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HEARTBEAT November 2020

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<strong>November</strong> <strong>2020</strong><br />

Sandwell and West Birmingham<br />

NHS Trust<br />

The pulse of community health, Leasowes, Rowley Regis, City Hospital, Sandwell General and the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital<br />

Issue 135<br />

WINNERS<br />

Online first for Star Awards as<br />

ceremony goes digital<br />

Page 3<br />

Your winners by popular vote: Employee of the Year – Ed Fogden, Clinical Team of the Year (Adults) – Palliative Care Team,<br />

Non Clinical Team of the Year – Portering Team and Clinical Team of the Year (Children) – Neonatal Unit<br />

Working from home<br />

survey results<br />

revealed<br />

Pages 6/7<br />

Trust shortlisted<br />

for prestigious<br />

awards<br />

Page 8<br />

Our apprentices<br />

make their mark<br />

on <strong>2020</strong><br />

Page 10<br />

The great<br />

paediatric<br />

bake off<br />

Page 26


FROM THE CHAIR<br />

Welcome to your <strong>November</strong> edition<br />

of Heartbeat.<br />

This month we bring you all things Star<br />

Awards! There may be a pandemic, but<br />

that will not stop us from celebrating<br />

the hard work and dedication of<br />

colleagues across our organisation.<br />

Check out the centre spread to find out<br />

about this year’s winners and be sure<br />

to congratulate them.<br />

We also bring you an update on the<br />

working from home survey and take a<br />

final look at our super Flu-Per Troopers<br />

as our <strong>2020</strong> flu campaign draws to a<br />

close.<br />

Enjoy <br />

HELLO<br />

Contact us<br />

Communications Team<br />

Ext 5303<br />

swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />

Communications Department<br />

Ground Floor, Trinity House<br />

Sandwell Hospital<br />

Celebrating our stars in digital awards ceremony<br />

As you read this, the Star Awards winners<br />

will have been announced for <strong>2020</strong>.<br />

What a privilege it has been to be part<br />

of the annual process of judging these<br />

awards entries. The stories of courage,<br />

determination and compassionate care<br />

have shone out through this year’s awards.<br />

I know this year we were sadly unable to<br />

celebrate with a big event at Villa Park,<br />

but I hope you found time to watch the<br />

ceremony. Special thanks to our sponsors,<br />

Engie and Tusker, who supported the<br />

awards scheme this year.<br />

As ever, the nominees and winners were<br />

all outstanding and well-deserving of your<br />

support and recognition. Winners will be<br />

receiving their trophies and prizes shortly.<br />

Congratulations and well done. You can<br />

read all about the winners in the centre<br />

spread of this edition of Heartbeat.<br />

The awards celebrate achievements,<br />

success, kindness, innovation and<br />

compassion. Our star of the week also<br />

recognises those that have gone above and<br />

beyond the call of duty, and our shout-outs<br />

provide an easy way for you to thank and<br />

highlight people who have done something<br />

amazing. Make sure you keep nominating<br />

your colleagues so that we continue to<br />

develop our positive culture of thanks for a<br />

job well done.<br />

This year, more than ever, the pandemic<br />

has shown how vital our NHS is, and how<br />

everyone has stepped up to contribute<br />

to the fight against the virus. I know<br />

the difficulties that many of you have<br />

experienced personally and at work. There<br />

is light at the end of the tunnel with more<br />

information about the risks and best<br />

treatments of the virus, and positive news<br />

of a vaccine. NHS staff, I am told, are likely<br />

to be among the first to be vaccinated -<br />

which is welcome. Despite the hope we<br />

hold for the future, it will be some time<br />

before we come to terms with the impact<br />

of this pandemic on ourselves, our families<br />

and the communities we serve. But, as<br />

our awards ceremony shows, whatever<br />

is thrown at us, we will come through it<br />

together, because we are one NHS and one<br />

SWB family.<br />

Richard Samuda, Trust Chairman<br />

Published by<br />

Communications Team<br />

Sandwell and West Birmingham<br />

Hospitals NHS Trust<br />

Designed by<br />

Medical Illustration,<br />

Graphics Team<br />

Sandwell and West Birmingham<br />

Hospitals NHS Trust<br />

Submit an idea<br />

If you’d like to submit an idea<br />

for an article, contact the<br />

communications team<br />

Ext 5303<br />

swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />

Stay updated<br />

We send out a Communications<br />

Bulletin via email every day and you<br />

can now read Heartbeat articles<br />

throughout the month on Connect.<br />

Don't forget you can follow us on:<br />

Chairman, Richard Samuda


Cardiac rehab patients keep on top of<br />

recovery with virtual exercise classes<br />

The Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) team are<br />

bringing exercise sessions for patients<br />

into their homes by launching virtual<br />

classes.<br />

During the pandemic, the facility has been<br />

closed to patients, but the service has used<br />

this innovative way to keep in touch with<br />

them and continue to deliver the sessions.<br />

Christos Lykidis, Senior Exercise Physiologist,<br />

is leading the project, which also includes<br />

delivery of education sessions. Themes<br />

include cardiac disease and symptom<br />

management, nutrition, physical activity,<br />

medications and stress management.<br />

He told Heartbeat: “We wanted to continue<br />

the sessions as it is important that our<br />

cardiac patients can continue with their<br />

exercise regime, now more than ever.<br />

Exercise is a key part of CR and is known<br />

to reduce hospital re-admissions, cardiac<br />

mortality and also increase the quality of life<br />

in these patients.<br />

“We have devised a programme which<br />

Jake O’Brien delivers a cardiac rehab<br />

exercise session to patients at home via<br />

WeBex<br />

means they can continue exercising with us in<br />

a safe environment.<br />

“Three of us are taking these sessions; an<br />

exercise physiologist is instructing the exercise.<br />

An assistant is monitoring the exercising<br />

patients on the screen, ensuring optimal<br />

technique and exertion levels. Finally, a cardiac<br />

specialist nurse, who also helps out with the<br />

monitoring, is responsible for dealing with<br />

COVID-19<br />

The book of COVID is adding<br />

more chapters<br />

In much the same way our own book of<br />

COVID, which the Trust announced in a<br />

previous edition of Heartbeat continues to<br />

be written, tracking the various stories of<br />

patient symptoms or emergencies during<br />

exercise.<br />

“All patients are clinically reviewed by a<br />

cardiac specialist nurse before attending<br />

the programme. Also, all patients<br />

confirm that they are symptom-free and<br />

have taken their medications before<br />

each session.”<br />

Jake O’Brien, Exercise Physiologist,<br />

said: “We have had good interest in<br />

these sessions, which take place twice a<br />

week and, we hope that it will grow in<br />

uptake.”<br />

Jake added: “We are committed to<br />

fully incorporate virtual exercise and<br />

education sessions into the available<br />

options for CR beyond the pandemic, as<br />

it can increase uptake of our service.”<br />

the pandemic. Putting down permanently<br />

our memories of the here and now, so later<br />

generations can learn.<br />

Qur'an cubes bring comfort to patients<br />

When the story of <strong>2020</strong> is finally and<br />

fully told, it will be a tale of many<br />

things. Fighting in the face of adversity,<br />

many hardships, great losses and<br />

tragedies. It will also be the story of<br />

strength and kindness in the face of<br />

this, of generosity, determination and<br />

amazing acts of people within and<br />

outside of the health service.<br />

For now, however, we cannot yet close that<br />

book. The story of COVID continues to be<br />

written with this second wave.<br />

These are just some of the stories that<br />

are going into the book:<br />

• PPE remains a concern for all. In a<br />

fantastic act, Earls High made 150<br />

visors for Sandwell Hospital staff.<br />

• The Muslim community gathered<br />

together to donate Qur'an cubes<br />

for both colleagues and patients<br />

so that prayers can bring comfort<br />

wherever a person may be.<br />

• A similar donation of MP3 players<br />

now allows Sikh colleagues and<br />

patients to listen to prayers during<br />

their time in hospital.<br />

• One of our patients, Mr<br />

Humphries, got creative and made<br />

a series of beautiful paper flowers<br />

for staff to take home as his way<br />

of showing his appreciation for the<br />

care he received.<br />

• Likewise, Kristine and her<br />

granddaughter have been selling<br />

artificial flowers from her driveway<br />

to raise funds for Your Trust<br />

Charity – just another example of<br />

our thoughtful and kind<br />

neighbours.<br />

• The support shown by both Aston<br />

Villa and West Bromwich Albion<br />

has inspired many stories, and<br />

both these clubs are top of the<br />

league when it comes to helping<br />

out our midwives.<br />

• Little Nylah is only six but showed<br />

real kindness by making lots of<br />

lovely rainbow goodies to sell<br />

raising £250 for staff.<br />

• Help Us Help NHS donated 280<br />

sets of scrubs for frontline staff.<br />

Our amazing community helped to<br />

raise £100,000 within 24 hours to<br />

ensure this could happen.<br />

3


The power of research – a reflection<br />

from the frontline<br />

COVID-19<br />

In <strong>2020</strong>, Dr Leila Fares joined SWB<br />

as a clinical trials pharmacist. Little<br />

did she know the year that would<br />

unfold ahead of her, nor did she<br />

realise the role she had stepped into<br />

would play such a pivotal part in this<br />

pandemic.<br />

Before joining SWB, Dr Fares worked in<br />

a community based pharmacy setting<br />

from 1999 – <strong>2020</strong>. Before that, she<br />

had completed her PhD at Birmingham<br />

University in biosciences and, this year<br />

decided that she wanted to embark on a<br />

new challenge.<br />

Looking back, Dr Fares remarked: “I<br />

joined the Trust in February. It was an<br />

exciting opportunity for me as I joined<br />

after spending many years working in a<br />

community pharmacy setting. As much<br />

as I was worried about moving into<br />

secondary care, the prospect of working<br />

in clinical research was irresistible.<br />

Having a background in scientific<br />

research, I always aspired to carve a<br />

career out in clinical trials and research.<br />

“Six weeks into my new role, the World<br />

Health Organisation declared COVID-19<br />

as an international pandemic. It was<br />

inevitable that a new virus with no<br />

established effective treatment and no<br />

vaccine would make unusual demands<br />

on health systems, especially those<br />

related to clinical research activities.”<br />

Dr Fares continued: “As a novice clinical<br />

Dr Leila Fares<br />

trial member, I was blindsided by how much<br />

I hadn’t known about hospital pharmacy<br />

and clinical trials. I needed to get my training<br />

and competencies up to speed as I was keen<br />

to be actively engaged in the fight against<br />

COVID‐19 and to help the team attain<br />

their targets and succeed. I needed to have<br />

adequate learning time and available training<br />

opportunities which I did.”<br />

Looking back to the start of the pandemic,<br />

Dr Fares recalls the speed at which we<br />

introduced new COVID-19 trials as being<br />

remarkable. “Witnessing the simultaneous<br />

initiation of many trials and being involved<br />

in the collaborative work that took place<br />

between different health and research<br />

professionals to accomplish many trial setups<br />

and management was impressive.”<br />

Like all of us, the clinical trials teams have<br />

had to adapt to how they work and quickly.<br />

“The issues the clinical trial community faced<br />

were unprecedented. We have all adjusted,<br />

adapted, found new methods of working<br />

and implemented new processes into<br />

clinical trials. Like many others, we had<br />

to transition to online research meetings,<br />

virtual discussions and visits. Zoom, WebEx<br />

and Microsoft Teams have become the<br />

norm.<br />

“I am proud that as a team we found ways<br />

to approach and cope with challenges. We<br />

successfully set up two of the largest trials<br />

(Recovery and Remap-cap) alongside many<br />

others, and we continue to deliver and<br />

manage those trials.”<br />

So what have been the positives we asked?<br />

Dr Fares remarked: “As a new trial member,<br />

and despite the strange circumstances, I<br />

believe that I’ve adjusted rapidly. I'm blown<br />

away by the sense of camaraderie. The<br />

leadership, compassion, and dedication<br />

shown by my manager and research<br />

colleagues are truly humbling.<br />

“For me, the past months have been about<br />

the workforce I am proud to be a part of. I<br />

must acknowledge the hard work that has<br />

been carried out by my colleagues in clinical<br />

trials, the wider pharmacy colleagues, the<br />

aseptic team, the EPMA team, the research<br />

nurses, the hospital clinical teams and the<br />

nurses of the infusion suite. They have<br />

repeatedly stepped up, worked across<br />

new teams and shared their expertise and<br />

insights to deliver a high-quality service.<br />

“The changes and the pace at which we<br />

have achieved them show the strength<br />

of our current model of care delivery to<br />

achieve a common goal. There can be no<br />

doubt that fostering such an attitude of<br />

dedication will make us come out the other<br />

side of this pandemic stronger and better<br />

prepared to face future challenges.”<br />

Charity cash boost for frontline staff<br />

When the first wave of the pandemic<br />

hit, our Trust was supported without<br />

hesitation by our local community.<br />

Acts of kindness and donations came<br />

from groups, individuals and schools<br />

– all of whom wanted to help make<br />

the experience of our staff that little<br />

bit better during a tough time.<br />

One such donation came from the<br />

Aashiana charity group. After a vote,<br />

the group donated £1,000 in cash that<br />

was split equally between food for our<br />

frontline colleagues and critical care.<br />

Ashok Puri, Chairman of Aashiana,<br />

commented: “When we saw the effects<br />

of the pandemic on the hospital staff<br />

we knew as a group that we wanted to do<br />

something to help. As a group, we decided<br />

to donate £1,000 to help staff at SWBH.<br />

“This isn’t our first donation to the Trust. In<br />

the past, we have donated wheelchairs to<br />

BMEC and, we knew that with everything<br />

going on, we had to do something to help<br />

ease the strain on the hardworking people<br />

on the frontline.”<br />

Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity,<br />

said: “The past 12 months have placed a<br />

strain on our services but what it has shown<br />

us is that we are lucky to be surrounded<br />

by so many kind-hearted people and<br />

community groups.<br />

“We used the funds to purchase food<br />

and refreshments and also helped provide<br />

additional support to our critical care<br />

team.”<br />

Members of the Aashiana group with<br />

items donated to the Trust<br />

4


Fab Change <strong>2020</strong> and the<br />

implementation of teledermatology<br />

Dr Amirtha Vani Rajasekaran,<br />

Consultant Dermatologist<br />

From 19 – 23 October, SWB celebrated<br />

#FabChange20 and one of the key<br />

learnings from the awareness week<br />

was the rapid implementation of<br />

teledermatology during COVID-19 and<br />

the lessons learnt during the first wave<br />

of the pandemic.<br />

#FabChange20 aimed to recognise<br />

and share the innovations and changes<br />

within each part of the health and social<br />

care system during the pandemic. One<br />

particular change made in the dermatology<br />

department was the rapid implementation<br />

of teledermatology.<br />

Teledermatology involves referring an image<br />

of the skin, or the skin appendages of a<br />

patient, together with the relevant history<br />

of the condition to a clinician for advice.<br />

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a new<br />

two-week wait, the teledermatology service<br />

delivery model was rapidly developed and<br />

implemented for skin cancer assessment<br />

said,” Dr Amirtha Vani Rajasekaran,<br />

Consultant Dermatologist.<br />

“As a result, 155 patients were assessed<br />

between 11 May – 6 June. We adopted an<br />

intermediate model, using store and forward<br />

with a telephone consultation. Photographs<br />

were provided by patients and then uploaded<br />

to the internal secure image bank and, clinical<br />

outcomes of this new service model were<br />

assessed.”<br />

There were some challenges to this<br />

implementation, including:<br />

• Appropriate and timely communication<br />

between clinicians, patients and<br />

administrative colleagues, to ensure images<br />

were available at the time of the telephone<br />

consultation<br />

• Only 58 per cent of patients had photos<br />

available at the time of telephone<br />

consultation meaning that patients had to<br />

have rescheduled appointments<br />

• Eventually, 73 per cent of all patients<br />

reviewed had photos available.<br />

The technical quality of the photographs also<br />

varied as:<br />

• Only 21 per cent included a measurement<br />

guide<br />

• Based on the technical quality of<br />

photographs, and/or, insufficient history,<br />

clinicians were unable to provide a<br />

differential diagnosis in 36 per cent of cases<br />

• No dermoscopic images were available for<br />

pigmented lesions, and these patients<br />

required a face-to-face review.<br />

The implementation of teledermatology<br />

meant the team were able to discharge<br />

20 percent of patients just from telephone<br />

COVID-19<br />

consultations and photographs alone.<br />

About one third of patients could be<br />

booked directly for surgery and there<br />

was a 41 percent concordance between<br />

the initial working diagnosis and the<br />

biopsy result.<br />

Dr Rupali Patel, ST4 Dermatology<br />

Registrar, who did the service model<br />

assessment said: “This process allowed<br />

us to analyse and assess a rapidly<br />

implemented new model of service in a<br />

challenging time.<br />

“We encountered difficulties with the<br />

availability and technical quality of<br />

photographs which negatively affected<br />

outcomes through excessive biopsies<br />

and the need for repeat appointments.<br />

However, we were able to review<br />

and discharge 20 per cent of patients<br />

based on photographs and telephone<br />

consultations. It illustrates that with a<br />

more logistically and technologically<br />

adequate service, this proportion could<br />

potentially be higher.”<br />

She added: “Teledermatology should<br />

not be seen as a substitute for face<br />

to face consultations, but instead as a<br />

complementary service in circumstances<br />

where it better serves the interests<br />

of patients and offers better use of<br />

resources.”<br />

COVID-19: Purple bags, rapid labs<br />

and reducing lags<br />

The pressure of wave two is building<br />

and, we must do everything we can to<br />

reduce delays on diagnosis, treatment<br />

and discharge where possible. While<br />

some processes simply take the time<br />

they do and, that cannot be changed,<br />

one thing that we can do is reduce<br />

any possibility of delays that would<br />

impact the patient and the workloads<br />

colleagues all face.<br />

If speed is of the essence with your sample,<br />

the recent introduction of purple bags<br />

makes identification and prioritisation<br />

easier for the lab. These are replacing the<br />

urgent two hours priority stickers, which are<br />

effectively being phased out, but that can<br />

still be used, until such a time as the supply<br />

is depleted.<br />

Wards must regularly check to ensure that<br />

they have adequate stock of COVID-19<br />

swabs and purple bags for the weekends and<br />

out of hours. Please note that rapid swabs<br />

are not processed overnight and will be<br />

completed the following working day.<br />

The Trust also currently have temporarily<br />

increased availability of urgent and rapid PCR<br />

sampling to 158 tests per day for two weeks<br />

only until 29 <strong>November</strong>. Urgent respiratory<br />

PCR including COVID-19 is also now increased<br />

to 30 tests per day, if you need to take<br />

advantage of this, please do so while you can,<br />

being sure to secure your sample correctly.<br />

If you have an urgent sample:<br />

• Place the correctly labelled specimen into<br />

a clear specimen bag and sealed fully<br />

• Repeat this process, using the<br />

second larger clear zip locked<br />

specimen bag drop off box.<br />

Much like incorrect labelling, samples<br />

not correctly secured for transport<br />

toww the labs can result in loss or<br />

contamination, meaning the patient<br />

ends up having to be re-swabbed and<br />

additional work for everyone down the<br />

line.<br />

There are three things that you can do<br />

to help:<br />

• Print two extra labels and a request<br />

form for all COVID PCR requests<br />

• Ensure that you have checked a<br />

duplicate COVID-19 sample was not<br />

ordered or sent on the same day<br />

• Make sure you fully secure all three<br />

bags – not doing so only creates<br />

more work for yourself.<br />

Please make sure you are utilising<br />

the best methods available.<br />

5


Working from home survey –<br />

your views matter<br />

With the Trust working from home guidance remaining<br />

in place until March 2021, we thought it essential as an<br />

organisation to find out what has been working well<br />

for those of you working remotely and how we can<br />

improve things where necessary.<br />

6<br />

SWB distributed a work from home survey<br />

aimed at both clinical and non-clinical<br />

colleagues across the organisation to<br />

complete and share their views.<br />

“We wanted to hear from staff across the<br />

Trust so that we could shape our future<br />

home working guidelines around the things<br />

which work best for them,” said Frieza<br />

Mahmood, Joint Acting Director of People<br />

and Organisation Development.<br />

“The Trust has had a variety of feedback<br />

from lots of different areas and departments<br />

with almost 300 completed surveys.<br />

As a result, we have been able to start the<br />

process of implementing change to improve<br />

working from home for the majority of our<br />

workforce.<br />

“We are developing a range of tools and<br />

resources for staff and managers to ensure<br />

people working from home can work safely<br />

and effectively within a well-supported<br />

environment. It is happening as a direct<br />

result of colleague feedback. Changes<br />

include training materials for managing<br />

a remote team (with different modules<br />

including self-awareness and managing<br />

team dynamics; managing individuals;<br />

maintaining communication and monitoring<br />

teams, and managing conflict.”<br />

Some of the stand out positives from the<br />

survey includes:<br />

• Over 45 per cent of colleagues said<br />

working from home had allowed<br />

them to work more flexibly to fit<br />

around caring responsibilities.<br />

• Having access to the right<br />

equipment and systems also scored<br />

highly with 60.16 per cent and<br />

66.41 per cent of people<br />

respectively stating this.<br />

• Almost 65 per cent of respondents<br />

feel they can fulfil their role from<br />

home at all times and 78.63 per<br />

cent of respondents appreciate the<br />

time saved by not having to<br />

commute to and from work.<br />

However, we’ve also found there is also<br />

room for improvement with almost 50 per<br />

cent of colleagues reporting they find it<br />

difficult to switch off and take breaks when<br />

working from home and, almost 35 per<br />

cent of colleagues having connectivity issues<br />

with IT.<br />

Martin Sadler, Chief Informatics Officer,<br />

reports that over 700 people a day are<br />

logging on from remote sites and giving<br />

great feedback. The helpdesk is open<br />

around the clock that helps those people<br />

who have found that their hours are more<br />

flexible, and they need to report issues<br />

outside of what ‘normal’ hours used to be.<br />

If you need to contact the IT team from<br />

home, you can reach them on 0121 507<br />

4050.<br />

Martin said: “The recent improvements to<br />

Pulse have made a difference. The number<br />

of teams who are actively communicating<br />

via WebEx, not just for meetings but chat<br />

messages, one to one quick video calls and<br />

sharing screens to collaborate has proved to<br />

be useful. We encourage you to use WebEx<br />

teams to keep your teams in touch while<br />

dispersed and to contact us any time you<br />

have an issue.”<br />

Having looked at the feedback, Frieza<br />

believes the Trust is taking steps in the<br />

right direction to address these issues. She<br />

said: “I know it can be hard to switch off<br />

and take regular breaks from work when<br />

working from home.<br />

“We encourage colleagues to take<br />

advantage of the array of health and<br />

wellbeing facilities we have on offer<br />

whether that be some online yoga sessions<br />

with Chris or visiting our wellbeing<br />

sanctuary. We are always open to new<br />

ideas and regularly updating our health<br />

and wellbeing offerings. Should you have<br />

any ideas for boosting mental health and<br />

wellbeing, do let us know.<br />

Frieza continued: “Working from home<br />

shouldn’t be all work and no play. I’m a big<br />

believer in striking a balance (even if I don’t<br />

always achieve it myself), so we’ve come up<br />

with some fun ways you too could make<br />

working remotely work for you. ”<br />

Note: Figures used within this article were correct as of 18 <strong>November</strong>.


• Enjoy the great outdoors. Take a walk pre or<br />

Working post-work, visit your local park from or go on a bike home survey –<br />

ride. Whatever you enjoy, do more of that.<br />

your • Try a quick YouTube views yoga session at matter continued<br />

lunchtime or enjoy your break by<br />

making your favourite snacks without<br />

any interruptions.<br />

• Got a work call to make? Take a walk<br />

and combine work with leisure.<br />

• Get to know your team over a virtual pizza<br />

party or Christmas quiz.<br />

• Embrace the joys of working from home. Who<br />

said you can’t wear PJ bottoms with a smart<br />

work top for a WebEx call?<br />

• Got a pet? Make them part of the day<br />

and invite them to join your work calls.<br />

• Put the radio on or start the day off by<br />

listening to your favourite song to get<br />

you in the mood for the day ahead.<br />

• Document the pandemic – one day we will be<br />

able to look back on this. Maybe start a diary<br />

to capture your thoughts or perhaps<br />

take photos to capture what life has been like<br />

throughout <strong>2020</strong>.<br />

• Enjoy your time off – really, we want you to<br />

switch off and do the things that make you<br />

happy. Maybe a call COVID-19<br />

with your friends, catch<br />

up on your WhatsApp<br />

messages, cook your<br />

favourite meal or chill on<br />

the sofa watching your<br />

favourite TV show.<br />

Review of daily commute does<br />

wonders for work from home Krupa<br />

Wellbeing<br />

In August, we launched the healthy<br />

weight element of our wellbeing<br />

strategy and encouraged you to<br />

get involved with the many options<br />

available on Connect.<br />

Krupa Soneji, Access WSL/EPR Consultant,<br />

answered the call and immediately turned<br />

to review her ‘work commute’ now that her<br />

she was mainly ‘work from home’.<br />

Heartbeat spoke to Krupa about her new<br />

regime. She said: “I had the idea to reclaim<br />

my ‘work commute’ whilst working from<br />

home a few months ago. The goal was<br />

to separate my work and home space<br />

ideologically, allow myself to re-establish<br />

routine and get into the mind frame of work<br />

and motivate myself to get outside, get<br />

active and have some fresh air.<br />

“So, every morning I get ready for work,<br />

get dressed and go outside for a walk. It<br />

serves as my commute to work. When I<br />

leave the house in the morning, I am not at<br />

work, when I return from the morning walk<br />

I start my working day. At the end of the<br />

working day, I close my laptop and again go<br />

for a walk. When I return home, I try to be<br />

mindful that I am now returning home and<br />

leave work behind.”<br />

Krupa Soneji<br />

Krupa says she learned that a simple change<br />

applied consistently, impacts her life and<br />

lifestyle in a wholesome and holistic manner.<br />

“This activity is a benchmark for my wellbeing<br />

- there were some weeks where I felt stressed<br />

and overly preoccupied with work,” she<br />

continued. “Some weeks, the walk to work<br />

stopped happening - this told me I am not<br />

getting enough sleep to make the journey, or<br />

that I am too tired for the commute home in<br />

the evening.<br />

“The lapses made me aware that I am slipping<br />

into unhealthy patterns and reminded me that<br />

it is important to re-establish the routine. Once<br />

I started walking again, I felt more energetic<br />

throughout the day.<br />

“The exertion and elevated heartrate<br />

stimulated my hunger, so I was more inclined<br />

to eat properly and drink less coffee.<br />

The first few days re-establishing the<br />

walks and the routine that followed were<br />

tough, but I persisted and felt better<br />

overall.<br />

“Now if I miss a day or two that is<br />

acceptable, but by day three, I will get<br />

myself back in gear. I feel I am being kind<br />

to myself again, in general Krupa today<br />

thanks the Krupa who went for a walk<br />

yesterday.”<br />

So what does Krupa advise<br />

colleagues looking to embark on a<br />

similar journey?<br />

“My suggestion to others would be to<br />

take time to think about yourself, observe<br />

what is important to you and works for<br />

you. Find things that motivate the ‘you’<br />

tomorrow to be thankful for the actions<br />

you take today. Doing things that I feel<br />

grateful to myself for, improves my selfesteem<br />

and motivates me to keep going.<br />

“I appreciate that not everyone can get<br />

outside to go for a walk or that it may<br />

not be what works for them. Whatever<br />

you do decide to change, take each day<br />

as it comes and wherever possible stick<br />

with it, if it lapses return to it. The change<br />

doesn’t need to be big, and you may not<br />

succeed every day or all the time. When<br />

that happens, try not to be too hard on<br />

yourself. It’s those days, where I learned<br />

I might need to be kind to myself the<br />

most.”<br />

7


Trust shortlisted for four top awards<br />

in prestigious event<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

We are delighted after being<br />

shortlisted for four gongs in<br />

a prestigious national awards<br />

ceremony. Three teams and Dr Sarb<br />

Clare have been named finalists in<br />

the HSJ Awards <strong>2020</strong>.<br />

Dr Clare, Acute Medical Consultant<br />

and Deputy Medical Director, is up for<br />

Clinical Leader of the Year. The alcohol<br />

care team is recognised in the Acute<br />

Sector Innovation of the Year category,<br />

the sustainability team is shortlisted for<br />

the Environmental Sustainability Award,<br />

whilst the communications team is a<br />

finalist in the NHS Communications<br />

Initiative of the Year Award.<br />

All four will find out if they have won in<br />

a ceremony held in March 2021.<br />

Dr David Carruthers, Acting Chief<br />

Executive, said: “The HSJ Awards is a<br />

very prestigious event and I am delighted<br />

that three of our teams and Dr Clare are<br />

recognised for their innovative work.<br />

“The work of the alcohol care team has<br />

continued throughout the pandemic,<br />

Dr Sarb Clare, the alcohol team and Fran<br />

Silcocks<br />

caring for people who need crucial support for<br />

alcohol misuse. They have introduced several<br />

innovative ways of working which has led to<br />

patients not needing to attend hospital for<br />

treatment or the length of their stay reducing<br />

dramatically.<br />

“Meanwhile, the work of the communications<br />

team to promote the Trust going smoke-free<br />

ensured not only our staff but also patients<br />

and visitors were well aware of the new ban<br />

in place. Materials were produced in foreign<br />

languages and, the publicity resulted in<br />

worldwide media coverage, with other UK<br />

Trusts contacting the team so they could<br />

learn how we successfully implemented the<br />

restriction.<br />

“Dr Clare’s work around wellbeing, as well<br />

as women empowerment of her colleagues,<br />

shows true leadership. She introduced<br />

energy pods, which led to a significant<br />

improvement in psychological, physical<br />

health as well as the ability to manage stress<br />

for doctors. It is just one of many initiatives<br />

she has introduced into the Trust and was<br />

recently recognised in the Queen’s Birthday<br />

Honours list, having received an MBE.<br />

“It is also fantastic news that many of<br />

our environmentally-friendly schemes<br />

are recognised, contributing to the clean<br />

air agenda across the West Midlands. It<br />

included introducing electric car charging<br />

points, a car sharing scheme and cycle lanes<br />

across sites. The Trust has demonstrated<br />

our commitment to forming a greener and<br />

more sustainable workplace.”<br />

Dr Carruthers added: “This year has been<br />

extremely challenging due to the pandemic,<br />

so news of our services and staff getting<br />

recognition for their achievements is<br />

extremely welcome.”<br />

It's top prize for environmentallyfriendly<br />

travel plan<br />

The Trust has scooped a top award<br />

for its environmentally-friendly<br />

travel plan which is working to<br />

reduce the amount of staff driving<br />

to work.<br />

We won the ‘contribution to sustainable<br />

travel by an organisation’ gong, for our<br />

work around introducing more cycle<br />

lanes, cycle parking, implementing a car<br />

share scheme with Faxi, and installing<br />

electric vehicle charging points.<br />

The Trust was recognised in the<br />

Modeshift National Sustainable Travel<br />

Awards, which took place virtually.<br />

Earlier this year, we achieved Bronze<br />

accreditation from Modeshift for the<br />

travel plans.<br />

Fran Silcocks, Sustainability Officer, who<br />

contributed to the travel plan, said: “We<br />

are honoured and extremely pleased to<br />

be recognised in this way for the work<br />

we are doing around sustainability. We<br />

have been going over and above in our<br />

efforts to reduce driving to our sites and<br />

Fran Silcocks, Sustainability Officer<br />

have put in place several environmentallyfriendly<br />

initiatives.<br />

“We have significantly more electric vehicle<br />

charging points being installed shortly and are<br />

working with local public transport providers<br />

to offer discounted travel for our staff.<br />

“By introducing the travel plan, the Trust<br />

demonstrates our commitment to forming<br />

a greener and more sustainable workplace.<br />

A big part of our goal is looking at the way<br />

staff travel and making it easier and better for<br />

people to choose walking, cycling, public<br />

transport, low emission vehicles or car<br />

sharing rather than travelling individually<br />

by car.<br />

“As a health care provider, we have a duty<br />

of care to advocate improvements in air<br />

quality and are committed to positively<br />

contributing towards this. We look forward<br />

to working with our local authorities to<br />

improve air quality.”<br />

The Trust’s travel plan sets out objectives to<br />

reduce the dependence of staff on travel by<br />

private car, including:<br />

• Promote sustainable and active modes<br />

of travel<br />

• Advocate means of travel that are<br />

beneficial to the health of those<br />

working at or visiting the site<br />

• Minimise car travel in the area<br />

surrounding the site, cutting down on<br />

associated costs (including<br />

environmental, financial and health)<br />

• Reduce car parking pressures.<br />

8


National award for nurse who helps<br />

patients understand diabetes<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

Lizbeth Hudson<br />

Lead Nurse in Paediatric Diabetes,<br />

Lizbeth Hudson has won the award<br />

Outstanding Educator in Diabetes<br />

at the <strong>2020</strong> Quality in Care Diabetes<br />

Awards. This award is open to both<br />

adult and paediatric diabetes teams and<br />

individuals nationwide.<br />

Due to the current pandemic, the award<br />

ceremony was virtual, however, this didn’t<br />

dampen spirits as a variety of stakeholders<br />

were in attendance from the entrants<br />

themselves to supporters, judges and award<br />

partners.<br />

The award of Outstanding Educator in<br />

Diabetes recognises an individual who<br />

delivers excellence in education, in a specialist<br />

or community setting whether through<br />

developing innovative teaching tools or<br />

courses; providing mentorship for other<br />

educators; or delivering and promoting<br />

externally developed training. Lizbeth was<br />

put forward for the accolade by her team<br />

members.<br />

Rachael Jones, Paediatric Diabetes Nurse<br />

believes Lizbeth is fully deserving of the award<br />

and more than matches the criteria. She said:<br />

“Lizbeth is always going the extra mile<br />

to help everyone better understand<br />

diabetes and more importantly, the care<br />

involved. She is kind and caring and, no<br />

patient is too much for her no matter<br />

how busy and demanding her role is.”<br />

Rachael added: "Lizbeth is a true<br />

champion for diabetes and an invaluable<br />

asset to our wider team and the Trust.”<br />

Lizbeth started her nurse training in<br />

1999 and qualified a couple of years<br />

later in 2001. She worked on Lyndon 1<br />

for five years and moved to Birmingham<br />

Children’s Hospital for 12 months, then<br />

returned to the Trust as a paediatric<br />

diabetes nurse in 2008.<br />

Diabetes has been a big part of Lizbeth’s<br />

life as when she met her husband (in<br />

1977) he had been diagnosed with type<br />

1 diabetes six months previously.<br />

“Diabetes was explained to him like so<br />

- if your blood sugar goes too high you<br />

will go into a coma and if your blood<br />

sugar goes to low you will go into a<br />

coma,” said Lizabeth.<br />

“These comments had a strong impact<br />

on my practice and how I teach<br />

patients, their families and carers how to<br />

manage their diabetes. I teach patients<br />

using visuals and explain in a way that<br />

the patients and their families can<br />

understand.”<br />

Lizbeth has two children who were both<br />

diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. They<br />

were diagnosed at the ages of six and<br />

10 years respectively, within 12 months<br />

of each other which was life-changing.<br />

It is also the core reason she decided<br />

to start her nurse training and why she<br />

has gone on to achieve what she has in<br />

the field of diabetes, culminating in her<br />

receiving the accolade of Outstanding<br />

Educator in Diabetes <strong>2020</strong>.<br />

Lizbeth was delighted to the prestigious<br />

award of Outstanding Educator in<br />

Diabetes <strong>2020</strong>. "I was surprised by my<br />

name being announced as a finalist<br />

never mind winning it! I attended the<br />

virtual presentation and was quite<br />

emotional that I had been nominated,<br />

chosen as a finalist and voted for by<br />

my peers especially as I was up against<br />

any people who were equally deserving<br />

winners too.”<br />

She added: “I have to say a huge thank<br />

you to all my colleagues as without them<br />

this would have been possible.”<br />

9


Our apprentices make their mark<br />

on <strong>2020</strong><br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

<strong>2020</strong> has thrown lots of things<br />

our way, but it has not stopped<br />

colleagues from taking the<br />

opportunity to further their learning<br />

and focus on enhancing their careers<br />

within our Trust.<br />

This month we introduce you to three<br />

such people who have excelled in<br />

apprenticeships this year.<br />

Kajal Sondhi currently works as a<br />

volunteer service coordinator completed<br />

her Level 3 Apprenticeship in Team<br />

Leading at the end of October, obtaining<br />

a distinction.<br />

The Team Leader/Supervisor<br />

Apprenticeship aims to support aspiring<br />

Team Leaders and those in a first-line<br />

management role, with operational/<br />

project responsibilities and responsibility<br />

for managing a team to deliver a clearly<br />

defined outcome. The programme<br />

provides direction, instructions and<br />

guidance for the team leader to be able<br />

to support, manage and develop their<br />

team members, manage projects, plan<br />

and monitor workloads and resources,<br />

deliver operational plans, resolve<br />

problems, and build relationships.<br />

Kajal was thrilled to have completed<br />

her Level 3 programme with distinction.<br />

She told Heartbeat: “I am delighted<br />

I have finally finished my Level 3<br />

apprenticeship. I believe the skills I<br />

have gained from completing this<br />

apprenticeship will allow me to play a<br />

better role in supporting my team, which<br />

will only benefit the volunteer service<br />

and our volunteers.”<br />

Despite COVID-19, apprenticeships<br />

across the Trust for both clinical and<br />

non-clinical colleagues are still available<br />

and Maxine Griffiths, Widening<br />

Participation Manager/Apprenticeship<br />

Lead is encouraging those interested to<br />

seek more information.<br />

She said: “If you feel you're ready to<br />

upskill yourself you should consider an<br />

apprenticeship. We’re currently planning<br />

a range of apprenticeship programmes<br />

to start in December and 2021 using<br />

online and remote delivery methods to<br />

allow people to continue their learning.<br />

We have a variety of apprenticeships<br />

available across both Level 2 and 3<br />

and, more importantly, the cost for the<br />

apprenticeships is funded through the<br />

apprenticeship levy. There is no charge<br />

to the individual or their department.<br />

Kajal Sondhi<br />

Also, we can support higher level and degree<br />

apprenticeships using Levy funding, so please<br />

contact us if you wish to explore your career<br />

development further.”<br />

<strong>2020</strong> has been a year for recognising<br />

individuals’ commitments to learning. In fact,<br />

two such people are Max Newbould and<br />

Rachael Gallagher who were highlighted in<br />

this year’s Star Awards. Both took time out to<br />

share their experiences with us.<br />

Rachael works as Secretary/Admin Assistant as<br />

part of Estates. Speaking of her achievements<br />

over the last 12 months, she said: “Being<br />

the first person in the Trust to complete<br />

the Business Administration Apprenticeship<br />

Level 3 at the new standard and gaining a<br />

distinction was a big achievement.<br />

“I was also part of a small team who worked<br />

on an internal proposal to keep the estates<br />

services in-house. Working on this exposed me<br />

to new levels of administration enhancing my<br />

skills even further.”<br />

Max Newbould, Simulation Technician was<br />

awarded Learner of the Year at Star Awards<br />

<strong>2020</strong>. He joined our workplace in April 2019<br />

and has achieved plenty over the last 12<br />

months.<br />

Rachael Gallagher<br />

Calling out of few of his successes he<br />

said: “Supporting the development of the<br />

simulation centre which opened in May<br />

2019 was a big milestone. I also helped<br />

develop the new simulation space on D20<br />

for undergraduate teaching (due to COVID).<br />

Furthermore I developed the sim centre<br />

Connect page.<br />

“The Introduction of Signup Genius (e<br />

simulation bookings) to postgraduate has<br />

largely improved the way candidates and<br />

faculty book onto training sessions.<br />

“I completed my Business Administration<br />

Level 3 Apprenticeship and I was delighted<br />

to be nominated for Apprentice of the<br />

Month. I look forward to continuously<br />

developing the quality of simulation<br />

sessions that we deliver in the centre<br />

and further continue my education and<br />

development in the Trust”.<br />

For further details regarding current<br />

apprenticeships at the Trust please<br />

visit https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/<br />

apprenticeships-for-staff/.<br />

For more information about<br />

apprenticeships please email<br />

swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net.<br />

Max Newbould<br />

10


Your Trust Charity relaunches<br />

fundraising pack<br />

Our registered hospital charity, Your<br />

Trust Charity, has recently refreshed its<br />

fundraising packs in an effort to raise<br />

vital funds for the charity.<br />

Dubbed the <strong>2020</strong> fundraising pack, the<br />

exciting new twelve-page pack, aims to<br />

give colleagues and the public alike new<br />

and innovative ways to raise money for<br />

Your Trust Charity, as well as guidance<br />

around the do’s and don’ts of fundraising<br />

successfully.<br />

Amanda Winwood Fundraising and<br />

Membership Academy Manager at Your<br />

Trust Charity is hopeful the fundraising<br />

packs will help diversify income streams for<br />

the organisation.<br />

She said: “By refreshing our fundraising<br />

pack it now showcases the fundraising<br />

efforts that have taken place and also<br />

encourages and inspires other people to<br />

donate or create their fundraising events to<br />

raise money for us.<br />

“I’m optimistic that the new packs will<br />

inspire everyone to support us and ultimately<br />

help Your Trust Charity reach our mission of<br />

enhancing the experience of all people using<br />

our services including staff, patients and their<br />

families.”<br />

Also included in the pack this year is a helpful<br />

guide on how to raise funds online, hints<br />

and tips around fundraising itself and how to<br />

ensure you stay on the right side of the law<br />

when you are fundraising.<br />

Having a fall IS NOT an<br />

inevitable part of ageing.<br />

TM<br />

STAYING<br />

STEADY<br />

STAYING<br />

SAFE<br />

Sandwell and<br />

West Birmingham<br />

City Hospital • Sandwell Hospital • Rowley Regis Hospital • Community Services<br />

<strong>2020</strong><br />

FUNDRAISING PACK<br />

With the right knowledge and support, you<br />

can help yourself to stay steady on your feet<br />

and protect your health and independence.<br />

Whether you're 60 or 90 there are many positive<br />

and easy steps you can take to age well and<br />

reduce your risk of falling.<br />

NHS Trust<br />

Call Agewell today for your<br />

FREE copy of our 'Staying<br />

Steady, Staying Safe' self-help<br />

guide for older people.<br />

Available for everyone aged 60<br />

and over, who lives in Sandwell, or<br />

is registered with a Sandwell GP.<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

Head of Your Trust Charity, Johnny Shah<br />

said: “As a charity, it has been very<br />

challenging this year for us, especially<br />

during the current pandemic. This<br />

is why it more important to let our<br />

key stakeholders know they can still<br />

fundraise for us outside of big events, by<br />

doing things virtually and online.<br />

“We have added detailed hints and tips<br />

so any potential fundraisers can ensure<br />

their fundraising efforts are as successful<br />

as possible as well as pointers around<br />

social media so that anyone raising<br />

money for us can make the most of<br />

these platforms.”<br />

Your Trust Charity fundraising packs will<br />

be available on the website, intranet<br />

and social media. Should you have a<br />

fundraising idea, whether that be a<br />

personal challenge or an activity involving<br />

your family and friends or would like the<br />

fundraising pack itself, please contact<br />

amanda.winwood@nhs.net.<br />

c:a 0121 796 9333<br />

<br />

info@agewelluk.org.uk<br />

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11


Celebrating our<br />

stars of the week<br />

Star of the Week<br />

Andy Page, Patient Systems<br />

Training Manager<br />

Star of the Week<br />

Amy Wood<br />

School Health Nurse<br />

Star of the Week<br />

Hardeep Bains<br />

Discharge Coordinator<br />

Congratulations are in order for Andy<br />

Page, Patient Systems Training Manager.<br />

At short notice Andy offered to help set up<br />

a new e-learning virtual portal on Centric<br />

so that a partially online induction platform<br />

for medical students coming from both<br />

University of Birmingham and Aston Medical<br />

School could be put in place.<br />

Due to COVID-19, the Trust has had to<br />

change the way we deliver medical student<br />

teaching and induction taking social<br />

distancing and risk in to consideration.<br />

In order to do this we needed an online<br />

platform that students could access before<br />

they commenced at the Trust and from<br />

home to limit the requirement to come into<br />

the hospital unnecessarily. Andy offered a<br />

significant amount of assistance in getting<br />

this off the ground.<br />

In addition to all of the above, Andy is<br />

always extremely polite, kind and helpful.<br />

Well done Amy Wood, School Health<br />

Nurse from the School Nursing Team.<br />

Amy has been very supportive and<br />

instrumental in the development of the<br />

online training for colleagues to manage<br />

medicines in school for children and young<br />

people. This training will allow the service<br />

to deliver sessions virtually and then the<br />

teachers will be assessed regarding their<br />

competencies. Amy has played a key role in<br />

developing this training in preparation for<br />

the children and young people returning to<br />

school in September. She has supported the<br />

service in delivering peer sessions to ensure<br />

that everyone feels prepared to deliver the<br />

sessions online and to respond to questions<br />

and answers posed by the teaching staff.<br />

This has been an amazing achievement<br />

and so essential during the difficulties in<br />

delivering training impacted by COVID. Amy<br />

has gone above and beyond the call of duty.<br />

Way to go Hardeep Bains, Discharge<br />

Coordinator on Lyndon 2.<br />

Hardeep was nominated for the work<br />

she does to ensure that patients are<br />

discharged safely which often means a lot<br />

of coordination with relatives, care providers<br />

and social services.<br />

Her work enables patients to be in the right<br />

place for their healthcare needs and helps<br />

ensure flow through the hospital. She was<br />

described as being ‘the glue that holds<br />

Lyndon 2 together.’<br />

Star of the Week<br />

Sandra Whitelock, Primary Care<br />

Service and Delivery Manager<br />

12<br />

Star of the Week<br />

Sonia Bal<br />

Sister<br />

Congratulations to Sonia Bal, Sister on<br />

Newton 3.<br />

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sonia has<br />

organised a variety of wellbeing events for<br />

her team whilst maintaining social distancing.<br />

It has allowed her colleagues to feel heard,<br />

valued, supported and included. It also meant<br />

colleagues were able to air concerns they<br />

may have as well as talk openly and honestly<br />

about mental health and wellbeing. Due to<br />

the success of her wellbeing events, she plans<br />

to host more in 2021.<br />

Sonia is an asset to her team and sets a<br />

perfect example to others around her, both<br />

clinical and non-clinical.<br />

Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and beyond<br />

the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the Week by<br />

visiting Connect.<br />

Congratulations are in order for Sandra<br />

Whitelock, Primary Care Service and<br />

Delivery Manager.<br />

Sandra has lived the Trust promise of<br />

going the extra mile since the start of the<br />

COVID-19 pandemic. She has based herself<br />

in the GP practice the Trust runs, Heath<br />

Street Health Centre and, whilst there she<br />

has done everything she can to make sure<br />

the practice stayed open.<br />

Also, since July she has been managing the<br />

COVID primary care hot site for the system<br />

as it is a branch practice of Heath Street<br />

alongside doing her own job.<br />

Sandra always works with a positive<br />

attitude and gets things done without a<br />

fuss. She is kind, compassionate and a real<br />

credit to SWB. She never says no and is a<br />

very creative problem solver.


This year we went bold and bright and<br />

took inspiration from ABBA for our <strong>2020</strong><br />

flu campaign. Our Flu-Per Troopers<br />

played a pivotal part and over 5,000<br />

colleagues have had their flu vaccination<br />

which is a fantastic achievement.<br />

We needed to take the appropriate<br />

measures to ensure that we are ready<br />

as an organisation and everyone chipped<br />

in to play their part. Individuals got busy<br />

holding clinics in their areas while others<br />

helped to host drop-in clinics and visited<br />

wards to ensure everyone was protected.<br />

At the start of the campaign, Bethan<br />

Downing, Joint Acting Director of People<br />

and OD stressed the importance of<br />

getting immunised early on and people<br />

listened to that message and took<br />

advantage of the free flu jab on offer.<br />

As the campaign comes to a close,<br />

Bethan remarked: “Thank you to our<br />

Flu-Per Troopers for supporting our<br />

<strong>2020</strong> flu campaign. We called for all of<br />

our dancing queens (and kings) to step<br />

forward earlier this year and, you didn’t<br />

disappoint.<br />

“To everyone that has come forward to<br />

have your flu jab – thank you too. As you<br />

may have seen in the press, there is good<br />

news about a potential COVID vaccine<br />

which may be available in the weeks and<br />

months ahead. There will likely be a need<br />

to take a break between receiving the<br />

flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine, so we<br />

needed to ensure that as many people as<br />

possible had their flu jab.”<br />

As our flu campaign draws to a close, we<br />

take this final opportunity to introduce<br />

you to one of our Flu-Per Troopers,<br />

Hayley Griffiths, Clinical Education Sister.<br />

In the final weeks of the campaign, she<br />

even held an ABBA themed drop-in clinic<br />

with Lisa Tyler to end the campaign on a<br />

high.<br />

Hayley Griffiths,<br />

Clinical Education Sister<br />

Why did you decide to become a Flu-Per<br />

Trooper?<br />

• The nursing midwifery clinical<br />

education team always support the<br />

flu campaign. This year, more than<br />

ever, we wanted to help protect<br />

our frontline colleagues during the<br />

pandemic.<br />

How have you found our new approach of<br />

vaccinating within your area?<br />

• Our team is only a small team, so<br />

Lisa Tyler and I have been holding<br />

drop-in flu clinics out of hours<br />

in accessible areas to support<br />

colleagues that evenings and<br />

weekends.<br />

Tell us what you’ve enjoyed about this<br />

year’s campaign?<br />

• The engagement and uptake from<br />

staff has been fantastic - we held<br />

a tombola with numerous prizes<br />

during Halloween and staff seemed<br />

to enjoy this.<br />

Tell us your favourite ABBA song?<br />

• Mine is Super Trooper whilst Lisa<br />

loves Thank you for the Music.<br />

Thank you to<br />

all of our<br />

Flu-Per Troopers!<br />

13


International Year of<br />

the Nurse and Midwife<br />

This year marks International Year of<br />

the Nurse and Midwife, a campaign<br />

by the World Health Organisation<br />

in honour of the 200th birthday of<br />

Florence Nightingale.<br />

Staff Nurse<br />

For <strong>November</strong>, we feature Lead Alcohol<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

VRPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

care team.<br />

NEWS<br />

Nurse, Arlene Copland from the alcohol<br />

Arlene started nursing in Leicester, qualifying<br />

in 1988. She spent the following ten years<br />

working in London, Bristol and even down<br />

under in Australia. Arlene has worked in<br />

many different fields such as in prisons, as a<br />

flight nurse, on renal, gastro, cardiac wards<br />

and in the Australian outback. She also won<br />

a commendation in the Nursing Standard<br />

National Achievement Awards for her work<br />

with hepatitis C patients.<br />

In 2002, she decided to specialise in alcohol<br />

misuse and worked in a community alcohol<br />

team before moving back into acute trusts.<br />

In 2012, Arlene completed an MSc in<br />

the treatment of substance misuse at<br />

Birmingham University. In April 2017 Arlene<br />

joined SWB as the lead alcohol nurse where<br />

she, alongside her team, would provide<br />

support to those who misuse the substance.<br />

Her work within the much needed service<br />

is not easy, as alcohol misuse in the area<br />

costs the NHS around £72 million a year.<br />

“The fact is alcohol causes more harm and<br />

more deaths than drugs, remarked Arlene.<br />

“When people drink alcohol excessively, they<br />

risk having health-related problems, such as<br />

cancer, stroke, and high blood pressure.<br />

Arlene Copland<br />

“The social impact is also significant as<br />

people who are addicted to alcohol struggle<br />

to cope with life and can risk losing their job,<br />

hurting their family, and they can even risk<br />

become homeless as they lose their income.<br />

It’s a serious issue.”<br />

It can often be difficult leading the alcohol<br />

care team, but helping others is what drives<br />

Arlene as she loves what she does and<br />

always wants to give back to her patients.<br />

Arlene told Heartbeat: “The areas in which<br />

I work can be challenging but are always<br />

interesting. People may think it’s just<br />

about asking patients to stop drinking, but<br />

addiction is more complex than that.”<br />

“I truly believe that the best care for<br />

patients who have a problem with alcohol<br />

is to understand the root cause of their<br />

addiction. I have met many who go<br />

through some critical moments in their<br />

lives, such as bereavement or trauma,<br />

and they use alcohol to help them cope<br />

with the pain they are experiencing. It<br />

is important to take time to understand<br />

their needs and show them that there is<br />

another way.”<br />

Alongside all the great work Arlene has<br />

done at the Trust, she has also achieved<br />

many great accolades. These include<br />

being shortlisted for the <strong>2020</strong> Vision<br />

Prize for Integrated Care Pioneer of the<br />

Year award alongside her team in 2018<br />

and then winning the same award the<br />

following year in 2019 and scooping the<br />

Green Award at the <strong>2020</strong> Star Awards.<br />

In addition to these achievements, earlier<br />

this year, Arlene alongside Professor Sally<br />

Bradberry, Consultant Toxicologist and<br />

Alcohol Lead, and the rest of the alcohol<br />

care team became real innovators and<br />

pioneers in their field. They are one of the<br />

first teams in the country to use vodka<br />

to prevent the onset of acute alcohol<br />

withdrawal in patients who are very<br />

excessive drinkers.<br />

Did you know that you can download<br />

treatment-specific patient information<br />

leaflets from the EIDO Healthcare<br />

website for FREE?<br />

EIDO has hundreds of patient leaflets for different procedures that<br />

are being carried out across the Trust.<br />

They are available in an easy-to-read format and<br />

in different languages.<br />

Patient information for hundreds of procedures carried out across<br />

the Trust can be downloaded for free and passed on to patients<br />

to help them better understand the procedure they may be<br />

undergoing. Many of these are available in different languages and<br />

formats and help patients to give informed consent.<br />

Visit Connect Clinical Systems EIDO PT Leaflets.<br />

For more information, please contact the communications team<br />

on ext.5303 or email swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />

14


Shout out has been a regular feature<br />

in Heartbeat and it is fantastic to see<br />

colleagues regularly taking the time to<br />

give positive feedback to each other.<br />

We regularly receive positive feedback from<br />

our patients too, and this month we wanted<br />

to share some of those heart-warming<br />

messages which have been sent via our<br />

website and social media platforms.<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

To – Chinazam Anyaebosim<br />

Thank you to Chichi for embracing and<br />

supporting our journey towards neonatal<br />

baby friendly accreditation as the new<br />

manager on the unit. We think you are<br />

fantastic.<br />

From – Carmen Nuttall and Louise<br />

Thompson<br />

To – Kay Deep, Security - main entrance,<br />

Dudley Road<br />

Every time Kay's on duty she's got a smile<br />

on her face (her mask is always on, but the<br />

smile is so big you can still see it!). She's<br />

welcoming, helpful, friendly, kind and gives<br />

everyone coming through our doors such a<br />

great first impression of the Trust.<br />

From – Chloe Travers<br />

To – whom it may concern<br />

I would like to say a very big thank you<br />

to the person who handed my house keys<br />

into the reception at BTC. It was very much<br />

appreciated. THANK YOU again!!!<br />

From – Sue Durnall<br />

To – Kendra Spindler<br />

At less than a day's notice, Kendra worked<br />

her not working day to join the swabbing<br />

team to go a local school where there was<br />

a potential outbreak and helped to swab<br />

over 100 staff and contractors.<br />

From – Kay Baker<br />

To – Sue Edwards<br />

For showing so much empathy and<br />

compassion for everyone that you work<br />

with, be that colleagues, patients or<br />

families. Also for always having the<br />

biggest, most welcoming smile! The<br />

bereavement care service will thrive with<br />

your guidance and I know you will bring<br />

so much passion and dedication to your<br />

bereavement nurse role.<br />

From – Jo Bradley<br />

To – Cara Shelton<br />

Cara is one of our flu vaccinators in<br />

Windmill theatres; she has vaccinated<br />

85 staff over the past two weeks. She<br />

has is an inspirational staff member and<br />

is committed to ensuring theatres staff<br />

achieve herd immunity.<br />

From – Amber Markham<br />

To – Care Homes Team<br />

They are fantastic and supportive with<br />

helping each other in their team and<br />

wider teams. They also do a fantastic job<br />

supporting the care homes, I’m glad to be<br />

part of the team.<br />

From – Jayne Morgan<br />

To – Ahmed in IT<br />

Jo went the extra mile to get a dying<br />

patient at home specialist end of life<br />

medications over a weekend. Jo-Anne<br />

liaised with community nursing and<br />

pharmacy services and then worked with<br />

SWBH pharmacy (thank you!) to get them<br />

transferred from UHB so patient was<br />

comfortable and family did not have any<br />

extra burden in the last days of life.<br />

From – Anna Lock<br />

To – Yvonne Sinclair (Ward Service Officer)<br />

Always works hard and goes out of her<br />

way to make sure everyone is happy,<br />

patients and staff alike. She has settled<br />

really well into her role on Priory 2. Thanks<br />

Yvonne from all the team.<br />

From – Sam Bentley<br />

To – Avneet Binning<br />

For the care, compassion and patience<br />

shown when looking after a patient with<br />

learning disabilities on City AMU. It was<br />

heart-warming to watch and her actions<br />

are a credit to the AMU. Thank you.<br />

From – Claire Obiakor<br />

To – Craig Pardon<br />

He works hard in ED with a smile. He<br />

always go the extra mile.<br />

From – Rowena Tayao<br />

To – Deepak Sharma and Prakash Vadukul<br />

I wish to give them a shout out for the<br />

kindness and compassion they show to<br />

their patients on critical care at City and<br />

the respect they have for the nursing staff.<br />

From – Carol Carew<br />

To – Anil Patel<br />

For supporting the library during the recent<br />

#FabChange20 campaign. We couldn't have<br />

done it without him.<br />

From – Stacey Richards<br />

To – Lauren Melhado Yeomans<br />

Always goes the extra mile to make sure<br />

her patients are supported and their needs<br />

are being met. She takes time with the<br />

little things that mean a great deal to our<br />

patients such as making sure they have a<br />

cup of tea and a she is there for a little chat<br />

when they need it, alongside the clinical<br />

aspect of her role. Great nursing care. Keep<br />

up that caring nature and attitude.<br />

From – AMU Staff<br />

To – Nuclear Medicine Technologist Team<br />

Because the technologists in the nuclear<br />

medicine are consistent and thorough in<br />

the approach to checking the patient study<br />

prior to commencing the test. This ensures<br />

compliance with legal aspects of the service<br />

(IRMER) and avoids incidents. It also gives<br />

the very best service to the patients, as<br />

tests can be optimised further. In addition,<br />

it also shows you are 'free to speak up'<br />

which is timely since October is 'speak up<br />

month'! Thank you.<br />

From – Joseph O'Brien<br />

15


WINNERS<br />

<strong>2020</strong> has been a year we will<br />

all remember. Over the last 12<br />

months, we have seen a lot of<br />

changes and, it was vital for us<br />

to recognise the hard work and<br />

dedication of colleagues right<br />

across our Trust.<br />

On Friday 27 <strong>November</strong><br />

colleagues gathered together<br />

in their work areas and homes<br />

to watch Star Awards <strong>2020</strong>.<br />

The ceremony may have been<br />

a digital event, but that didn’t<br />

stop us from celebrating the<br />

hard work, innovation and<br />

dedication of our colleagues. It<br />

was a celebration of all that is<br />

good about our workplace as<br />

we recognised the teams and<br />

individuals that have made a<br />

positive impact for patients and<br />

colleagues.<br />

We must say a special thank<br />

you to our sponsors, Engie and<br />

Tusker. Their support helped us<br />

to put together this event and,<br />

for that, we share our sincere<br />

thanks. Also, a special thanks<br />

must go to Des Coleman, a<br />

former EastEnders star and now<br />

ITV weatherman who once again<br />

hosted our event.<br />

This year we received the largest<br />

number of nominations in the<br />

history of the Star Awards -<br />

over 700. Nominations included<br />

acts of kindness and stories of<br />

overcoming hurdles to provide<br />

outstanding leadership. Each<br />

nomination had a common<br />

thread – our organisation<br />

has some remarkable people<br />

working here.<br />

Four awards were chosen by<br />

staff. We opened the vote to<br />

colleagues, allowing everyone to<br />

help decide the most deserving<br />

winners. These awards were<br />

Non-Clinical Team of the Year,<br />

Clinical Team of the Year<br />

(Children), Clinical Team of the<br />

Year (Adults) and Employee of<br />

the Year.<br />

Congratulations to everybody<br />

that was shortlisted and to all<br />

of our winners. Your dedication<br />

and hard work make our Trust a<br />

special place to work.<br />

<strong>2020</strong> vision prize for<br />

Integrated Care Pioneer<br />

of the Year<br />

Award for Equality and<br />

Diversity Champion<br />

Digital Leader of<br />

the Year<br />

Discharge Enablement<br />

Team/Palliative<br />

Alison Byrne<br />

Joanne Bryer<br />

Distinguished<br />

Service Award<br />

Excellence in<br />

Education Prize<br />

Excellence in<br />

Research Prize<br />

Nick Sherwood<br />

Clair Millard<br />

Research and Development Team


Fundraiser of the Year<br />

Learner of the Year<br />

New Leader (Joint Winner)<br />

Nick Makwana<br />

New Leader (Joint Winner)<br />

Max Newbould<br />

Patient Safety Award<br />

Maria Atkinson<br />

Prize for Innovation<br />

Amirah Sheikh<br />

The Green Award<br />

Learning from Deaths Committee<br />

Volunteer of the Year<br />

Junior Doctors' Wellbeing<br />

Hub/Sanctuary<br />

Clinical Team of the Year<br />

(Adults)<br />

Alcohol Care Team<br />

Clinical Team of the Year<br />

(Children)<br />

Kamal (Kay) Deep<br />

Non-Clinical Team<br />

of the Year<br />

Palliative Care Team<br />

Employee of the Year<br />

Neonatal Unit<br />

Quality of Care Award<br />

Portering Team<br />

Chairman’s Award for<br />

Notable Contribution to<br />

the Local Health and Social<br />

Care System<br />

Edward Fogden<br />

Special Award –<br />

International Year of<br />

Nurse and Midwife<br />

Gynaecology Team<br />

Local Primary Care Award<br />

for the Most Valued Service<br />

in the Trust<br />

Dr Imran Zaman<br />

Rebecca O'Dwyer<br />

Community COVID-19<br />

Testing Team<br />

thank you<br />

for your support


Enabling our partners to<br />

embrace a greener,<br />

more efficient and<br />

increasingly digital world.<br />

ENGIE is committed to making zero carbon happen<br />

for businesses and communities throughout<br />

the UK & Ireland – accelerating the transition<br />

towards a net zero carbon world.<br />

We make this possible by reducing energy consumption and<br />

driving efficiency, greening supply and enabling progress<br />

through innovative technology, data & partnerships.<br />

We are also shaping the future of responsible business<br />

by reconciling economic performance with a positive<br />

impact on people and the planet.<br />

18


Chaplaincy Christmas service<br />

heads online<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

the Trust's YouTube channel and the<br />

Chaplaincy service's Facebook page<br />

Christmas Day with an expected live<br />

time of 9AM. After which the video will<br />

be available on demand.<br />

Please keep an eye out through<br />

your regular Trust daily bulletins for<br />

further updates nearer to the time.<br />

In a very trying year for everyone in<br />

our local area, one aspect that has<br />

sustained many staff, patients and<br />

relatives alike has been their faith.<br />

And as we close in on the end of <strong>2020</strong><br />

Christmas, in particular, stands out as<br />

a time for reflection as well as offering<br />

thanks.<br />

Many of us will not have the Christmas that<br />

we would normally have. We have not seen<br />

many of our friends in months, some of us<br />

have been robbed of the opportunities to<br />

spend time with close family and some of<br />

those reading this may even have to spend<br />

the holiday season alone this year.<br />

Whilst services are normally a big part of the<br />

Trust's Chaplaincy over the festive period it<br />

like every other service is restricted in what<br />

it can do by Coronavirus, lockdown and<br />

the guidelines currently in place to keep us<br />

all safe. However, there will be a Christmas<br />

service this year, performed by our chaplain<br />

Rev Mary Causer.<br />

Like so many gatherings it will be going<br />

virtual; with the service being broadcast on<br />

Reverand Mary Causer, Lead Chaplain<br />

Have you got a<br />

MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY<br />

CARE<br />

story?<br />

19<br />

We’d love to hear from you if you have…<br />

• An event or special occasion in your<br />

department<br />

• If you work with an inspirational colleague<br />

• Does your department do something that<br />

makes a real difference to our patients?<br />

Please get in touch if you’d like to be featured in an<br />

upcoming edition of Heartbeat!<br />

Email swbh.comms@nhs.net to submit your story idea.<br />

19


Safety huddles soon to be a part of<br />

our organisation<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

Dr Chizo Agwu<br />

We all play a part to ensure safety in<br />

our work for the benefit of patients<br />

and each other as colleagues.<br />

Over the next few months, the Trust<br />

is working to introduce new short<br />

multidisciplinary meetings, held at a<br />

predictable time and place, and focused<br />

on reducing harm.<br />

To find out why, Heartbeat caught up<br />

with Deputy Medical Director, Dr Chizo<br />

Agwu, who told us more.<br />

She said: “Safety huddles increase safety<br />

awareness among front-line staff, allow<br />

teams to develop action plans to address<br />

identified safety issues and foster a<br />

culture of safety. They are a well-established<br />

form of huddle across many organisations<br />

and, we intend that they are part of normal<br />

care across our organisation by spring<br />

2021.”<br />

NHS Improvement advocates the use<br />

of ‘safety huddles’ to support effective<br />

communication at key points in the care of<br />

individuals, to improve safety.<br />

Chizo added: “Effective safety huddles<br />

involve agreed actions, are informed by<br />

visual feedback of data and provide the<br />

opportunity to celebrate success in reducing<br />

harm.<br />

“Huddles help clinical colleagues prioritise<br />

patient care and focus on patient safety.<br />

They provide the opportunity to discuss<br />

any safety events that have occurred, how<br />

the event happened, and how to prevent<br />

recurrences.<br />

“There is research evidence that they<br />

improve patient safety. In one organisation<br />

so far, 6,051 falls have been prevented.<br />

Based on cost estimates from NHS<br />

Improvement, this equates to £15.7 million<br />

in avoided healthcare costs for Yorkshire and<br />

a return on investment of 107 per cent.”<br />

Chizo is encouraging all teams to embrace<br />

safety huddles as they complement and<br />

enhance other safety measures in place<br />

and link into both the safety plan and the<br />

quality plan.<br />

“Safety huddles are an ever more important<br />

part of how we create the conditions for<br />

outstanding care in our clinical services,”<br />

added Chizo. “They help to reinforce team<br />

working, prevent harm and improve the<br />

patient experience.”<br />

Safety huddles are being introduced<br />

across all clinical groups.<br />

Benefits<br />

• Improve safety culture<br />

• Improve patient safety<br />

• Empower front line teams<br />

• Are fun, rewarding, and make what<br />

seems impossible into routine<br />

clinical practice<br />

How?<br />

• Daily (Monday - Friday as<br />

a minimum)<br />

• Predictable time and venue<br />

(appropriate to team and context)<br />

• Brief (5-10 minutes)<br />

• Focused meeting about one or<br />

more agreed patient harm and<br />

agreed actions<br />

• Set of team/individual actions (aimed<br />

at reducing the risk of patient harm)<br />

• Multidisciplinary frontline team<br />

invited to attend, including nonclinical<br />

• Non-judgemental environment and<br />

all team staff empowered to speak<br />

up.<br />

For further information please contact<br />

Sophia Gaddu at sophia.gaddu@nhs.net<br />

20


Are you antibiotic aware?<br />

Antibiotics are incredibly important<br />

medicines and effectively fight<br />

infections caused by bacteria but their<br />

widespread misuse has increasingly<br />

led to bacteria adapting and evolving<br />

to become resistant to them. Once this<br />

happens, those antibiotics quickly lose<br />

their effectiveness and no longer work.<br />

Every year, Antibiotic Awareness Day<br />

is held on <strong>November</strong> 18 bringing the<br />

spotlight on the ever present danger of<br />

antibiotic overuse and resistance.<br />

Antibiotics do not help fight infections<br />

that are caused by viruses. All colds and<br />

most coughs and sore throats are caused<br />

by viruses. Viral infections are much more<br />

common than bacterial infections.<br />

In recent years fewer new antibiotics have<br />

been discovered. As antibiotic resistance<br />

grows, it will become more difficult to treat<br />

infection, and this affects patient care.<br />

Antibiotic resistance can develop by:<br />

• Not completing a course of antibiotics<br />

as prescribed<br />

• Skipping doses of antibiotics<br />

• not taking antibiotics at regular<br />

intervals<br />

• Unnecessary prescription of antibiotics<br />

• Wrong selection of antibiotics<br />

• Inappropriate length of antibiotic<br />

course<br />

• Wrong dose of antibiotics.<br />

To find out more about antibiotic<br />

guardianship, Heartbeat spoke to Conor<br />

Jamieson Pharmacy Team Leader –<br />

Antimicrobial Therapy, he said: “Antibiotic<br />

resistance is one of the biggest threats<br />

facing us today and the overuse or misuse<br />

of antibiotics is making the problem<br />

Without effective antibiotics, many<br />

routine treatments will become<br />

increasingly dangerous<br />

worse. Without effective antibiotics, many<br />

routine treatments will become increasingly<br />

dangerous. Setting broken bones, basic<br />

operations, transplants, even chemotherapy<br />

all rely on access to antibiotics that work. To<br />

slow resistance we need to cut the use of<br />

unnecessary antibiotics.<br />

“The key points to remember are that<br />

antibiotics are not harmless; they are<br />

medicines in their own right and can have<br />

serious side effects, as well as important drug<br />

interactions. Inappropriate use of antibiotics<br />

may cause patients to become colonised or<br />

infected with resistant bacteria.”<br />

Research published in The Lancet in 2018<br />

shows that 33,300 patients die each year due<br />

to antibiotic-resistant infections in Europe. If<br />

we don’t change how we prescribe and use<br />

antibiotics, by 2050 there will be an extra<br />

10 million deaths each year worldwide due<br />

to resistant infections, with an associated<br />

economic cost of £66 trillion.<br />

All medical, nursing and pharmacy colleagues<br />

can play their part in antibiotic stewardship,<br />

ensuring that every prescription for antibiotics<br />

has the indication, duration or a review date<br />

documented. Antibiotics should be reviewed<br />

regularly to make sure they are still needed.<br />

We need to change the focus from ‘Is it safe<br />

to stop antibiotics?’ to ‘Is it safe to continue<br />

antibiotics?’<br />

Always check a patient’s drug allergy status<br />

CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />

NEWS<br />

before prescribing or administering<br />

any antibiotics. Always check for drug<br />

interactions before prescribing them.<br />

Make sure the dose is appropriate for<br />

their weight and renal function. You can<br />

report adverse reactions to medicines via<br />

the Yellow Card Scheme.<br />

So what can individuals do to help<br />

tackle antibiotic resistance? It might<br />

seem to be an overwhelming problem,<br />

like climate change, that individuals are<br />

powerless to do anything about, but<br />

that is not the case. Simple actions can<br />

help protect you, your family and loved<br />

ones – don’t ask your GP for antibiotics<br />

for a cold, flu or sore throat, they don’t<br />

work against viruses, and avoiding<br />

taking antibiotics when they aren’t<br />

needed is a great way to avoid the side<br />

effects they cause; antibiotics can alter<br />

the balance of bacteria in the gut and<br />

can have longer-term health implications<br />

that we are only beginning to realise.<br />

Ensure you and your loved ones are<br />

up to date with their vaccines. Practice<br />

good hand hygiene.<br />

Sign up to become an Antibiotic<br />

Guardian - Antibiotic Guardian is a<br />

campaign run by Public Health England<br />

and a range of partners. Health<br />

professionals, patients, health leaders<br />

and those who work with, own or<br />

treat animals are being encouraged to<br />

visit www.antibioticguardian.com and<br />

choose a pledge that they can fulfil and<br />

play their part in protecting some of our<br />

most precious medicines.<br />

21


Investing in IT: It’s not all<br />

LOWs, WOWs and COWs<br />

A year on from the launch of Unity<br />

where we traded towers of notes and<br />

a mystifying mix of processes for one<br />

perfectly formed and unified system<br />

we look back and learn from our<br />

endeavour, challenging our practices,<br />

learning from our failures and<br />

celebrating our successes.<br />

Whilst launching a new system in IT seems<br />

like a simple job, it’s quickly complicated by<br />

the fact that there are thousands of clinical<br />

colleagues and almost 500,000 patients<br />

relying on you. The success or failure<br />

of your project could be the difference<br />

between life and death, being treated or<br />

transferred. And, let’s be honest, NHS IT<br />

projects are not generally known for their<br />

successes.<br />

However on the weekend of 22 September<br />

when most of us were fast asleep,<br />

across our Trust colleagues very quickly<br />

transitioned from our outdated processes<br />

and over to Unity, bringing to fruition one<br />

of the biggest changes to our Trust. It has<br />

had an impact on every patient we treat<br />

and as we have since learnt, not a moment<br />

too soon with the onset of Coronavirus.<br />

Many of you appreciate the incredible<br />

changes the IT department had to put in<br />

in preparation for Unity; hundreds of new<br />

devices, WiFi across the Trust, improved<br />

connections to all our sites, a 24-hour<br />

service desk and a new approach from the<br />

whole team. Others may have forgotten<br />

where we came from or not appreciate the<br />

journey so far.<br />

Alongside the launch of Unity, colleagues<br />

across the Trust received a brand new<br />

range of COWs, LOWs and WOWs, that<br />

being computers, laptops and workstations<br />

on wheels with the latest and greatest in<br />

wristband printers, barcode scanners and<br />

in some places infection control compliant<br />

keyboards and mice. For the first time in<br />

a while, we finally had a stable level of<br />

Martin Sadler<br />

equipment in place for colleagues to be able to<br />

use reliably, without the need to queue up or<br />

crowd around one computer.<br />

To find out more about the developments in<br />

IT since Unity rolled out, Heartbeat caught up<br />

with Chief Informatics Officer, Martin Sadler.<br />

He said: “The launch of Unity came at the<br />

back of an incredibly busy year for informatics.<br />

We supported our clinical teams, the roll-out<br />

of equipment and the epic endeavour from<br />

all the Trust’s Unity Champions and others in<br />

training all of our staff on our new system and<br />

that was no mean feat. I am proud of what<br />

the informatics team have achieved so far. The<br />

additional demands that arrived for the team<br />

as a result of the Trust working more 'digitally'<br />

have been huge and the team have responded<br />

extremely well, helped not least by the support<br />

and thanks from our end users.<br />

”We are, however, the first to recognise that<br />

we have a long way to go yet. There are still<br />

systems that are in dire need of replacing,<br />

equipment that is past its best before date<br />

and a heap of new requests to take our<br />

digital abilities to the next level - our Digital<br />

Ambitions.<br />

”We have learnt a lot in the last year<br />

about the hardware that we sent out.<br />

Some areas really cannot work with<br />

laptops on wheels, cables get chopped<br />

in other bits of furniture moving, printing<br />

between label printers and A4 printers<br />

isn't always simple enough, charging the<br />

computers on trolleys often gets forgotten<br />

and, a computer that is not owned by<br />

an individual do not get the love and<br />

attention that personal computers get.<br />

”We realised quite quickly that the<br />

original requests for kit had been<br />

understated in several areas and we let<br />

computers naturally move to where they<br />

were needed which then meant that they<br />

weren't connected to the right printers.<br />

”We also found that people assumed<br />

that someone else had reported any<br />

equipment faults which meant nobody<br />

had. We introduced regular ward walks by<br />

informatics staff, but these have become<br />

more time consuming and more difficult<br />

to visit everywhere. We are looking for an<br />

easier way to report issues.<br />

Now we know the most appropriate<br />

equipment by location we are ordering<br />

more stock on trolleys to help across the<br />

Trust. We are using our experience of<br />

faults to help the clinicians make betterinformed<br />

decisions this time round for<br />

choosing the equipment. And most of<br />

all, we are open to discussion. If there's<br />

something that doesn’t quite work the<br />

way it should, we want colleagues to<br />

come forward and say so.<br />

“Alongside the lessons learnt from<br />

Unity, there have been some challenges<br />

posed by COVID-19, and we have been<br />

able to play our part. We were already<br />

doing limited remote working and video<br />

meetings and, the expansion of this has<br />

shown that we were doing the right<br />

thing. The preparation for Unity had put<br />

us in a better place than we would have<br />

been otherwise.<br />

”We are heartened by the way we have<br />

coped and feel that our efforts have<br />

been worthwhile and, we are working on<br />

further improving our services, introducing<br />

new hardware to the worst struggling<br />

areas and becoming the best IT service<br />

that we can. We are open and receptive<br />

to suggestions and feedback.”<br />

22


SPA service reassures patients about<br />

COVID safety<br />

The Single Point of Access (SPA) team<br />

has been working closely with West<br />

Midlands Ambulance and GPs to ensure<br />

that patients who need emergency care<br />

attend hospital.<br />

The SPA team is contacted for support by<br />

either the patient’s GP or paramedics if a<br />

person they are looking after refuses to go<br />

to the hospital because of COVID-19.<br />

A member of the SPA team will reassure<br />

the patient that it is safe to attend our<br />

emergency departments that have non-<br />

COVID and COVID areas, and talk them<br />

through what measures are in place.<br />

The Trust assesses all patients before and<br />

upon arrival to check if they have COVID-19<br />

symptoms. Anyone entering our buildings<br />

receives a surgical face mask to wear and,<br />

hand sanitiser.<br />

When being seen, we ensure that the<br />

patients and staff are wearing the right<br />

PPE; including face masks, gloves, aprons<br />

and visors, where necessary. We educate<br />

patients in the correct way to wear PPE and<br />

about social distancing. Our staff observe<br />

social distancing and, we have frequent<br />

and thorough cleaning in place, which is<br />

especially important between every patient.<br />

MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY<br />

CARE<br />

Trust becomes one of twelve to<br />

restart MRCP PACES examination<br />

SWB has become one of the first Trusts<br />

across the country to resume practical<br />

assessment of clinical examination<br />

skills (PACES) Membership of the<br />

Royal Colleges of Physicians (MRCP)<br />

examination having introduced<br />

COVID-19 secure measures which keep<br />

both students and examiners safe.<br />

This was achieved thanks to round<br />

the clock work by our Trust doctors,<br />

postgraduate centre and our IT department<br />

ensuring the set-up of Microsoft Teams and<br />

other Royal College technical requirements<br />

at our City site.<br />

Dr Parijat De, Consultant Physician,<br />

Diabetes and Endocrinology hosted the<br />

PACEs exam amidst the challenging<br />

circumstances presented by the pandemic.<br />

Dr Jessica Lee Dr Vaishnavi Kumar and, Dr<br />

Priscilla Sarkar all supported this project<br />

too.<br />

One of the major adaptations implemented<br />

this year was to conduct the consultations<br />

in a digital format using video conferencing<br />

equipment allowing the Trust to adhere<br />

Single Point of Access lead nurse Janice Barratt<br />

with Donna Mighty, assistant primary care liaison<br />

manager<br />

Janice Barrett, Lead Nurse for SPA, which is<br />

the first port of call for GPs who are referring<br />

patients needing urgent care, introduced the<br />

new element into the service.<br />

She explained: “We have been successfully<br />

supporting GPs and paramedics so that<br />

patients who are reluctant to attend hospital<br />

will get the care they need. Whether this<br />

is by either reassuring them about the<br />

safety measures in place or explaining how<br />

important it is they receive this care or<br />

arranging further support at home.<br />

“Patients are very receptive to a call from the<br />

team and, there have been many examples<br />

where we have been able to ensure that a<br />

person receives the correct care by coming to<br />

our hospitals.<br />

“There was an incident where a young<br />

patient was suffering from an underlying<br />

The PACES team<br />

to the two-metre COVID-19 ruling. Other<br />

steps taken to ensure safety was maintained,<br />

included regular temperature checks for all<br />

involved (patients, surrogates, examiners and<br />

candidates), social distancing, limiting patient<br />

and candidate/examiner contact as well as<br />

enhanced cleaning.<br />

These measures meant that PACES exams<br />

could once again commence due to the<br />

successful implementation of social distancing<br />

and other regulatory safety measures. They<br />

were initially postponed in March due to the<br />

first wave of the pandemic.<br />

Dr Jessica Lee, Acute Medical Registrar,<br />

based at City Hospital, welcomes the muchneeded<br />

restart. She said: “Having missed<br />

illness and, the carer was hesitant about<br />

sending the child into the hospital when<br />

the paramedics went to her home.<br />

I spoke to the carer about the risks<br />

involved, and as a result, the child is now<br />

being managed by our clinicians.<br />

“This shows good collaborative working<br />

between SPA, GPs and West Midlands<br />

Ambulance Service. SPA continues to<br />

go from strength to strength as we<br />

introduce innovative and new ways to<br />

support our patients. We are also able<br />

to provide clear documentation to the<br />

patient outlining the concerns of the<br />

referring clinician ensuring that patients<br />

receive the care they need efficiently.<br />

This fulfils the GMC’s delegation and<br />

referral guidance.<br />

“To help us manage all our resources<br />

together, if you are not calling 999, then<br />

please refer to SPA.”<br />

If you have a patient needing<br />

urgent care, please contact SPA<br />

on 0121 507 3301.<br />

well over eight months of these crucial<br />

examinations, it was important for our<br />

Trust and the candidates to get going<br />

again.<br />

“The Royal College exams are<br />

membership exams offered by the<br />

Royal Colleges. Passing the relevant<br />

membership exams are essential to<br />

complete speciality training and for<br />

doctors, passing marks progression<br />

from a medical senior house officer to a<br />

medical registrar.”<br />

Dr Parijat De added: “We are only one of<br />

twelve Trusts in the country to be able to<br />

restart PACES again and the success was<br />

down to the hard work and dedication<br />

of many involved.<br />

“A massive thank you goes to the<br />

medical education team based in the<br />

postgraduate centre, everybody in IT,<br />

especially Aaron Hyett, all the junior<br />

doctor volunteers, the nurses and HCAs<br />

who helped set up the exams. Most<br />

importantly, I must say thank you to our<br />

three SpRs.<br />

23


Forget me not – a memorial<br />

service with a difference<br />

24<br />

Forget me not<br />

SURGICAL SERVICES<br />

<strong>2020</strong> has been a year dominated<br />

by Coronavirus. It’s a year we<br />

will remember in lots of different<br />

ways, but perhaps it will one day<br />

be looked back on as the year that<br />

made us change almost every detail<br />

of our daily lives and how we do<br />

things. A year that made us change<br />

how we interact with each other,<br />

live, work, socialise, celebrate and<br />

mourn.<br />

Critical care, like lots of areas in our<br />

organisation, has been impacted by the<br />

devastation of Coronavirus. Learning<br />

how to adapt has been the common<br />

thread that has seen areas triumph in<br />

the face of what has undoubtedly been<br />

one of our most challenging years.<br />

Annually, critical care hosts a memorial<br />

service. <strong>2020</strong> was the 15th annual<br />

memorial service, but this year families<br />

and members of the critical care<br />

bereavement team were unable to<br />

gather together and, so they hosted a<br />

memorial service with a difference. Keen<br />

to ensure the memorial went ahead, the<br />

team set about creating an event that<br />

would still allow relatives and friends a<br />

chance to reflect and feel connected to<br />

those that looked after their loved ones.<br />

As with previous years, the event<br />

involved the chaplaincy team. It was<br />

vital to have their input to reflect the<br />

multi-faith community that they serve.<br />

Catherine Beddowes, Senior Sister,<br />

told Heartbeat: “Each year we host a<br />

memorial service. It’s an integral part<br />

of what we do outside of our work on<br />

the wards. As you would expect, we<br />

deal with some of the most challenging<br />

medical cases and, it’s imperative to us that<br />

we continue to support family and friends in<br />

the aftermath of losing a loved one.<br />

“We recognise that we look after patients<br />

of all faiths. That is why our service must be<br />

accessible to everyone. Mourning is a process<br />

and, as a team, we seek to help grieving<br />

family and friends recognise the impact of<br />

death and celebrate the lives of those they<br />

loved through our memorial service.”<br />

On 29 <strong>November</strong> <strong>2020</strong>, a remote memorial<br />

service took place. Based on the theme of<br />

forget me not, it incorporated lots of special<br />

touches. Importantly, family and friends<br />

stayed at home and received a bag of forget<br />

me not seeds that once sewn will flourish into<br />

a remembrance plant. A symbol of love and<br />

memories, this small but thoughtful gesture is<br />

a sign of just how much the team care about<br />

those they look after.<br />

Each person was asked to light a candle at<br />

home to remember their loved one and our<br />

chaplaincy team did the same. Everyone also<br />

received a memorial booklet as well as a glass<br />

love heart to be hung in windows to reflect<br />

light kindly paid for by our organ donation<br />

committee.<br />

Reverend Mary Causer told us: “So much of<br />

this year has been about finding new ways<br />

to do things. There was no doubt in our<br />

minds that we had to host our memorial<br />

service and so we worked collaboratively to<br />

design a safe way to help support grieving<br />

families at this difficult time.<br />

“We produced a memorial booklet that<br />

had poems and a song inside. The words<br />

seemed even more poignant this year<br />

as we’ve had to deal with how we say<br />

goodbye to our loved ones in an altogether<br />

different way - Time for us to part now,<br />

we won’t say goodbye; Look for me in the<br />

rainbows, shining in the sky.”<br />

Catherine echoed this sentiment:<br />

“COVID-19 has made the way families say<br />

goodbye change dramatically. For those that<br />

have wanted to visit, they have had limited<br />

time to spend with the people they love so<br />

dearly and, that’s hard for families.<br />

“This is our way of showing we still care;<br />

we are still there for families even in these<br />

strange and testing times. We are doing the<br />

best we can and, this is our small way of<br />

helping families heal.”<br />

Look for me in rainbows<br />

Time for me to go now, I won’t say goodbye;<br />

Look for me in rainbows, way up in the sky.<br />

In the morning sunrise when all the world is new,<br />

Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.<br />

Time for me to leave you, I won’t say goodbye;<br />

Look for me in rainbows, high up in the sky.<br />

In the evening sunset, when all the world is through,<br />

Just look for me and love me, and I’ll be close to you.<br />

It won’t be forever, the day will come and then,<br />

My loving arms will hold you, when we meet again.<br />

Time for us to part now, we won’t say goodbye;<br />

Look for me in rainbows, shining in the sky.<br />

Every waking moment, and all your whole life through,<br />

Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.<br />

Just wish me to be near you, and I’ll be there with you.


Bringing AI to the SWB mix<br />

Exciting news! Our Trust has partnered<br />

with a University of Oxford spin-out<br />

company called Brainomix to support<br />

our acute stroke service using artificial<br />

intelligence (AI).<br />

Artificial Intelligence technology is a set<br />

of algorithms and is used to make sense<br />

of a variety and large volume of clinical<br />

information more quickly than a human. The<br />

presentation of acute ischaemic stroke in the<br />

emergency department can be difficult for<br />

non-specialist clinicians.<br />

A stroke is when the blood supply to the<br />

brain is affected. This is a medical emergency,<br />

and, urgent treatment is essential. A stroke<br />

is usually due to either a blockage or if the<br />

blood vessel supplying the brain is weakened<br />

and burst. The sooner a patient receives<br />

appropriate treatment - damage is less likely<br />

to occur.<br />

Strokes are usually treated with medicines<br />

to prevent and dissolve blood clots, reduce<br />

blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels.<br />

The implementation of the AI to support<br />

our clinicians was led by Dr Bahadar Bhatia,<br />

Dr John Morlese and Dr Sissi Ispoglou,<br />

with hosting support from the Informatics<br />

Infrastructure team.<br />

When a possible stroke patient attends the<br />

emergency department, they are assessed and<br />

referred for a CT medical scan of their head.<br />

After the patient has had their CT medical<br />

scan, their images are sent to AI, which<br />

processes these images within a few minutes,<br />

Earlier this year, the imaging team took delivery<br />

of a brand new CT scanner<br />

sending its findings to the stroke doctors to<br />

review.<br />

A notification may be sent to their mobile phone<br />

to inform them that the AI findings are ready<br />

for their review alongside their images. The<br />

system will provide augmented intelligence for<br />

detecting the extent of large vessel occlusions<br />

and perfusion within collaterals. This approach<br />

provides prompt findings to aid the stroke<br />

doctors with the clinical management of the<br />

patient.<br />

Dr Ispoglou noted the different angle in viewing<br />

these AI findings. She said: “This is a fantastic<br />

opportunity to take the care we provide for our<br />

stroke patients to a different level. The program<br />

will not replace knowledge, clinical skill and<br />

common sense. It will, however, support us to<br />

make better decisions and ultimately help our<br />

patients, with a particular focus on those that<br />

have significant clot type of stroke and can<br />

benefit from clot busting or clot removal.”<br />

In addition to this, Dr Bhatia has been leading<br />

several AI projects with IBM Watson, with<br />

another live clinical AI system for a number of<br />

chest and abdomen conditions expected early<br />

IMAGING<br />

next year.<br />

Dr Sarah Yusuf, Group Director for<br />

Imaging, added: “Brainomix eStroke is the<br />

first clinical AI solution implemented in<br />

real-time within the Trust.<br />

“Brainomix is part of a wider Trust level AI<br />

strategy to improve efficiency and patient<br />

care. There will be further clinical AI<br />

solutions implemented in the future ready<br />

for MMUH. Our strategic aim is to embed<br />

technology solutions to improve patient<br />

pathways and information flow within the<br />

hospital and with our strategic partners.<br />

“Imaging is central to the emergency<br />

management of stroke patients. Accurate<br />

and timely CT head reports are essential<br />

to reduce door to needle time for<br />

thrombolysis. Brainomix will improve the<br />

speed of diagnosis of acute stroke and the<br />

clinical management of patients that can<br />

have thrombolysis.<br />

Dr John Morlese, a Consultant Radiologist,<br />

said: “We are delighted to have this<br />

opportunity to give our patients such<br />

excellent care. We will soon implement<br />

a CT brain perfusion model that will aid<br />

delivery of life saving thrombolysis to<br />

patients who wake up with an ischaemic<br />

stroke. Thank you to Dr Bhatia for his<br />

diligence in bringing this to fruition.”<br />

Children’s<br />

Christmas Boxes<br />

NOW AVAILABLE<br />

The medical illustration team have created a little<br />

Christmas cheer for colleagues to purchase for their<br />

children this year. The specially designed Children’s<br />

Christmas boxes are now available from the medical<br />

illustration team.<br />

Each box is jam packed with festive activities ideal to<br />

engage children over the seasonal break. Priced at only<br />

£25, the Christmas box offers great value and includes;<br />

• Personalised family framed illustrative print<br />

• 2021 Calendar<br />

• Personalised letter from Santa Claus<br />

• Stickers<br />

• Naughty or nice chart with stickers<br />

• Children’s puzzles and games<br />

• Christmas arts and crafts<br />

• Colouring and crayons<br />

For more information email:<br />

swbh.midesign@nhs.net<br />

25


The Great Paediatric Bake Off<br />

26<br />

WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH<br />

What do you get if you take a<br />

doctor, a dietician, a handful of<br />

excited young children, their parents<br />

and a Zoom class? You get the recipe<br />

for success as our paediatric team<br />

recently discovered.<br />

With all that has gone on this year,<br />

sometimes it’s easy to let the more fun<br />

and engaging activities that we have<br />

all previously enjoyed take a back seat.<br />

Determined that this year, some of<br />

our young patients would get to enjoy<br />

something fun but also educational, Dr<br />

Charlotte Avann and Prinith de Alwis<br />

Jayasinghe, a dietician hosted a cook<br />

along with a difference.<br />

Dr Avann explained: “We do social<br />

events every year for our children with<br />

diabetes. This event was for children<br />

with type 1 diabetes, it’s a chronic illness,<br />

which can be difficult to manage. The<br />

common misconception that Type 1<br />

diabetes is caused by poor diet is not<br />

true, but after diagnosis, children do<br />

need to be very careful they understand<br />

what they are eating. We used this<br />

session to educate parents and children<br />

alike about the condition and how they<br />

can best manage it by understanding<br />

what carbohydrates they are eating.<br />

“These events help the children see<br />

that diabetes should not limit them.<br />

We make them as much fun as possible<br />

so that the children are engaged and<br />

so that they not only have fun but<br />

remember the hints and tips to help<br />

them lead healthy lifestyles. This year we<br />

have had to do things differently – this<br />

was our very first virtual event.”<br />

To help get the event off to a flying<br />

start, the team sent the families premade<br />

packs that contained all of the<br />

ingredients that they needed, premeasured<br />

and ready to go. “We decided<br />

to do this because we did not want any<br />

families to be left out because they could<br />

not afford or did not have time to get<br />

their ingredients,” Prinith told us.<br />

It turned out to be a great move as on<br />

the day everyone was able to get stuck<br />

in and enjoy the class. All connected<br />

virtually with the team based at Sandwell<br />

hosting the event, the step by step<br />

cookery class was very much a family<br />

affair. Mums and dads helped their<br />

children preheat their ovens; add in their<br />

ingredients one by one until the muffins<br />

were ready to eat.<br />

In between whilst the muffins were<br />

cooking, Dr Avann and Prinith used that time<br />

to share educational tips such as how to<br />

measure out carbs correctly.<br />

Dr Avann explained: “Many of our families<br />

do not do a lot of home cooking. We used<br />

this opportunity to signpost the families to a<br />

website that is full of healthy but tasty recipes.<br />

As well as being fun, we also used it as an<br />

educational opportunity, to go over how to<br />

carbohydrate count in baking. Type 1 diabetic<br />

children have to carbohydrate count before<br />

everything they eat to calculate the correct<br />

amount of insulin to give themselves. It can<br />

be tricky in baking as you need to work out<br />

the carbohydrate content of each ingredient.<br />

So we did this all together while the muffins<br />

were in the oven.”<br />

The event was a roaring success with lots<br />

of positive comments from the children and<br />

indeed the parents that took part. With lots<br />

of thumbs up from everyone participating,<br />

one child even shouted across the class that<br />

they wanted to be the next Gordon Ramsey<br />

Dr Avann and Prinith<br />

Lilly Somerville<br />

and another said she’s ready to take on the<br />

Great British Bake Off!<br />

The event was such a success that Prinith<br />

told us the diabetes team are busy planning<br />

another social just in time for Christmas.<br />

“We are currently planning a Zoom<br />

Christmas party for children under 12.<br />

We have a Christmas party every year, but<br />

unfortunately this year it will have to be<br />

virtual too but, we are looking forward to it.<br />

“I enjoyed this session so much that it<br />

inspired me to try baking these muffins at<br />

home. I hope it our children enjoyed it as<br />

much as we did and continue cooking.”<br />

If you too would like to try out<br />

the tasty muffins visit https://<br />

letsgetcooking.org.uk. You can find the<br />

recipe the team used by searching for<br />

parmesan and herb muffins.<br />

Kianna


Shining a spotlight on Occupational<br />

Therapy Week<br />

Occupational therapy is a branch of<br />

health care that helps people of all<br />

ages who have physical, sensory, or<br />

cognitive problems. The team provides<br />

an essential function to help patients<br />

regain independence in all areas of<br />

their lives.<br />

This year Occupational Therapy Week<br />

was celebrated 2-8 <strong>November</strong> and aimed<br />

to inspire and educate people about the<br />

profession. We caught up with Aimee<br />

Turner, Advanced Occupational Therapist,<br />

to find out more.<br />

Aimee told Heartbeat: “We work with<br />

individuals to promote their independence<br />

and satisfaction in activities such as driving,<br />

work, self-care and leisure. Often after<br />

a stay in the hospital, an individual may<br />

need help to regain some skills, develop<br />

new ones or in some cases helping to learn<br />

different ways to do things.<br />

“We can adapt the environment, provide<br />

specialist equipment, analyse functional<br />

tasks and educate. The role is broad - we<br />

complete an array of tasks including anxiety<br />

management and relaxation programmes,<br />

we make thermoplastic splints, support<br />

people to return to work, undertake<br />

cognitive assessments and rehabilitation.<br />

We also make recommendations for long<br />

term care support, and much more.”<br />

L - R: Sara Osman - Rotational Occupational<br />

Therapist, Ellis Worth - Specialist Occupational<br />

Therapist and Aimee Turner - Advanced<br />

Occupational Therapist<br />

The team works within most areas and are<br />

in almost every department from A&E to<br />

paediatrics. Throughout <strong>2020</strong> the team have<br />

adapted as COVID-19 has presented many<br />

challenges which the team has faced head-on.<br />

Aimee remarked: “This year we have had to<br />

change how we do things so that we can<br />

continue to provide a service to our patients.<br />

Many of us have transitioned to telehealth<br />

practice for virtual visiting and academic<br />

courses taking place online. Zoom and<br />

Microsoft Teams have become the norm.”<br />

“Occupational therapists are always up for<br />

a challenge, and by thinking outside of the<br />

£6m GP surgery is taking shape<br />

Those of you driving past the Sandwell<br />

Hospital site may have noticed how<br />

our new £6 million GP surgery is now<br />

beginning to take real shape.<br />

The shell of the building – a three-story<br />

development - has windows and once inside<br />

you can access all floors via the stairs and lift.<br />

It has several consulting rooms, individual and<br />

open plan offices and treatment rooms. There is<br />

also an onsite pharmacy being built.<br />

PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES<br />

AND THERAPIES<br />

box, we have made it work. Adapting<br />

activity is something we have had to do<br />

a lot of throughout <strong>2020</strong>. We focused<br />

on providing alternative ways for our<br />

patients to be social, despite being<br />

apart, signposting to services that could<br />

support patients when their families<br />

could not and promoting positive mental<br />

health, habits, and routines.<br />

“This out of the box thinking also<br />

resulted in a change that brought<br />

together occupational therapists from<br />

all clinical areas to share experiences,<br />

best practice and raise the profile of our<br />

profession.<br />

“As a result, we launched a development<br />

group, a Twitter account and QIHDs to<br />

share knowledge and skills. The first<br />

meeting of our development group took<br />

place in August. Collectively we agreed<br />

upon a shared vision for our profession<br />

within the organisation, and the overall<br />

feedback was positive. We are looking<br />

forward to expanding on this in 2021<br />

so that we can continue to evolve our<br />

services.”<br />

Vijay Droch, Estates Capital Projects Manager,<br />

said the development of the site was<br />

progressing well. “The pandemic has impacted<br />

construction delivery; however, we have<br />

remained focused and mitigated many of the<br />

risks through careful supply chain management.<br />

He added: “The team continue to respond to<br />

the fluid situation we find ourselves in. We<br />

have been able to continue with work on the<br />

building that is now really coming to life. By<br />

walking through, you can see how offices will<br />

look, and the number of clinic rooms that will<br />

be available. It has a very open and welcoming<br />

Inside the new surgery The build is due to finish in March <strong>2020</strong><br />

design, which I am sure both those working within<br />

the building and patients coming to see their GP<br />

will find comfortable."<br />

The build is due to finish in March next year<br />

after work began on the new surgery in October<br />

last year. It is all part of a plan to streamline and<br />

improve medical care in the borough. It will house<br />

Carters Green Medical Centre and Lyndon Primary<br />

Care Centre, which are both relocating to the new<br />

facility, to be run by the Trust. The facility will<br />

serve more than 15,000 patients.<br />

Dr James Gwilt, a GP based at Carters Green,<br />

said: "We are looking forward to continuing<br />

this tradition of high quality care in a brand<br />

new, modern environment. Being on the<br />

Sandwell Hospital site will allow us to deliver<br />

care in new ways, better integrated with<br />

other organisations working in our area.”<br />

27


Jeremy WoWs SWBH<br />

Pulse<br />

Earlier this year, the Trust invested in<br />

our World of Work (WoW) programme.<br />

The course seeks to help job seekers/<br />

unemployed people who are looking for<br />

employment within the healthcare sector.<br />

Each cohort benefits from induction<br />

training, a work experience placement<br />

as well as interview and CV workshops.<br />

They can also take advantage of access<br />

to further education and the chance of<br />

an apprenticeship within the Trust. We<br />

caught up with Jeremy Dillon who joined<br />

the programme in July <strong>2020</strong> and who has<br />

achieved great success so far.<br />

Speaking to Heartbeat, Jeremy told us:<br />

“I came across a leaflet about WoW in<br />

a local takeaway and, I have not looked<br />

back since. It was easy to apply, and the<br />

team were very supportive. The learning<br />

sessions were a mix of online and lectures<br />

and, given the nature of the lockdown,<br />

two weeks of placement.<br />

“I have worked in two areas - the library<br />

News in brief from around our organisation<br />

Jeremy proudly graduated from the WoW<br />

programme<br />

and also bereavement care. As someone<br />

who enjoys learning and working with<br />

vulnerable people, these areas have been<br />

good for me. In the library, I have been<br />

helping create better access to e-books<br />

and online catalogues, which will improve<br />

the service we offer users.<br />

“In bereavement care, I spend time calling<br />

the relatives of those who have sadly<br />

passed away, allowing them space to talk.<br />

I am passionate about this in particular<br />

and hope to see the service grow. The<br />

If you have a story you would like to appear<br />

on the Pulse page, please email a photo and a<br />

short explanation to swbh.comms@nhs.net<br />

IMAGING<br />

recent pandemic has seen a rise in people<br />

unable to grieve in the usual way, and a<br />

kind word from us or short phone call is<br />

welcome - it is rewarding.”<br />

Discussing the past 12 months, Jeremy<br />

commented: “This has been a tough year<br />

on a lot of people. I have been out of<br />

paid employment, but this programme<br />

has given me a sense of pride and<br />

achievement.”<br />

Looking to the future, Jeremy hopes to<br />

pursue a career that firmly focuses on<br />

helping people. “I have a degree in media<br />

and a passion for giving a voice to those<br />

who are vulnerable. In the future, I would<br />

like to move into a role with a focus on<br />

mental health or bereavement.”<br />

Liza Gill, World of Work Programme &<br />

Volunteer Service Manager, said: “Jeremy<br />

has been a brilliant member of our WoW<br />

programme. We are proud of everything<br />

he has achieved in the time he has been<br />

part of the team and, we look forward<br />

to seeing what he achieves in 2021 and<br />

beyond.”<br />

A colleague taking a deserved break in one of our energy pods<br />

£50k grant awarded to boost<br />

patient support and staff<br />

wellbeing<br />

Good news! We have been awarded<br />

a £50,000 grant - this money will go<br />

towards supporting patients and the<br />

health and wellbeing of staff during the<br />

pandemic. The cash was given to Your<br />

Trust Charity and will fund an energy pod<br />

and refreshments for staff and placements<br />

of newly established volunteer-led roles.<br />

NHS Charities Together has made the<br />

donation, which has been welcomed by<br />

the Trust. NHS Charities Together is a<br />

membership organisation representing,<br />

supporting and championing NHS<br />

Charities and acting as the “collective<br />

voice” of NHS charities across the nation.<br />

The money will go towards supporting<br />

patients with newly created wardbased<br />

volunteers who will help them to<br />

communicate with their loved ones and<br />

bereavement support volunteers who will<br />

be helping our end of life team.<br />

Val Wright, who volunteers in a similar<br />

role, said: “Volunteering with the<br />

bereavement care team as part of the<br />

befriending service is a rewarding role.<br />

It involves contacting people who have<br />

recently lost a loved one.<br />

“I ask how they are, and, we chat<br />

about their relative and how they are<br />

coping without them. Some calls can be<br />

challenging, but the staff are always there<br />

to talk anything through that is worrying<br />

me. I have my list of people that I contact<br />

regularly and have formed a lovely<br />

friendship with them.<br />

“Many say they look forward to the call<br />

and that it is good to have someone<br />

ringing them, who wants to know how<br />

they feel. Also, people can confide in me,<br />

sharing things that they may not be able<br />

to with their family or friends. I feel that<br />

in some small way, I am helping them and<br />

doing something worthwhile.”<br />

Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity,<br />

said: “We are delighted to receive this<br />

grant from NHS Charities Together. As<br />

well as going towards the volunteer roles,<br />

it will also fund a new energy pod, based<br />

at the City Hospital site, where staff<br />

will be able to rest and recharge during<br />

shifts. They will also receive refreshments,<br />

including fruit, vitamin bars and water, as<br />

they forge through the second wave of<br />

the COVID-19 pandemic.”<br />

28<br />

28


Dani Joseph<br />

Group Director of Operations, Imaging<br />

This month we say hello to a familiar face<br />

as Dani Joseph joins imaging. We caught<br />

up with her to find out her new role.<br />

Dani has had a varied career to date. Looking<br />

back at her career path, she recalls: “I worked<br />

as a healthcare assistant when I was at<br />

university in Bristol on renal and paediatric<br />

wards. I then went on to spend a year in<br />

immunology labs during my biomedical<br />

science degree. I did a master’s degree in<br />

human rights and focused a lot of my work<br />

on refugee and healthcare rights. I also did<br />

a lot of voluntary work during that time -<br />

Samaritans, Red Cross and Sense. My first<br />

experience of running anything was the local<br />

charity we set up in Bristol giving support and<br />

advice to anyone with issues around asylum,<br />

refugee or any other kind of migration<br />

status.”<br />

Speaking of joining the NHS, Dani<br />

commented: “I initially joined the NHS via<br />

the management training scheme. It was a<br />

brilliant experience, and, I always promote it<br />

to others.<br />

“After the scheme, I moved to Stoke on Trent<br />

and worked in oncology and haematology<br />

splitting and merging the services with those<br />

at Royal Stoke Hospital. I went on to manage<br />

several surgical specialities with a large bed<br />

base and, focused a significant amount of<br />

time to developing nurse-led services and<br />

advanced practice within colorectal and<br />

urology.”<br />

For the past three years, Dani and her<br />

husband have lived in Birmingham. She told<br />

us: “For the first year I worked at University<br />

Hospitals Birmingham managing general<br />

surgery. I moved to SWBH in September<br />

2018 as deputy group director of operations<br />

for women and child health. It was a great<br />

welcoming to SWBH and, I quickly realised<br />

what fantastic people work here and how<br />

dedicated they are to the patients we look<br />

Dani Joseph - Group Director of Operations,<br />

Imaging<br />

after. When I wanted to apply for a group<br />

director of operations role, I knew I wanted<br />

to do that at SWBH, working and building on<br />

the positives I could already see.”<br />

Dani has recently moved to the imaging<br />

department, and is enjoying the new area and<br />

everything it has to offer. “It is an incredibly<br />

diverse and technically focused area. I love<br />

how the team come from many different<br />

professional backgrounds - we have nurses,<br />

doctors, scientists, radiographers, technicians,<br />

support workers and administrative functions.<br />

It’s a great example of a multi-disciplinary<br />

team working and brings a range of<br />

experience and opinions to any discussion.<br />

“We’ve got some fascinating work<br />

developing at the moment. The department<br />

is progressing with some artificial intelligence<br />

projects and went live last month with a<br />

clinical application for acute ischaemic stroke.<br />

It will be an area to watch in the coming<br />

months and years.<br />

“There have also been several national reports<br />

out on Diagnostics and Radiology, Get It Right<br />

First Time and an NHS England report by<br />

Professor Sir Mike Richards. Alongside greater<br />

regional collaboration since the pandemic<br />

started, this gives us a good platform for any<br />

improvement work. It is great to see that a<br />

number of the recommendations in these<br />

reports are things that the team pioneered<br />

and have embedded or are on our radar for<br />

implementation when we move to MMUH as<br />

part of our acute care model. It shows that we<br />

are leading regionally and indeed nationally<br />

on many fronts.”<br />

So how have the team coped with the<br />

pandemic we asked. Dani explained: “COVID<br />

has been a challenge as it has been for the<br />

rest of the organisation. We have days where<br />

up to 40 per cent of the inpatients going<br />

through the department for scans or IR<br />

procedures are classified as ‘red’ and the team<br />

have a tried and tested process for managing<br />

the red and amber streams.<br />

“Teams are working really hard to make sure<br />

we can support with early scanning sessions<br />

and extended inpatient capacity on the<br />

scanners at both sites. During the first wave,<br />

a large diagnostic backlog built up and the<br />

teams have done a fantastic job reducing<br />

those over the summer.<br />

“COVID-19 has highlighted the importance<br />

of workforce planning and this is something<br />

I intend to focus on over the next few years.<br />

We need to be flexible in how we work,<br />

whether this is home working or in the<br />

department. We also need to look at how we<br />

can deliver services outside of conventional<br />

role types and extend the use of advanced<br />

practice. The demand for diagnostics<br />

is increasing and this needs a real-time<br />

development to be able to deliver within the<br />

timescales needed by our patients.”<br />

Want to relax and unwind in a safe place? Visit the Wellbeing<br />

Sanctuary and enjoy a range of free treatments including a massage,<br />

meditation and relaxation hypnotherapy.<br />

Call 0121 507 5886 to book your free session today.<br />

Wellbeing<br />

29


Letters, of less than 200 words please, can be sent to the Communications Department,<br />

Trust Headquarters, Sandwell Hospital or by email to swb–tr.SWBH–GM–Heartbeat@nhs.net<br />

YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD<br />

Form an orderly queue for the<br />

shuttle bus<br />

Dear Heartbeat<br />

I don’t regularly take the shuttle bus. It must<br />

have been a good 2-3 years since I last used<br />

one. Today was an odd occasion because I<br />

am currently unable to drive due to a recent<br />

injury. I am writing because of the conduct<br />

of passengers waiting for the shuttle bus. I<br />

understand you may feel this is beyond your<br />

control but please hear me out.<br />

Today, my colleague and I went to the<br />

shuttle bus stop at City at around 08.20. We<br />

were 7th and 9th respectively. Just before<br />

the shuttle arrived, a few individuals joined<br />

the group rather late. There was no orderly<br />

queue. The driver announced that there can<br />

only be 10 in the bus. The newcomers pushed<br />

their way in front of people who were there<br />

before them, including us. We arrived late for<br />

our QIHD because we had to take the next<br />

bus.<br />

One can argue that we should have<br />

spoken up. True. In hindsight, I should have<br />

announced to the people who joined last<br />

to step out and make way for my colleague<br />

and myself as we were there before them. I<br />

normally am assertive but I was taken aback<br />

by the behaviour especially as I was standing<br />

there with a crutch. The driver had no way of<br />

telling who was first in the queue so he had<br />

no fault in this.<br />

Some time ago, a colleague of mine, had<br />

an altercation once when someone pushed<br />

before her in the queue. I have been made<br />

aware that there can be fights nearly every<br />

day especially these days when there’s a<br />

limit of passengers allowed per bus. It does<br />

not make a good impression to patients and<br />

visitors who witness this kind of behaviour<br />

and lack of civility.<br />

Can I please request that there be some<br />

form of queuing system like rope barriers or<br />

markers on the ground so that the service will<br />

be utilised properly and with respect between<br />

passengers.<br />

I look forward to receiving your response to<br />

this issue.<br />

Dear colleague,<br />

I am sorry to learn that you had a bad<br />

experience when you queued for the<br />

Trust shuttle bus. Unfortunately it is<br />

difficult for the driver to ascertain who<br />

is in the queue first. I have spoken to<br />

our estates colleagues and they have<br />

reviewed the bus stop area and have<br />

concluded that a queuing system at<br />

Sandwell would prove very difficult due<br />

to space constraints.<br />

It is unfortunate that some colleagues have<br />

behaved in this manner, I would hope that as<br />

this is a service exclusive to staff they would<br />

have more respect for their colleagues.<br />

We will put some messages in the daily<br />

communications bulletin to reiterate the<br />

need to respect the people who are already<br />

waiting for the shuttle when they arrive<br />

and wait their turn. We will support this<br />

communication with notices at the bus stops.<br />

Kind regards<br />

Trish Kehoe, Head of Health Care Records<br />

Is wearing a mask really necessary<br />

for me in the office?<br />

Dear Heartbeat<br />

I’ve been working through the pandemic in my<br />

office since March/April time and have never<br />

needed to wear a mask. Now, it is mandatory in<br />

offices.<br />

Where has this come from exactly? I have been<br />

working with the same people for the past<br />

few months where we have a screen in place,<br />

following strict social distancing measures and<br />

washing our hands regularly. Isn’t this enough?<br />

Has the virus all of a sudden changed over a<br />

weekend or is the Trust being a bit OTT?<br />

By the end of the day, I leave work with a<br />

banging headache after wearing a face mask all<br />

the time. What is the exact justification for us<br />

wearing masks indoors in non-clinical areas with<br />

people we have worked for months together<br />

before this? I understand wearing it when you<br />

can’t maintain social distancing, or you are going<br />

to a foreign area you don’t usually work in, but<br />

this is slightly taking the biscuit.<br />

Dear colleague,<br />

Thank you for your question. We are<br />

following national infection control<br />

guidance which has recently changed. As<br />

a Trust we tried all other measures first,<br />

such as social distancing as far as we could.<br />

However, with the rising sickness levels and<br />

increasing community cases, we felt there<br />

was an absolute need to implement the<br />

wearing of face masks in all areas to protect<br />

our colleagues and patients. There have also<br />

been cases of staff contracting COVID from<br />

other colleagues in non-clinical areas. We<br />

need to reduce the spread of Coronavirus<br />

and have a duty of care to do so.<br />

If you are in an office alone or behind a<br />

screen alone then you do not need to wear a<br />

mask but at any other time you do. If you are<br />

experiencing issues then please ask your line<br />

manager to refer you to occupational health<br />

so there may be able to support you with<br />

additional PPE, if required.<br />

If you are finding that your masks are<br />

uncomfortable or are causing you issues with<br />

your skin, please take the time to read the<br />

helpful guidance on Connect produced by<br />

the tissue viability team for colleagues to<br />

protect and treat skin from damage beneath<br />

PPE.<br />

Kind regards,<br />

Mel Roberts<br />

Acting Chief Operating Officer<br />

Do I really need the COVID jab?<br />

Dear Heartbeat<br />

I have worked at the Trust for many years -<br />

I’m not patient facing and I work outside of<br />

main hospital building. With the whole COVID<br />

situation, I’m wondering if a jab becomes<br />

available, do I really need it or will I be made to<br />

have it?<br />

I’ve been sensible throughout this pandemic and<br />

I’m concerned I may be pressured into having<br />

it. I could understand if I was seeing patients’<br />

everyday as it would be my duty to protect my<br />

patients, but I’m not. Could you please tell me<br />

what you anticipate will happen or be expected<br />

of us if a COVID vaccine becomes available?<br />

Dear colleague,<br />

Thank you for your letter and raising an issue<br />

which I’m sure many people have thought<br />

about too.<br />

To clarify, we only administer vaccines with<br />

consent. Although colleagues would be<br />

encouraged to seriously consider having the<br />

COVID vaccine, not only for their protection<br />

but for that of others, we would not pressure<br />

anyone into having it without their consent.<br />

The Medicines and Healthcare products<br />

Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved<br />

the Pfizer/BionTech COVID-19 vaccine.<br />

We are hearing more each day about<br />

the characteristics of the vaccine and the<br />

prioritisation phases. We are expecting and<br />

planning for a staff vaccination programme<br />

and we will keep you informed of how<br />

the roll-out of that programme will work<br />

and when we might be able to begin staff<br />

vaccinations.<br />

Of course, we will share this information<br />

when we know more. If you have any<br />

immediate concerns when the vaccination<br />

programme commences, please contact<br />

occupational health for more information.<br />

Kind regards,<br />

Dr Masood Aga, Consultant and Specialty<br />

Lead in Occupational Medicine<br />

30


David talks about: the wonders of science<br />

Professor David Carruthers, Medical Director and Acting Chief Executive<br />

Toby Lewis is away<br />

DAVID’S LAST WORD<br />

We have heard repeatedly over the past<br />

year that we are being “led by the science”<br />

and whether we believe our political leaders<br />

or not on that point, it is undoubtedly<br />

true that scientific discovery, research, and<br />

testing out of new practise has been right<br />

at the forefront of global news, local policy<br />

and our own guidelines in response to the<br />

coronavirus pandemic.<br />

Scientists have led the way in terms of<br />

research into COVID-19 and our fantastic<br />

R&D department have continued to<br />

participate in several COVID-19 research<br />

trials that have contributed to changes<br />

in clinical treatment, undoubtedly saving<br />

lives and improving the outcomes for<br />

hundreds and thousands of patients. We<br />

continue to look at the data in relation to<br />

patient outcomes for those patients who<br />

are admitted to a hospital bed. During the<br />

first surge around 30per cent of patients<br />

who were admitted with Covid-19 sadly<br />

died, and during this phase, mortality is<br />

lower at 10 – 12per cent This is a result of<br />

learning and adapting clinical care which<br />

has happened at rapid pace.<br />

Science has taught us more about how the<br />

virus is transmitted. Teams of analysts across<br />

the country are reviewing information from<br />

contact tracing so that we know now the<br />

importance of washing your hands, wearing<br />

a mask and keeping an effective distance<br />

from others. These precautions are, without<br />

doubt, based on science and scientific<br />

learning.<br />

I am in awe of the teams of scientists<br />

across the world that have been part of<br />

the accelerated drive to create, test and<br />

produce vaccines that can be an effective<br />

protection against COVID-19. The hope<br />

of these vaccines is that lives will be saved<br />

and, importantly, lifestyles can be restored<br />

in some ways back to pre-COVID normality.<br />

I am very much looking forward to the start<br />

of the vaccination campaign for patients,<br />

people who are vulnerable and health care<br />

workers. I hear some voices of opposition<br />

from vaccine rejectors and I wanted here to<br />

set out why I am supportive of vaccines in<br />

general and also give some assurance, and<br />

there will be more information to follow<br />

on this, about the safety and effectiveness<br />

checks that the new vaccines have to go<br />

through prior to approval and use within<br />

the UK.<br />

Vaccines are the most effective way of<br />

preventing people from getting serious<br />

infectious disease and save over 3 million<br />

lives each year.<br />

David Carruthers joins SIREN<br />

Safety of vaccines is the key priority for<br />

scientists as they develop or test a new<br />

vaccine or treatment. These safety checks<br />

begin in the lab with cells before human<br />

studies. The next stages of testing only<br />

continue if there have been no safety<br />

concerns. Following lab tests, scientists need<br />

to check how effective the vaccine is and this<br />

usually means large numbers of volunteers.<br />

Around 40,000 volunteers were in the Pfizer/<br />

BioNTech study. Although the COVID vaccine<br />

trials have happened really quickly, no safety<br />

steps have been missed out. This includes<br />

checking the results of the studies and<br />

independent verification.<br />

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare<br />

Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)<br />

is the first regulator to approve a<br />

Coronavirus vaccine and they have given<br />

assurance that the standards they work<br />

to are equivalent to those around the<br />

world. Checks continue to be made on<br />

the vaccine to ensure that there are no<br />

further side effects or long term impact.<br />

The only elements that are included in<br />

the vaccines are those that are essential<br />

to make it effective, and to make it<br />

storable. England’s Deputy Chief Medical<br />

Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam<br />

said: “Nothing, but nothing, goes into a<br />

vaccine unless it is absolutely needed.”<br />

So, this month, I am celebrating the<br />

science that has made a different to how<br />

COVID patients are now cared for, and<br />

the hope for the future that science has<br />

brought us with the welcome news of<br />

safe and effective COVID vaccines, now<br />

regulated as safe for use. I hope you will<br />

join me as we plan and prepare for a<br />

staff and patient vaccination campaign,<br />

the like of which we will never have seen<br />

before.<br />

31


A pretty pair for Your Trust Charity<br />

with cancer services support push<br />

YOUR TRUST CHARITY<br />

@SWBHCharity To donate<br />

to the Your Trust Charity text<br />

“SWBH16 £5” to 70070<br />

An incredible pair of handmade<br />

diamond earrings are just one of the<br />

items up for grabs in two money<br />

raising efforts for the cancer services<br />

team over the next month.<br />

The Living With and Beyond Cancer<br />

team are holding both a virtual raffle<br />

and eBay auction to raise funds for Your<br />

Trust Charity’s Cancer Services Fund and<br />

Macmillan Cancer Support.<br />

The service has a positive impact on<br />

the lives of patients, especially during<br />

these unusual times and, all know<br />

the wonderful work that Macmillan<br />

does. However, COVID-19 has seen<br />

a staggering drop in its income, at a<br />

time when more people are seeking<br />

guidance and support while the support<br />

service also seeks to work through these<br />

challenging circumstances.<br />

The beautiful pair of handmade yellow<br />

and white gold, diamond and emerald<br />

earrings, kindly donated by A&A<br />

Jewellery based in the Jewellery Quarter<br />

in Birmingham, are worth a staggering<br />

£765 and will be raffled off. The winner<br />

will also receive a certificate of valuation<br />

for insurance purposes.<br />

“We offer our heartfelt thanks to the<br />

donor of this incredible prize donated<br />

by A&A Jewellery.” A representative of<br />

the team told Heartbeat. “The owner<br />

has personal experience of the impact of<br />

cancer and also of the amazing support<br />

that Macmillan provides, helping him<br />

Diamonds are a girl's best friend!<br />

and, his family get through some of the<br />

darkest times. The Living With and Beyond<br />

Cancer Team is a small team of five, but<br />

we have all had personal experience of<br />

cancer, not just through work but through<br />

our friends and family too. Ultimately it will<br />

affect us all at some point in our lives, either<br />

directly or indirectly.”<br />

Some of the goodies up for grabs<br />

For every £5.00 you donate you will<br />

receive a strip of 5 tickets. The draw will<br />

be filmed and, the winning ticket will<br />

be drawn independently on Friday 18<br />

December.<br />

Before this, however, beginning on<br />

Friday 27 <strong>November</strong> and running<br />

through to Sunday 6 December, the<br />

service’s Christmas <strong>2020</strong> fundraiser<br />

begins with an eBay auction.<br />

The listings comprise of over 20<br />

fantastic items, from luxury goods<br />

to food hampers, a weekend break<br />

for four and even your own session<br />

with a tribute band. Look out for<br />

further information and links to the<br />

auctions via Trust communications.<br />

<strong>November</strong> <strong>2020</strong> staff lottery results<br />

1st £183<br />

Melanie Wyres<br />

2nd £109.80<br />

Lynsey Hemsley<br />

3rd £73.20<br />

Clarissa Ronan<br />

Don’t forget that Your Trust Charity lottery costs just £1 a month and anyone<br />

who works for the Trust can join. Payment is deducted from your wages each<br />

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

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