Heartbeat December 2019

Health watchdog highlights
board rounds as “good practice”
CORPORATE AND GENERAL
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
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