) based on D19 has increased 

its capacity to facilitate a timely transfer 

from the children’s ED. 

The PAU now has nine-bed spaces and 

five chairs for children to be assessed 

and treated. The length of stay on this 

unit has been reduced to 18 hours 

to reflect the nature of a PAU, and 

in readiness for the new combined 

Children’s ED/PAU. The staffing 

establishment has been increased to 

reflect the changes, and we are working 

towards recruiting staff to meet this. 

Cheryl Newton, Group Director of 

Nursing Women and Child Health, said: 

“The transition has gone well. Close 

joint working will be needed to make 

sure we can still offer the best care to 

our children in the reduced space in ED. 

The team created a leaflet providing 

information to parents and carers about 

ED and paediatrics team work closely to support safe and effective care 

how their children will be cared for during 

their stay on the PAU.” 

The new paediatric PAU/ED unit is due to 

open in April 2020. Cheryl added: “The new 

unit will enable ED/PAU to work in a defined 

space created for children and young people. 

It will facilitate closer working and enable 

faster response by paediatric trained medics 

in emergencies. 

“The unit will present the teams with 

opportunities to develop and expand their 

skills and will be staffed 24 hours on both 

the ED/PAU areas. Currently, the children’s 

ED area closes at 10pm.” 

New FGM clinic is taking referrals 

WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH 

Clinicians can now refer to a new 

female genital mutilation (FGM) 

clinic, run by our Trust. 

Summerfield Women’s Clinic, based at 

Summerfield Primary Care Centre, in 

Winson Green, and is being led by FGM 

Specialist Midwife, Alison Byrne. 

Clinicians from our Trust and other 

neighbouring healthcare organisations 

can refer patients who will benefit from 

treatment and care from Alison and her 

team. 

She said: “We’ve had several referrals 

already which speaks volumes about the 

service. It is a much-needed clinic and 

Sarata Jabbi - FGM survivor 

is perfectly placed in the heart of the West 

Midlands. We will not only be expecting 

patient referrals from our Trust but from 

others across the Midlands.” 

Heartbeat told last month, how FGM 

survivor Sarata Jabbi had also praised the 

opening of the clinic. “It will give so many 

victims a safe and confidential way to seek 

help” she previously said. “There are many 

women from the Gambia, Somali, Eritrea 

and other African countries that have 

suffered and desperately need treatment as 

a result of FGM. 

“Summerfield Primary Care Centre is a 

well-known venue and is easily accessible 

for many women from the communities 

where FGM is practised so I believe it will be 

a well-used clinic.” 

To refer a patient to the clinic, email 

Alison at swbh.summerfieldfgm@nhs. 

net. 

20

Community midwife retires 

after 30 years 

After a 30 year career in nursing and 

midwifery, at the end of November 

Val Shilton said a final goodbye to her 

colleagues and friends as she retired 

from our Trust. 

In 1990 Val joined Sandwell Hospital and 

completed her nurse training. From there 

she completed her midwifery training at the 

University of Wolverhampton and went on 

to work as a community midwife. 

When speaking to Heartbeat, Val revealed 

that it was a very sad personal experience 

that drew her into the profession. Before 

that time she’d worked in office-based 

roles. On reflection, Val said this was a 

complete change of career but that her 

previous experience of the care she’d 

received stayed with her. “I wanted to be 

able to do that for others. Being allowed 

into that most intimate time, sharing the 

miracle of life with another woman is 

truly special. I remember shedding tears 

undertaking my first delivery and I’ve had a 

Val with colleagues and friends at her retirement 

celebration 

wonderful career as a midwife." 

Amanda Jowett, Midwife commented: “We’re 

all sad to see Val leave as we’re a close-knit 

team. Some of us have delivered each other’s 

children so we do share a special bond. Val 

thought she’d slip away unnoticed but we 

wouldn’t have that. We’ve got her some 

gifts to say thank you and we’ll be meeting 

up again soon for her leaving meal and 

Christmas.” 

WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH 

Looking to the future Val admitted it 

would take some getting used to not 

working with her colleagues that have 

become firm friends over the years. She 

said: “I’m looking forward to it, but 

naturally feel a little apprehensive about 

the unknown. It’s such an emotional 

time because we’ve shared so much 

together over the years, experienced 

each other’s life events and become a 

family. I'll miss everyone." 

One thing Val will be doing is spending 

some quality time with her 19-year-old 

daughter, Rhiannon. She’s also going 

to enjoy lots of relaxation as well as 

visiting family and friends. Having always 

enjoyed travelling Val is looking forward 

to revisiting the Caribbean too. 

Happy retirement Val! 

Practice development in health 

visiting service 

Our health visitors received 

recognition at a national conference 

after presenting posters showcasing 

innovations the service has been 

working towards. 

Randeep Kaur, Clinical Lead, along with 

senior staff Regender Athi, Gaynor Roberts, 

Practice Teachers, and Nina Rabadia, Team 

Leader, presented their findings in poster 

form at the CPHVA (Community Practitioner 

Health Visiting Association) Professional 

Conference. 

Regender Athi set up a health visiting 

prescribing development group to increase 

the number of prescriptions written as well 

as raising the profile of prescribing. This 

innovation won the Poster Prize for Practice 

Development. 

One of the issues identified by the 

prescribing development group was that 

there were delays in receiving prescription 

pads. Once a plan was in place to hand out 

the pads within eight weeks and introduce 

baby clinics, opportunities for health visiting 

prescribing increased. The ultimate aim is 

that GP attendances are reduced for minor 

ailments. 

Gaynor said: “It’s a great achievement and 

fantastic recognition for our team. The 

CPHVA Conference is a well-attended event 

The health visiting team with the winning 

poster at the CPHVA Professional Conference 

which attracts professionals from all over 

the country. We were thrilled to present 

our poster which showed our findings from 

an issue which affects health visiting teams 

both locally and nationally.” 

Regender added: “Within our team, we 

provided strong leadership to ensure that 

all health visitors received their prescription 

pad promptly and that they were updated 

to confidently prescribe.” 

Health Visitor Non-Medical Prescribers 

(NMP) make up the largest number of 

prescribers in our organisation. Other 

improvements included an increase 

in prescribers from four health visitor 

practitioners regularly prescribing, to 26 

who regularly prescribe. 

Gaynor also presented a poster at 

the conference around training to 

improve confidence in tackling difficult 

conversations related to poor home 

conditions. 

She added: “Both practice developments 

attracted a lot of interest from other 

professionals and put Sandwell and West 

Birmingham health visitors firmly on 

the map for service innovation. Several 

organisations nationally are waiting for 

the delivery of this programme which 

will generate income for our Trust. This 

innovation was as a result of local issues 

identified from learning reviews.” 

As well as recognition for the projects, 

the team has also been winning over 

followers on their Facebook page. They 

will be posting an advent calendar 

of Christmas activities and themes, 

educating the community about relevant 

issues. 

Gaynor explained: “As well as posting 

about safety, we will also be giving 

ideas to parents around things they can 

do with their children. We plan to ask 

members of our staff to take part as 

budding actors, singers and cake makers 

so watch this space.” 

Visit @SWBHhealthvisiting to follow 

the team and all their activities. 

21

Caring runs in the family for 

nurse Agnes 

SURGICAL SERVICES 

Agnes Mutia is a natural-born carer 

after following her mum’s footsteps 

into healthcare. It’s been a lifelong 

dream of hers to be a nurse and 

working at Sandwell Hospital has seen 

that become a reality. But she’s not the 

only one in the family who’s working 

within the NHS – both her brothers 

are also nurses. 

“There’s something in the family when 

it comes to caring for people,” laughed 

Agnes. “I remember that I always wanted 

to be a nurse from the age of seven. I’d 

see my mum in her uniform and I was 

impressed with the way she had cared 

for my grandmother. I used to help her 

too, and I think from then it was really 

something that I wanted to do.” 

Agnes works within the surgical ward 

looking after patients who are pre and 

post-op. She added: “It’s not only about 

the care they receive beforehand, but 

also afterwards. I want to ensure that 

they receive the best quality of care 

and that they gain their confidence and 

independence so they are well enough to 

go home. 

“Patient care is certainly what makes me 

want to come into work every day and do 

the best that I can. I feel as a nurse I am 

there to give them the help they need. 

They are the reason I am in this profession 

and they are my focus when I am in 

work.” 

The 27-year-old, from Walsall, has been 

working within the NHS since 2015. 

However her partner is from the West 

Midlands, and when they became 

engaged they decided to move back to 

the area, settling in Walsall. She’s already 

Agnes Mutia, Surgical Services Staff Nurse 

made an impression on her colleagues who 

have praised her dedication and hard-working 

attitude. 

“I love working here at Sandwell,” said Agnes. 

“It’s fulfilling to know you have done something 

for someone no matter what. I take time 

to talk to my patients when I’m caring for 

them and I like getting to know them. I enjoy 

patient contact. I think that does have an 

effect, especially if they are lonely or don’t 

have any relatives.” 

Star of the Week 

Is our new recognition scheme replacing the 

monthly compassion in care award. 

You can nominate colleagues for their contribution to delivering a high quality service. 

For further information and to nominate, visit Connect. 

22

School nurses ask students ‘what 

does mental health mean to you?’ 

When it comes to social media you can’t 

go far wrong than asking a young person 

for the low down. So that’s exactly what 

school nurses Amy Wood and Diane 

Edkins did, as they represented their 

service at a school event ‘#UNFILTERED’ 

organised and hosted by St Michael's 

C of E High School, as part of their 21st 

Century Child student voice programme. 

Amy explained: “The event was an amazing 

opportunity to hear directly from young 

people about how they navigate the complex 

world of mental health. It also looked at how 

their use of social media can affect it. 

“We heard first hand from the students about 

what it feels like to be them, and how they 

interact with and use social media and the 

pressures they internally face day to day by 

their own peers. They explained what they 

rank as good or bad in social media and 

made insightful comments on topics including 

male mental health, validation, popularity 

performance and self-worth. 

“The event was divided into three parts, 

including the student-led presentation, 

workshops facilitated by professionals and an 

interactive market hall which allowed students 

to engage with agencies and stalls.” 

She continued: “We hosted a stall with the 

hashtag ‘what does mental health mean to 

Students from St Michael's C of E High School 

taking part in the #UNFILTERED event 

you’ and invited the students to tweet us to 

start a conversation with us on this emotive 

subject.” 

Attending the event alongside the school 

nursing team was our library and knowledge 

service, and Service Development Librarian, 

Nicola Ager. The team attended to share 

PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES 

AND THERAPIES 

information on health by using interactive 

games. Information around peer support 

groups, activity clubs and self-help books 

was also shared so that children could 

continue to access these resources outside 

of school. 

Nicola said: “The event was thoughtprovoking, 

as the children had put a huge 

amount of effort and preparation into 

their presentation. The other students 

asked very challenging questions which 

meant the event was worthwhile both 

for the young people and the attending 

agencies.” 

Feedback left by the young people 

following the event included comments 

such as: 

“It made me realise how amazing and 

important I am.” 

“It was really good because it makes you 

feel good about yourself.” 

“A good experience for me because I’m 

struggling but it helped me.” 

“I think it was really good because it 

teaches people they aren’t alone!” 

Community nurses bring Christmas 

cheer to patients 

Christmas is a time for joy and 

happiness and thanks to donations 

from Barclays Bank, community nurses 

from our Trust will be bringing a little 

Christmas cheer to some of our most 

vulnerable patients on Christmas Day. 

To find out more about the plans, Heartbeat 

caught up with Community Matron, 

Denise Owen, she said, “For most of us 

at Christmas we’ll be surrounded by our 

families with piles of presents to unwrap 

and a feast to eat. As nurses working out 

in the community, we know that this often 

isn’t the case for many of our patients. 

Often we go out to patients and are the 

only people that patient will see that day 

and sadly, this is the same over Christmas. 

“This year in the iCares directorate we 

decided to hold a charity raffle to use 

the funds raised to give patients seen by 

community staff on Christmas day a gift. 

We contacted Barclays Bank and told them 

about what we would like to do, and they 

jumped on board donating raffle prizes and 

helping us fill almost 100 Christmas gift 

bags. 

“The gift bags have a mix of items, from 

chocolates and biscuits to gift sets for men 

and women, there’s something in each for 

every one of our patients.” 

Beaming with pride, Denise explained how 

the community has joined in with their 

efforts, “When we’ve been out buying all of 

the gifts, people have been stopping us to 

find out what we’re doing and making their 

own on the spot donations. People often 

forget that behind the door of every little 

bungalow will likely be one of our patients, 

some have family and friends nearby but 

many don’t. Hopefully, our little gesture 

brings a smile to their faces when we see 

them.” 

If you’d like to join in with donating 

to a good cause, contact Your Trust 

Charity who can help you find 

a worthy cause, email Amanda. 

winwood@nhs.net or call ext. 4847. 

Amongst a sea of neatly packed gift 

bags, Barclays Bank Harborne Branch 

Manager Rose Turner and Community 

Banker Wendy Whitehouse pose alongside 

Community Nursing colleagues at Oldbury 

Health Centre 

23

Sally’s Sunshine Packs spread 

joy across Newton 5 


AND THERAPIES 

In September, a group of 33 keen 

cyclists from our organisation set off on 

their annual cycle challenge. The team 

were as enthusiastic as ever and this 

year they were raising funds for Sally’s 

Sunshine Packs. 

Having set themselves a fundraising target 

of £2,000 they went on to smash it. So far 

they have raised over £4,000 and counting. 

This money is being put to good use in and 

around our workplace, all thanks to Sally’s 

vision to spread a little happiness with her 

sunshine packs. 

Sally has been working with Your Trust 

Charity for over two years to put together 

her sunshine packs. They contain items such 

as puzzle books, a patient journal, shampoo 

and tissues and are given to fellow patients 

undergoing chemotherapy treatment. It’s a 

small gesture that makes a big impact. 

Sally’s kindness, compassion and above 

all else solidarity with her fellow patients 

is what spurred on this year’s cyclists. 

We caught up with one of the riders, Ian 

Hawthorn, Estates Operational Manager. 

Ian took time out of his schedule to deliver 

Sally pictured with her mum at the Star 

Awards 2019 

some of Sally’s Sunshine Packs to patients 

on Newton 5. He said: “Doing the charity 

ride with co-workers and friends was a 

great adventure in itself. Being able to bring 

Sally’s vision to life and see what the money 

contributes to in our community and how 

much these packs mean to patients makes 

it all worthwhile.” 

The funds raised from the bike ride are 

helping Sally to continue to sprinkle a little 

joy. When delivering some of her latest 

packs to fellow patients on Newton 5 she 

commented: “I came up with this idea as 

I wanted to put a smile on the faces of 

people going through a challenging time. 

That’s half the battle being able to smile. It’s 

not an easy journey we’re on and I always 

speak to new patients on the ward 

when I’m undergoing treatment. Plus, 

everyone enjoys a freebie.” 

Sally was recently recognised with a 

Star Award for Fundraiser of the Year 

by our organisation. On her recent visit 

to Sandwell Hospital, she donated £500 

that was raised from a 50s themed 

fundraising event. When speaking to 

Heartbeat she said: “It means so much 

to me that I’m able to continue to host 

these events to not only raise funds but 

awareness. I’m pleased to be able to 

contribute something to the hospital 

that looks after me and to my fellow 

patients.” 

Vicki Evans, Chemotherapy Sister 

commented: “In my role, I have to share 

the clinical information and being able 

to give out one of these packs makes 

such a big difference. Patients like that 

someone has taken the time to think of 

them. It’s a thoughtful gesture that is 

always well received.” 

Thank you to everyone that 

contributed to this year’s charity 

cycle. Your support helped to make 

it one of the most successful to date. 

If you’d like to know how you can 

get involved with the cycling club, 

please email ian.hawthorn@nhs.net. 

Sally with fellow patient Mr O’Dell and members of the cycling and nursing teams in Newton 5 

24

Putting education at the heart of 

community nursing 

By Claire Stanier, 

Practice Education Lead 

We are all very excited to be in our 

new roles as part of the practice 

education team for the district 

nursing service. 

The team started functioning from 1 

October and includes practice education 

leads, Pamela While and Susan Knight 

and Andrew Churm, Practice Education 

Digital Lead. 

My role and that of Susan and Pamela’s 

involves working with the district 

nursing teams and colleagues at all 

levels including nurse associates, trainee 

nurse associates, student nurses and 

our new clinical leads. Some of the new 

clinical lead roles will be developed into 

specialist roles, focussing on areas such 

as tissue viability, continence, palliative 

care and diabetes. 

We have identified a number of priorities 

to help us support local teams. These 

priorities include: 

• Developing and improving 

competency frameworks to 

include all current skills used in 

the district nursing service. 

These new frameworks will be 

for all bands of staff and we 

will also be looking at the skill 

mix within the district nursing 

teams. 

Andy Churm is the new practice education 

digital lead 

• Looking at how we can make 

improvements to how colleagues 

access mandatory, compliance and 

personal development training. 

• Supporting the existing workforce 

to develop to a higher band and 

recognise their training 

requirements. We will be 

scheduling forums to support 

new colleagues in their roles. 

• Supporting teams to up-skill 

colleagues that are new, whether 


AND THERAPIES 

they are newly qualified or new to 

working in the community. 

• Encouraging and motivating 

student nurses to consider a career 

in district nursing. We will be 

compiling a booklet to support 

their learning in placement. 

Andrew Churm is our new digital lead and 

his role involves working with new starters 

to ensure they are sufficiently trained on 

SystmOne and how to access our files and 

systems via mobile working. Andrew is also 

looking at how we can improve SystmOne 

to include care plans and making the 

system more intuitive and easy to use. He 

is further exploring how colleagues can use 

SystmOne to monitor KPIs and carry out 

audits. 

We are dedicated to improving our service; 

focus on patient centred holistic care 

and helping colleagues develop in their 

roles and future career aspirations. We 

would very much welcome any ideas or 

suggestions of anything you feel we could 

support or help with. 

You can contact the team at swbh. 

practice-education.team@nhs.net 

Pamela, Susan and I are based at 

Neptune Health Park and Andrew is 

based at the Lyng Health Centre. 

Aspiring to excellence in community nursing - left to right: Susan Knight, Pam While and Claire Stanier 

25

New portering arrangements help 

to cut waiting lists in imaging 

IMAGING 

More than just working better in 

isolation, Unity has also helped teams 

to collaborate. Porters link together all 

different areas of the Trust and their 

new working arrangements have had a 

particularly positive effect in imaging. 

“The inpatient waiting list for plain film 

– a normal x-ray rather than a CT scan 

or ultrasound – has significantly reduced 

because porters’ roles are more flexible 

and they can be utilised in different 

areas around imaging, depending on 

clinical need,” explains Lynn Chambers, 

Superintendent Radiographer. 

“The clear outlay of the Cap Man system 

also means that we get a live update of 

what patient transfers are happening 

and we know straight away if there are 

any delays. This allows us to alter our list 

accordingly.” 

The improvement from what went before 

is clear to see. “We sometimes had 40 

patients waiting on the list. There used to 

be a designated porter for each area and 

we were always designated a porter for 

inpatients but the list just kept growing and 

growing. 

“Now, because of the way the portering 

is organised within imaging – there’s a 

pool of porters and they get dispatched to 

whichever job comes up – it’s much better. 

SWBH 

Imaging and portering colleagues 

They could do a CT, then an ultrasound, 

then an MRI, then a plain film one. That’s 

just the way it works with Cap Man. From 

our point of view it has made a massive 

difference to the waiting times for inpatient 

x-rays,” says Lynn. 

“It’s working well. The waiting list is way 

down and it’s the same on the wards 

because we’re getting more people 

down during the day. We’re doing fewer 

outpatient scans out of hours because 

we get them all done during the normal 

working day. The porter system is working a 

lot better.” 

Zaheer Iqbal, the Trust’s Portering 

Manager, agrees. Changes were made to 

accommodate the introduction of Unity and 

to make the process more efficient. Porters 

are now assigned to a general zone, rather 

than one specific area giving more flexible 

support. It also ensures that all requests are 

dealt with in a timely fashion. 

“We’re working together and 

communicating better. We’ve been getting 

feedback, even when things haven’t been 

going so well and reacting to that. We’ve 

been tweaking things as we’ve been going 

along to make sure that imaging is getting 

the full benefits of the zoning system. That’s 

helped a lot,” says Zaheer. 

Mark Stankovich, DGM for Portering and 

Security, adds: “Opening the pool of porters 

up has helped too. Historically there used 

to be one person dedicated to each of 

the imaging areas and people were quite 

rigid about sticking to their areas. Now 

we’re getting them to work in unison, as a 

team. It’s helping our radiology colleagues 

get through their patient lists a lot more 

effectively.” 

Sandwell and 

West Birmingham 

NHS Trust 

intranet at your fingertips 

Do you find it difficult to stay up 

to date with everything that’s 

happening in our organisation? 

We have just launched a brand 

new app which aims to give you 

the ability to access information 

that would normally be found on 

the intranet from the comfort of 

your mobile phone. 

Download the app from Apple 

App Store or Google Play 

Store on to your Trust mobile 

phone or your personal mobile 

phone by searching for ‘SWBH 

myConnect’. 

For more information contact 

the Communications team 

on 0121 507 5303 or email 


26

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 swbh.comms@nhs.net 

#HackTheHospital draws up 

a design for inclusivity and 

education at Midland Met 

The beginning of December saw 

colleagues join designers and community 

members in braving wind and rain to 

meet at the Sandwell General Hospital’s 

education centre for a special event. 

Comprising two workshops 

#HackTheHospital which, rest assured, 

was not an attempt to cause computer 

disruption – discussed ways that design 

elements in the upcoming Midland 

Metropolitan Hospital could be used to 

better engage and educate local people as 

part of a ‘Community Design Studio’. 

The first workshop covered the ‘cultures’ 

of health - what people in local 

communities are thinking and feeling, 

hearing and seeing, saying and doing in 

regards to healthcare. The second session 

focused on the design of the Welcome 

Centre itself. 

Daniel J. Blyden, a designer, facilitator and 

design activist based in Birmingham was 

one of those helping to #HackTheHospital. 

He spoke to Heartbeat about the aims of 

the day and the importance of what was 

being done. 

“I work to involve people in design 

processes. We're working with Your Trust 

Charity and SWB as a part of that. Today 

is a day where people can come together 

and have an impact on how non-clinical 

areas at the Midland Metropolitan 

Hospital can be shaped to facilitate 

better discussion and awareness about 

health matters. People are bringing their 

ideas, experiences and perceptions into 

designing these areas and making sure the 

needs of all those in our community are 

represented.” 

“Involving lots of people from different 

cultural backgrounds to help design the 

various exhibits and spaces is something 

the hospital owners take very seriously. 

This way it truly becomes a hospital for 

everyone.” 

Colleagues took part in creative 

#HackTheHospital sessions 

Have you got a 


CARE 

story? 

We’d love to hear from you if you have… 

• An event or special occasion in your 

department 

• If you work with an inspirational colleague 

• Does your department do something that 

makes a real difference to our patients? 

Please get in touch if you’d like to be featured in an 

upcoming edition of Heartbeat! 

Email swbh.comms@nhs.net to submit your story idea. 

27

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 swbh.comms@nhs.net 

Baggies bring joy to the wards 

West Bromwich Albion stars brought 

festive joy to the wards when they 

visited Sandwell Hospital handing out 

presents to young patients. 

Footballers Gareth Barry, Sam Johnstone, 

Matt Phillips and Charlie Austin met 

youngsters in both Children’s Wards, 

where they also signed autographs and 

posed for photographs. 

The event was organised in partnership 

with Your Trust Charity and serves to 

enhance the experience of patients, their 

families and staff. 

Striker Charlie Austin said: “We are here 

to give presents out and to lift spirits as 

much as we can and bring joy to the 

patients. 

“The reaction has been great and we 

were delighted to see the patients. They 

are going through a tough time. Being a 

parent, certainly, you know what it’s like 

when your child is in hospital, let alone it 

being at Christmas time, so to come and 

give gifts and see the smiles on their faces 

– well it means a lot to us. It’s fantastic 

that we can do something like this, just 

through football.” 

Avnash Nanra, Ward Manager for Lyndon 

Ground, one of the areas the footballers 

visited, said: “Our young patients have 

loved meeting their idols and it’s perked 

them up. Being poorly at this time of year 

is never nice, so a visit from the Albion 

players is well received. It was so kind of 

the team and staff to give up their free 

time in this way, to bring some smiles to 

their young fans.” 

West Bromwich Albion players with Gracie Mason as they visited our children’s wards 

Did you know that you can download 

treatment-specific patient information 

leaflets from the EIDO Healthcare 

website for FREE? 

EIDO has hundreds of patient leaflets for different procedures 

that are being carried out across the Trust. 

They are available in an easy-to-read format and 

in different languages. 

Visit Connect Clinical Systems EIDO PT Leaflets. 

For more information, please contact the Communications Team 

on ext. 5303 or email: swbh.comms@nhs.net 

28

Dr Maria Atkinson 

Clinical Director of Paediatrics 

Maria has recently taken over the role of 

clinical director after serving almost ten 

years as a paediatric consultant at our 

Trust. 

Joining our workplace as a senior house 

officer (SHO) in 1997 for a six-month 

rotation Maria enjoyed her time here so 

much that as soon as a position became 

available, she jumped at the chance to 

join the team here at Sandwell and West 

Birmingham. 

Sharing her experience, Maria said: “When 

I joined as a SHO back in 1997, the 

teamwork, patient group and community 

had a massive impact on me and as soon I 

had qualified I was looking to return.” Over 

her career, Maria has gained experience in 

Dr Deep Chand, a Consultant 

Radiologist is retiring from our Trust 

after a career that has spanned 

four decades. From 1977 – 1981, Dr 

Chand worked as a registrar and 

senior registrar in radiology at North 

Staffordshire Hospital. In 1982 he joined 

our Trust as a consultant radiologist 

and since then has gone on to have a 

distinguished career. 

Working as a consultant radiologist he has 

pioneered CT scanning. He’s also been 

pivotal in the introduction of ultrasound, 

MRI scanning and nuclear medicine as 

a whole. Dr Chand is the Chairman of 

the Division of Radiology and regularly 

contributes to the teaching and assessment 

of staff. He commented: “As a teacher, I’m 

extremely proud of my students. 75 per 

cent of my students are consultants, group 

clinical directors and presidents in the UK 

and overseas.” 

Outside of working at our Trust Dr Chand 

has had an equally impressive career. At 

43, he joined the Territorial Army as a 

private soldier and rose through the ranks 

to become lieutenant colonel. He said: 

“I joined the Territorial Army at 43 years 

old with my registrar and radiographers. 

Together we created a radiology 

department in the 202 Field Hospital, 

Birmingham.” 

Dr Chand served in both Gulf wars. During 

the latter, he ran a 200-bed military hospital 

a range of management roles that she has 

held alongside her clinical duties including 

risk lead, child death lead as well as a college 

tutor. 

Sharing her thoughts on her newest 

challenge and priorities as clinical director, 

Maria said: “Clinical director is a key role 

which will help define, develop and shape 

the department as we move to ready 

ourselves for Midland Met. Currently, we’re 

working hard as a management team to 

steady our department for the winter rush. 

Our priority is to streamline the department 

so that we’re able to continue providing 

safe and effective patient care through the 

busiest few months.” 

Looking forward to working closely with the 

Wave goodbye to… 

Dr Chand in the Imaging department 

over six months in Basra. Working on the 

front line Dr Chand and his colleagues 

provided life-saving care by introducing 

the use of ultrasound. This helped with 

the diagnosis and management of battle 

casualties. 

He added: “I had the opportunity to serve 

Her Majesty the Queen, country and 

mankind during my deployment in the first 

Gulf War. I am grateful to Sandwell and 

West Birmingham NHS Trust for releasing 

me. The team and I not only supported our 

soldiers, but we were also able to create 

another ward for local children and females 

to help save lives.” 

Dr Chand has received several awards 

recognising his outstanding career and for 

his service to queen and country. He has 

been admitted into the Order of St. John 

– a royal order of chivalry awarded by the 

wider team, Maria said: “My door is always 

open, I’d like to encourage anyone in my 

department to come and speak to me if they 

have any advice or concerns, whether they 

want to propose an improvement or report 

and issue, I’m here to work with you.” 

Dr Maria Atkinson 

Dr Deep Chand 

Consultant Radiologist 

Queen. He has also received the Territorial 

Decoration award for long service, as well 

as being appointed as a Fellow of the Royal 

Society of Medicine. 

On top of all this, Dr Chand supports 

several charitable works. He dedicates his 

time to many medical and humanitarian 

projects in deprived areas. One such project 

includes establishing a home and school for 

children in India. 

Dr Sarah Yusuf, Group Director of Imaging 

said: “Dr Chand has made an immense 

contribution not only to our department 

but to our country too. He’ll be leaving 

behind big, if not impossible, shoes to fill. 

We appreciate everything he’s done since 

joining our Trust in 1982. We’ll be sad to 

say goodbye to a much-respected colleague 

and friend.” 

After leaving the Trust Dr Chand won’t 

be slowing down. He’s looking forward to 

gardening, travelling, spending time with 

his family and attending the defence studies 

dining club. He’ll also be completing his 

autobiography. When asked why he said, 

"I'd like to inspire the younger generation 

from underprivileged backgrounds to have 

progressive careers as I have been able to." 

From all of us at the Trust, we’d like 

to thank you for your hard work and 

dedication, Dr Chand. We wish you a happy 

retirement. 

29

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 

Heating going forward 

Dear Heartbeat, 

Every year since I’ve worked here the same 

thing happens at this Trust. The heating 

breaks come the start of winter. This problem 

can be solved so easily yet it happens every 

year! The simple solution would be to turn 

the heating on August for one day. Any 

heater which doesn’t work can be fixed come 

September/October rather than teams and 

departments going without heating. 

It’s a pretty simple concept and would mean 

the Estates team wouldn’t be rushed off 

their feet with people demanding portable 

heaters like this year, the year before and so 

on. Why can’t a simple process like this be 

implemented? My Nan does this every year 

to make sure her heating works as it should. 

Surely we can do the same thing right? 

Anonymous 

Dear colleague 

The estates department endeavours to 

prepare the heating systems in all of the 

Trust buildings for the onset of the cooler 

months. In Trinity House a number of 

planned maintenance tasks are carried 

over the summer to ensure that the 

heating system is working correctly and 

compliant with statutory legislation as it 

is heated by pressurised steam. 

This year significant alterations have 

been made to the system due to the 

building works that have taken place. 

Issues with balancing of the system have 

prevented a few areas from receiving 

the correct heating. This was not easy to 

identify until we could run the heating 

with a significant demand and this issue 

is now resolved. We apologise for any 

inconvenience caused. 

Kind regards, 

Malcolm Partridge 

Head of Estates 

Bells on wards 


Quite a few of the wards I visited recently 

have took a strangely long time to answer the 

doorbells. I totally get they are busy especially 

around winter months but to have to ring the bell 

numerous time just to get answer can be very 

frustrating, especially when lots of the people 

inside the ward see I’m waiting outside. 

Are only certain people allowed to open the ward 

and are they supposed to pretend I’m not there? 

I just think more from a patient perspective more 

than anything else, if I was coming to visit a 

friend or a family member in hospital and was left 

outside for so long it would be a very frustrating 

experience. It would compound the difficult 

experience of visiting a loved one in hospital. 

Please may I reiterate, this hasn’t happened on all 

wards I have visited in my time here, it just seems 

to be happening a bit more and I wanted to find 

out why. 

Anonymous 

Dear colleague 

Thanks for your letter. The bells outside the 

wards are important for security reasons so 

that the nurse in charge is aware of who 

is coming onto the wards. I can assure you 

that the teams don’t deliberately ignore the 

doorbell. Instead, they are more often busy 

with patients and relatives. I am sorry this is 

frustrating for you but thank you for your 

patience. 

Kind regards, 

Paula Gardner 

Chief Nurse 

Recycling computers 


Now that Unity is live and we’ve had shiny new 

computers I wonder what’s happened to all of 

the computers that were taken away. We all had 

ipods on the wards that we used with vitalpacs 

and with the introduction of Unity; we didn’t 

need to use these anymore so they were all 

collected in. 

Sandwell and West Birmingham is a particularly 

poor and deprived area and I would hope that 

as a Trust we would be doing everything we can 

to make sure that equipment that is no longer 

needed by the Trust could be donated to the 

community or reused in some way. 

I know there are projects in other areas of the 

country that refurbish and donate computers 

and equipment to community groups. Would 

there be an opportunity for us to do the same? 

Could we refurb and donate unused computers 

to colleagues who are still trying to get used to 

using computers at work? 

Appreciate there are data protection 

requirements but surely we can do something. 

This could be a significant sustainability and 

recycling programme if we’re able to tackle it. 

Regards 

Anon 

Dear colleague, 

Fortunately at our Trust we often use our IT 

equipment to its fullest and follow a regular 

replacement programme, this means that we 

have little in the way of unused equipment. 

The equipment we replaced to make sure 

that Unity could work to the best of its 

abilities has been repurposed within the 

Trust, in non-unity areas, for training staff 

and where possible reused for spare parts. 

When equipment is defunct and completely 

unusable, it is recycled appropriately. In the 

case of iPads, we are currently looking at 

options to loan these to patients now that 

we have NHS Public WiFi live across our Trust. 

Kind regards, 

Martin Sadler 

Chief Informatics Officer 

30

Toby writes about… why Good is good for you 

TobyLewis_SWBH 

TOBY’S LAST WORD 

If you turned to my article to look 

into 2020 and what lies ahead, 

best to dig out the back issue 

and review that in November’s 

Heartbeat (available online too). 

Safe to say that, as Richard sets 

out in his Chair’s column, there is a 

bright future for our organisation, 

not just in traditional fields, 

but as we work more and more 

closely with GPs, and build on the 

distinctive success of teams like 

our Sandwell health visitors, our 

integrated sexual health service, 

our alcohol liaison team, and 

our specialist community based 

paediatric teams. 

This article is about our upcoming 

Care Quality Commission 

inspection. When is it? Properly, 

I don’t know. It is likely in 2020. 

Probably our three new GP practices 

will be the start. Then our Requires 

Improvement services – read on below. 

And any teams being put forward to 

join our Outstanding elite: community 

children’s, critical care and end of life 

service. Teams demonstrating what we 

can achieve with all the pressures and 

constraints we tend to talk about. 

What I do know is that teams rated 

as Good or better are teams who 

find recruitment and retention easier. 

That might be because the rating 

gives cache. Recruits look online and 

seeking differences between us and our 

neighbours they set store by the CQC. 

More probably it is because the things 

we want and value at work are the 

same things the CQC look for: 

• A supportive boss 

• Team discussions 

• Fun but support when times 

are hard 

• A commitment to quality 

improvement (hold the 

front page) 

• Multi-professional working 

• Training and development 

• Getting the basics right 

• Having a plan for the future 

In 2014, 2017 and 2018 I approached 

the CQC inspection with a view that 

we should be as we are, and see what 

it brought. Good ratings might have 

overstated us, poor ones probably 

unfairly maligned us. I think on balance 

I have changed my mind. Having seen 

the huge boost to teams succeeding in 

the CQC process, I think now we need 

to work as one to get the prize. What 

prize? A Good rating, not just in most 

teams (we are 70 per cent there) but 

across our organisation. Only that prize 

will give us the flexibility to develop and 

adapt services freed from too much 

external bureaucracy, clear that we can 

work within a system, but innovate, 

invest and develop as you choose we 

should. 

We have just three Requires 

Improvement core services: I know how 

hard our children’s services team are 

working to get back to Good. Across 

emergency care and medicine there 

is real determination to see the quality 

of our cardiology service, the excellence 

of our stroke team, the respiratory hub, 

and our GI services, recognised for the 

specialist work that they do. Acute 

medicine and elderly care dominate 

QI awards. A&E stood out at our Star 

Awards. I know how hard “winter” is. I 

understand that “capacity” dominates 

and distracts. I also know that success 

brings rewards, mostly more success. 

And that is why we need to work 

together to show that firstly our 

Glimpses of Brilliance are actually 

most days. And secondly that we 

work together to tackle to genuine 

risk issues. Our Good and Outstanding 

services are not blessed with ease. They 

The way the CQC see us 

The domains five CQC are domains described by the CQC as follows 

Is it safe? 

Is it effective? 

Is it caring? 

Is it responsive? 

Is it well-led? 

where everyone matters 

too face tough times. They are rated 

highly because of how they face 

those problems. 

This festive season do not put the 

turkey down and read our last three 

CQC reports. But if you did, you’d 

see success, but you would also read 

about out of date stock, expired 

mandatory training, resus trolley 

checklist gaps, and drug errors. 

These are not functions of money 

or policy, they are symptoms of 

attention and detail. The very things 

the CQC look for and ones we can 

address. 

So we can get to Good. The 

challenge of 2020 is do we want 

to? Is it worth the hassle and worth 

setting aside whatever immediate 

frustrations exist, in pursuit of a 

bigger gain – public credit for what 

you do brilliantly, less external 

interference in what we want to do 

locally, and above all a chance to say 

to people not yet joining us – come 

here, we know what we are doing? 

Going into 2020 let’s think about 

resolutions. Please consider where 

our ‘rating’ sits in your plans. None 

of us come to work for any reason 

other than the patients we care 

about. They deserve the best. You 

deserve that the rating system that 

reflects your efforts. Only you can 

get us to Good. I think you will. 

Sandwell and 

West Birmingham 

NHS Trust 

!Safeguarding and protection from abuse !Managing risk !Safe care and treatment 

!Medicines management !Track record !Learning when things go wrong 

!Assessing needs and delivering evidence-based treatment !Monitoring outcomes 

and comparing with similar services !Staff skills and knowledge !How staff, teams 

and services work together !Supporting people to live healthier lives !Consent to 

care and treatment 

!Kindness, respect and compassion !Involving people in decisions about their care 

!Privacy and dignity 

!Person-centred care !Taking account of the needs of different people !Timely 

access to care and treatment !Concerns or complaints 

!Leadership capacity and capability !Vision and strategy !Culture of the 

organisation !Governance and management !Management of risk and performance 

!Management of information !Engagement and involvement !Learning, 

improvement and innovation 

swbh.nhs.uk 

31

What's on – January 2020 

EVENT DATE TIME VENUE 

Trust board 2 9am - 1pm Rowley Regis Hospital 

QIHD 8 Afternoon Trustwide 

CLE 21 2pm - 5pm Education Centre, Sandwell 

Teamtalk 22 11am 

1pm - 2pm 

Rowley Regis Hospital, Committee Room 

Education Centre, Sandwell Hospital and 

Post Graduate Centre, City Hospital 

WELLBEING EVENTS DATE TIME VENUE 

Pilates 7 4.45pm – 5.45pm The Berridge Room, Sandwell Hospital 



Introduction to Mindfulness 9 10am – 1pm The Berridge Room, Sandwell Hospital 

Support through the Menopause 14 10am – 1pm The Berridge Room, Sandwell Hospital 

Building Emotional Resilience 21 10am – 1pm The Berridge Room, Sandwell Hospital 

Assertiveness, Confidence 

and Resilience 

30 10am – 1pm 

Surgical Skills Room, Postgraduate, 

City Hospital 

TRUST-WIDE EVENTS 

DATE 

International Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020 

Blue Monday (Mental health campaign run by West Midlands 

Combined Authority ) 

20

Heartbeat December 2019

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