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SWBH Heroes
Heartbeat - March 2014
Celebrating our SWBH Heroes SWBH is full of remarkable, motivated people, who give a lot to our communities. Over the last few months some of them have been featured in free newspaper the Sandwell Chronicle and here they share their stories with you.
More NHS Heroes including Pharmacist Julie Brooks, Colin Holburn, A&E Consultant, can be found on the Communications pages of Connect. If you would like to nominate a colleague as an SWBH NHS Hero please contact vanya.rogers@nhs.net
Matron Julie Romano WHAT do you do when a ward in your hospital is failing? Staff sickness rates are up, vacancies are difficult to fill, personal development reviews are not completed, patients and their relatives are not happy and six out of seven national standards are not being met. Bring in Matron Julie Romano – one of the first nurses to achieve the gold standard of the Trust’s ‘Nursing with Pride’ awards. More than a breath of fresh air, Julie is a powerhouse of determination, a nurse with a vocation, who cares about the patients she is responsible for and the families they love. Coming from a background in retail management, Julie recognised her calling to care and abandoned the material trappings of the world of retail to study nursing nearly 13 years ago. In 2012 Julie took up her first matron’s position in Sandwell Hospital’s Priory 2 ward, and literally turned the ward around with her inspirational leadership style. She explained: “When I took up my role I knew it wouldn’t be easy, so I looked at where things were going wrong. “I had one-to-ones with all my staff and realised that there was no perception that the ward was failing. “Studying closely it was obvious that staff were doing the right things and patient care was a priority, however it was in the details that we fell down, so that was obviously the
place to start. “I instigated a set of motivational changes at rapid pace, which meant that every week for 12 weeks we made three changes.” What that meant for patients was a highly skilled and energetic multi-disciplinary team dedicated to their care, and a transformed environment, not least of which is a new dining room where patients are encouraged to eat their meals in a social setting. A weekly Matron’s Clinic and daily ‘Visibility Round’ ensured that patients and relatives had opportunities to raise any concerns or pass on compliments. The result of all the changes was that after three months complaints about the ward stopped completely and there have been no complaints about the standard of nursing for over 12 months. Julie added: “It has been hard work, but immensely satisfying.”
IT WAS a scene any disaster movie could claim - the powerful cab of an articulated HGV, smashing into a parked car, dragging it up the road, before crashing through railings. Momentum hurled it up a grassy slope to plough straight through the wall of a hospital, ending up in an elderly patient’s bathroom. But this was no Steven Spielberg epic, no episode of Casualty or Holby City, this was reality – the actual event that happened at Leasowes Intermediate Care Centre, only a few weeks ago. The centre had 20 inpatients when the crash happened. Many staff were called upon to help the Trust continue to provide care, and one in particular - Admin Manager Lesley Wall stepped up out of her comfort zone to help with the response. As Chief Operating Officer for the Trust, Rachel Barlow arrived on scene to establish a silver command centre to deal with the immediate response, there was no trained loggist on site. It is a legal requirement to log every decision and action, so Lesley was asked to take on this essential role.
She explained: “I take minutes for meetings so I know about accuracy and speed, but a loggist is a specialist who must record everything to be signed off by the silver commander at the time. “It is a very important role and crucial to get right. “Although it was a period of high drama, everyone worked extremely efficiently, putting the patients first, so their care could continue as seamlessly as possible. “It is frightening to think of the potential casualties we could have been dealing with. “I heard that the car that was hit first belonged to a carer who had stopped to visit a patient. “Apparently she got out of car at 7.15am and the lorry hit just seven minutes later. “At the time it happened, patients would have been in their bathrooms, it was just lucky that the patient in that bedroom was not using her en-suite at the time.”
Lesley Wall.
Ruth Williams, Manager Integrated Care Service
Matron Julie Romano.
Dr Muninder Lotay, Clinical Lead, Homeless Patient Pathway WITH homelessness a growing problem in the UK and figures in our area double the national average, SWBH has teamed up with other health providers and partners to offer life changing help to those who need it. Enter our local NHS hero Dr Muninder Lotay who is clinical lead for the Homeless Patient Pathway. Dr Lotay, who works as our GP link, explained: “For those who are homeless life expectancy is almost thirty years less than the UK average for those with a permanent roof. “Often difficult and unpreventable circumstances have made them homeless which in turn places their health at serious risk. “The homeless are unique in that they often suffer with physical, mental and social ill health at the same time. “Homeless patients discharged after their physical problem is healed often come back to hospital again and again. “This is known as the revolving door syndrome. “Ensuring that we address the mental health and social circumstances of such patients on admission ensures a holistic approach and safeguards against deterioration of health on discharge and subsequent readmission. “Knowing that with committed effort I can make a difference to improve the life of another drives me to do the best I can. “Over time, in the grand scheme of things,
Admin Manager Lesley Wall
I have realised that the life changing event of going from housed to homeless is only a step away. “Had I not had the overwhelming support of loving parents and a well-structured society when it mattered, I genuinely believe I too would be homeless.” Dr Lotay presented at the recent SWBH event ‘Raising the Roof for Homelessness’ where he detailed the journey so far in the project to help the homeless. He advised: “Statistics have shown that the Homeless Patient Pathway has reduced readmission rates for patients who have been frequently admitted to hospital.”
Dr Lotay.
Ruth Williams, who manages integrated services in the community, takes daily delight in her role helping people to get back to the life they want to live no matter how long it takes. As manager of ICARES she works with nurses and therapists to help patients recover after illness such as a fall, stroke or Parkinson’s. She explained: “My aim is to ensure our patients have everything they need to help themselves for the rest of their life. “We try and stop people coming into hospital if there is a better place to treat them, and we can also see people as soon as they leave hospital to ensure they don’t have to go back in. “We will try and help the person get back to activities they want to do, which may be walking outside, going to the pub or enjoying their garden. “As a one stop service for people at home, we try not to pass patients around services unless we agree with them it’s the right thing for their care. “We don’t see people forever, as we equip them to look after themselves, by providing the support they need to live independently, but we will always see someone again if they need us.” Training as a speech and language therapist 20 years ago, Ruth started working at Rowley Regis Hospital in the early 90s, where she set up a self-help group for people with communication problems (Speakability)
that to this day still meets every month. She was also instrumental in setting up then redesigning the speech and language service, so it is now a nationally recognised speech therapy rapid response service. Working right across Sandwell, the ICARES service covers every person who has a Sandwell GP, including those who live in care homes. Ruth recalled: “I remember the first lady I helped to stay at home at the end of her life rather than going into hospital to die. “Her family told me later she was surrounded by her family, it was peaceful for both her and her family.”
Ruth Williams.