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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.