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<strong>May</strong> <strong>2021</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 141<br />
Shining a spotlight on our<br />
nursing colleagues Pages 18-19<br />
This month we celebrate National Nurses Week to recognise the valuable work of our nursing colleagues across our workplace.<br />
Birmingham breathes<br />
easy as clean air<br />
zone launches<br />
SWB doctors are<br />
saving lives in India<br />
Celebrating the 73 rd<br />
birthday of the NHS<br />
International Clinical<br />
Trials Day<br />
Page 3<br />
Page 6<br />
Page 10<br />
Page 22
FROM THE CHAIR<br />
Welcome to your <strong>May</strong> edition of<br />
Heartbeat.<br />
This month we celebrate the fantastic<br />
work of some of our colleagues. From<br />
National Nurses Week, National ODP<br />
Day, International Day of the Midwife,<br />
the Mouth Care Matters project and<br />
International Clinical Trials Day - we<br />
celebrated as individuals, departments<br />
and as a Trust. We show appreciation<br />
for the valuable work and excellent<br />
patient care they deliver. But that's not<br />
all, we cover the arrival of Birmingham's<br />
Clean Air Zone, the upcoming NHS 73rd<br />
birthday celebrations and how SWB<br />
doctors are saving lives in India.<br />
Enjoy <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 />
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 />
HELLO<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 />
One of the friendliest Trusts I’ve ever<br />
experienced<br />
Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE, Chair, joined on<br />
1 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
I am delighted to be penning my first column<br />
as Chair of Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS<br />
Trust since joining at the start of this month. I<br />
have enjoyed spending time visiting different<br />
sites and meeting colleagues right across the<br />
Trust.<br />
What I have been struck by is the friendliness<br />
of the organisation and I have been bowled<br />
over by the welcome I have received. This<br />
must be one of the friendliest Trusts I have<br />
experienced. Without exception, everyone<br />
I have met has been warm and welcoming,<br />
willing to take the time to talk to me and<br />
share their thoughts and feelings about<br />
their role and about our organisation.<br />
Colleagues have demonstrated great<br />
commitment to patients and our citizens.<br />
It is clear that many people have been,<br />
and continue to be, working under<br />
extreme pressure and I recognise the<br />
need to ensure that colleagues have the<br />
opportunity to take stock and reflect on the<br />
experiences over the past 18 months, whilst<br />
understanding that there is a considerable<br />
amount of patient need out there that we<br />
need to be able to respond to.<br />
I have seen an impressive array of support<br />
on offer to help with the physical, mental<br />
and spiritual health and wellbeing of<br />
all our staff. There is lots here for other<br />
organisations to learn from.<br />
It is a genuine privilege to be your<br />
Chairman and I look forward to meeting<br />
many more of you as I continue to get to<br />
know the organisation.<br />
Do feel free to get in touch with me<br />
via Twitter @DavidNichols0n or email<br />
david.nicholson3@nhs.net<br />
Sir David Nicholson, Trust Chairman recently visited the Wellbeing Sanctuary
Birmingham breathes easy as<br />
Clean Air Zone launches<br />
From 1 June a Clean Air Zone will come<br />
in to effect in Birmingham which will<br />
charge the owners of high polluting<br />
vehicles to enter certain parts of the<br />
City.<br />
The Clean Air Zone will help tackle<br />
Birmingham’s air quality problem by<br />
charging the owners of the most polluting<br />
vehicles to drive through an area within the<br />
A4540 Middleway .<br />
No vehicle is banned in the zone, but those<br />
which do not have clean enough engines<br />
will pay a daily charge if they travel within<br />
the area.<br />
If your vehicle meets the following emission<br />
standards you will not need to pay the daily<br />
charge:<br />
• Euro 6 (VI) or better for diesel<br />
engine<br />
• Euro 4 or better for petrol engines<br />
• For diesel/petrol electric hybrids<br />
the vehicle should meet the<br />
relevant emission standards<br />
• Fully electric or hydrogen fuel cell<br />
powered vehicles will not need to<br />
pay the charge.<br />
To check your vehicle and to find out more,<br />
visit https://www.brumbreathes.co.uk/.<br />
The Trust has confirmed that colleagues who<br />
are required to visit a facility or property<br />
within the Clean Air Zone for the purpose<br />
of their work will be allowed to claim<br />
reimbursement via the Trust’s expenses<br />
scheme (Easy Expenses).<br />
Guidance for colleagues is available on<br />
Connect.<br />
To find out more about the Clean Air Zone<br />
(CAZ) and the impact on our Trust, Heartbeat<br />
caught up with Head of Sustainability Fran<br />
Silcocks, she said: “The newly formed CAZ is<br />
a commitment by the local authority to take<br />
action against high polluting vehicles that<br />
travel through the centre of Birmingham and<br />
the hope is that this will spark a change to<br />
move to more sustainable forms of transport.<br />
There is a close link between health and air<br />
pollution - as an NHS Trust we have a duty<br />
of care to help improve air quality. We are<br />
working to reduce our impact by transitioning<br />
our general transport vehicles to low and<br />
ultra-low emission vehicles, installing circa 100<br />
electric vehicle charging sockets at City and<br />
CLEAN AIR ZONE<br />
Sandwell Hospital, offering discounts on<br />
public transport, continuing to facilitate<br />
car sharing, and much more.<br />
“We encourage colleagues to review<br />
their commutes in to work and to take<br />
a fresh look at whether other forms<br />
of travel would be better suited. We<br />
have good transport links for bus and<br />
rail in to our sites as well as an ever<br />
growing cycling community, so instead<br />
of sitting in traffic and adding to the<br />
smog, you could be helping us improve<br />
our environment by simply switching to<br />
public transport.”<br />
For more information on the new<br />
Clean Air Zone or to find out if<br />
your vehicle meets the stringent<br />
emissions criteria, check the Brum<br />
Breaths website at https://www.<br />
brumbreathes.co.uk/.<br />
Cycle Parking<br />
At City and Sandwell Hospitals, there are<br />
cycle sheds, shelters and blue, lockable<br />
bike pods. For the cycle pods, please<br />
bring your own padlock and these are<br />
available on a first come, first served basis.<br />
Please remove the lock at the end of your<br />
working day so that others have a chance<br />
to use them.<br />
‘Dr Bike’ sessions<br />
We are running regular, free bike<br />
maintenance checks for colleagues at<br />
City and Sandwell<br />
Hospitals. Keep<br />
checking colleagues the<br />
communications bulletin<br />
for updates.<br />
Bus travel discounted for<br />
colleagues with National<br />
Express<br />
Colleagues are able to access discounted<br />
bus travel when joining the Trust/National<br />
Express Corporate Ticket Scheme. A 5%<br />
discount applies to colleagues joining this<br />
scheme.<br />
For more information, contact Audrey<br />
Hender (existing bus users) on audrey.<br />
hender@nhs.net or Sue Penn on susan.<br />
penn@nationalexpress.com if you would<br />
like to join the scheme.<br />
https://nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/<br />
travelling-with-us<br />
Car Sharing<br />
The Trust has partnered with a KINTO<br />
(previously Faxi) to provide colleagues with<br />
a car sharing app. The app helps improve<br />
commutes, reduces congestion and<br />
improves air quality. More shared journeys<br />
also reduces parking pressures, saves you<br />
money and is good for the environment<br />
and the local community.<br />
KINTO helps you maximise your savings<br />
in both time and money by connecting<br />
you with colleagues who share your<br />
commuting routes and travel times. Car<br />
sharing can also work well for cross-site<br />
journeys for meetings where travel can’t<br />
be avoided.<br />
Download the app and join the secure<br />
SWBH community using your NHS email<br />
https://www.kinto-join.co.uk/get/<br />
swbh-nhs/.<br />
3
All hands helped out in<br />
vaccination effort<br />
COVID-19<br />
The Trust would like to say a huge<br />
thank you to all colleagues at<br />
both City and Sandwell who have<br />
helped vaccinate patients and<br />
staff throughout the pandemic.<br />
We would also like to thank all of<br />
the operational staff who helped<br />
set up the hubs to ensure trained<br />
colleagues were able to vaccinate all<br />
who attended. The vaccination hub<br />
at Sandwell and PCN clinic at City are<br />
now closed.<br />
Looking back over the last six months,<br />
we were approved to deliver the vaccine<br />
just before Christmas, and were able to<br />
begin vaccinating the first doses merely<br />
days later, enabling those vaccinated to<br />
ring in the year knowing they had taken<br />
the first steps to protect themselves.<br />
Though the process of delivering a<br />
vaccination is simple, completing a<br />
checklist and ensuring the patient<br />
understands the process makes it<br />
more time consuming hence there is<br />
an incredible amount of work involved<br />
in the logistics - not least designing<br />
Alicia Parker - Lead Professional<br />
Development Nurse<br />
and creating a safe and socially distanced<br />
environment to host the clinics. A huge debt<br />
of thanks is also due to our colleagues within<br />
estates (now Engie) who worked tirelessly to<br />
ensure we could deliver vaccines quickly and<br />
safely with minimum waiting.<br />
Dispensing in the region of 400 vaccinations a<br />
day, a dedicated team of retirees returned to<br />
help with the task, alongside medical students<br />
and overseen by our clinicians. And, we even<br />
saw some familiar faces deliver the vaccine<br />
as our very own lead chaplain Mary Causer<br />
became our ‘vaccinating vicar.’ In total we<br />
vaccinated more than 8,500 patients and<br />
staff with their first dose, whilst over 7,000<br />
received their second dose.<br />
Mary Causer expressed her thoughts on<br />
being a vaccinator: “Wow what a privilege,<br />
as soon as we knew that the vaccine was<br />
coming, I wanted to be part of a team that<br />
extended the great service we offer as a<br />
Trust.<br />
“The first thing I believed was that I was<br />
able to inject some hope into people after<br />
a really difficult year. We are a really diverse<br />
team in practice and faith belief. Being the<br />
Vicar was important for those who may<br />
have needed a sense of peace that it was<br />
okay to take it.”<br />
If you have not yet had your vaccine, you<br />
can book an appointment at Tipton Sports<br />
Academy, Wednesbury Road, which is<br />
available as a destination for you to get<br />
your first dose of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine<br />
with the hub running Monday to Sunday,<br />
8am to 7pm. Book your slot via the national<br />
booking website. Alternatively you can be<br />
vaccinated local to where you live – you can<br />
book yourself in via the national booking<br />
website.<br />
Have you got a<br />
MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY<br />
CARE<br />
story?<br />
4<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 />
4
Quick, convenient and comfortable -<br />
a simple test saving lives<br />
Throughout the pandemic testing for<br />
active infections of COVID-19 has been<br />
crucial in the fight against the virus,<br />
from the initial roll out of PCR tests<br />
to symptomatic patients, colleagues<br />
and their household members, the<br />
subsequent rollout of asymptomatic<br />
lateral flow testing and finally on<br />
to the current offerings of weekly<br />
COVID-19 saliva test (LAMP) tests.<br />
Whilst early testing regimes involved often<br />
uncomfortable nasal and throat swabs, the<br />
new LAMP testing programme involves a<br />
simple saliva sample, with colleagues able<br />
to collect their sample first thing in the<br />
morning and depositing it for testing as<br />
they enter the building.<br />
To find out more, Heartbeat spoke to LAMP<br />
testing lead Kulwinder Johal, sharing her<br />
thoughts, she said: “LAMP testing is the<br />
latest and the most comfortable testing<br />
programme for asymptomatic testing for<br />
COVID-19. It’s completely pain free, quick<br />
and easy – and colleagues will be pleased<br />
to hear it doesn’t involve any swabs.<br />
“We’re keen for colleagues to sign up and<br />
commit to regular testing, not for any other<br />
benefit but to protect themselves and those<br />
around them. Our aim really is to have all of<br />
our colleagues regularly testing and results<br />
Anil Patel, Digital Media Officer collecting<br />
his LAMP testing kit<br />
reassuring them that they are safe and well.”<br />
Colleagues across the Trust have spoken out<br />
in favour of the newly founded LAMP testing.<br />
A nursing colleague commented: “I have had<br />
no problems in carrying out the test - it is very<br />
simple and straight forward. Only downside I<br />
have found is carrying out the test first thing -<br />
before I have had a drink etc - easily resolved<br />
by making sure I drink enough the day before.<br />
“I have found the text messages useful to<br />
remind me to do the test and getting the<br />
result by text too.<br />
“As clinical team leader for swabbing I have<br />
undertaken more COVID-19 nose and throat<br />
swabs over the last 12 months than I can<br />
COVID-19<br />
count, I was interested to see what<br />
the pathway was for LAMP testing,<br />
and the pathway could not be more<br />
straightforward.<br />
“On Friday, I contacted the booking<br />
team to book in for LAMP testing and<br />
after the admin clerk took my details<br />
I was given an appointment for the<br />
following Monday morning to collect my<br />
LAMP test kits.<br />
“After taking a saliva sample on<br />
Tuesday morning I dropped it off in the<br />
sample bin outside phlebotomy and<br />
by Wednesday I’d had text message<br />
at lunchtime to inform me that I was<br />
negative for COVID-19.”<br />
LAMP testing is open to all colleagues,<br />
simply call 0121 507 2664 option 6 to<br />
book in to collect your test kits. A text<br />
message will follow within 24-48hrs<br />
confirming your COVID-19 status.<br />
For further information on the<br />
LAMP testing programme, contact<br />
Kulwinder Johal on email.<br />
kulwinder.johal@nhs.net<br />
Cautious optimism called for as<br />
lockdown is eased<br />
As we begin to ease restrictions from<br />
the third national lockdown, there<br />
are pleas from colleagues on the front<br />
lines to remain cautious as a threat of a<br />
further surge fuelled by a new variant<br />
looms.<br />
Sharing her thoughts on the easing of<br />
restrictions, Acting Chief Nurse Melanie<br />
Roberts said: “We can finally see the<br />
finishing line ahead of us on 21 June, when<br />
it is hoped all remaining restrictions will<br />
be lifted. It’s a time for cautious optimism,<br />
after many months of hard work in fighting<br />
the onslaught of COVID-19, it’s a time to<br />
be celebrate sensibly and to behave in a<br />
responsible way.<br />
“After so much tragedy, so much hard<br />
work and sacrifice, we can’t let ourselves<br />
get carried away and jeopardise the many<br />
months of collective effort, struggle and<br />
sacrifice.<br />
Melanie Roberts, Acting Chief Nurse<br />
“We’re able to begin lifting the rules because<br />
infection rates are low. They will only remain<br />
low if we continue to wash our hands, wear<br />
masks in public and limit unnecessary contact.<br />
In doing so we stand a chance of fending<br />
off some of the new variants we’re seeing<br />
arriving at our shores.”<br />
And whilst COVID restrictions are lifted in the<br />
community, we have begun a phased easing<br />
of visiting restrictions beginning with<br />
supporting visiting on our elderly care<br />
and stroke wards.<br />
Explaining the changes to our visiting<br />
policy Melanie said: “As we begin to<br />
open wards to visiting we will continue<br />
to mandate that all visitors wear a mask<br />
when on site, general patient visits last a<br />
maximum of 30 minutes and be limited to<br />
one visitor per patient. In line with national<br />
guidance, general visiting will only be<br />
allowed for patients who have been in the<br />
hospital for seven days or more.<br />
“We’d like to remind colleagues that there<br />
are exceptional circumstances where visiting<br />
is allowed in all areas, for example for<br />
young patients, patients who lack mental<br />
capacity and patients who are at the end of<br />
their life. For these patients it is important<br />
that we are able to safely facilitate visiting,<br />
so please if in doubt ask your group for<br />
advice.”<br />
5
SWB medics saving lives virtually<br />
COVID-19<br />
medics to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure<br />
(CPAP) therapy, another successful treatment<br />
for COVID patients.<br />
“I have lots of family there, including my<br />
father, sister and my wife’s immediate family.<br />
They are safe but have been listening to the<br />
advice I have given them throughout the<br />
pandemic.”<br />
Dr Arora joined the Trust in 2007 as a<br />
consultant in intensive care and anaesthetics.<br />
As well as offering the teleconsultations, he<br />
has also been instrumental in pushing forward<br />
the 'Awake Proning ' treatment method.<br />
“We recognised how the condition of<br />
the patient improved on lying prone,” he<br />
explained.<br />
“Their oxygen saturation improved and many<br />
avoided admission to intensive care. Junior<br />
doctors working with us put forward an idea<br />
about capturing this new method on film and<br />
we worked with the communications team in<br />
producing photographic and video content.<br />
“This was shared on the Trust’s YouTube<br />
channel and has been viewed more than<br />
37,000 times.”<br />
Dr Arora has also recorded a shorter<br />
Hindi version of the awake proning video<br />
specifically for patients unable to get<br />
hospital treatment in India. They are able<br />
to follow the simple instructions in Hindi<br />
which is widely understood across the<br />
country.<br />
He added: “Awake proning can be lifesaving,<br />
especially when there is a resource<br />
crunch and lack of oxygen supply and<br />
hospital beds. It is being followed by those<br />
infected in India at home because of the<br />
current terrible situation.<br />
“I hope that this video will reach those<br />
who are unable to get to hospital and<br />
that ultimately it saves lives. I would<br />
urge colleagues to share this so we can<br />
get instructions on how to carry out this<br />
important technique out there.”<br />
To watch and share the video go to<br />
https://youtu.be/1bt6DHuixQ<br />
Dr Anand Arora, who has been<br />
carrying out life-saving virtual<br />
consultations with medics and<br />
patients in India.<br />
They are the SWB doctors who are<br />
saving lives in India by offering vital<br />
medical advice through video and<br />
teleconsultations.<br />
Dr Anand Arora has been carrying out<br />
the consultations through the Indian<br />
Society of Critical Care Medicine,<br />
working alongside other medics, in<br />
delivering virtual care to patients and<br />
also Indian clinicians.<br />
“Some of the patients are in a very bad<br />
way,” he explained. “They have been<br />
taking steroids unnecessarily which has<br />
led to complications, including fungal<br />
infections and other life-threatening<br />
illnesses.<br />
“My colleagues and I are able to offer<br />
medical advice to them because we<br />
speak their language and can help them.<br />
“I feel good to be able to help in a small<br />
way by doing something, whatever I<br />
can to help the people of India at such a<br />
dreadful time.”<br />
Dr Arora usually carries out six to seven<br />
consultations a day, either through<br />
WhatsApp or Zoom. In total he estimates<br />
he has offered medical advice up to 80<br />
times and has also introduced many<br />
Colleagues created a step-by-step video guide to the Awake Prone position<br />
The COVID-19 situation in India is severe and distressing. Many colleagues have loved<br />
ones overseas and are naturally extremely concerned about their wellbeing.<br />
Many of you have been asking how you can best support the crisis in India. NHS<br />
England are coordinating a response from the NHS including donations of equipment<br />
and remote clinical support.<br />
Our Trust is actively engaged in these discussions and arrangements. The NHS response<br />
is coordinated nationally, with support focusing on advice on surge hospitals, remote<br />
monitoring/management, clinician/clinician telelink and vetting equipment inventory.<br />
A dedicated email has been setup nationally to coordinate offers of support from<br />
across the NHS to ensure that support is targeted to the areas of greatest need. Please<br />
email nhsi.indiaaidoffers@nhs.net if you would like to help.<br />
6
Mental Health Awareness Week:<br />
Being at one with nature<br />
In <strong>May</strong> we marked Mental Health<br />
Awareness Week (MHAW) by letting<br />
colleagues know the different ways they<br />
can receive support.<br />
The Trust offers a variety of resources that<br />
can be accessed either via phone or online,<br />
but there is also the option of face-to-face<br />
counselling.<br />
We encouraged people to reach out to<br />
friends if they needed help, whilst Lesley<br />
Writtle, Non-Executive Director and former<br />
CEO of a mental health trust, spoke about<br />
how nature can really help.<br />
She said: “Did you know that one in six<br />
people will have a mental health issue, either<br />
depression or anxiety? Support can come<br />
in many ways either through the places<br />
we work and our wellbeing support and<br />
there are also lots of resources out in the<br />
community.<br />
“Some of the most important things though,<br />
are talking to friends and colleagues. The<br />
theme this year for MHAW is nature. So one<br />
of the things I have certainly found helpful<br />
is taking time outdoors, walking in beautiful<br />
places, taking my dog for a walk or watching<br />
wildlife.<br />
“I even enjoy sitting outside and reading.<br />
They’re all things that can really help us. I<br />
would encourage people to do this if they<br />
have some time spare.”<br />
Accessing support<br />
Urgent support:<br />
• NHS 111 advice line<br />
• CALM – 0800 58 58 58<br />
(5pm – 12am, anonymous)<br />
• ABUSE hotline – 0121 552 6448<br />
Counselling or other support:<br />
• Occupational Health: 0121 507 3306<br />
• The NHS direct counselling service:<br />
0800 06 96 22<br />
(7am – 11pm, 7 days a week)<br />
• Bereavement support:<br />
0300 303 4434 (8am – 8pm)<br />
• Chaplaincy team: 0121 507 3552 or<br />
0121 507 4055<br />
For some there are alternatives such as<br />
behavioural therapies, holistic therapies,<br />
cognitive therapies and there are many<br />
complimentary therapies too as well as clinical<br />
support.<br />
Recent research has shown planning your life<br />
can help support happiness and a stress free<br />
life. Consider this as very soon we can meet<br />
more and even hug. We can sometimes be<br />
stuck so here are some examples of goals to<br />
start a plan today.<br />
You can see the full suite of our wellbeing offer on Connect.<br />
See the services available from Kaleidoscope<br />
www.kaleidoscopeplus.org.uk/self-help-tool.php<br />
COVID-19<br />
Plan your wellbeing...<br />
Read or listen<br />
Find yourself a new<br />
podcast or a book<br />
you enjoy.<br />
A nice fragrant bath<br />
Wash away the stresses<br />
of the day with a nice,<br />
warm, calming bath.<br />
Yoga<br />
Stretch and unwind<br />
with mindful yoga<br />
with Chris.<br />
Talk to a friend<br />
Connect with someone, make<br />
yourself available and open<br />
up. Share your thoughts and<br />
unburden yourself.<br />
Be creative<br />
Paint, draw or write. Revisit an<br />
old hobby and take some time for<br />
yourself, doing something your enjoy.<br />
Music<br />
Research shows that the<br />
right music track can be<br />
relaxing and beneficial.<br />
A gratitude journal<br />
Each day document two things<br />
you are grateful for today.<br />
Plan a walk<br />
Walking is simple, free and one of<br />
the easiest ways to get more active,<br />
lose weight and become healthier.<br />
It improves self-perception and self-esteem,<br />
mood and sleep quality, and it reduces<br />
stress, anxiety and fatigue.<br />
Dance<br />
Dancing and exercise are<br />
well known to improve<br />
mental health and wellbeing,<br />
and whilst the clubs are<br />
closed, take part in Dr Nick Makwana's<br />
#Dance4Wellbeing challenges.<br />
Be a kindness fountain<br />
Do something nice for someone<br />
else the reward returns itself.<br />
Diet<br />
Don't plan to change your life<br />
over night but try to drink more<br />
water, eat more home cooked<br />
meals, and order less takeaway.<br />
Mindfulness<br />
Find something calm to focus<br />
on, even just for a few minutes.<br />
Breathe<br />
To calm down in a stressful<br />
situation, take a deep breath<br />
in through your nose and<br />
hold for 4 seconds. Breathe<br />
out through your mouth and<br />
repeat this process for 2-5 minutes.<br />
Single session therapy at our wellbeing sanctuary – the sanctuary gives colleagues a chance<br />
to de-stress and relax in a confidential safe place. Do you need time to chill out downtime over<br />
a tea/coffee and a biscuit, a listening ear or a chance to talk about anything in confidence,<br />
meditation, mindfulness, relaxation hypnotherapy or music therapy? The<br />
sanctuary is based at Learning Works on Unett Street, Smethwick, B66 3SY.<br />
There is free on site parking. To book yourself a free session please call 0121<br />
507 5886. For further details please see daily sanctuary information sheet.<br />
7
Are you in on the plans for Midland Met?<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Over the last few weeks, members<br />
of our executive team have met with<br />
colleagues across the Trust to share<br />
floor plans of where they will be<br />
moving to within Midland Met.<br />
The highly anticipated move has been<br />
met with delight as colleagues have had<br />
the opportunity to see for the first time<br />
what their areas will look like and what<br />
teams they will be working alongside.<br />
As part of the visits, teams have been<br />
tasked with creating dedicated Midland<br />
Met corners, similar to the Unity ones<br />
we used previously. These corners will<br />
be the go to places for colleagues to get<br />
the latest news and updates for their<br />
specific areas.<br />
As the execs made their way around<br />
the organisation, Angie Dudley, Matron,<br />
Priory 2 beamed: “We are all very<br />
excited – it’s starting to feel a lot more<br />
real now. We have talked about it for<br />
a long time, but now we are starting<br />
to see what is happening. It gives staff<br />
reassurance seeing the plans.”<br />
Angie Smith from Priory 2 echoed these<br />
sentiments and said: “We are very much<br />
looking forward to moving across to<br />
Midland Met.”<br />
Karen Jones, Clinical Radiology Lead<br />
in imaging, remarked: “It is going to<br />
mean so much to our department. It's a<br />
new start in a brand new hospital, with<br />
so much fabulous equipment. We are<br />
excited to move in and get working in<br />
our new, state of the art hospital.”<br />
Rachel Barlow, Director of System<br />
Transformation, explained: “There is a<br />
lot of hard work going on behind the scenes<br />
to ensure that Midland Met is a well-designed<br />
hospital. I am pleased that we've been able<br />
to share plans with colleagues to give them a<br />
feel for where they will be working when they<br />
move to Midland Met.<br />
“There is a lot of work going on with teams to<br />
ensure we can get our services ready to safely<br />
move into the building and take advantage of<br />
the new hospital. We have 800 people on site<br />
daily working hard to get our hospital ready;<br />
things are starting to pick up pace now, and<br />
we all have a part to play in making our move<br />
into Midland Met a successful one.”<br />
Rachel continued: “My colleagues and I have<br />
been visiting teams to deliver their floor plans<br />
and have a chat about what they are looking<br />
forward to. It has been invaluable to hear any<br />
Dinah McLannahan, Chief Finance Officer with colleagues from Priory 2<br />
Rachel Barlow, Director of System Transformation presenting Alice Sibanda, Acting Senior<br />
Sister, D15 with what will be the start of their Midland Met corner.<br />
feedback colleagues have on the move and<br />
to have these open conversations.<br />
“We’ve visited nearly 80 departments,<br />
and as well as sharing the floor plans, we<br />
have been starting to set up Midland Met<br />
Corners. These will grow over time, but we<br />
hope that teams utilise these corners well<br />
and make them a useful resource.”<br />
Rachel added: “There are clinical tours<br />
available so that you can go up to Midland<br />
Met and see the areas you will be working<br />
in. Please use this opportunity to start<br />
thinking about clinical pathways and how<br />
you will work in the building. Three tours<br />
take place every Friday for up to five people<br />
in each group. If you would like to arrange<br />
a visit, please email<br />
mmuhprojectoffice@nhs.net.<br />
Dr David Carruthers, Medical Director,<br />
commented: “Opening a new hospital such<br />
as ours requires input from individuals and<br />
teams right across our Trust. Midland Met<br />
will bring together all acute and emergency<br />
care services, meaning we will have all<br />
acute clinical teams in one place, providing<br />
a hub for emergency care.<br />
“We will be working with new technology<br />
in modern purpose-built facilities, helping<br />
to improve patient care when we move into<br />
Midland Met. As I chatted to colleagues,<br />
it was interesting to hear feedback on the<br />
project, to see how excited teams are first<br />
hand and to get a sense of how much<br />
Midland Met means to them and the care<br />
they and their teams will be able to deliver<br />
in the future.”<br />
8
Practice makes perfect – helping<br />
seriously ill children<br />
Colleagues across the Trust have been<br />
signing up to complete the newly<br />
offered Resuscitation Council (UK)<br />
course to perfect their knowledge<br />
and know-how in the recognition and<br />
management of the seriously ill child.<br />
Children can be amongst the most difficult<br />
patients to clinically support with their<br />
limited communication skills, so when<br />
their health deteriorates it is critical that<br />
colleagues are willing, able and confident<br />
to respond and act decisively to give these<br />
patients the best possible care.<br />
To find out more about the new course<br />
offerings, we caught up with Course<br />
Director and Resuscitation Officer, Kevin<br />
Jennison. He said: “We’re dedicated to<br />
delivering high quality training which is<br />
targeted to the needs of our patient groups<br />
and to our colleagues and we’re pleased<br />
to now deliver the European Paediatric<br />
Advanced Life Support (EPALS) course. It’s<br />
a two-day course that gives colleagues the<br />
skills they need to recognise the causes and<br />
prevention of a deteriorating child, or when<br />
a child is seriously ill and in need of an<br />
intervention, as well as training in how to<br />
carry out resuscitation on children.<br />
Sunil James and Kirsty Cockell get hands on<br />
with their EPALS training<br />
“The EPALS course is a blend of lectures,<br />
demonstrations and opportunities to<br />
practice and be assessed, so it’s a thoroughly<br />
balanced course that supports professional<br />
development in a supportive environment.”<br />
Completing the course, CT1 Anaesthetic<br />
Trainee Dr Sunil James said: “Working in the<br />
emergency department we see a lot of young<br />
people, teenagers and children and I initially<br />
felt a little unconfident and uncomfortable<br />
managing how ill they were and I feel that<br />
this course has increased my confidence and<br />
ability to manage them in a systematic way.<br />
I’m a kinaesthetic learner so the design of<br />
the course with a combination of lecture and<br />
practical really suited my style of learning.”<br />
Safety huddles: Focus<br />
on reducing harms<br />
By Dr Chizo Agwu, Deputy Medical Director<br />
Dr Chizo Agwu, Deputy Medical Director<br />
is leading the safety huddles programme<br />
Safety huddles is a national programme<br />
to improve safety by encouraging<br />
multidisciplinary teams to have a quick but<br />
focussed discussion, to agree actions and<br />
to act in a timely and collaborative manner<br />
to prevent patient harm.<br />
SWB now has 25 clinical areas hosting safety<br />
huddles on a daily basis. The rollout continues<br />
in the remaining clinical areas in a structured<br />
manner, in line with capacity and the Trust<br />
recovery plan, with a supportive system and<br />
shared learning structure in place.<br />
Whilst the rollout continues, the majority of<br />
the 25 clinical areas with huddles taking place<br />
have started the weekly huddles which last<br />
for about 30 minutes, for in-depth discussions<br />
among the multidisciplinary teams. The teams<br />
review the safety issues identified throughout<br />
the week, the progress on actions and, to<br />
agree on the harm(s) that all the teams are<br />
going to work on next, to continuously<br />
improve patient safety.<br />
Colleagues from different disciplines come<br />
together to work as one team, feeling<br />
comfortable to raise their concerns and to<br />
share their ideas.<br />
In addition to responding to issues with<br />
timeliness, many new and effective ideas<br />
have come out from these interactive<br />
multidisciplinary discussions. For example,<br />
on D11, the team has agreed to put a sticker<br />
on the patient cabinet, to indicate if patients<br />
have brought their own drugs with them.<br />
This arrangement enhances medicine safety<br />
as well as effective management of patient<br />
property. D26 further developed upon this<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Also taking part on the course was<br />
Paediatric Staff Nurse, Kirsty Cockell,<br />
sharing her thoughts she said: “This<br />
course has been very interesting, it’s very<br />
scenario based, so you get to work with<br />
a team, it allows you to improve your<br />
skills, communication and take a team<br />
leader approach.<br />
“Doing this course gave me more<br />
confidence in resuscitation being the<br />
nurse in charge looking after a child who<br />
is in cardiac arrest or unwell. This course<br />
has not only given me more confidence,<br />
but reassured me of my ability to provide<br />
the best care for children in these<br />
situations.”<br />
To find out more about the<br />
booking on to and completing the<br />
European Paediatric Advanced Life<br />
Support (EPALS) course, contact<br />
the deteriorating patient and<br />
resuscitation team on ext, 5908 or<br />
email swbh.resuscitationtraining@<br />
nhs.net<br />
idea, to add a third tick box on the sticker,<br />
to highlight if patients require a blister pack.<br />
This arrangement means the medical team<br />
can order the blister pack earlier, providing<br />
additional advanced notice to the pharmacy<br />
team. This sticker with the three tick boxes<br />
has not only improved patient safety and<br />
experience; it has also improved colleague<br />
experience!<br />
Our performance and insight team (in<br />
particular Berenice Lufton and Sameer Farooq<br />
Mohammed) have developed a Trust report<br />
dashboard which shows how our workplace<br />
is doing in the identified harms. In addition to<br />
the Trust’s prioritised harms i.e. VTE and sepsis;<br />
all specialties had the opportunity to input on<br />
the harms to be built into the dashboard.<br />
The dashboard shows that in April <strong>2021</strong> we<br />
were achieving over 95 per cent compliance on<br />
sepsis screening which has now risen to 96.01<br />
per cent (as of 19 <strong>May</strong>).<br />
Work is currently under way to gather<br />
feedback on the safety huddles dashboard. We<br />
plan to review and consult with teams in mid-<br />
June, followed by the phase two development<br />
of the dashboard, to ensure high level data<br />
quality and user experience.<br />
To find out more about safety huddles or to<br />
share any thoughts and ideas, contact Head of<br />
Transformation, Essie Li on 07980935359 or<br />
email Essie.li@nhs.net<br />
Visit the safety huddles Connect page for<br />
all the latest news.<br />
9
Excitement brewing for the<br />
'Tea-riffic' 73 rd birthday of the NHS!<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Whilst you take a break and treat<br />
yourself to tea and biscuits, you can<br />
rest assured that everything you<br />
raise will go towards making our<br />
new hospital #morethanahospital.<br />
???<br />
???<br />
Funds raised - or should we say 'bagged'<br />
will go towards improving our services<br />
for young patients, developing play<br />
areas and providing facilities to families<br />
that need to stay overnight with their<br />
children.<br />
Our famous dancing doctor, Nick<br />
Makwana, will be coordinating a flash<br />
mob which you’re invited to join – whilst<br />
those of you who don’t fancy dancing<br />
can vote for your favourite wellbeing<br />
routines that he has performed in<br />
the past year. If you’re taking part in<br />
the flash mob colleagues can set up<br />
sponsorship pages in the charity’s Virgin<br />
Money giving page and appeal to family<br />
and friends to donate.<br />
There are other ways in which you<br />
can get involved by holding your own<br />
tea party at home or in your ward/<br />
department with guests donating £1 to Your<br />
Trust Charity so it can continue to make a<br />
difference.<br />
Amanda Winwood, Fundraising Manager said:<br />
“We’ve been through a year like no other and<br />
this year, everyone has a reason to thank you,<br />
our NHS Heroes. We look forward to hearing<br />
about and seeing everyone’s pictures from<br />
their Big Tea Party in support of Your Trust<br />
Charity. Funds raised will go to our Midland<br />
Metropolitan University Hospital appeal to<br />
enhance the journey of all those using our<br />
services including colleagues, patients and<br />
their families by providing things over and<br />
above what the NHS can provide. Your<br />
support makes a huge difference and we<br />
are so grateful for your help.”<br />
Keep your eyes peeled for more<br />
information in the staff bulletin and<br />
on social media, or you can contact<br />
Amanda on Amanda.winwood@nhs.net<br />
Listening to your feedback<br />
In March’s Heartbeat we reported the<br />
results of the NHS Staff Survey in which<br />
38 per cent of colleagues gave their<br />
feedback about what it is like working<br />
for our organisation.<br />
Over the last two months managers have<br />
been asked (in conjunction with their teams)<br />
to review the results of the survey and put in<br />
place action plans to make improvements.<br />
Managers were asked to identify at least<br />
three themes from their results to take<br />
forward for action planning. The clinical<br />
leadership executive also agreed that as<br />
an organisation we need to gain a better<br />
insight into what we can do to improve:<br />
• The wellbeing support offered to<br />
all colleagues<br />
• Equality, diversity and inclusion<br />
• Team communication<br />
• Line manager development.<br />
Following local feedback sessions, during<br />
the last two weeks in June we will be<br />
holding WebEx events by group where the<br />
senior leadership from each group will outline:<br />
• Engagement that has taken place<br />
locally<br />
• Actions that will be taken forward.<br />
Colleagues will be sent invitations to join their<br />
group’s event allowing them the opportunity to<br />
ask questions and share ideas. There will also<br />
be generic events that everyone can join too.<br />
Further information will be shared in the<br />
communications bulletin.<br />
Conducted once a year, the NHS Staff<br />
Survey allows us to see how colleagues<br />
feel about their jobs and working<br />
for our Trust. It also examines the<br />
sentiments of colleagues across a range<br />
of key areas. Data is then compared<br />
against our performance in previous<br />
years and comparisons made against<br />
other similar organisations to determine<br />
our relative performance.<br />
The national survey is mandatory for all<br />
NHS organisations with the results being<br />
used to inform national initiatives that<br />
can help support improvements in staff<br />
experience and wellbeing. The results<br />
of the national NHS Staff Survey are<br />
also used by NHS England to support<br />
national assessments of quality and<br />
safety.<br />
10
Rob Kingston returns to volunteering<br />
after 13 months<br />
If you have been to Sandwell Hospital<br />
over the last year, you may have<br />
noticed that a familiar face has been<br />
missing. Robert Kingston, known to<br />
most Sandwell folk as Rob, has been<br />
absent from the Trust due to COVID-19<br />
restrictions.<br />
However, we are proud to announce, that<br />
one of our most beloved volunteers at the<br />
Trust officially returned at the end of April!<br />
Rob, who lives just a few miles from<br />
Sandwell in Hill Top, is well known by<br />
the majority of Sandwell based clinical<br />
colleagues as he has been volunteering on<br />
a variety of wards for over 11 years. Though<br />
volunteers haven’t started retuning to our<br />
wards due to COVID restrictions just yet,<br />
after receiving his second dose of his the<br />
COVID-19 vaccine, Rob is back doing what<br />
he enjoys most, volunteering.<br />
Rob has sincerely missed everyone at SWB<br />
and said: “I have missed it so much. I<br />
get real satisfaction from supporting the<br />
patients and staff so after over a year of not<br />
doing it, I’m so glad to be back.”<br />
Rob Kingston returns to volunteering<br />
77 year old Rob works across a variety of<br />
wards at Sandwell including Lyndon 2 and 3,<br />
Newton 3, Priority 5 as well as SAU and AMU<br />
A.<br />
When asked why he volunteers Rob said: “It<br />
feels good for my soul working in a hospital<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
as it’s nice to help people in their time of<br />
need and give back. I love it so much as we<br />
are like one big family, from the consultants<br />
to the nurses, to the HCAs, to the porters.”<br />
He added: “It’s a privilege and an honour to<br />
volunteer. Many patients don’t want to be<br />
here so while they’re here, I feel it’s my duty<br />
to make their stay and comfortable and<br />
pleasant as possible.”<br />
Liza Gill, Volunteer Service Manager is<br />
thrilled to have Rob back.<br />
She said: “It’s fantastic to finally have Rob<br />
back at Sandwell. All the staff and patients<br />
greatly value and appreciate Rob and his<br />
efforts whenever he is on site and our<br />
volunteer service is better when Rob is a<br />
part of it.<br />
“Rob plays an integral part of volunteering<br />
at the Trust and is the perfect example of<br />
how a volunteer should be at SWB.”<br />
Occy health awarded safety and<br />
quality accolade by national regulators<br />
The occupational health department<br />
demonstrates the highest standards<br />
of practice according to an industry<br />
regulator.<br />
The Faculty of Occupational Medicine<br />
awarded their SEQOHS quality standards<br />
to the team in April. SEQOHS stands for<br />
'Safe, Effective, Quality Occupational<br />
Health Service' and is a professionally-led<br />
accreditation scheme. It is based on a set of<br />
standards for occupational health services<br />
in the UK and beyond. Occupational health<br />
services must demonstrate they meet these<br />
standards before they can be awarded<br />
SEQOHS accreditation.<br />
On awarding the accreditation the Faculty<br />
of Occupational Medicine said: “Sandwell<br />
and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust's<br />
occupational health service has continued<br />
to maintain the standards to meet the<br />
annual re-accreditation requirements. The<br />
service has maintained and developed a<br />
comprehensive array of clinical policies,<br />
procedures and protocols incorporating<br />
new processes to handle the impact of the<br />
pandemic. The service is encouraged to<br />
The occupational health team<br />
maintain its standards over the coming year."<br />
Dr Masood Aga, Consultant and Specialty<br />
Lead in Occupational Medicine is delighted<br />
with the accreditation, he told Heartbeat:<br />
“The Faculty of Occupational Medicine is<br />
the professional and educational body for<br />
occupational medicine in the UK and seeks to<br />
ensure the highest standards in the practice<br />
of occupational medicine. For the faculty to<br />
award this accreditation to us is testament<br />
to the hard work the team has done over<br />
the last 12 months to quickly adapt our<br />
services in light of the pandemic, ensuring<br />
colleagues continue to get high quality care<br />
and advice.<br />
“I would like to take the opportunity<br />
to thank the team in their continued<br />
improvement of the service we provide.<br />
They have developed good practices that<br />
have ensured the highest standards of<br />
competence.”<br />
To become accredited, services must<br />
demonstrate their adherence to<br />
the SEQOHS standards. These are<br />
categorised into six domains:<br />
• Business probity<br />
• Information governance<br />
• People<br />
• Facilities and equipment<br />
• Relationships with purchasers<br />
• Relationships with workers.<br />
11
From Iraq to Birmingham – Bnar’s<br />
nursing journey<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Over the next few issues of<br />
Heartbeat we will feature inspiring<br />
stories of colleagues who are part<br />
of the SWB family through the<br />
Healthcare Overseas Professionals<br />
(HOP) programme.<br />
The programme supports people<br />
from overseas (who are qualified<br />
healthcare professionals in their own<br />
home countries) to get back into<br />
clinical practice. These colleagues<br />
are required to pass either the<br />
International English Language Test<br />
or the Occupational English test<br />
before they take their professional<br />
exams.<br />
In this issue we meet 35 year old mom<br />
of two, Bnar Osman.<br />
She told Heartbeat: “I came to the UK<br />
in 2008 after completing a nursing<br />
degree in Iraq (Kurdistan). At the time<br />
my husband was already in the UK and<br />
had been running his own business since<br />
2005.<br />
“When I arrived I hardly knew any<br />
English – so you can imagine how<br />
difficult things were for me. But then the<br />
children came along and brought me so<br />
much joy so I decided to study English<br />
in the hope of fulfilling my dream of<br />
Bnar Osman is a healthcare assistant at City<br />
Hospital<br />
becoming a nurse.<br />
“I heard about the HOP programme through<br />
the Brushstrokes community project. When I<br />
learned of the scheme I knew it would help<br />
change my life. The team gave me the belief I<br />
needed to realise that anything is possible and<br />
to never give up.<br />
“With the support of HOP, I attended an open<br />
day at the Trust in 2019 with the hope of<br />
securing a job as a nurse. I was interviewed<br />
on the day but because I didn’t have NMC<br />
registration at the time, I was advised to<br />
apply for a healthcare assistant (HCA) role<br />
instead.<br />
“I was really delighted to be given such<br />
a wonderful opportunity. The HOP team<br />
worked very hard to help me achieve this<br />
success. I was so nervous thinking this is<br />
never going to happen and that I will never<br />
work for the NHS, but the programme kept<br />
me focused and I stayed positive.<br />
“Currently, I am working as a HCA at City<br />
hospital. Working as a HCA has helped me<br />
so much and I am learning more about the<br />
UK culture and I’m improving my English<br />
too!<br />
“I enjoy my job so much; the team are very<br />
supportive, all my patients and colleagues<br />
are very happy with me. When I received<br />
the position it was Band 2 HCA, now I<br />
am going to do some training to move to<br />
Band 3 HCA. This job can help me pass my<br />
Occupational English Test meaning I will be<br />
able to work as a qualified nurse in the UK.<br />
“I am so grateful for this opportunity.”<br />
The Healthcare Overseas Professionals<br />
Programme is delivered by The<br />
Learning Works project team based<br />
at the Wellbeing Sanctuary. For more<br />
information on the programme, email<br />
lawrencekelly@nhs.net.<br />
SurgiNet pushes forward<br />
Since the implementation of Unity,<br />
SWB has taken huge strides in going<br />
digital, in particular with COVID-19 our clinical<br />
systems. This is no more prevalent<br />
than with the introduction of<br />
SurgiNet.<br />
SurgiNet will become a part of electronic<br />
patient record and will replace the<br />
current theatres system ORMIS.<br />
“Massive progress has been made with<br />
the build in developing the system to<br />
be fit for purpose and in terms of the<br />
integration testing part 1 of this new<br />
software with us planning to continue to<br />
test the system more vigorously at the end of<br />
<strong>May</strong> for five weeks as well as start to involve<br />
more end users in testing,” said Vicky Clifton,<br />
Service Planning and Delivery Manager.<br />
“Once testing is completed, we are planning<br />
on rolling out training sessions for all clinical<br />
colleagues in theatres in the summer of this<br />
year. This will be in the form of classroom<br />
sessions with additional e-learning and<br />
simulation exercises in place should any<br />
colleagues feel they need extra support in<br />
helping familiarise themselves with the new<br />
system.”<br />
While testing seems to be going smoothly,<br />
other steps have been put in place to ensure<br />
SurgiNet is operationally ready.<br />
Meetings have started to support the ‘stop,<br />
start, continue’ which is an initiative that aims<br />
to assess all current workflows to identify new<br />
activities, what will stop and what activities<br />
will continue. This will then allow for any<br />
gaps to be identified and corresponding<br />
SOPs and QRGs can be developed to further<br />
meet user needs.<br />
Vicky believes SurgiNet will have many<br />
benefits to both our patients and Trust<br />
colleagues.<br />
She said: “SurgiNet will allow us to have a<br />
more integrated and accurate patient record<br />
as well as allow us to capture information<br />
more efficiently. Wards and other areas will<br />
be able to track theatre in real time and<br />
clinical processes will be performed under<br />
one system thus improving patient safety.”<br />
She added: “The system will mean that<br />
there will be a reduction in manual<br />
processes and unnecessary duplication of<br />
tasks will only improve the patient journey<br />
at the Trust.”<br />
12
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 – Sean Beswick<br />
Sean is a ward service officer who always<br />
goes above and beyond for all the patients<br />
and staff on D11. He has a calming<br />
influence on everyone and always goes the<br />
extra mile. He is an asset to the team and<br />
we are very grateful to have him on D11...<br />
THANK YOU SEAN!!<br />
From – Aleish Tazarab<br />
To – Stacey Walker<br />
Well done for passing her first year with<br />
flying colours in her Trainee Nursing<br />
Associate role. You have worked very<br />
hard and showed nothing but compassion<br />
and kindness to our patients through the<br />
pandemic. You have been a pleasure to<br />
mentor and a credit to AMU. Keep up the<br />
good work in year two and thank you!<br />
From – Levi O'Gorman<br />
To – Learning and Development Team<br />
I would like to extend my gratitude to all<br />
the team in learning and development,<br />
special mention to Emma Hill, Lavinia<br />
Hines, Helen Colbourne, Lauren Weigh<br />
and Stephanie Agger. Thank you all for<br />
your help in achieving my End of Point of<br />
Assessment a great result of DISTINCTION.<br />
You all doing fantastic job!<br />
From – Daisy Siapno<br />
To – Sarah Smith and Elizabeth Wilson<br />
For their compassion and support towards<br />
a distressed patient who had become<br />
very emotional and was late for their<br />
appointment after being unable to find the<br />
MRI centre in time.<br />
From – Anser Khan<br />
To – Adam Draper<br />
Thank you for going out your way to<br />
help with a patient needing a wheelchair.<br />
Very much appreciated. More than just a<br />
postman!<br />
From – Diane Staple<br />
To – Geraldine Blakeman<br />
Geraldine has helped me so much these<br />
past couple of weeks and she has gone the<br />
extra mile for me, she has welcomed me<br />
and made me feel a part of the team.<br />
From – Jatinder Uppal<br />
To – Sarah Byfield<br />
Thanks to Sarah for being really helpful<br />
and responsive with a payroll issue.<br />
From – Jade Osborne<br />
To – Jade James<br />
For helping me with a patient in A&E who<br />
needed district nurse input as well as heel<br />
dressings and lots of personal care. The<br />
patient went home and it felt like a really<br />
smooth and successful morning! You are<br />
Brill! Thank you!<br />
From – Bethany Bate<br />
To – Dane Lincoln<br />
Dane has turned out to be a big part of the<br />
portering department. He has become a<br />
great team leader who listens and tries to<br />
make a difference.<br />
From – Tracy Banford<br />
To – Charlene Bennett<br />
Made the impossible happen. Organised<br />
imaging appointments at very short notice<br />
to enable the service to continue.<br />
From – Karen Jones<br />
To – Mike Lewis<br />
Just wanted to thank Mike, for all the<br />
help he has given me, for a project/report<br />
that I have been working on in the care<br />
home team, based at The Lyng. Without<br />
his continued support the numbers simply<br />
would not crunch, thanks to Mike's IT<br />
guru experience, he makes it look so easy.<br />
Thanks Mike you’re a star.<br />
From – Susan Oliver<br />
To – Denise Matthews and Regina Cica<br />
Both Denise and Regina alongside their<br />
team worked tirelessly to ensure patients<br />
moved from a very busy Sandwell ED<br />
to AMU to minimise long waits for our<br />
patients and for them to be in the right<br />
place to support their care.<br />
From – Cheryl Newton<br />
To – The Catering Team at Sandwell, City<br />
and Rowley<br />
Thanks for the team providing the delicious<br />
and healthy food all the time, with a smile<br />
and kindness. I tried the chef's choice (fish<br />
with cream sauce) at Sandwell recently<br />
which was super yummy. THANK YOU!!<br />
From – Essie Li<br />
To – Tafhim Nazir<br />
A very big thank you. Above and beyond<br />
with IT advice and support.<br />
From – Denise Eivors<br />
To – Dr Diana Toma<br />
Diane came to the rescue to help out<br />
with translating to parents for a complex<br />
discharge on the neonatal unit, both staff<br />
on shift and parents were very grateful for<br />
her super helpful input!<br />
From – Tracy Ring<br />
To – Security Team 2 Sandwell<br />
I would like to give a shout out to team<br />
2 security at Sandwell for going the extra<br />
mile whilst I was covering a team leader's<br />
position. The officers and bank officers<br />
were professional at all times even when<br />
faced with some difficult situations.<br />
From – Vikram Mehta<br />
To – IT Team<br />
Nothing too much trouble. I took my<br />
laptop into the department and it was<br />
fixed within an hour.<br />
From – Fiona Rochelle<br />
13
Farwell to Dawn, Mary and Sue –<br />
90 years serving the NHS<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
With a total of over 90 years<br />
between them working within the<br />
NHS, healthcare assistants, Dawn<br />
Norman, Mary Mumford and Sue<br />
Steadman reflect upon their time as<br />
they look forward to their upcoming<br />
retirement.<br />
Not many people can say they have<br />
worked in a job they love; in a role they<br />
are passionate about and alongside<br />
great friends. But for Mary, Dawn and<br />
Sue, their time as healthcare assistants<br />
(HCAs) has come to an end as they soon<br />
enter their well-deserved retirement.<br />
Their combined 90 years within the NHS<br />
shows their true dedication and passion<br />
for their roles and their commitment to<br />
caring for others.<br />
Heartbeat caught up with them to find<br />
out more:<br />
So, tell us about your journey<br />
Mary: I started as a domestic in 1988,<br />
loved the contact I had with patients on<br />
the ward, so when an opportunity for an<br />
auxiliary nurse arose, I couldn’t wait to<br />
apply and get started.<br />
Then I started working on Priory 2<br />
surgical ward with Dawn – I loved every<br />
single minute. It’s also lovely that Dawn<br />
and I stayed on the ward together for all<br />
this time, and are now leaving together<br />
too.<br />
Dawn: My career within the NHS started as a<br />
member of the NHS Bank staff. I then joined<br />
Mary on Priory 2 and we worked together<br />
for 30 years. From there we went on to<br />
outpatients. I can honestly say I’ve loved every<br />
minute of the job.<br />
Sue: I became a HCA many years ago after<br />
my gran was admitted to hospital with a<br />
shoulder injury. While I was there I started<br />
helping patients and chatting to them. This<br />
inspired me to leave office work and work in a<br />
nursing home for two and a half years before<br />
applying for outpatients.<br />
What advice do you have for those at the<br />
start of their career?<br />
Dawn: My advice would be to get to know<br />
your patients and build a rapport with<br />
families. Patient interaction is by far one of<br />
the best parts of the job.<br />
Mary: To find pleasure in what you are doing.<br />
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time and it<br />
really has been like working with a family.<br />
Sue: Make sure you enjoy the area you are in<br />
and maybe think about training opportunities<br />
to perhaps become a nurse.<br />
What have you enjoyed most about<br />
working within the Trust?<br />
Sue: I have enjoyed the variety my role has<br />
given me and to learn different clinics.<br />
Dawn: I’ve always wanted to work within the<br />
care sector. We’ve had ups and downs on the<br />
wards and it has been hard work. But when<br />
you’ve got a great team behind you, it makes<br />
all the difference.<br />
Mary: I’ve loved all of it but working with a<br />
great team makes all the difference.<br />
If you hadn’t worked for the Trust,<br />
what would you have done instead?<br />
Dawn: I always wanted to go into care<br />
work. If I hadn’t followed this career path,<br />
I think I would have worked in a nursing<br />
home or another line of care.<br />
Sue: If I had not worked for the Trust, many<br />
years ago I wanted to be a midwife. I also<br />
did some office work too.<br />
What are your plans for your<br />
retirement?<br />
Sue: For me, I plan to spend time baking,<br />
catching up on reading, walking and<br />
generally enjoying life! I also want to spend<br />
some more time in the garden.<br />
Dawn: I can’t wait to enjoy myself and<br />
spend lots of time with family throughout<br />
my retirement.<br />
Mary: I plan to spend my retirement with<br />
my husband, as we approach our 50 year<br />
anniversary. We can’t wait to spend more<br />
time together and enjoy ourselves.<br />
Jaswinder Verdi, Sister, outpatients<br />
department said: “We say a fond<br />
farewell to three of our highly thought<br />
of HCAs. They have shown dedication<br />
and commitment throughout their time<br />
working for the Trust and outpatients<br />
department. They have worked tirelessly<br />
and professionally caring for patients, their<br />
knowledge, expertise and presence will be<br />
sorely missed in outpatients. We wish them<br />
all the very best for their retirement and the<br />
future ahead.”<br />
Sue Steadman, Dawn Norman and Mary Mumford on one of their final days at the Trust<br />
14
Care and compassion praised as we<br />
celebrate the work of our midwives<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Chloe Travers, a midwife with the Cedar team, which is part of the continuity of care<br />
programme<br />
We celebrated International Day of the<br />
Midwife by capturing feedback on film<br />
from new mums about their care at our<br />
Trust.<br />
The poignant video also featured midwives<br />
talking about why they were proud to do<br />
their job.<br />
New mum Kazita and her baby Aziel<br />
They included Lilian Ghobrial, and Amelia Bull<br />
who are both shift co-ordinators on the labour<br />
ward, Chloe Travers, who works in continuity of<br />
care and Maike Lehman-Sander a midwife on<br />
the Serenity Suite.<br />
Mum Kazita cradled her newborn Aziel as she<br />
praised her care: “I gave birth to him last night<br />
and the midwives throughout my pregnancy<br />
journey have been really supportive.<br />
New mum Toni with baby Beau<br />
“They really deserve the recognition they<br />
receive and I think International Day of the<br />
Midwife is great thing.”<br />
Toni, who had her baby boy Beau on<br />
Delivery Suite, added: “I had my youngest<br />
child on Serenity which was a great<br />
experience. So with Beau I decided to<br />
come out of area and have my baby at<br />
City Hospital.<br />
“Again, they supported me throughout<br />
my pregnancy journey. I really want to<br />
thank every midwife that has supported<br />
me, because they work so hard with<br />
every baby and I felt I was treated as an<br />
individual, not just a number.<br />
“I really want to thank everyone.”<br />
This year the theme for International Day<br />
of the Midwife was ‘Follow the Data:<br />
Invest in Midwives’.<br />
The Royal College of Midwives called<br />
for investment in quality midwifery care<br />
around the world, improving sexual,<br />
reproductive, maternal, newborn, child<br />
and adolescent in health in the process.<br />
Lilian said: “I’m proud to be a midwife<br />
because I get to help women achieve their<br />
birthing experience. Delivering a baby into<br />
the world is such an amazing thing to do.<br />
I feel a midwife shares a bond with the<br />
woman that no one else gets to share.<br />
You’re delivering this brand new person<br />
that no one has seen or touched and you<br />
get to be one of the first ones to welcome<br />
them into the world.”<br />
Meike has been a midwife for nearly<br />
20 years. She said: “I’m proud of how<br />
midwives are able to empower women<br />
and show them they can actually do<br />
this and to help them have that good<br />
experience.”<br />
Amelia, who’s been a midwife for 12<br />
years, added: “I have developed birth<br />
preparation classes for women who are<br />
booked to deliver their babies at our<br />
hospital. It’s important that midwives get<br />
the recognition they deserve for all the<br />
hard work they’ve put in, especially during<br />
the pandemic.”<br />
Chloe, who works within the Cedar team<br />
told how her favourite part of being a<br />
midwife was helping not only the women<br />
labouring themselves but also their both<br />
partners to feel safe and part of something<br />
special.<br />
15
Apprenticeships available - It’s never<br />
too late to learn!<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
It may be assumed that<br />
apprenticeships are predominantly<br />
for younger people. However, this<br />
couldn’t be further from the truth!<br />
Currently at SWB we offer a variety of<br />
apprenticeships for colleagues at all<br />
levels. From customer service and team<br />
leading, to health care support worker<br />
and business administration, there is a<br />
whole suite of different courses available<br />
to colleagues at the Trust.<br />
A prime example is apprentice, Karen<br />
Connaughton, Ward Service Officer who<br />
recently completed her Customer Service<br />
Level 2 Apprenticeship Standard and is<br />
now reaping the rewards.<br />
When asked about her apprenticeship<br />
journey Karen said: “I was originally put<br />
forward for the apprenticeship by my<br />
managers and at first I wasn’t sure if it<br />
was something that would be relevant<br />
to me or even something that I wanted<br />
to do.<br />
“I feel that I have gained so much from<br />
my apprenticeship. I have gained a<br />
better understanding of the service that<br />
Karen Connaughton<br />
my organisation provides and my role within<br />
that. I have learnt about how and why we do<br />
things in a certain way.”<br />
She added: “I’ve gained so much knowledge<br />
and developed my customer service and<br />
digital skills along the way but not only that, I<br />
have really gained so much confidence.”<br />
And it’s not just Karen who has taken the<br />
successful leap to learn – Amanda Healy<br />
followed the apprenticeship path for Level 3<br />
Healthcare Support Worker. She now works<br />
on the antenatal day assessment unit in<br />
maternity and is based at City hospital as a<br />
trainee assistant practitioner in midwifery.<br />
Amanda is also studying at Birmingham<br />
City University for a two year apprenticeship<br />
midwifery assistant practitioner foundation<br />
degree.<br />
Amanda said: “In 2016 I was a ward service<br />
officer at City hospital with a dream to<br />
become a midwife.<br />
“My personal determination saw me<br />
overcome a number of organisational<br />
barriers and gain support to work additional<br />
hours in a HCA role as an apprentice. I did<br />
this whilst still doing my ward services role<br />
and it was the first time a domestic had<br />
done this.”<br />
Maxine Griffiths, Widening Participation<br />
Manager and Apprenticeship Lead would<br />
urge everyone who is on the fence about<br />
completing an apprenticeship to sign up now.<br />
She said: “Apprenticeships are for<br />
everybody both clinical and non-clinical. It’s<br />
never too late to learn something new and<br />
enhance your skills. Let us help you grow<br />
and succeed in your career pathway.<br />
“We have trained colleagues that can<br />
support you and as long as you are willing<br />
to put the work in, you can attain your Level<br />
2 or 3 in your chosen subject area with us<br />
in-house at the Trust. We also have an array<br />
of degree and higher level apprenticeships<br />
available engaging with external providers<br />
so, if this is of interest to you, please do get<br />
in touch.”<br />
If you are interested in completing an<br />
apprenticeship in <strong>2021</strong> please email<br />
swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net<br />
16
Scream if you wanna go faster!<br />
Charity launches zip line fundraiser<br />
If you're a thrill seeker, adrenaline<br />
junkie or just simply looking for<br />
something exciting to look forward<br />
to - we have the answer for you.<br />
Your Trust Charity will host their<br />
biggest ever fundraising event on 4<br />
and 5 September - a crane mounted<br />
zip line - with funds raised going<br />
towards making the Midland Met<br />
#morethanhospital.<br />
So, what will it involve? You’ll arrive at the<br />
Midland Metropolitan University Hospital<br />
on either a Saturday or Sunday. We’ll even<br />
let you park for free. Then you and some<br />
other brave people will enter a secure<br />
cage at ground level. A crane will then<br />
lift the cage into the air. Don’t worry they<br />
have done this many times before and you’ll<br />
be supported by a zip wire expert who has<br />
done this thousands of times. Once the cage<br />
reaches the agreed height you will simply<br />
zip wire out one by one. Speeding past the<br />
Midland Met at around 35 mph along a 220<br />
metre long zip wire. With just enough time<br />
to wave at your family, friends and colleagues<br />
who will think you’re even braver than before<br />
you zip wired.<br />
To take part (which we know you will) please<br />
follow these simple steps:<br />
• Read the info online to ensure you can<br />
take part – search zip wire on Connect.<br />
• Email trustcharity@nhs.net your<br />
completed fundraising agreement form<br />
to register.<br />
• Start fundraising – each entrant needs to<br />
raise a minimum of £250.<br />
We really want to make the zip wire an event<br />
for everyone at SWB. So why not sign up<br />
as a team or department? Perhaps ask your<br />
manager to take part. Your family and friends<br />
are also welcome to take part - just no one<br />
under the age of 11. The more funds the<br />
charity raises, the more things it can support<br />
within the new hospital. From supporting<br />
education and arts projects to funding R&D<br />
around cardiology, leukaemia and other<br />
conditions that impact on local people. It will<br />
also be able to fund sensory rooms, patient<br />
spaces and outdoor areas.<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity,<br />
told us: “The mission of Your Trust Charity<br />
is to enhance the experience of all people<br />
using our services including colleagues,<br />
patients and their families. We do this by<br />
providing additional facilities that create<br />
comfortable and secure environments and<br />
by supporting innovative projects. But we<br />
can only do this because of the donations<br />
we receive - so imagine what we’ll be able<br />
to achieve with the funds raised from the<br />
crane zip wire event.”<br />
Remember every penny raised goes to the<br />
charity. The build is paid for.<br />
Johnny added: “The zip wire is our biggest<br />
event to date. We are all excited to be<br />
a part of it and, we’re hoping that our<br />
colleagues will get behind it. Or on it. Even<br />
if you can’t physically take part, please<br />
help spread the word far and wide in your<br />
networks and across social media.”<br />
So please look at the Connect page.<br />
Sign up if you can. Get others to sign<br />
up too. Spread the word. And together<br />
we can support Your Trust Charity to<br />
make the Midland Met more than a<br />
hospital.<br />
Nominations<br />
for our <strong>2021</strong><br />
Star Awards are<br />
now open!<br />
Do you know a team or<br />
individual who deserves<br />
Special<br />
Recognition<br />
for the care they provide?<br />
NOMINATIONS CLOSE ON FRIDAY 2 JULY<br />
#SWBawards217
Shining a<br />
spotlight on<br />
our nursing<br />
colleagues<br />
The week of 10 <strong>May</strong> was a special one across<br />
our workplace as we came together to recognise<br />
and highlight what it means to be a nursing<br />
colleague.<br />
National Nurses Week is an annual celebration<br />
of all that nurses around the world do for their<br />
communities.<br />
The week started with a special COVID<br />
commemoration service – ‘Shine the Light’ led<br />
by our Lead Chaplain, Rev Mary Causer. The<br />
service celebrated nursing and nurses, but also<br />
respectfully honoured the memory of colleagues<br />
we have lost during the last year, including those<br />
who contracted COVID.<br />
Also, during the week our executive team along<br />
with senior nurse colleagues were out and about<br />
across our sites, meeting teams and expressing<br />
their gratitude for everyone’s tireless commitment<br />
during past challenging 12 months. They took<br />
along some goodies too – which were much<br />
appreciated by colleagues.<br />
Every day in the communications bulletin, we<br />
shared videos of nursing colleagues who told<br />
us why they are proud to be in their roles. Read<br />
about what inspires our most senior nurses on the<br />
opposite page.
““Nursing is about caring for others and being kind<br />
and compassionate to each other and our patients.<br />
Each day brings something new - challenges,<br />
frustrations, new learning but also pride and joy in<br />
what we do.” Acting Chief Nurse, Melanie Roberts<br />
“Nursing is probably the most privileged position you<br />
can be in. Where people will confide in you and share<br />
with you their inner most thoughts. You are also with<br />
them at positive moments but also some of the worst<br />
moments of their lives.” Julie Thompson, Group<br />
Director of Nursing – Medicine and Emergency Care<br />
“I’m proud to be a nurse because no other job could<br />
make me laugh, cry, challenge or fulfil me as much<br />
as nursing does. A quote from <strong>May</strong>a Angelou really<br />
resonates with me - ‘While they may not remember<br />
your name, they will always remember how you<br />
made them feel.” Sarah Carr-Cave, Deputy Chief<br />
Nurse<br />
“I feel very proud to be a nurse because I believe<br />
I can make a difference to a patient’s journey, by<br />
providing comfort and reassurance at one of the<br />
most frightening times of their lives. And I always<br />
try to be the nurse that I would want as a patient.”<br />
Amber Markham, Group Director Nursing – Surgical<br />
Services<br />
“I’m proud to be a nurse as I get to lead and develop<br />
community services that make a difference to our<br />
patients and communities every single day.” Nicola<br />
Taylor, Group Director of Nursing, Primary Care<br />
Community and Therapies<br />
“I’m proud to be a nurse because our core mission<br />
is to make a difference and help others. I work with<br />
colleagues who are compassionate and committed<br />
to making a difference to our patients and local<br />
communities.” Cheryl Newton, Group Director of<br />
Nursing, Women and Child Health<br />
“It would be fair to say that every day comes up with<br />
a new challenge. And I think (nursing) it’s one of the<br />
few professions where you go home every single<br />
day, thinking every single hour, that you have made<br />
a difference to somebody’s life.” Diane Eltringham,<br />
Deputy Chief Nurse<br />
“<br />
“Being with families at the very start of life and the<br />
start of their journey together is such an important<br />
and inspiring role. We really can make a difference,<br />
we’re bringing families together and we’re making<br />
a difference for future generations.” Helen Hurst,<br />
Director of Midwifery
Doctor’s research will improve quality<br />
of endoscopy<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Consultant Gastroenterologist Dr<br />
Nigel Trudgill has been successfully<br />
appointed to the prestigious<br />
Clinical Research Network West<br />
Midlands Health and Care Scholars<br />
Programme.<br />
This is a two year programme which will<br />
provide funding to free up consultant<br />
time for a day a week to allow Dr<br />
Trudgill time and support from the CRN<br />
to focus on and develop his research<br />
ideas.<br />
Dr Trudgill explained: “We will be<br />
working with support from the<br />
Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit on a<br />
major grant application for a national<br />
randomised trial to improve the quality<br />
of endoscopy in the UK and reduce<br />
the chance of cancer being missed at<br />
endoscopy.”<br />
Dr Nigel Trudgill<br />
Dr Derek Connolly, Director of R&D said: “This<br />
was a competitive interview and Dr Trudgill<br />
has done very well in attaining this valuable<br />
post. It builds on our previous successful<br />
applicants Dr Ispoglou and Mr Velota Sung.<br />
Research is at the heart of everything we<br />
do at SWB and it’s imperative as we go into<br />
the new hospital that we have world-class<br />
researchers.”<br />
We need to talk about dying<br />
Healthcare organisations united earlier<br />
this month for a virtual event in honour<br />
of Dying Matters Week, held between<br />
10 to 16 <strong>May</strong>.<br />
The annual event is a chance for companies,<br />
individuals and partners to come together<br />
to open up the conversation around dying,<br />
death and bereavement. As part of this<br />
our Trust, the CCG, Healthy Sandwell and<br />
a number of other organisations spoke at<br />
a special presentation with public sector<br />
workers, the community and voluntary<br />
sector, and members of the public to share<br />
ideas about how people can be more open<br />
about end-of-life and help them to prepare.<br />
Many people are reluctant to hold<br />
conversations with their loved ones about<br />
their preferences about end-of-life care,<br />
funeral and financial planning. The event<br />
looked at how families, employers and<br />
communities as a whole can remove the<br />
stigma from talking about death and dying<br />
and make a difference for the people they<br />
care about.<br />
“Many people die without discussing their<br />
wishes with their families, but this may be<br />
for lots of different reasons,” Dr Anna Lock,<br />
Consultant in Palliative Care told Heartbeat.<br />
“Often it might be that they are reluctant<br />
to face up to the reality of death which<br />
comes to us all eventually, but there are also<br />
cultural and community barriers to open<br />
Dena Ross, Advanced Clinical Practitioner<br />
conversations. We also discussed how employers<br />
can support those in their workforce who have<br />
been bereaved, and the needs of younger people<br />
who are faced with bereavement, including how<br />
schools and colleges can help.<br />
“As always when it comes to Dying Matters Week,<br />
we really want to hear from anyone who wants<br />
to help break down the taboos around death and<br />
dying as well as supporting people to make plans in<br />
advance.”<br />
As part of the event Dena Ross, Advanced Clinical<br />
Practitioner spoke about how death has affected<br />
her on a professional and personal level, particularly<br />
when it comes to the matter of the Coronavirus.<br />
“I looked after residential and nursing homes and<br />
COVID was very, very difficult for those, there<br />
were a lot of deaths. People dying on their own.<br />
Personally I lost my father at the beginning of the<br />
COVID-19 pandemic, in April of 2020<br />
which was extremely difficult.<br />
“When we found out that my father was<br />
in hospital and was dying, we were asked<br />
to come in to the ITU and it was a very<br />
difficult decision with the limits on those<br />
that can attend – two people, and we’re<br />
a five children family as well as mum. We<br />
knew what to expect, and I knew what<br />
to expect as a nurse, but the reality (the<br />
masks, the gloves, etc.) was difficult.<br />
“My dad was a Jamaican man, and<br />
culturally we talk about death all the<br />
time. I knew how my dad wanted to die,<br />
pain-free and peaceful, which it was. He<br />
talked about his funeral. He talked about<br />
how he wanted us to be dressed and<br />
what he wanted to wear. Having those<br />
conversations are important. I’m quite<br />
blessed that I’m from multiple cultures that<br />
all discuss death openly but I think NHS<br />
staff need some guidance on how to speak<br />
to families, especially as we’re dealing with<br />
so many different cultures. We need to be<br />
able to communicate not just sympathy but<br />
the next steps, to ask the difficult questions<br />
whilst we’re able.”<br />
You can find more information<br />
about Dying Matters Week over<br />
on https://www.dyingmatters.org/<br />
AwarenessWeek.<br />
20
Introducing the equality, diversity<br />
and inclusion team<br />
The newly formed equality, diversity<br />
and inclusion team (EDI) sprang into<br />
action in April this year with the aim to<br />
drive forward our Trust EDI ambitions<br />
and fulfil EDI responsibilities linked<br />
to the NHS People Plan. Consisting of<br />
a team of three, Estelle Hickman, EDI<br />
Advisor, Khalil Miller, EDI Manager<br />
and Donna Mighty, Head of EDI, they<br />
are currently in the process of scoping<br />
short, medium and long term priorities.<br />
The team are underway with their plans<br />
to introduce a Cultural Ambassador<br />
Programme with Cohort 1 taking place in<br />
June, establishment of an EDI Committee<br />
and EDI lunch and learn sessions.<br />
A NHS Cadet foundation programme for<br />
14-16 year olds will launch in September<br />
<strong>2021</strong>, in regards to the NHS Cadet<br />
programme, we acknowledge that our<br />
community is very diverse and many<br />
inequalities exist. “We must play our part in<br />
offering our young people a good start in<br />
life,” said Donna.<br />
Frieza Mahmood, Chief People Officer<br />
said: “After commencing my role as Chief<br />
People Officer for the Trust in January it<br />
was clear that one of my key priorities<br />
was to ensure active progression of the<br />
Trusts EDI ambitions. Following a review of<br />
available resources it soon became apparent<br />
that although efforts of individuals had<br />
been concerted despite challenges, these<br />
were actually very limited in nature for the<br />
scale of our aspirations in this area. The<br />
result was a significant additional burden<br />
of responsibility being placed on our staff<br />
networks. I’m pleased to say the Board agreed<br />
and demonstrated their tangible commitment<br />
to the progression of our renewed focus<br />
for EDI by funding a case for investment in<br />
additional resources.<br />
“What followed was an extensive search for<br />
people within and outside of the Trust across<br />
multiple sectors for the necessary passion,<br />
commitment and vision. After a challenging<br />
competitive process, we found exactly what<br />
we were looking for right under our noses<br />
in two exceptional individuals who have<br />
worked tirelessly for many years in the Trust<br />
on the delivery of this agenda through their<br />
support of the networks and wider staff<br />
experience work programmes, along with<br />
working outside of the organisation on the<br />
advancement of EDI objectives. I couldn’t<br />
be more proud that despite having other<br />
comparable opportunities available to them<br />
within the ICS and beyond that they chose to<br />
stay with us.<br />
“They have made a great start and I am<br />
confident that they will bring the right focus<br />
and drive to the delivery of our Trust plans.<br />
However we cannot underestimate the scale<br />
of the challenge ahead, the long standing<br />
nature of some of our issues and the collective<br />
effort it will take to make lasting challenge.<br />
The role of the EDI team is to act as a conduit<br />
to enable us to understand our individual<br />
responsibilities, as we are all accountable<br />
for the delivery of this work. This is about<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
facilitating a culture in which our staff<br />
and patients can be valued for their<br />
individuality, be supported to meet their<br />
needs and truly be themselves at all<br />
times.”<br />
Estelle joined the Trust 12 and a half<br />
years ago in the role of equality and<br />
diversity advisor she told Heartbeat: “I<br />
am passionate about equality, diversity<br />
and inclusion and love working in a<br />
role which can have such a massive<br />
impact on people’s lives and the journey<br />
our patients have when accessing our<br />
services. Now that we have the newly<br />
formed EDI team I am looking forward<br />
to working alongside Khalil and Donna,<br />
meeting the challenges that EDI agenda<br />
holds for us.”<br />
Over the years Khalil has worked with<br />
staff networks within the Trust to help<br />
raise cultural and religious awareness.<br />
He also voluntarily assisted staff, patients<br />
and visitors in matters of race and<br />
gender discrimination. He said: “I have<br />
written articles for Heartbeat around<br />
assisting Muslim staff in Ramadan and<br />
written pamphlets for Muslim patients.<br />
I have recently become the equality,<br />
diversity and Inclusion manager to<br />
conclude the ‘EDI trio’ alongside Estelle<br />
and Donna.”<br />
Estelle Hickman, Khalil Miller and Donna Mighty - equality, diversity and inclusion team<br />
21
Celebrating International Clinical<br />
Trials Day<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
International Clinical Trials Day is<br />
celebrated on 20 <strong>May</strong> each year to<br />
recognise the day that James Lind<br />
started what is often considered the<br />
first randomised clinical trial aboard<br />
a ship on <strong>May</strong> 20, 1747.<br />
It is an opportunity for everyone to<br />
recognise people who conduct clinical<br />
trials and to say thank you for what they<br />
do every day to improve public health.<br />
It is also an opportunity for the research<br />
community to raise awareness of clinical<br />
trials – and of clinical research as a career<br />
option – among the greater public.<br />
Gina Dutton, Head of Research and<br />
Development, said: “This year more<br />
than ever we need to celebrate the<br />
achievements that research has brought<br />
to our response to the COVID pandemic.<br />
There has been plenty of research news,<br />
the drugs which help and those that do<br />
not, the rapid pace of development of<br />
the vaccines, but I want to focus today<br />
on the people that made this happen in<br />
our Trust.<br />
“Many people will be aware that we<br />
have a research team and our job is to<br />
conduct research studies and ensure that<br />
the Trust is compliant with regulations.<br />
This year the team like everyone else<br />
have completely changed how we have<br />
worked and there have been some many<br />
learning opportunities. I am immensely<br />
proud of the team and how they have<br />
responded.<br />
“I do want to say a special thanks<br />
and recognise all of the other Trust<br />
colleagues who do not have research<br />
in their job title who have ensured that<br />
our patients are able to participate in<br />
research if they wish to.<br />
“In addition to those departments who<br />
often support research such as pharmacy<br />
and the labs, we have been supported<br />
by an innumerable amount of doctors<br />
and nurses on the wards and critical<br />
care.<br />
“Colleagues from the medical infusion<br />
suite delivered trial treatments to<br />
patients on the wards and in critical<br />
care. Blood transfusion staff provided<br />
convalescent plasma. Infection control<br />
have completed reams of data about<br />
hospital acquired infections and<br />
phlebotomy have taken more than<br />
10,000 of blood and PCR samples for<br />
the SIREN study, all of which have been<br />
On International Clinical Trials Day Patience Domingos a research nurse shares what she<br />
does in the team<br />
processed by our labs and results distributed<br />
by occupational health.<br />
“The business information team have helped<br />
us identify eligible patients.<br />
“There have been some individual stars: the<br />
person in phlebotomy who raised awareness<br />
of SIREN and signposted colleagues our<br />
The research and development team<br />
Did you know?...<br />
department so we could tell them about the<br />
research.<br />
“The post porter who offered to deliver<br />
the paper copies of the information sheets<br />
around City Hospital.<br />
“We had offers of help to raise awareness<br />
and get involved and medical students<br />
volunteering to help with data.”<br />
The research and development team<br />
receiving their 2020 Star Award<br />
• Since 2016 over 16,000 patients have participated in a research trial at SWB.<br />
• Over 200 different research trials have been conducted at SWB in the past<br />
five years.<br />
• Our Trust conducts research in over 25 different specialities.<br />
• Our Trust takes part in local, national and worldwide clinical trials.<br />
22
Celebrating our<br />
stars of the week<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Claire Jones<br />
Infection Prevention Nurse<br />
During the pandemic, Claire has been<br />
working with Sandwell public health<br />
team to monitor and advise care homes<br />
in Sandwell on managing outbreaks<br />
of Coronavirus. The role has involved<br />
developing close relationships with care<br />
home managers. She has developed<br />
training for care homes on specific infection<br />
prevention and control precautions.<br />
The importance of correctly donning and<br />
doffing PPE has been crucial to prevent<br />
transmission of coronavirus to colleagues<br />
and residents in the community. Claire<br />
led practical training sessions within our<br />
care facilities. She was instrumental in<br />
developing a care plan for residents with<br />
coronavirus and has developed proformas<br />
to enable data to be collected from<br />
information provided from the care homes.<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Adriana Lup, Ward Service<br />
Officer based in the BTC<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Darren Whitehouse<br />
Allergy CNS<br />
Darren has worked single handed to<br />
organise and deliver all immunology’s day<br />
case treatments since at least October.<br />
Without him, treatments would have been<br />
delayed, leading to patients experiencing<br />
worsening symptoms, likely calling on acute<br />
medical services when they are already<br />
stretched.<br />
His work has meant that immunology<br />
has been able to deliver a normal day<br />
case service at a time of colleagues on<br />
secondments. Darren’s work is greatly<br />
appreciated by the entire team and the<br />
Adriana is the nominated touch-point ward<br />
service officer in the BTC. Her attention to<br />
detail is exceptional and represents to our<br />
patients a clean and safe environment that<br />
is required to ensure our infection control is<br />
the key item when visiting the Trust.<br />
Her constant visibility and dedication in the<br />
area has not gone unnoticed as the majority<br />
of colleagues have commented on her<br />
performance.<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Nicola Coley<br />
Nursing Associate<br />
Nicola worked very hard to arrange<br />
elements of a complex discharge for an end<br />
of life patient. She ensured all plans were in<br />
place and the patient was safely discharged<br />
home with all required equipment and<br />
community referrals in place despite also<br />
caring for a bay of patients.<br />
Nicola’s hard work during a very busy shift<br />
meant that a patient’s wishes at end of life<br />
were met. She kept the family updated<br />
at all times about the progress of the<br />
discharge and involved them in the process.<br />
Star of the Week<br />
Jacqueline Deeming<br />
Senior Ward Service Officer<br />
Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and<br />
beyond the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the<br />
Week by visiting Connect.<br />
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started,<br />
Jacqueline has always supported the<br />
ward service officers giving them latest<br />
advice helping them through challenging<br />
times. Even though she has had her own<br />
difficulties and duties to manage, she has<br />
always given any support them team have<br />
needed especially to her colleagues who<br />
work on the weekends.<br />
23
Ensuring our patients get the right<br />
oral care<br />
MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY<br />
CARE<br />
Encouraging good oral health has<br />
shown to significantly reduce the<br />
risk of oral infections for patients<br />
while in hospital. Declining<br />
oral health regimes can lead to<br />
complications during their stay<br />
such as infections or pneumonia. In<br />
turn, this could result in prolonged<br />
hospital stays, requirements<br />
for antibiotics and other health<br />
implications.<br />
Earlier this month, colleagues came<br />
together to promote the Mouth Care<br />
Matters project. 18 clinical areas hosted<br />
awareness games and activities and took<br />
part in a competition to create a mouth<br />
care matters board for their area.<br />
Each board was judged by Melanie<br />
Roberts, Acting Chief Nurse, Janice<br />
Nelson, Clinical Procurement Specialist<br />
Nurse and Julie Thompson, Group<br />
Director of Nursing for Medicine<br />
and Emergency Care based on visual<br />
appearance and the content – with<br />
points for innovative ideas and thinking<br />
outside of the box. In 3rd place was<br />
D11 at City, Priory 3 at Sandwell were<br />
awarded 2nd place with Cardiology from<br />
City taking the lead in 1st place.<br />
There was also a stand set up in the<br />
main reception area at Sandwell where<br />
colleagues and visitors were greeted by a<br />
giant toothbrush and toothpaste in a bid<br />
to raise awareness on the importance of<br />
mouth care.<br />
Janice Nelson said: “It was great to see<br />
so many clinical areas take part in raising<br />
awareness for the Mouth Care Matters<br />
project. There were so many great<br />
initiatives taking place across the wards<br />
and it was pleasing to see so many<br />
colleagues recognising the importance of<br />
good mouth care for our patients.”<br />
1st place - Mouth Care Matters board<br />
from Cardiology at City<br />
2nd place - Priory 3 Mouth Care Matters<br />
board<br />
3rd place - D11 Mouth Care Matters<br />
board<br />
Following a pilot on D11, D26, Priory 4<br />
and Newton 4 to improve the oral health<br />
of patients, mouth care matters is set to<br />
roll out across the whole organisation in<br />
July.<br />
Julie Thompson said: “It’s really<br />
important that we get the basics right<br />
and mouth care is part of that. It<br />
contributes to how we eat and good<br />
nutrition, if you’ve got a sore mouth,<br />
you won’t eat.<br />
“Last years’ pilot resulted in reduced<br />
hospital acquired pneumonia by 40 per<br />
cent, not only does it make a difference<br />
to patients’ lives, but to their mortality.<br />
“In light of these results, we are rolling<br />
out mouth care across the whole<br />
organisation. From 5 July, good mouth<br />
care is coming to you, there will be<br />
trainers across the organisation, lots of<br />
info, so you will be able to read explore<br />
and look at what that means for your<br />
clinical area.”<br />
https://www.youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=sYnHMoVTICo<br />
Mouth Care Matters is a Health<br />
Education England funded project<br />
that aims to improve the oral<br />
health of adults in hospital. The<br />
initiative aims to upskill nursing<br />
staff and health care professionals<br />
so they can support vulnerable<br />
patients with mouth care. They<br />
will be better informed to carry<br />
out checks on people’s oral health,<br />
talk with them about this and<br />
confidently carry out oral health<br />
interventions such as helping<br />
people brush their teeth, cleaning<br />
their dentures and how to use<br />
the right tools to do this. This is<br />
particularly important for those<br />
patients unable to carry out their<br />
own personal care and rely on<br />
others for support.<br />
Colleagues at the Mouth Care Matters<br />
stand at Sandwell<br />
Colleagues dressed as toothbrush and<br />
toothpaste at Sandwell Reception to<br />
boost awareness for Mouth Care Matters<br />
Lyndon 5 celebrating Mouth Care<br />
Matters with patient games and cake<br />
24
Fostering a culture of safety in the<br />
community<br />
Safety huddles have now been<br />
introduced across our organisation<br />
supporting effective communication<br />
at key points in the care of our<br />
patients.<br />
Our colleagues in the community have<br />
been the head of the pack having<br />
introduced the short multi-disciplinary<br />
meetings over a year ago. The safety<br />
huddles are held daily at the end of<br />
handovers – and again for the multidisciplinary<br />
team at the end of board<br />
round. There is a multi-disciplinary team<br />
huddle once a week on a set day at a set<br />
time.<br />
We caught up with Matron, Justine<br />
Irish who told us more. She said: “We<br />
started safety huddles quite a while<br />
ago on some of our wards before they<br />
were launched across the organisation.<br />
However, they were not always<br />
consistent or focussed enough on our<br />
real risks - the introduction of safety<br />
huddles via Dr Chizo Agwu, Deputy<br />
Medical Director has given us the focus<br />
and structure we needed. The huddles<br />
help colleagues prioritise patient care<br />
with a focus on safety. We discuss any<br />
events that have occurred, how they<br />
Safety huddles taking place on our community<br />
wards<br />
happened, and how to prevent recurrences.”<br />
Justine said involving colleagues from multiple<br />
professions has probably been their biggest<br />
challenge. “We don’t have medical teams like the<br />
acute wards,” she said. “We are predominately<br />
nurse led we have our therapy colleagues, ACPs,<br />
pharmacists and GPs on all wards and we try<br />
to involve them all. We have even had to trial<br />
different times to suit the whole multi-disciplinary<br />
team; the daily huddles are often the hardest,<br />
although the weekly ones get a good multidisciplinary<br />
team attendance.”<br />
PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES<br />
AND THERAPIES<br />
Having the safety huddles is enabling<br />
colleagues to talk about harms, harm<br />
free care and the vital role everyone<br />
plays in recognising and mitigating<br />
avoidable harms.<br />
“We have really built on this over the last<br />
few months with small projects being<br />
established out of our weekly huddle,”<br />
added Justine. “We have prioritised the<br />
personalisation of care, especially during<br />
handover. We feel this is the moment we<br />
get to recognise individualised risk, plan<br />
for it and deal with any omissions in the<br />
personalised care planning.”<br />
So how easy it is to conduct safety<br />
huddles as well as continue with other<br />
safety checks that need to take place?<br />
“Easy!” said Justine. “If you concentrate<br />
on your priorities, the huddles only take<br />
less than five minutes. Of course this<br />
changes as we move on with our plans<br />
to prevent harm but it doesn’t prevent<br />
us from having a helicopter view on all<br />
necessary safety checks.”<br />
Clinicians to lead new study into<br />
Behçet’s disease<br />
Our clinicians will lead one of the largest<br />
studies into the rare auto inflammatory<br />
disorder Behçet’s disease to identify<br />
prevalence and incidence and assess the<br />
impact of the condition.<br />
Dr Priyanka Chandratre, Consultant<br />
Rheumatologist, is the primary investigator<br />
for the study which has been funded equally<br />
by Your Trust Charity and Behçet’s UK to the<br />
amount of £71,862.<br />
Dr Chandratre said: “The aim of our study is<br />
to establish the prevalence of Behçet’s disease<br />
in adults in the UK. To our knowledge this will<br />
be the largest study to systematically identify<br />
patients with a diagnosis of the disease.<br />
“The most important milestones will include<br />
establishing the prevalence and incidence of<br />
Behçet’s disease for the first time in the UK,<br />
using multiple data sources to maximise case<br />
ascertainment.<br />
“Our project will identify cases for inclusion<br />
in a national Behçet’s registry populated via a<br />
validated pipeline.”<br />
Dr Priyanka Chandratre, Consultant<br />
Rheumatologist<br />
It means that for the first time it will be feasible<br />
to assess the impact of the National Centres of<br />
Excellence for Behcet’s disease. There are three<br />
situated across the UK – one at City Hospital,<br />
another in London and the third in Liverpool.<br />
The aim of these centres is to optimise care<br />
and improve outcomes for patients with<br />
Behçet’s disease in the UK, shortening<br />
time to diagnosis from first symptoms and<br />
reducing complications such as visual loss.<br />
The study will also mean those living with<br />
the disorder will be able to take part in<br />
clinical trials where available.<br />
Dr Chandratre added: “The study will be<br />
led by myself and supervised by Dr Deva<br />
Situnayake, who is lead for the National<br />
Centre of Excellence for Behçet’s disease in<br />
Birmingham.<br />
“Our collaborators include both centres<br />
in Liverpool and London and the Institute<br />
of Applied Health Research, University of<br />
Birmingham. We want to thank both Your<br />
Trust Charity and Behçet’s UK for funding<br />
this important study.”<br />
In the UK, Behçet’s disease is a rare immune<br />
mediated multisystem inflammatory<br />
disorder. It can lead to blindness, brainstem<br />
atrophy, blood clots and pulmonary<br />
aneurysms. But little information is known<br />
on the frequency of poor outcomes.<br />
25
Imaging celebrates PhD success<br />
IMAGING<br />
Bahadar Bhatia, Principle Medical<br />
Physicist<br />
Greg James, Senior Clinical Scientist<br />
It’s not every day you get to celebrate<br />
gaining a PhD. Well, the imaging team<br />
they have reason to celebrate not one<br />
but two success stories. Both Bahadar<br />
Bhatia and Greg James, from the physics<br />
and nuclear medicine department, have<br />
recently received their PhDs.<br />
Bahadar Bhatia, Principal Medical Physicist,<br />
has achieved out of this world success as<br />
he gained a PhD for his work carried out<br />
at the Space Research Centre (SRC) at the<br />
University of Leicester. The SRC is part of the<br />
Department of Physics and Astronomy and<br />
runs an extensive programme that looks at<br />
developing novel sensors and optics for high<br />
energy astrophysics, planetary landers and<br />
orbiters and interdisciplinary research in life<br />
sciences and medicine.<br />
A type of detector used to take pictures of<br />
astronomical gamma-ray bursts was adapted<br />
to develop a small handheld portable opticalgamma<br />
camera. The concept behind this<br />
work explored how it could be used at the<br />
bedside and in clinics. Bill Thomson, Head<br />
of Physics and Nuclear Medicine, explained:<br />
“Bahadar used computational ‘Monte Carlo’<br />
techniques to optimise the light detection<br />
within this novel camera and is currently<br />
planning to bring it to our organisation for<br />
a clinical trial, something we are all excited<br />
about.”<br />
Similarly, Greg James, Senior Clinical Scientist<br />
has been awarded a PhD for work within the<br />
physics and nuclear medicine department.<br />
Greg’s PhD is an integral component of a<br />
new five-year national scheme for higher<br />
scientific training. It intends to prepare and<br />
train senior colleagues to be the leaders of<br />
the future.<br />
Bill Thomson, Head of Physics and Nuclear<br />
Medicine, remarked: “For his PhD, Greg<br />
investigated a novel use of the CT scanner<br />
built into our gamma camera system that is<br />
normally used for 3D SPECT/CT studies. The<br />
CT scanner carries out a low-dose 2D X-ray<br />
view before the full CT to identify the correct<br />
anatomical area to scan.<br />
“Greg has been using just this low-dose<br />
image to work out a detailed attenuation<br />
map of the patient. This mapping can be<br />
used to correct a range of nuclear medicine<br />
studies for the effects of body attenuation,<br />
and so, it gives us absolute quantification<br />
figures. This low dose mapping opens<br />
up many new avenues for more accurate<br />
quantification in nuclear medicine.”<br />
Dani Joseph, Group Director of Operations,<br />
commented: “We are thrilled with the<br />
achievements of Bahadar and Greg. They<br />
have delivered and continue to deliver<br />
on important initiatives that will help to<br />
drive efficiencies and improve the patient<br />
experience.”<br />
Congratulations Bahadar and Greg!<br />
Hats off to newly qualified advanced<br />
critical care practitioners<br />
SURGICAL SERVICES<br />
Vicki Davies and Kayleigh Wadrup are<br />
on their way to contributing to the<br />
continuity of care for patients and their<br />
loved ones and help deliver strong<br />
service leading to greater efficiency<br />
and support of best practice.<br />
The two are part of the advanced critical<br />
care practitioners team. Vicki and Kayleigh<br />
will be awarded Faculty of Intensive<br />
Care Medicine associate membership<br />
enabling them to be part of the medical<br />
team, incorporating the knowledge and<br />
experience gained through working in<br />
critical care for many years.<br />
Vicki began her career as a healthcare<br />
assistant and had always had an interest<br />
in advanced practice roles. She said: “I get<br />
the best of both worlds. I can still use vital<br />
Vicki Davies and Kayleigh Wadrup<br />
nursing skills gained over the last 20 years and<br />
the many new skills I have acquired within the<br />
critical care medical team.”<br />
Kayleigh became interested when she worked<br />
with critical care practitioners while completing<br />
her degree, she said: “The independence,<br />
knowledge and experience first drew me to the<br />
role and the Trust has supported me through my<br />
MSc and the last two years of supernumerary<br />
practice.”<br />
This year as we know has been particularly<br />
tough on the whole of the NHS, with a<br />
complexity and volume of patients we have<br />
never seen before.<br />
Kayleigh added: “Alongside the COVID-19<br />
pandemic, many of the trainee critical care<br />
practitioners have completed university<br />
modules and other clinical competencies, so<br />
we can become associate members of the<br />
Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. So this has<br />
been an additional challenge.”<br />
Vicki echoed this and said: “The sheer<br />
enormity of what we encountered makes me<br />
incredibly proud to work within this team. The<br />
faces and lives of the many patients and their<br />
families that we treated will be forever in our<br />
memories of this pandemic.”<br />
Congratulations to both Kayleigh and<br />
Vicki for their qualification and award<br />
of Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine<br />
associate membership.<br />
26
Behind closed theatre doors -<br />
Celebrating National ODP Day<br />
National Operating Department<br />
Practitioner Day took place earlier<br />
this month in a bid to promote the<br />
profession and celebrate the vital work<br />
that practitioners perform in the NHS<br />
every day. Following a particularly<br />
tough year, it is more important<br />
now than ever to give thanks and<br />
recognition to our colleagues who play<br />
vital roles within our NHS. Sandwell<br />
theatres marked the occasion with<br />
posters, a specially made cake with a<br />
hand designed topper to share amongst<br />
colleagues, gift bags with some token<br />
goodies, and photo props to snap some<br />
pictures and share via social media.<br />
Louise Horton, Theatre Manager said:<br />
“National Operating Department Practitioner<br />
Day is really about ensuring our existing<br />
practitioners feel valued, and also spreading<br />
the word for the next generation.”<br />
It can be said the role of an operating<br />
department practitioner is perhaps one<br />
of the less well known healthcare roles;<br />
however their work has played a key role<br />
in helping the NHS deal within the influx<br />
of patients in hospitals during the outbreak<br />
of COVID-19. The role of an operating<br />
department practitioner is a diverse one<br />
where you can work as an anaesthetic<br />
practitioner alongside an anaesthetist, as a<br />
scrub or circulating practitioner, alongside<br />
the surgeon and surgical team, or as a<br />
recovery practitioner. Operating department<br />
practitioners are patient advocates, providing<br />
high levels of individualised patient care<br />
throughout all stages of their operation and<br />
supporting patients through the perioperative<br />
journey. They work alongside anaesthetists,<br />
surgeons, theatre nurses and healthcare<br />
assistants to ensure every operation is as<br />
safe and effective as possible – right from<br />
when patients arrive in the operating theatre<br />
department, to discharge from the recovery<br />
room.<br />
Dr Subash Sivasubramaniam, Clinical Director<br />
Theatres and Consultant Anaesthetist said:<br />
“These dedicated NHS staff work tirelessly<br />
behind the scenes throughout the journey of<br />
the patient through the operating theatre.<br />
“They are the key personnel who greet patients<br />
in theatres, allay their anxiety and ensure<br />
those patients receive the best care, from the<br />
moment someone is anaesthetised to their<br />
discharge back to the ward.”<br />
Balbir Kaur, Matron echoed this and said:<br />
“All colleagues (operating department<br />
SURGICAL SERVICES<br />
practitioners, nurses and HCAs) have<br />
gone above and beyond during this<br />
unprecedented and challenging time<br />
where they have been working as ITU<br />
reservists ensuring patients receive their<br />
surgery in theatre and supporting cases<br />
in additional departments in the hospital<br />
and in the community. Their work is<br />
highly appreciated and they have all<br />
demonstrated flexibility, adaptability and<br />
dedication to ensure all patients receive<br />
high quality care.”<br />
Or workplace welcomes apprentices in<br />
theatres, who on successful completion<br />
are offered HCA roles. In the near<br />
future we aim to introduce an operating<br />
department practitioner apprenticeship<br />
programme which will be open for those<br />
with relevant theatre experience.<br />
For further information on<br />
apprenticeships or our current theatre<br />
vacancies please contact Lisa Lewin,<br />
Training and Development Lead on<br />
lisalewin@nhs.net or extension; City<br />
5043, Sandwell 3569 or BMEC 6825.<br />
Colleagues celebrating National ODP day<br />
27
Urology demonstrate recovery of<br />
surgical services<br />
SURGICAL SERVICES<br />
Urologists at City Hospital have shown<br />
that the introduction of an innovative<br />
treatment for men with enlarged<br />
prostates, combined with new efficient<br />
ways of working, can not only benefit<br />
patients but can also help with the<br />
post-COVID-19 recovery of surgical<br />
services. Patients with benign urological<br />
conditions, such as benign prostatic<br />
hyperplasia (BPH), who require surgery<br />
to treat their symptoms have been<br />
particularly hard hit by the impact of<br />
the pandemic.<br />
Consultant Urologist, Ananda<br />
Dhanasekaran joined the urology team<br />
at City Hospital in 2015, bringing with<br />
him the aim of introducing novel, NICErecommended<br />
treatments to patients with<br />
benign urological conditions. Supported<br />
by the urology team and the surgical<br />
directorate, in 2018, he started offering<br />
patients with symptoms of BPH a totally<br />
new approach to their condition – UroLift<br />
(a prostatic urethral lift). UroLift had been<br />
recommended by NICE and, at the time,<br />
was one of the innovations supported by<br />
NHS England as part of its innovation and<br />
technology programme.<br />
This novel treatment is designed to relieve<br />
symptoms, is very quick and requires<br />
minimal time in hospital. This contrasts<br />
Ananda Dhanasekaran, Urology Consultant<br />
with traditional surgical treatments for BPH, such<br />
as TURP which involves a general anaesthetic, a<br />
longer procedure time, an inpatient stay of 1-3<br />
days and a lengthy recovery.<br />
The urology team have also developed ways to<br />
make the treatment pathway more efficient and<br />
easier for the patient. They were the first in the<br />
country to carry out the UroLift procedure under<br />
a complete local anaesthetic with no sedation<br />
or anaesthesia. A one-stop assessment clinic for<br />
patients with symptoms of BPH also means that<br />
the number of times a patient needs to visit the<br />
hospital is minimised.<br />
Ananda said: “Introducing innovative treatments<br />
like UroLift offers benefits including improved<br />
patient experience and quality of care. Compared<br />
with traditional surgical approaches, the new<br />
treatment is associated with improvement in<br />
quality of life, preservation of sexual function and<br />
quick recovery time. We have also found that<br />
a simplified pathway, involving fewer preoperative<br />
investigations, did not compromise<br />
outcomes and was associated with shorter<br />
waiting times for treatment.”<br />
There are also important benefits for the<br />
Trust by being able to streamline the patient<br />
pathway and a reduced requirement for<br />
theatre time and inpatient beds. These benefits<br />
have been brought sharply into focus this past<br />
year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where<br />
patients with benign urological conditions<br />
have been most affected by the impact of<br />
the pandemic on elective non-cancer surgical<br />
services. Three or four UroLift procedures can<br />
be completed in the time it takes to perform<br />
a single TURP. With the current backlog of<br />
patients with benign urological conditions<br />
awaiting surgery, offering UroLift instead of<br />
TURP where appropriate, means it will be<br />
possible to treat these patients and relieve their<br />
symptoms quicker. Also, by using UroLift which<br />
does not require an overnight stay, inpatient<br />
bed capacity is also freed up for patients who<br />
require it.<br />
Ananda said: “Our Trust now offers UroLift to<br />
a wider range of patients with more complex<br />
prostate anatomies and we are glad to see<br />
now our SWBH trust is a recognised UroLift<br />
training centre.”<br />
By offering minimally invasive treatments<br />
like UroLift to patients who need surgery<br />
for BPH, Ananda and the team have shown<br />
how adopting innovation can be part of the<br />
solution to post-COVID-19 recovery of surgical<br />
services.<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 />
28
Critical care in the pandemic –<br />
no alarm clock necessary<br />
SURGICAL SERVICES<br />
Critical care colleagues gathered for a day of reflection and restoration in <strong>May</strong><br />
“I felt scared in a way I can’t explain, I<br />
remember the morning Boris was admitted<br />
to critical care in London, and strangely<br />
that made it even more real. I remember<br />
that morning sitting at my coffee table<br />
crying before driving into work (not to do<br />
with Boris, but rather that this virus could<br />
take down the leader of our country).<br />
“I felt a knot in my stomach for weeks. I didn’t<br />
need an alarm clock as I was awake at 3am<br />
every morning, without fail. I never worried<br />
about our patients because I know our team<br />
is outstanding, I worried for my staff, making<br />
sure they had everything we could get them<br />
to make them safe, however it is difficult to be<br />
strong and in control when you’re as scared as<br />
everyone else. The reality is regardless of role<br />
we all had our moments though,” said Becky<br />
O’Dwyer Lead Nurse and Joint Clinical Lead for<br />
Critical Care Services on reflecting back about<br />
the realisation that COVID-19 would become<br />
a big deal.<br />
Becky’s feelings are typical of those felt by<br />
colleagues who for more than a year have<br />
been dealing with the havoc wrought by the<br />
pandemic, so alongside her colleagues Leeanne<br />
Owen, HR Business Partner for surgical services<br />
and Catherine Beddowes, Senior Sister Follow<br />
Up Support Service, she organised a series<br />
of supportive and restorative away days for<br />
exhausted critical care colleagues.<br />
Leeanne explained: “In HR our aim is to<br />
support colleagues as much as possible, and<br />
so we have been immersed in the groups to<br />
enable us to react quickly when we see what<br />
is required. These events gave us a great<br />
opportunity to understand what colleagues<br />
need going forward. To ensure the days<br />
were run safely we arranged four dates to<br />
accommodate all colleagues who wished to<br />
attend.<br />
Catherine added: “It’s obvious that over<br />
the last year our team spirit has developed<br />
significantly as we’ve all seen the amazing<br />
support for each other when we were at<br />
our lowest point. The wellbeing of staff is so<br />
important. We’ve seen people at breaking<br />
point, so during our restoration events it was<br />
lovely to see people laughing.”<br />
The agenda for the day covered a look back,<br />
and forward, with a debrief, wellbeing and<br />
self-care signposting, alongside meditation,<br />
holistic therapies and an opportunity to<br />
try yoga. Members of the exec team got<br />
involved with a feedback session and for many<br />
attendees the high point was the personal<br />
testimony of a COVID-19 survivor – who many<br />
of the team would have personally looked<br />
after.<br />
Speaking to colleagues at the first event was<br />
Paul Snookes who said: “When I first came<br />
round after being on a ventilator I thought<br />
I was in a zombie apocalypse. I told my<br />
daughter that I had the top of my head taken<br />
off, my brain removed and washed, then put<br />
back in. You see the most difficult part of this<br />
disease was the hallucinations, I kept seeing<br />
things, including three dogs coming into the<br />
room. It was all very strange.<br />
“But as I started to come to terms with what I<br />
was going through, it was the little things<br />
that you did that mattered. Wetting my<br />
lips, combing my hair, brushing my teeth,<br />
and preserving my dignity. As I recovered I<br />
was just more and more grateful for what<br />
you had done for me. Thank you to each<br />
and every one.”<br />
At the event Carys Himan, Sister on critical<br />
care at Sandwell commented: “I am here<br />
today because I am hoping it will give us all<br />
a chance to reflect on the past year, and to<br />
share the experiences that we have been<br />
through together, and it would be nice to<br />
get the patient’s perspective on what they<br />
went through.<br />
“The last year was difficult for me,<br />
especially having three children (6, 9 and<br />
15) being home-schooled, so that on my<br />
days off I became their teacher.”<br />
Her colleague on City site Laura Beaman<br />
added: “I actually had mixed feelings<br />
about whether I really wanted to share<br />
or revisit all the thoughts and emotions<br />
from the last year. However the day turned<br />
out to be fun, insightful and emotional. I<br />
especially enjoyed the patient experience;<br />
I don’t think there was a dry eye in the<br />
house during that! It really helps us to<br />
appreciate that with everything everyone<br />
went through, people did survive and it<br />
makes it all worthwhile. It was difficult<br />
to see this during the time. Until we start<br />
talking about the events of the past year, I<br />
don’t think we realise just what an impact<br />
it has had on us emotionally and can take<br />
you back a bit. I am not a big crier usually,<br />
however I think I've cried a lifetime of tears<br />
over this past year!<br />
“Some of the memories that stand out for<br />
me are when I held a patient’s hand and the<br />
phone to her ear while she passed away, so<br />
that her dad could say his goodbyes to her.<br />
He lived too far away to visit on time and<br />
couldn’t get Wi-Fi connection on his phone<br />
to go on the lifeline.<br />
“Another was on a patient’s birthday.<br />
He was not conscious, however one of<br />
the reservists made a birthday card and a<br />
banner for him. We all sang happy birthday<br />
around the bed space. We called his wife<br />
and children on the lifeline later that day<br />
and they also had a big sing-along to him.<br />
You could hear them telling him all about<br />
their day, telling him to remain strong and<br />
he will get through this. The hardest thing<br />
was knowing that he was probably not<br />
going to survive this, and sadly he did not<br />
make it. I often felt a real sense of guilt that<br />
I was there with their loved one when they<br />
should have been.”<br />
29
Newborn records get SMaRT-er as<br />
NIPE comes to SWB<br />
WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH<br />
A screenshot of the S4N database<br />
A new electronic system for documenting<br />
the newborn physical examinations<br />
is coming to the Trust with mandated<br />
training for all newborn screening<br />
colleagues.<br />
Newborn and Infant Physical Examination<br />
(NIPE) screens newborn babies within 72<br />
hours of birth, and then once again between<br />
six to eight weeks. The second screen is<br />
needed because some conditions appear later<br />
on.<br />
The new NIPE IT system, SMaRT4NIPE (S4N),<br />
originally went live at several Trusts such as<br />
Medway, Wye Valley and Cornwall on 1 April<br />
2019 with immediate positive feedback,<br />
New donations all sewn up<br />
although, just as we ourselves found out<br />
with the introduction of UNITY, not without<br />
some initial teething issues.<br />
S4N has a cleaner appearance and better<br />
functionality than its predecessor, and two<br />
years down the line its ease of use has<br />
already proven a boon to those using it.<br />
From 1 June all NIPE’s are to be documented<br />
on S4N. It is a live system and training is<br />
necessary.<br />
Contact the Newborn screening team:<br />
Ext 5775 or swbh.nipe-and-nbs@nhs.net<br />
for more information.<br />
News from Your Trust Charity<br />
where Elaine Lane and friends from<br />
Bredon have knitted blankets and<br />
hats for our vulnerable children in<br />
the community and have also made<br />
some twiddle muffs for our older<br />
patients with dementia.<br />
The group previously supported our<br />
organisation over Christmas with<br />
donations of hats and scarves and have<br />
continued to support SWB staff and<br />
patients in the months since.<br />
The group usually meet weekly but due<br />
to the pandemic they have carried on<br />
knitting in isolation to support those<br />
most in need.<br />
Amanda Winwood, Fundraising<br />
Manager told Heartbeat: “We’re<br />
delighted to receive yet more support<br />
from Elaine and her group. These items,<br />
though small, can make a massive<br />
difference to the comfort of some of our<br />
most needy patients.”<br />
This isn’t, however, the only creative<br />
avenue Your Trust Charity has been<br />
receiving donations from, having also<br />
recently taken ownership of their first<br />
delivery from volunteer organisation<br />
Project Linus.<br />
Project Linus, as the name might<br />
suggest to you, aims to provide a<br />
sense of security and comfort to sick<br />
and traumatised babies, children and<br />
teenagers through the provision of<br />
homemade patchwork quilts and<br />
knitted blankets. The organisation giving<br />
volunteers across the UK the opportunity<br />
to contribute to their local community and<br />
delivers around 3,500 quilts and blankets to<br />
sick, disabled or disadvantaged children across<br />
the UK each month.<br />
SWB’s first delivery and has already been<br />
passed on to paediatrics for distribution to<br />
those who may come in with nothing, no<br />
parents and in need of a hug.<br />
You can find out more information about<br />
this at https://projectlinusuk.org.uk/<br />
Knitted items donated to vulnerable children in the community<br />
30
Karen Bennett<br />
Community Children's Epilepsy Nurse<br />
Karen Bennett - Children's Community<br />
Epilepsy Nurse<br />
Karen Bennett has recently joined<br />
our Trust as a Children’s Community<br />
Epilepsy Nurse Specialist.<br />
Karen joins the community children’s<br />
nursing team and brings a wealth of<br />
experience to her new role. She has<br />
previously worked in both hospital and<br />
community settings. This invaluable<br />
experience will directly support the work<br />
she is undertaking in the acute and<br />
community paediatric directorate.<br />
The team works in partnership with children<br />
and their families who have or are likely to<br />
have an epilepsy diagnosis. The overall goal<br />
of managing epilepsy is to enable the child<br />
or young person and their family to lead<br />
a life as free as possible from clinical and<br />
psychosocial complications. This is achieved<br />
through access to specialists such as Karen<br />
and the wider team.<br />
Karen explained: “My role aims to provide<br />
care closer to home, work closely with the<br />
consultant paediatricians and the multiagency<br />
teams to provide specialist epilepsy<br />
nurse provision for children/young people<br />
with epilepsy and their families.<br />
“By providing a service which is both<br />
accessible and responsive in the more than<br />
just a hospital setting, allows me to act<br />
as a contact for families, GPs and other<br />
professionals on epilepsy related matters,<br />
coordinating between agencies.<br />
“I visit the hospital, home and schools as<br />
needed to ensure continuity of care. It’s a<br />
varied role, one that requires me to provide<br />
specialist information, emotional support<br />
and teaching.”<br />
This holistic approach to epilepsy and<br />
supporting young people with epilepsy,<br />
their families and carers, allows Karen to<br />
provide tailored care to meet the needs<br />
of individuals. She remarked: “By taking<br />
this approach, I’m able to offer a specific<br />
care plan for each child. I work closely with<br />
schools and nurseries to ensure children<br />
can access education by; care planning,<br />
facilitating appropriate participation, doing<br />
risk assessments, medication training and<br />
telephone advice.”<br />
Karen added: “This role involves working<br />
as part of a wider community, linking with<br />
the West Midlands Paediatric Epilepsy<br />
Nurse Network (PENN). An integrated<br />
approach for the epilepsy care pathway<br />
is fundamental to delivering high-quality<br />
care for children and young people with<br />
epilepsy.<br />
“Local epilepsy clinical networks include<br />
professionals from all disciplines,<br />
safeguarding unified, current practice,<br />
clinical expertise and supporting service<br />
development. Specialist epilepsy knowledge<br />
and skills help ensure the young person<br />
transfers to adult services.<br />
“I’ll be working closely with SWB transition<br />
key worker, the adult epilepsy nurse team<br />
and consultants to establish an effective<br />
epilepsy transition pathway for young<br />
people into the adult services. I’m hoping to<br />
work with the transition key worker to set<br />
up teenage networking activity groups to<br />
further support this. We know that young<br />
people who can manage their conditions<br />
are more likely to transition into adult<br />
services and ultimately maintain their care.”<br />
If you would like to contact Karen with<br />
any epilepsy queries, you can reach<br />
her via karen.bennett4@nhs.net or by<br />
calling 07971 875 287.<br />
Afrah Muflihi<br />
Lead Midwife for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion<br />
Afrah Muflihi, who is lead midwife for<br />
diiversity, equality and inclusion<br />
She is already a well-known face within<br />
the maternity department having<br />
worked as a community midwife for<br />
the past seven years.<br />
Afrah recently joined the Willow Continuity<br />
of Care team where she delivered focussed<br />
care on mums living in specific areas of<br />
Birmingham.<br />
She told Heartbeat: “I hope to improve<br />
accessibility for all our women who use the<br />
service. I want to understand the behaviours<br />
of women who are accessing our services<br />
and tell us more about their needs.<br />
“I also want to understand how we can<br />
look at tackling unconscious bias and keep<br />
this in check.”<br />
Afrah said it was important for colleagues<br />
to talk about inclusivity and understand the<br />
behaviours of the women they are caring<br />
for.<br />
The post is a secondment and is funded for<br />
11 months by the Local Maternity System<br />
(LMS).<br />
Clare Cheatham, Consultant Midwife<br />
added: “Afrah is highly motivated to drive<br />
improvements in services for our culturally<br />
diverse and vulnerable families with the aim<br />
of improving outcomes and experiences,<br />
alongside ensuring that SWBH leads the<br />
way in expertise.<br />
“She has a wealth of experience as a<br />
registered midwife; having worked five<br />
years in team midwifery in the late 1990s<br />
where she worked in all areas of maternity<br />
services.<br />
“During Afrah’s career she has also gained<br />
experience of working in community health<br />
development when she worked alongside<br />
Public Health, strategic organisations and<br />
the voluntary sector.<br />
“We wish to congratulate Afrah in her new<br />
post.”<br />
31
Wave goodbye to…<br />
Jan Clarke<br />
Head of Support Services<br />
Jan Clarke, Head of Support Services has<br />
retired after giving 36 years to helping<br />
improve the services we offer at the<br />
Trust.<br />
Janet’s (known to most as Jan) career spans<br />
over three and half decades across the<br />
organisation. She first joined the NHS in a<br />
temporary post as a domestic assistant for six<br />
weeks.<br />
“I had been made redundant and was keen<br />
to get back into to work as a soon as I could,”<br />
said Jan.<br />
“Even after six weeks I immediately fell in love<br />
with the NHS. The people were lovely and<br />
it was clear from the start that if you were<br />
willing to put the work in and work hard, the<br />
Trust would enable you to grow and develop<br />
as well as facilitate training and education<br />
courses to support your advancement.”<br />
And that is exactly what Jan did! She knew<br />
in order to work her way up the ladder<br />
to where she wanted to be, she would<br />
need to complete further education. In her<br />
case specifically it was a Master’s degree<br />
in Business Administration which the Trust<br />
supported her in obtaining.<br />
During Jan’s illustrious career, her professional<br />
development saw her go from a domestic<br />
assistant and work her way up to head of<br />
facilities and more recently head of support<br />
services.<br />
When asked specifically about her time at the<br />
Trust, she said it will be a time of her life she<br />
will look fondly upon.<br />
She said: “I have met and worked with<br />
some wonderful people over the years and I<br />
have seen a great deal of change, however<br />
the one constant thing is the wonderful,<br />
caring attitude and selfless devotion of our<br />
staff, who will always go the extra mile to<br />
contribute to patient care.”<br />
She added: “It has been an honour to support<br />
the advancement of the departments within<br />
support service. I will be leaving a brilliant<br />
team that I will miss immensely, but have the<br />
confidence that they will continue to manage<br />
their services professionally, moving forward<br />
to the new Midland Metropolitan University<br />
Hospital.”<br />
Aner Marcelo who was working alongside Jan<br />
has taken over as head of support Services.<br />
When asked about Jan he said: “What<br />
impresses me about Jan is her honesty and<br />
reliability. Jan is a very supportive leader. The<br />
intangible support she has given me means a<br />
lot to us in the team. She always puts patients<br />
first and foremost in everything she does. As<br />
her successor I hope I am able to come near<br />
what Jan has achieved at the Trust with her<br />
36 years of service, dedicating and being<br />
committed to providing excellent patient<br />
care.”<br />
As part of her retirement Jan is planning on<br />
spending more time with her friends and<br />
family once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.<br />
Good luck for the future Jan!<br />
Janet Clarke<br />
Sammy paints a path to<br />
colleague wellbeing<br />
The topic of wellbeing has come up a lot<br />
over the course of the last year, as our<br />
organisation and the members of it have<br />
moved to have a greater focus on the<br />
mental as well as physical aspects of our<br />
battle against COVID-19 and beyond.<br />
Pulse<br />
Some have even taken to getting additional<br />
training to help support friends, relatives<br />
and patients in the future.<br />
One such individual is second year<br />
pharmacy student Sameena (“Sammy”)<br />
Khaliq. She will be qualified and registered<br />
as a pharmacy technician this summer,<br />
having already secured a job within the<br />
Trust. Sammy recently undertook the Trust’s<br />
Wellbeing REACT training to become an<br />
advisor.<br />
“I wanted to give back to my colleagues<br />
and decided to undertake a course called<br />
REACT. It is a Level 2 Mental health and<br />
News in brief from around our organisation<br />
Wellbeing poster<br />
wellbeing course.” Explained Sammy in an<br />
email to colleagues late last month. “It has<br />
been a pretty tough and difficult year for<br />
everyone and everybody has been impacted in<br />
one way or another. I would like to offer help<br />
and support for anyone who wants to reach<br />
out.<br />
The course aims to direct people to correct<br />
services for referral.<br />
“I would be able to play an integral part in<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 />
referring especially where hardship and<br />
wellbeing are concerned. This is a voluntary<br />
service and I will strive to do my best with a<br />
non-judgmental attitude and confidentiality<br />
in a relaxed environment.”<br />
One of the projects as part of the course<br />
is the creation of a wellbeing poster<br />
(pictured) which Sammy describes as a<br />
creative representation of our spiritual<br />
connection as humans with nature.<br />
“How the forces of a waterfall and<br />
mountain are powerful and can resonate<br />
with our own mind-set empowering us<br />
with resilience, strength, endurance, and<br />
the ability to carry on staying focused<br />
being firm and maintaining a balance in<br />
our lives. It is something to uplift inspire<br />
and hopefully send out a positive message.<br />
Do not forget about yourself, do not get<br />
lost. Keep yourself in mind - and if you do<br />
this is a reminder to reinforce your selfworth.<br />
Keep a check on yourself and don’t<br />
be afraid to ask for help when you feel you<br />
need it.”<br />
32
Pulse<br />
News in brief from around our organisation<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 />
Green fingers in the great<br />
outdoors<br />
With the sun in the sky and a spring<br />
in their step, the children at Sandwell<br />
Day Nursery have been getting stuck<br />
in to a spot of gardening in their<br />
newly refurbished outdoor space.<br />
Keen to get out in to the great outdoors<br />
and make the most of the improving<br />
weather, the children have not only<br />
begun cultivating their own little<br />
community allotments outside Hallam<br />
Restaurant but they’ve made friends with<br />
all of the bugs and animals in their own<br />
back yard with their own little bug hotel.<br />
Sharing the news of their new found<br />
freedom, Day Nursery Manager Emma<br />
Collier said: “The children have really<br />
taken to the outdoors, they’ve loved<br />
looking after their allotments, cultivating<br />
the crops and growing their herbs. The<br />
multisensory environment with the<br />
opportunity to get some fresh air, get<br />
your hands dirty and have some fun<br />
really has made a huge difference.<br />
builders who have been working for the<br />
Trust, but the children have been really keen<br />
to have some space in the nursery grounds<br />
that they can take ownership of.<br />
“We’re proud to have been able to open<br />
up our own little bug hotel, where the<br />
children can take some time to explore and<br />
see if they can spot any of our little creepy<br />
crawly residents. We also have some seating<br />
and best of all, we’ve finally been able to<br />
make full use of the whole site, safe in the<br />
knowledge that everything in it is designed<br />
for the children we have.<br />
“Whilst it’s not all a bug’s life, the children<br />
will soon have the opportunity to plant a<br />
whole range of wild flowers and plants in<br />
the garden, creating a habitat for bees and<br />
butterflies in our own back yard.”<br />
“The nursery garden has also been<br />
transformed recently thanks to some<br />
very kind donations and support from<br />
It’s a bug’s life as nursery children explore the<br />
outdoors in their newly refurbished garden<br />
Irene Bayliss: Three decades at<br />
SWB<br />
After 30 years, a familiar face<br />
to many, Irene Bayliss, Medical<br />
Secretary at City A&E is retiring.<br />
It was March 1991, The Clash were at<br />
number one with hit single Should I Stay<br />
or Should I Go and Teenage Mutant<br />
Ninja Turtles 2 was number one in the<br />
box office. Irene has just joined the Trust<br />
as a domestic.<br />
“Though I had worked as a domestic for<br />
quite a while, I then moved on to work<br />
in the pathology reception”, said Irene.<br />
“After a few years I then moved to ward<br />
D12 as a ward clerk but I was soon on<br />
the move again as the regular ward clerk<br />
returned so I was then transferred to<br />
ward D19 and then D10.”<br />
After a lengthy stay on D10 she was then<br />
asked to support ward D9 and would<br />
later move to Rheumatology outpatients.<br />
Irene wanted more and to advance<br />
further at the Trust. In order to progress<br />
her career, Irene decided to complete a<br />
Irene Bayliss<br />
part-time night school course and an audio<br />
typing course at Sandwell College to get<br />
her AMPSAR qualification. AMSPAR is the<br />
Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice<br />
Managers, Administrators and Receptionists.<br />
It was established in 1964 with the aim<br />
of creating and promoting appropriate<br />
qualifications, initially for those working as<br />
medical secretaries and subsequently for<br />
medical receptionists, administrators and<br />
practice managers.<br />
Irene said: “Having achieved my qualifications,<br />
I was then able to successfully obtain a role as<br />
medical secretary for acute medicine at City<br />
Hospital.”<br />
Irene has had a positive impact on many of<br />
her colleagues across her 30 years – here are<br />
just some of their kind words:<br />
Clare Hale, Team Leader, City A&E<br />
Reception: “Irene is an amazing colleague<br />
who always goes above and beyond to<br />
help anyone in need. It will be a sad loss<br />
to the Trust when she retires. She will be<br />
greatly missed by all.”<br />
Natasha Thompson, ED Administration<br />
Team Leader: “Irene is a polite and<br />
hardworking member of staff. I have<br />
managed her for a few years and within<br />
that time she has been one of the most<br />
helpful colleagues I have encountered. We<br />
are sorry to see her go but I know she will<br />
be happy. I wish her all the best for the<br />
future!”<br />
As part of her retirement Irene plans to<br />
spend more time with her husband and<br />
when COVID-19 restrictions are eased<br />
she wants to travel to Wales. Irene is also<br />
hopeful to be able to travel on the Flying<br />
Scotsman train for her recent birthday as<br />
she was unable to celebrate fully due to<br />
the recent national lockdown.<br />
The Trust would like to wish Irene a<br />
happy retirement and good luck in the<br />
future!<br />
33
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 />
Will working life resume as<br />
normal?<br />
Dear Heartbeat,<br />
So our esteemed leader Boris is planning on<br />
abolishing mandatory face coverings and social<br />
distancing come the end of June. Though this<br />
is great for England fans and the Euros what<br />
does this mean for staff working at the Trust?<br />
Will I now walk into an office without a mask<br />
and forget the last 12-18 months of social<br />
distancing? Will my manager send me an email<br />
Monday morning telling me and the rest of our<br />
team we are now required to all report to office<br />
as per usual per pandemic? Am I now allowed<br />
to give my colleagues a big hug seeing as I have<br />
missed out for the past year? What do I do?<br />
Some clarification or even something in writing<br />
which is official on this would be great as I’m<br />
hearing another wave could be on its way in<br />
the summer and I wouldn’t want to knowingly<br />
contribute towards this unnecessarily.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Anon<br />
Dear colleague,<br />
Thanks for the way you have been following<br />
the national guidelines, and indeed our own<br />
local policies over the past year. Keeping<br />
pace with the rapid changes has not been<br />
easy but I am pleased that all our staff have<br />
responded well to the latest updates.<br />
We are continuing to monitor the impact<br />
of the changes that we have brought in<br />
as lockdown restrictions have eased since<br />
March. This has included a phased approach<br />
to visiting across some of our wards. We will<br />
continue to monitor and review changes in<br />
guidance and adapt them to our own Trust,<br />
dependent on our own risk assessments<br />
that will include the numbers of cases of<br />
COVID-19 in the community and in our<br />
hospitals.<br />
We are not expecting a full return to all<br />
roles being on site full-time and the current<br />
remote working guidance will remain<br />
in place whereby managers can put in<br />
place reasonable arrangements for their<br />
colleagues who can work remotely, that in<br />
many cases will mean a mix of on site and<br />
remote working.<br />
With regard to hugging, we would urge<br />
you to be cautious and sensible. Having the<br />
vaccine, following infection prevention and<br />
control guidance and doing regular LAMP<br />
tests are the best ways to beat this virus so<br />
make sure you are regularly testing.<br />
Any changes to wearing of PPE including<br />
masks will be shared through our COVID-19<br />
weekly bulletin and your group leadership<br />
structures.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Mel Roberts<br />
Acting Chief Nurse<br />
Will there be improved security in<br />
car parks?<br />
Dear Heartbeat,<br />
I returned to my new car in the car park to yet again<br />
more serious damage to my car for the second time<br />
in one year (and the 5th time including door bangs<br />
and dents). I contacted security, with little hope of<br />
assistance; to be told where I am parking (Brookfield<br />
House) there is no CCTV coverage. This is the 3rd car<br />
parking area I have move to in City Hospital where<br />
my car has been damaged and happens to be in a<br />
CCTV blackspot. If this is not concerning for security<br />
of our cars, surely this is a concern for security of<br />
staff walking to cars, especially at night.<br />
I understand that the Trust cannot take liability<br />
for our property on the site, but I did hold some<br />
hope that assistance can be given to identifying the<br />
culprit for hitting my car and driving off. The last<br />
time this happened 12 months ago, (parking by the<br />
DGM building) the whole wing of my car had to be<br />
replaced and cost £2,500 and I am now facing yet<br />
another bill for body repair.<br />
If I could get away with not using my car anymore, I<br />
would, however I do not live in Birmingham, so this<br />
is not possible.<br />
Can the Trust give some assurances with the new<br />
company taking over the car parking, that there will<br />
be better security monitoring and/or specific staff<br />
parking areas? I am beyond frustrated with finding<br />
my car damaged on a regular basis after my shifts<br />
and paying for the privilege. I can no longer ask my<br />
insurance company for help with this damage as<br />
they refuse to cover me at work anymore.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Anon<br />
Dear Colleague,<br />
First of all I would like to say that I’m sorry to<br />
hear about the incidents that you have had with<br />
your vehicle whilst parked on site. We want<br />
all staff, patients and visitors to feel confident<br />
in leaving their vehicles on the premises. The<br />
Trust has appointed Q-Park as our operational<br />
management partner for car parking and in<br />
conjunction with the trust security teams,<br />
Q-Park are working towards creating a more<br />
secure site. This is being achieved by adding<br />
Q-Park patrols to those carried out by the<br />
security team and building two new multistorey<br />
car parks. Our aim is to have the majority<br />
of vehicles concentrated into a safe and secure<br />
area so the risk of damage will be significantly<br />
reduced due to the design of the new car parks.<br />
Any potential damage within the multi-storey<br />
car parks will be more easily identifiable on<br />
CCTV.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
James Pollitt<br />
Assistant Director Strategic Development<br />
Hospital traffic flow issues<br />
Dear Heartbeat,<br />
The new carpark at the City Hospital site is going<br />
well and will be an asset for the future but since<br />
building started, there has been a change in the way<br />
in which traffic flows into and around the site.<br />
Traffic entering the Western Road entrance has to<br />
queue for quite a distance and the wait is around<br />
15 mins. Obviously, staff waiting this amount of<br />
time is not ideal but worse than this is the negative<br />
effect on local traffic as some drivers take risks to<br />
try and dodge the queue. The queue affects drivers<br />
navigating that junction as well as it blocks the view<br />
from certain angles.<br />
My other concern is traffic flowing past that barrier<br />
towards the supplies department, then onto the old<br />
nursing home and old transport dept. Traffic flows<br />
in both directions on this road but outside supplies,<br />
there is only enough space for one car. This is a very<br />
busy working area at times. Delivery trucks have no<br />
choice but to park outside supplies to offload vital<br />
stock. Our supplies staff are often seen working<br />
hard alongside the delivery drivers so at times there<br />
are a number of people in that area. There are<br />
also pedestrians walking across the road too from<br />
the estates dept. and from the car park. Too many<br />
cars travelling in both directions in what was used<br />
to be a fairly quiet zone. To make matters worse,<br />
the road bends after the supplies department and<br />
I have seen cars on to the wrong side of the road,<br />
probably because they may have considered it to be<br />
a single lane and one way. There needs to be a risk<br />
assessment of that area and better signage so drivers<br />
know what they are navigating.<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Anon<br />
Dear colleague,<br />
Thank you for your letter regarding traffic flows<br />
and road networks in and around City Hospital.<br />
The building of the new multi storey car park<br />
has been a huge logistical challenge and this<br />
wasn’t helped by the overnight introduction<br />
of the new road lay out on Western Road by<br />
Birmingham City Council. We have appealed in<br />
the strongest terms to the council about this<br />
layout and the problems it continues to cause<br />
and requested that it is returned to its previous<br />
condition, but it seems to have been to no avail.<br />
The challenge of building a 550 space<br />
multi-story car park and the demolition of<br />
a significant building whilst trying to keep<br />
disruption down to a minimum has been<br />
immense. The site continues to receive deliveries<br />
of plant on low loaders, site cabins, scaffold<br />
lorries and other equipment and will cause<br />
some continued disruption, and for that we can<br />
only apologise.<br />
The good news is that the multi-story car parks<br />
are on track and should be open by mid-August.<br />
This will hopefully help reduce the tail backs<br />
and the amount of traffic passing Brookfield<br />
House and further along by the supplies<br />
department.<br />
King regards,<br />
James Pollitt<br />
Assistant Director Strategic Development<br />
34
Richard talks about: The future of healthcare -<br />
multidisciplinary working<br />
Richard Beeken, Interim Chief Executive<br />
RICHARD'S LAST WORD<br />
National Nurses Week begins each year<br />
on 6 <strong>May</strong> and ends on 12 <strong>May</strong>, Florence<br />
Nightingale's birthday. These permanent<br />
dates enhance planning and position<br />
National Nurses Week as an established<br />
recognition event. As of 1998, 8 <strong>May</strong> was<br />
designated as National Student Nurses<br />
Day, to be celebrated annually. It has been<br />
particularly noteworthy to celebrate the<br />
work of nursing this year, given the last 14<br />
months experience of the pandemic and it<br />
is important that we recognise the role the<br />
profession has played in the teeth of the<br />
gale of COVID, as well as the role nursing<br />
and nurses will play in a successful recovery<br />
from COVID, whatever form that recovery<br />
eventually takes.<br />
There were two very different events that<br />
week which celebrated nursing in the Trust.<br />
The first, on 10 <strong>May</strong>, was a service which<br />
neatly and expertly combined a memorial<br />
service for our own colleagues who we had<br />
tragically lost during the pandemic, whilst<br />
also celebrating the role the profession<br />
plays in being the patient’s advocate in their<br />
hour of need. It was a privilege to attend<br />
the event, which was also attended by<br />
the families of those we have lost, which<br />
made it all the more poignant. The second<br />
event which I attended that week with Mel<br />
Roberts, our chief nurse, was a different<br />
affair – the acute medicine Great Bake Off<br />
event. Mel, Demetri Wade (group director<br />
of operations – medicine and emergency<br />
care) and I had the honour of judging 12,<br />
high quality entries which, by the end of<br />
the session, made me feel rather queasy.<br />
The winner was the Victoria sponge, of<br />
course. Two very different events, both<br />
equally as important in appreciating nurses<br />
and recognising the changing role of the<br />
profession in modern healthcare.<br />
Rather obviously, there are other professions<br />
than nursing in the health service, many<br />
other professions. Not that long ago in<br />
history however, if someone took a photo<br />
of the multi-professional leadership team<br />
at the front of any hospital in this country,<br />
there would be:<br />
always middle aged and nearly<br />
always a physician, he was the<br />
hospital director.<br />
• Next to him, in a starched blue dress<br />
and equally starched hat, always<br />
looking like Hattie Jacques and always<br />
a scary looking woman, was matron.<br />
• Next to her, pencil thin, in an ill-fitting<br />
suit and with a thin smile, was the<br />
hospital administrator.<br />
That was it! Now, we have something like<br />
300 professions or professional demarcations<br />
in the NHS. This can cause confusion and<br />
at times, division. This is why the cry for the<br />
return of the generalist these days is so loud.<br />
Despite that, we can do more, aligned to<br />
our own personal and professional values,<br />
to create a genuine multi-disciplinary, multiprofessional<br />
environment. On 19 <strong>May</strong>, I spent<br />
over an hour on our respiratory hub at City<br />
Hospital, hearing about their journey over<br />
the last 14 months. We discussed why calling<br />
the pandemic “challenging” is euphemistic<br />
and unhelpful. We discussed recovery from<br />
the emotional journey of the last year. We<br />
discussed post-traumatic growth (thank you,<br />
Sarah!) and, of course, multi-disciplinary<br />
working. The photograph is their safety<br />
huddle board. Whilst the learning and<br />
the actions are divided into the different<br />
professional groups after each huddle<br />
and there remains much that is clunky<br />
about the huddles at the moment,<br />
nevertheless, they are genuinely multidisciplinary.<br />
They are mutually respectful<br />
and the learning is learning achieved as<br />
a team. It was a heartening visit.<br />
It is therefore vital that we don’t divide<br />
ourselves into our respective professional<br />
“silos”. Multidisciplinary working is the<br />
future of healthcare and as we start<br />
to turn our attention to the Midland<br />
Metropolitan University Hospital<br />
development, the blurring of those<br />
professional boundaries and, at the<br />
very least, improved working between<br />
our professions, each seeing each<br />
other respectfully as equals, is critical.<br />
I challenge you all to use, for example,<br />
your safety huddles to achieve that goal.<br />
You can all play your part, whatever your<br />
profession.<br />
• An august looking gentleman in<br />
a white coat, peering over halfmoon<br />
spectacles, with a stethoscope<br />
around his neck. Always a man,<br />
MDT safety huddle board from the respiratory hub at City hospital<br />
35
Workwear donation to support<br />
colleagues and those in need<br />
YOUR TRUST CHARITY<br />
@SWBHCharity To donate<br />
to the Your Trust Charity text<br />
“SWBH16 £5” to 70070<br />
Throughout the last 18 months, many<br />
businesses and organisations have<br />
proven their generosity throughout<br />
the COVID-19 pandemic in support of<br />
the Trust and Your Trust Charity. This<br />
is no more prevalent than the OT<br />
Group Ltd who has kindly donated<br />
over £1,000 worth of workwear<br />
clothing.<br />
The Smethwick based business offers and<br />
supplies a range of tailored goods from<br />
PPE, interior and furniture to office wear<br />
Pete Hall from OT Group Ltd alongside Amanda<br />
Winwood, Fundraising Manager with 1k clothing<br />
donation<br />
and supplies across the borough.<br />
The clothing donated is specifically<br />
workwear and consists of trousers and tunics<br />
tops in a variety of colours and sizes as well<br />
as scrubs for our clinical colleagues.<br />
Amanda Winwood, Fundraising<br />
Manager accepted the donation on<br />
behalf of the charity.<br />
She said: “When I first saw the vehicle<br />
arrive at Sandwell Hospital I was<br />
pleasantly surprised with the sheer<br />
volume of clothes which had been<br />
donated by OT Group Ltd. I must say<br />
a huge thank you to Pete Hall and OT<br />
Group Ltd for this kind donation.”<br />
She added: “We are in the process of<br />
sorting through the 100s of pieces of<br />
garments and will ensure they go they<br />
go to the departments and areas that<br />
need them most including our homeless<br />
patients.<br />
“Our homeless patients often do not<br />
have access to clean and fresh clothing<br />
so this donation will certainly benefit<br />
them all.”<br />
A token of appreciation<br />
Utilita with care packages<br />
International Nurses Day is observed<br />
every year on the anniversary of the birth<br />
of Florence Nightingale, 12 <strong>May</strong>, to honour<br />
nurses around the world and recognise<br />
their contribution to society. To mark the<br />
occasion, Utilita have donated 200 care<br />
packs to support our nurses here at SWB.<br />
The packs include little treats, reusable<br />
cup, pen, stress reliever, snack and other<br />
wellbeing items to bring a little cheer to<br />
nursing colleagues.<br />
Ashley McIntosh, Retail Manager said: “It is<br />
our pleasure here at Utilita West Bromwich<br />
to support such a fantastic cause, especially<br />
through the pandemic – the hard work and<br />
endless support that the NHS have provided<br />
the borough of Sandwell, and the whole<br />
country in fact, it is important that their<br />
hard work and their efforts do not go<br />
unrecognised. We are so pleased to offer<br />
support, and we are grateful to be a part<br />
of the committee now, which is fantastic<br />
and exciting. It is pleasing to see so much<br />
passion and enthusiasm to support the<br />
local community, in which we share.<br />
Thank you all.”<br />
Amanda Winwood, Fundraising Manager<br />
said: “We really appreciate the support<br />
of Utilita for acknowledging the work of<br />
our nurses, the last year was particularly<br />
difficult for all and having these treats will<br />
hopefully show just how appreciated our<br />
nurses are not just today, but every day.”<br />
<strong>May</strong> <strong>2021</strong> staff lottery results<br />
1st £178<br />
Sara Adamkiewicz<br />
2nd £106.80<br />
Joanne Page<br />
3rd £71.20<br />
Tracey Clayton<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.