HEARTBEAT August 2022

August 2022

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

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

Issue 156

SWB colleagues give their time to make Birmingham 2022 a success Pages 16-17

Colleagues were delighted and proud to be part of the games

Nursing associate apprentices graduate Page 3

Do you know how to respond to a major incident message?

Page 15

Off-duty colleagues help save bike accident victim Page 20

Carol thanks lifesaving breast screening service Page 22

FROM THE CHAIR HELLO Welcome to the August edition of Heartbeat.

This month, we caught up with some of SWB's Commonwealth Games contributors to hear about their experiences. We also attended the graduation of our nursing associate apprentices and heard about their future plans, as well as catching up with Specialist Skin Cancer Nurse Anne Rutland, who busted some myths surrounding skin cancer and told us how to protect ourselves from the sun.

Enjoy 

Contact us Communications Team

 Ext 5303  swbh.comms@nhs.net  C ommunications Department Ground Floor, Trinity House Sandwell Hospital

Published by Communications Team Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Designed by Medical Illustration, Graphics Team Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Submit an idea If you’d like to submit an idea for an article, contact the communications team

 Ext 5303  swbh.comms@nhs.net Stay updated We send out a Communications Bulletin via email every day and you can now read Heartbeat articles throughout the month on Connect.

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Sir David talks about…our contributions to Birmingham 2022 During July and August our region played host to people from right across the globe as Birmingham 2022 was in full swing. We all know how vibrant Sandwell and Birmingham is and it was fantastic to showcase this to all the visitors, viewers and athletes who took part. Of course, we played our part to the full, making sure we were prepared for the additional people who would be in the City and who would need our help.

There were various protocols in place to treat people who were part of the athletics “family” and all went without a hitch. We were even commended and thanked for our contributions by the regional director of the NHS. Our contribution was also recognised through the various colleagues who gave up their own time to volunteer, whether that was as a wayfinder, welcoming the crowds, or within one of the medical facilities at the venues.

Without your generosity, along with all of those many thousands of other volunteers, the games would not have had the same spirit of community and excitement.

We had the world at our doorstep for that period of time and I know that many of you

felt truly proud to be living and working here. The cultural programme that ran alongside the games was extensive and will leave a legacy for years to come.

Our very own Abundance garden at City Hospital was part of this programme and many colleagues, patients and visitors have really enjoyed spending time there which, although it was sited in a busy corner of the hospital site, was able to offer a haven of calm amidst nature.

Just as we welcomed those from further afield this summer, we know that we need to continually go the extra mile to ensure that everyone within our community is welcomed and treated well when they need our help. We need to respect and understand people’s differences as we listen to their stories and care for them and their families.

Thank you for all you do to make our organisation the diverse, welcoming place it is today.

Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE, Chair

Nursing associate apprentices graduate at SWB Another two cohorts of 15 nursing associate apprentices recently graduated from SWB.

She said: “All the graduates should feel immensely satisfied with their achievements in having attended their foundation degrees.

Made up of students from across the University of Wolverhampton and Birmingham City University, they graduated on Friday 5 August.

“They have all worked extremely hard over the past 24 months and will have faced many challenges both throughout their placements here at SWB and their academy assignments and work.

The graduation ceremony was hosted by our nursing and midwifery clinical education team at the Sandwell Education Centre and saw the latest two cohorts of students presented with certificates, having completed their two-year foundation degree course.

As part of their course, alongside their academy studies at their respective universities, students were placed across various departments, wards and clinical areas at SWB including adult nursing, children’s’ nursing and learning disabilities.

Stacey Clarke, Nursing Associate Practice Educator believes the latest cohorts of students should be delighted with their achievements.

“I and the rest of the nursing and midwifery clinical education team are proud of all the graduates and what they have attained. I must also say a huge thank you to Waitrose Harborne who kindly supplied us with all the cakes and treats for the day of the celebration.”

Emma Murray, Registered Nursing Associate was one of the graduates on the day. We caught up with Emma to ask her about her recent graduation.

She said: “I feel a sense of relief to be finally graduating! I, like many of my fellow students, have faced many difficulties whilst studying but adjusting to the second wave of the pandemic was certainly the most challenging.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS “However, with this being said, both the Trust as a whole and the nursing education team have always been very supportive with our mental wellbeing.”

Though Emma had short stays on both the neonatal unit and AMU at City, the majority of her placement was spent on SAU at Sandwell.

“I must say special thank you to Rebecca Wyatt and Sherry Craig who have been very supportive throughout my placement.”

She added: I would definitely encourage those thinking about doing a nursing associate apprentice to do it as it has allowed me to progress and will open doors for me in my career both internally and externally in the future.”

Congratulations to all graduates and good luck in your careers in nursing!

Nursing associate apprentices graduate at SWB

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Procurement team play host to meet the buyer event CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS The Black Country Alliance procurement team hosted the Black Country Meet the Buyer Event on Thursday 14 July at the Hawthorns.

The alliance, which covers both SWB and the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust aimed to engage with local businesses within the public sector in the Black Country, increasing visibility of spend within the region.

The event was held at the iconic Hawthorns - home of the local Championship football club and 1968 FA Cup winners, West Bromwich Albion.

Well over 130 suppliers were in attendance as well as key public sector buyers from the NHS, the local council and educational institutions in addition to key stakeholders such as HS2 and Mitie.

The format of proceeding at the event centred around presentations in the morning which were led by Mike Hanson, Director of Procurement for the Black Country Alliance, with the main objective being the highlighting of how local suppliers can identify and bid for opportunities in the area. The afternoon session then provided workshops on important topics, in addition to the opportunity for suppliers to approach buyers for specific discussions tailored to them.

Paul Mellor, Deputy Director of Procurement for the Black Country Alliance, believes the event was a huge success.

Procurement team play host to meet the buyer event

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He said: “Everyone who came along found it a very informative and insightful day and left the venue with much excitement and positivity.

“Having spoken to just a few delegates the feedback I got from them included statements such as ‘genuinely the most useful event I’ve attended in years’ and ‘fantastic and really helpful’ which was great to hear.”

He added: “I’m hopeful the Black Country Alliance procurement team can put on a similar event in future, but I must say a massive thanks to everyone who helped organise the event as without their help it would not have been possible.”

Get on yer bike for cycle to work day 4 August marked cycle to work day, and for those who like to give power to the pedal, this presented the perfect reason to jump on your bike and get active as you cycle into work.

Over the years, cycling has grown in popularity, and people across the UK enjoy cycling to work regularly. We caught up with one such person, Andy Brierley, Head of Local Delivery – Procurement, to find out more about his passion for cycling.

Last year, Andy won an e-bike courtesy of our competition. He has enjoyed bike rides ever since and told Heartbeat: “I have always enjoyed cycling, but in the past, it is something that I have done for a few weeks and then stopped again.

“Since winning the bike, I have regularly commuted to work by bike three to four times a week. It’s a 14-mile round trip, but I try to top this up to 20 miles a day. I’ve found that with the e-bike, I’m more likely to use it on days when it would be easy to find an excuse not to ride as I can increase

the assistance slightly and still get a workout, just with a bit of help.

“If anyone is considering cycling, I suggest starting with routes and distances you are comfortable with. Make sure you have the correct protective gear, and if initially you can ride with someone, it does help, especially if you are not confident or need a little extra motivation to cycle consistently.

“The Cycle to Work scheme run by the Trust is also a great way to get access to a bike and kit at a reduced cost. You can track your progress on fitness apps, and there are some such as Strava that allow you to share your route so that your family can track real-time where you are on the ride, a great safety feature.”

Andy added: “When I first began cycling, my main inspiration was to get fitter and lose some weight, but then I found that I was getting home quicker than when I drove, and particularly now with the cost of fuel, my commuting costs have reduced significantly. It is well worth getting in the saddle and trying it if you are curious about cycling.”

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Fran Silcocks, Head of Sustainability, highlighted our buddy scheme to help colleagues get active, whether cycling, walking or car sharing to or from work.

She told us: “The Trust has joined Kinto, an app that helps colleagues connect to share journeys to and from work, reducing carbon emissions and helping people to save money.

“To get started, download the Kinto app (https://info.kinto-join.co.uk/swbh-nhs/) and join the SWB NHS network communities depending on which site(s) you travel to SWBH – Sandwell Hospital, SWBH – Birmingham City Hospital and SWBH – Rowley Regis.

“Don’t forget to use your NHS email address when signing up. Only approved work emails will be verified, allowing you to connect, communicate and buddy up safely with your colleagues.”

Andy Brierley saddles up for cycle to work day

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Listening to your feedback and taking action CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS In the last issue of Heartbeat we wrote about the importance of colleagues across the organisation having the opportunity to tell us how they feel about working with SWB. As you know every quarter, colleagues are approached to give their feedback via anonymous surveys, the Quarterly Pulse Surveys (in January, April and July) and the national staff survey (in October).

Primary Care, Community and Therapies

help with staff satisfaction and experience.

The table below shows the summary of actions per group. Each group is held to account by the executive team through the corporate and clinical review process.

Action plan to address experiences of racism with support from Trust EDI leads •

Training and development programme - Focus during PDRs - Link to Training Needs Analysis and transformation plans

•

Visibility of senior leaders - Engagement sessions - Drop in sessions

•

Awareness of community transformation plans - Board membership review - Transformation workshops - Directorate engagement sessions

Surgical Services

• • • •

Fortnightly Surgery Question Time sessions Theatres Just Culture training with subsequent roll-out across the Group IR2 appreciation forms Theatres ‘shout outs’ to identify good practice, share learning and improve recognition

Medicine and Emergency Care

• • • •

Healthcare Support Worker Forum Overseas Nurse Engagement Forum Improve awareness and engagement with wellbeing support Focus on recruitment to high priority areas with clear routes of escalation for areas of concern

Women’s and Child Health

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Suggestion boxes with new feedback routes Newsletter for colleagues to share information Regular meetings and engagement sessions Thank you cards/appreciation activities Star of the month and shout-outs Wellbeing sessions Cultural workshops Introduction of the career MOT Recruitment focus to fill vacancies in high priority areas EDI and culture workshops Overseas nurse support forum Flexible working programme Review induction process for new starters

Imaging

•

Reintroduction of directorate reviews – will provide supportive environment to the directorate teams to look at recruitment/retention, learning from trends, quality and safety as well as performance indicators.

Group newsletter – to be designed over next couple of months with input from each directorate. This is to ensure we celebrate success, share news, share learning within the Group.

Propose a Group Brief where staff can attend to hear from both senior team and also individual areas – will be a mix of face to face at different sites and virtual to ensure all staff at a chance to attend Propose a meet the Senior Team “café” – where staff can come and meet the Triumvirate and look to expand to deputies and clinical directors to ask questions and have a chat.

Look at holding a winter and summer social for staff.

Increasing visibility of Senior Group Management Team on shop floor – dedicated sessions in each department to be rotated in Contact details in for freedom to speak up guardian in newsletter

• • • • • •

The regular surveys can tell us whether staff experience is improving as a result of all the actions that have been put in place both Trust-wide and locally within departments.

Don’t forget – the exec-led listening events

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Last month we outlined what the organisation is now putting into place as a result of feedback received so far. This month we want to share the action plans for the clinical groups. The groups have detailed what they aim to achieve over the next 12 months to

take place every quarter. You will usually get an invitation from your manager and details are always shared in the communications bulletin and on Connect. Colleagues are free to join in the event for their area or

indeed in other area and get involved in helping all of us to live our new values – Ambition – Respect – Compassion.

You can see recordings and slides or previous listening events on Connect.

Does your patient meet the ‘Criteria to reside’?

Recently, we covered the successful introduction and launch of the Discharge to Assess model and the support offered by the Integrated Discharge Hub in Heartbeat. Discharge to Assess, also known as D2A, is a national model of discharge aiming to simplify the processes for colleagues and patients equally.

This month, colleagues from across the Trust found the new model integrated into Unity, our EPR system, meaning that D2A is now a fully established model; not simply something that we recommend, but something that is fully integrated into our ways of working.

Crucially, Discharge to Assess also replaces the ‘Medically Fit for Discharge’ terminology – which previously described when a patient was ready to return home – with the new ‘Criteria to Reside’ term.

‘Criteria to Reside’ is a set of defined medical criteria which outline the need for an acute medical bed. If these criteria are not met, the guidance sets the expectation that the patient’s discharge should be arranged within 2 hours for those on Pathway 0 and within 24 hours for those on Pathways 1-4.

A recent change to the Unity EPR system now allows this to be recorded by clinical teams easily. An option selection now appears alongside the Target Date of Discharge (TDDs) and Discharge Pathways and allows clinicians to indicate whether a patient meets the ‘Criteria to Reside’. If a patient does not meet the criteria to reside, the corresponding date this is effective from can also be accurately recorded.

Sharing the news of the new ‘Criteria to Reside’, Integrated Discharge Hub lead Amy Crumpton said, “Clearly identifying patients with ‘No Criteria to Reside’ ensures our capacity team and integrated discharge hub can focus on supporting timely discharges.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS “Good hospital discharges that are timely, well supported and keep the person at the centre, involving their loved ones, are an integral part of the care and support that we provide. We must be as focussed on discharging patients as we are on admitting those that are acutely unwell, not simply to manage the fine balance of supply and demand of bed spaces, but because the evidence base supports improved functional recovery, quality of life and management of frailty in a person's own home.”

For any additional queries, please contact Sarah Oley via saraholey@nhs.net or the Integrated Discharge Hub on extension 3147.

Apprenticeships are for everyone!

Did you know the Trust is a provider of apprenticeships and training, offering apprenticeships at levels 2 and 3 in Healthcare, Business Administration, Customer Service and Team Leader for existing staff and new employees?

Whether you are just starting out, fresh out of school or you’ve been in the world of work for a while, an apprenticeship might be just the ticket for you to progress in your chosen career. And what better place to take on an apprenticeship than at our Trust where the most recent Ofsted inspection rated us as ‘Good’!

The widening participation and apprenticeship team

Another great example is Max Newbold, a previous winner of ‘Learner of the Year Award’, joined the Trust to work in the Long gone are the days where Medical Education Centre as the Simulation apprenticeships were seen as just a route for young people leaving full time education Technician and undertook Business and Administration Level 3. On completion, to acclimatise themselves to the reality of Max moved on to study towards Project full-time work: apprenticeships now are Management Level 4 working in a new available to anyone over 16, looking for an role in the PMO office. All funded by the entry level role, through to those wanting Apprenticeship Levy and great career to broaden their horizon and take on more progression within SWB to “grow our own” management roles. workforce of the future.

Take for example, last year’s winner of These are just examples of the many the Trust the ‘Learner of the Year Award’, Mayur has in its portfolio of how Apprenticeships can Patel, Administrator for the Bowel Cancer aid our staff development.

Screening Programme. At the time, Mayur had undertaken a Business and We can also support funding for degree and Administration Apprenticeship Level 3 higher-level apprenticeships through the and gained a distinction whilst continuing Apprenticeship Levy. Working in partnership to work in the bowel cancer screening with further education providers and administrative team. Mayur had not universities, you can study for a degree, undertaken any form of study for many without university costs - this is a fabulous years and continued with his study despite opportunity to develop your knowledge & some personal and work challenges. skills to further your career.

Leading the charge in supporting apprentices to develop their knowledge and ability with skills and training is Maxine Griffiths, Widening Participation Manager and Apprenticeships Lead. She said, “The NHS is the biggest employer in Europe and a world leader in supporting skilled professionals to develop and thrive, so it’s no surprise that there are plenty of opportunities for staff to develop, gain new skills and take on new challenges.

One of the means that colleagues should really look at is the opportunities provided by apprenticeships, these are paid roles with training and development opportunities built in, and they’re not just for entry level roles. As a member of staff, you will continue to receive your existing salary and all training is within your current hours."

Colleagues who are looking for a new challenge and would like to develop their skills should contact swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net.

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Care at the End of Life: Our achievements in light of NACEL CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS

The National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL) is a national comparative audit of the quality and outcomes of care experienced by the dying person and those important to them during the last admission leading to death in inpatient facilities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The main aim of NACEL is to review end of life care in an inpatient setting, measured against nationally agreed quality standards (NICE Quality Standards and Guidance, Five priorities for care in One Chance To Get It Right).

Round three was recently completed; the focus here was on those areas highlighted as requiring the greatest attention during previous rounds, mainly ‘recognising the possibility of imminent death’, ‘individualised plan of care’ & ‘communication with patient & family’.

Round 3 also saw the introduction of an additional element for Staff Reported Measures (SRM), aimed at members of staff who are most likely to come into contact with dying patients and those important to them.

In total the results from round three were reported into 12 themes, compared to 7 previously, all covering the Five priorities for care and other key issues.

For all but one, a summary score has been developed and calculated for each hospital allowing for comparison with the national picture.

What’s Happening Now - Round 4: Round 4 of the national audit is now underway: the Palliative team is collecting data from casenotes and Carer surveys are being sent out. The Staff Reported Measure is open until the 7th of October 2022. Please take the opportunity to participate: the staff survey results from Round were extremely useful and training development was partially informed by the outcomes of the survey.

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The survey is aimed at staff who care for adults aged 18+ at the time of death, within an acute hospital setting.

Rest assured, all responses are anonymous and cannot be linked to an individual member of staff, and what we learn from it will ensure the best possible care can be delivered to people at the end of life and those close to them.

Rest assured, all responses are anonymous and cannot be linked to an individual mem and what we learn from it will ensure the best possible care can be delivered to peop life and those close to them.

Driving Forward Improvement We are very proud of what we’ve managed to achieve, despite the difficulties faced during the COVID pandemic.

Improvements implemented are as follows: 1.

We diversified the Palliative Care Team by employing additional Palliative Care Consultants to work closely with SPC Nursing Team. This has enabled medical teams to identify people in last year of life early to change how they utilise Acute Services, enhancing integration to deliver effective EoL Care. The new SCP on UNITY went live July 2021; for further details please visit the Supportive Care Plan intranet page on Connect.

2.

We presented a ‘Shared Learning topic’ for QIHD on EoLC to develop a shared understanding of opportunities to individualise care. This can be built on to drive improvement of processes and approach, linking with the Chaplaincy team to have a whole system approach to improving EoLC and bereavement.

3.

We did initially reinstate feedback via phonecalls as before, but this had to come to an end April 2021 due to lack of funding – feedback is a large part of contact with the bereaved family, therefore we have developed a new electronic feedback survey for bereaved families.

4.

We’ve revamped and shared anticipatory guidelines, which are available on Connect and through UNITY; our CNS nurses have been supporting staff as necessary. We’ve focused on promoting the use of new electronic SCP on UNITY – late recognition of patients who are dying means missed opportunities for patients to express and achieve their priorities at end-of-life.

5.

We have produced posters and guidance notes on using the SCP via UNITY, information leaflets for patients, an

update Standard Operating Policy document, and a video tutorial.

6.

We reviewed facilities at MMUH for end-of-life care, death certification, quiet space and care of the deceased, considering what can be offered already.

7.

We developed a Palliative and EoL-Champion role for wards, firmly supported by the Specialist Palliative Care Team. The induction and mandatory training programme was reviewed and piloted recently, with feedback opportunities to include EoLC skills identified. We ensured EoLC skills are included in all appropriate staff competencies with ongoing skills training as needed.

Champion Training was rolled out from September to November 2021.

8.

We developed a Dashboard for each clinical area, with KPI’s reflecting the needs of families and their feedback.

We also employed a bereavement nurse to take on a Trust wide approach to improving care after death for all.

Linking in with the Safety Huddles, Perfect Ward and a QI EoL dashboard with the ward leadership teams, we review progress monthly to understands areas for development.

9.

Ward managers and medical leaders reviewed the learning needs of team members to highlight opportunities to access e-learning, Sage and Thyme and Advanced Communication skills training as needed. The EoL QI focussed on communication, and the needs for a practice development nurse in EoLC was identified and funding is being discussed. The essential End-of-Life Training Modules on ESR launched in June 2022, and we’re now gathering staff feedback.

10. We’re promoting the importance of using SPICT™ and taking up every opportunity, like the ‘Dying Matters Awareness Week’ in May 2022, to keep the discussion on EoL care going strong.

More info on how to take part and who’s eligible can be found on the intranet under the Governance/Clinical Audit Team pages.

If you have any questions, please do contact the Palliative Care Team [swb-tr.SWBH-GM-Connected-PC-Hub@nhs.net] or visit the Palliative Care Blog posts on Connect.

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NHS Women: Q&A with Dr Huma Naqvi CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS What aspects of your job do you find more challenging?

Within the Trust, we have many inspiring women leaders. In this issue of Heartbeat, we shine the spotlight on Dr Huma Naqvi, a consultant physician in geriatric medicine and general internal medicine, who has worked here for nine years.

When you become a consultant, you take on new responsibilities. These could involve dealing with families struggling to accept that their loved one cannot recover. We are always trained to get people well but with older people, that does not always happen.

You must be sensitive with families and honesty is very important. People might ask ‘are they going to get better?’ and I just sometimes don't always have that answer on hand because I don’t always know. I think however being honest with the right level of maturity takes time to develop, but I hope I do that better as time has gone on.

Please describe what your job role entails.

I specialise in ortho-geriatrics which is looking after older people with fractures and trauma-related injuries. I am a medical consultant employed by the orthopaedics department itself. I work alongside surgeons which makes for cohesive working relationships because they are very good at their surgical roles, but I feel like I complement that well in terms of looking at elderly people’s medical needs.

What attracted you to this Trust?

After I graduated, a job advert came up for this place as an SHO, which is the equivalent of a Foundation year two doctor. I wanted to get a job closer to my family in Dudley, so this was perfect.

I have been at this trust for specialty training as well and I have always felt at home here.

What made you choose a career in geriatrics?

In 2005, I went to work at Rowley Regis Hospital. It was a non-training grade job which gave me time to decide what I wanted to do. Because it was concentrated on geriatric medicine, it curated my interest in the field. I say to junior doctors that everyone needs to find a geriatrician in them to work in adult medicine.

What is the most memorable moment of your career?

My first clinical attachment after graduating from medical school. Seeing people in a clinical environment gave me this deep sense of relief that I enjoyed. I have a training director role for foundation year one doctors and seeing their enthusiasm and joy makes me remember that feeling when I first started out as a doctor.

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Dr Huma Naqvi, a consultant physician in geriatric medicine and general internal medicine What do you enjoy about your job?

I enjoy the feeling that you are helping others and making a difference. I also enjoy being part of a team of professionals, not just doctors but ward staff, ward service staff and therapists. If you’ve got a team that has your back, whether in good times or bad times, you can’t really ask for more.

How did your role change during the pandemic?

My role as training programme director changed most during the pandemic because of adapting working patterns and redesigning rotas for junior doctors. We all had to adapt and take on different roles which for me was working more so in acute medicine. We had a period of time over the first wave of COVID where we probably spent more time at work than at home so having the support of the team was very important. I think I am better adjusted to the intensity of work now.

What effect did the pandemic have on the mental health of elderly people?

Older people are more vulnerable to a condition called delirium. When patients are confused and disoriented, having family members around is helpful as they are a key element of identification. When family members were restricted to not visiting their relatives, elderly people became more isolated.

This was upsetting to observe because older people, particularly those who were challenged with memory issues and those who didn’t have the ‘physical reserve’ to get through their acute illness, often struggled at that time.

What is the solution?

When you must manage complex dynamics with patients and families, the way I manage somebody may be completely different to the way my colleague would so there is nothing to lose from getting a second opinion.

What is your strategy to ensure your own wellbeing?

Having a good work life balance is important. It helps having a non-medical family because then I can leave work matters at work. Over lockdown, I also discovered reading again. I loved reading as a child, and it was nice to take some time away. Enjoy chocolate and drink coffee, that is also good for me!

Finally, what would you say to inspire a young person considering a career in geriatrics?

I would encourage anyone considering a career in medicine to go into it with your eyes wide open. It is one of the most difficult professions but also one of the most enjoyable and satisfying careers to do.

For geriatrics, there is a lot of variability and complexity in looking after older people and that’s what makes older adults a fascinating group to look after. They have so many interesting stories about their lives and are the bread and butter of our society. I think every clinician looking after adults will need to find the geriatrician in them.

Nursing & midwifery clinical education team inspire local students At the end of the 2022 summer term, our nursing and midwifery clinical education team visited Sandwell Academy to give pupils a feel for nursing at Trust.

Sandwell Academy first opened its doors in 2006 and now educates over 1,200 students, recruiting 200 students each year into Year 7, with a Sixth Form of 350 students.

The aim of the visit was to inspire the next generation about all aspects of care, including talking to them about the roles of nurses, midwives, nursing associates and health care assistants and to show them what a career could be like at SWB. Aaron Bertram-Miller, Nursing Associate Practice Educator went along to the school as part of the visit.

He said: “alongside my education team, we were invited to the school to talk to students about the different types of nursing and midwifery roles available at the Trust.

“Our main focus was to engage with the teens, and we did this best by telling them why we ourselves became healthcare professionals.”

He added: “To make the visit more engaging we also brought in different equipment often seen in a ward or clinical area such as NG tubes, oxygen masks and even a pregnant body suit!”

Theresa Morris, Lead Nurse - Education Team believes the visit was hugely beneficial.

She said: “The visit to Sandwell Academy was intended to inspire a new generation and judging by the reactions of many of the young people, they really loved it which I ultimately think will encourage some of them to pursue a career in nursing or healthcare. I was there

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS representing nursing, Fallon Green to talk to them about midwifery. Aaron explained his role as a nursing associate and Amy Thompson talked passionately about her job as an HCA. “If just one of them decide to join the field of healthcare in their local area, this visit with have definitely been worthwhile.”

She added: “We have been invited back when the new term starts to talk to even more pupils. We are also going to be welcoming 16-18 year olds into the Trust for placements in the new year, this is exciting and I’m sure this will encourage many of them to think about a career in the NHS.”

The nursing and midwifery clinical education team at Sandwell Academy

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Shout out has been a regular feature in Heartbeat and it is fantastic to see colleagues regularly taking the time to give positive feedback to each other.

We regularly receive positive feedback from our patients too, and this month we wanted to share some of those heart-warming messages which have been sent via our website and social media platforms.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS To – Radiology staff Breast unit, Carolyn Gordon Clinical psychologist, Mr Martin Sintler Breast consultant surgeon, Dr Ian Rea Breast Specialist, Dr Jana Bellin Consultant Anaesthetist, Deborah Pagett Senior sister ASU, Johanna Street Staff nurse ASU , Elaine Williams BCN (bank) A huge shout out to the amazing colleagues that who were involved in the care of Linda Brown. From the moment Linda came into the breast unit and her contact with by radiology staff, surgeon Mr Sintler & Dr I Rea, Carolyn Gordon Clinical Psychologist, BCN Elaine Williams, Staff Nurse Johanna Street, Dr Jana Bellin Consultant anaesthetist and Deborah Pagett all went over and beyond with the care showing exceptional professionalism, kindness and compassion. Spoke to Linda following her surgery she expressed her grateful thanks to the team in giving her a good experience of healthcare professionals. We truly have an amazing team I'm so proud to be a member of.

From – Helen Taylor

To – Lydia Murtagh Lydia is a maternity support worker who offered to walk and complete her local postnatal checks as she was unable to drive at the time. She recognised a baby required an urgent blood test and got that arranged immediately!

From – Nazmeen Bibi

To – Robert Hornsby Thank you for covering a duty at a different site part way through a shift.

Your flexibility and 'can do' attitude was very much appreciated.

From – Cheryl Dickson

To – Lucille Hedges Massive well done to Lucille Hedges for all her hard work in behind the scenes of setting up the Care Navigation Centre and making Phase 1 go live seamlessly.

From – Peter Jay

To – Meena Parkash

To – Lisa Stanton

Meena is one of our wonderful administrative staff members who always helps both staff and patients. Her continued hard work is really appreciated by us all. She constantly 'goes the extra mile' and nothing is too much trouble for her! She's always on the end of the 'phone to solve my booking and appointment problems! So many patients have praised her to me! She's a real gem of this trust!

Thank you Meena!

Just wanted to thank Lisa for helping us in McCarthy ward and going beyond her line of work to assist in facilitating a new staff uniform. One of our new starter is unable to get his uniform on time and Lisa managed to sort out something temporary for him to use and physically brought it to Rowley Regis. She is not from the Sewing Room department at all but went that extra mile to help. Thank you for your kindness.

From – Richard Stanton

From – Lady Ann Ordona

To –Vivene Strangward

To – Emmanuel Asiedu

When I called D26 to speak to Sr Viv for the first time, she was so welcoming and open to supporting our young people on work experience placements. It was a pleasure to talk through the process with her and receive her positive response for the support she will offer. One student has already e-mailed to say they learnt so much and had a great week, well supported on the ward.

Emmanuel works in IT and when I went to collect my new phone he was very helpful.

He was very welcoming and extremely supportive in ensuring that there was a smooth transition from my old phone to the new one. His customer service skills were excellent where he could not do enough. Emmanuel is a real asset to the Trust.

To – Keni Sulaj To – All of the Paediatric Team The team have had a challenging week this week with an increase in acuity and number of patients beyond usual summer activity, alongside accommodating a distressed patient on one of our areas which has led to the team needing to be creative in how our services and care to patients continued with minimal disruption. The team have gone above a beyond this week and have demonstrated fantastic team work and commitment to our children and families.

From – Cheryl Newton

To – School Nursing Team Hugh thanks to the whole team and in particular for those that are busy data inputting for the NCMP. It has been extremely challenging with staff shortages, but as always everyone rally's round to get the work done. I am extremely honoured to manage the service.

From – Shawinder Basra-Dhillon

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From – Shawinder Basra-Dhillon

From – Nikki Smith

Going above and beyond to support staff on NCOT and NNU with our devices and equipment, enabling us to be able to give safe and effective care to our vulnerable neonates. Thanks Keni!

From – Carmen Nuttall

To – Rachel Tennant Rachel is currently covering the role of Neonatal Matron whilst continuing her ANNP shifts within the clinical area. Rachel is both supportive and always there for her staff, offering support and positivity within the neonatal teams.

From – Neonatal Unit and NCOT

To – Jayne Whittaker Thank you Jayne for covering 2 night duties at very short notice recently.

From – Cheryl Dickson

Trust welcomes local councillors to Midland Met SWB recently welcomed two local councillors – Cllr Farut Shaeen and Cllr Zahir Hussain who represent the Soho and Victoria ward. This was a significant visit as it provided an opportunity to engage with leaders that represent members of our local community.

Our patients, carers, communities, and members of local organisations are hugely important as we work to shape the future of our services as we get ready to open Midland Met in 2024. Whether it’s an opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions or attend events, we are working collaboratively to ensure that we provide outstanding care across all our services.

Currently, to support this, we have an array of public and community engagement events taking place across Sandwell and West Birmingham. Plus, we are actively reaching out to community groups, and leaders sharing updates about the many projects taking place, including our Fundamentals of Care programme, and promoting ways people can get involved, such as via our first ever Young People’s Forum.

community believe it to be the opposite. It was also interesting to hear directly from the Trust about how you are transforming services to offer a clinical model designed to keep patients active and that incorporates dedicated teams led by acute care consultants.

“The Winter Garden is a large area with great views from the balcony. It’s still under construction, but you can see that it will be a stunning space when it’s finished.”

Cllr Shaeen remarked: “It has been beneficial to see Midland Met for ourselves. The hospital is an impressive site that is much larger than we anticipated it to be.

“It was helpful to hear about the plans for the hospital now and to get an insight into the longer-term plans to help benefit our communities. Midland Met will be a good

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

asset for the people that live here, and I was particularly interested in the plans to help create jobs. The learning campus will be a welcome addition and will help local people thrive and develop fulfilling careers.”

Jayne Salter-Scott, Head of Public and Community Engagement, said: “Hosting visits like this is an essential part of our strategy to engage with our residents and those who represent them. Face-to-face meetings are one of the most effective ways to have meaningful conversations and it helps us to look at how we can work together to achieve our shared goals.

“I would like to thank the councillors for their time and look forward to welcoming them back soon for another visit where we’ll be able to show them further progress.”

Richard Beeken, CEO, hosted the visit with the support of Jayne Salter Scott, Head of Public and Community Engagement and expert tour guides, Dawn Webster and Jackie Cooper, Senior Commissioning Managers.

Before heading off on the tour, Richard took the opportunity to share some of the highlights of our new hospital, explaining that we are expanding our organisation and restructuring our services by making Midland Met into our acute centre for care.

Richard also discussed our communitybased services giving a comprehensive update to help the councillors understand our future service model and how everything fits together.

Cllr Hussain remarked: “It’s positive to hear that SWB is expanding from two to three sites as some people in the

Councillors Shaeen and Hussain enjoyed a tour of Midland Met with CEO, Richard Beeken.

If you have heard any rumours about the Midland Met and you want to know if there is any truth to them, however far-fetched, intriguing or interesting, email the communications team at swbh.comms@nhs.net for an answer.

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IT hold activity day to support colleague wellbeing CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Colleagues in IT recently enjoyed an activity day held at a local school, thanks to the work of Programme Support Officer Rosie Fuller who organised the event.

The day followed on from last years’ Restoration programme in which individual departments and teams were able to access funding to take part in group activities during their work hours to help lift spirits during COVID-19.

The events were semi-mandatory, and any colleague who wanted to join was able to. In 2021, the IT team carried out the days across two separate tranches to enable all colleagues to join; for this year, the majority of their staff came along whilst those who chose not to join were able to form a ‘skeleton team’ to man the department.

The team decided on a non-competitive sports day event, with a range of other activities to ensure inclusivity. As well as traditional sports day events such as tug of war and football, the team played other games such as swing ball, wellie wangling and cricket and were able to join holistic activities including reiki and crafts.

Their main entertainment was the BBX dance troupe, who taught the team the same dance that they performed at the

opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games; this was just one day prior to the opening ceremony, which was really exciting for the team.

Rosie stated: “The events boosted morale and a good time was had by all of the team.

Colleagues have already been asking about the next event!

“We wanted to make the event as inclusive as possible. As we had to fund the event from our own budgets, we worked to ensure we saved costs, and decided to hold it at All Saints C of E Primary School’s grounds, which has a running track and is only a 5-minute walk from Sandwell Hospital. As well as the sports element, we included other activities to allow people with different interests to take part.”

With a heavy focus on wellness, Rosie invited Richard Burnell, Organisational and People Development Specialist and former Chair of the Disability and Long-Term Conditions Network, who spoke to the group. Richard was also present for confidential chats with colleagues, should they have wanted one.

Rosie emphasised that Martin Sadler, Executive Director of IT and Digital, was a “great supporter of the initiative. Last year, we hadn’t all been together for 18 months and the initiative really helped the team.

We wanted to build upon this for 2022 and having the support of Martin helped us so much.”

Colleagues enjoy their activity day at All Saints C of E Primary School

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Rosie’s tips for organising your own team day:

1. Talk to your team to find out what interests them, and what they want to do.

2. Talk to colleagues in other teams to learn what they’ve done and get some ideas.

3. Once you’ve got some ideas and a general theme, build upon it! Add different aspects to the event to ensure it’s inclusive.

4. Make sure to contact with teams at SWBH, such as the Wellness Team, to see if there’s any support they can offer.

5. Look at your budgets to find out what’s available and achievable. Utilise existing resources within SWBH and within the community.

Do you know how to respond to a major incident message?

We’ve all heard of a major incident taking place at one time or another.

News of earthquakes or wildfires is not uncommon. If a tragedy such as a rail disaster or flood took place in our region we’d need to be prepared for it.

We recently carried out a test SMS text message to all registered Trust mobiles and registered personal mobiles for consultants, for our major incident planning.

Unfortunately, less than 10 per cent of registered devices responded with many reporting that they thought the message

was a “hoax” and were unaware they would be contacted in such a way.

It’s important if you receive a major incident (MI) message that you respond. We must know who will be on our sites in the event of an emergency. It also helps us effectively plan for how we’ll deal with any potential incidents.

Speaking to Heartbeat, Philip Stirling, Emergency Planning Officer emphasised the importance of these messages saying: “If we are involved in the response to a

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS major incident we need to notify our colleagues, in particular our clinical colleagues. The Manchester and London attacks were successfully managed in part because they were able to mobilise large numbers of consultants quickly and effectively. We must ensure we can do the same.”

This is what you need to do to get SMS messages:

So, how can you prepare?

Set up a WhatsApp group Your clinical group may have a WhatsApp group or similar system that allows you to contact colleagues quickly. If you don't have one, please consider creating one, particularly if you work in a speciality that could be involved in responding to an incident.

This includes areas such as ED, surgical specialties, obstetrics, paediatrics, anaesthesia, haematology, medicine and radiology.

Follow instructions sent via SMS messages to mobile phones In the event of a major incident, SMS text messages will be sent to all Trust mobiles and individuals who have registered their phone for the service.

1. Create a contact in your address book for the following number: 07860 017535.

Name it as 'SWB Major Incident’, or something similar, so you immediately know the message is critical and needing an urgent and immediate response, and not spam.

2. If you have a Trust mobile, next time you receive a text message from this number please follow the instructions carefully and reply as quickly as possible.

3. Once you've responded to the SMS, follow the information in your speciality action card in the major incident (MI) plan. The action cards are currently being updated.

There are four types of messages you may receive: • Major incident test: This is a test message to ensure that you are receiving messages. Please respond with what has been asked of you in the message. Test messages take place twice a year.

• Major incident standby: This is when an incident is emerging and we may need you to be ready to react to a major incident. This will usually be a fact-finding message to see how long it would take you to get to City or Sandwell Hospital.

• Major incident declared: This means we are asking colleagues to return to active duty. The message will ask you to confirm your name, job role, what site you will be attending and how long it will take you to arrive. This information is vital as there may be road closures. If we have a list of colleagues making their way to either hospital we can allocate staff appropriately.

• Major incident stood down: We will inform colleagues that the major incident has been stood down and normal working patterns will resume.

If you have any queries, please email swbh.eprradmin@nhs.net

Want to relax and unwind in a safe place? Visit the Wellbeing Sanctuary and enjoy a range of free treatments including a massage, meditation and relaxation hypnotherapy.

Call 0121 507 5886 to book your free session today.

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Birmingham brings home the Commonwealth Games This summer, Birmingham shone brightly as it hosted 72 nations as part of the Commonwealth Games (CWG).

The international sporting event drew crowds from far and wide as they enjoyed an array of exciting sports and watched over 5,000 athletes represent their countries and compete for gold.

The organisers seized this opportunity to showcase Birmingham and all it has to offer. We showcased our Dr Sarb Clare, Deputy Medical Director and Acute Physician – Baton Bearer Dr Clare was selected to be one of 2,000 baton bearers. She told us: “Being a baton bearer was such an overwhelming experience, and I was so lucky to kick off the Birmingham leg in the Botanical gardens. The atmosphere was electric, positive, and energising.

Having my family cheering me on was perfect - I felt incredibly proud!

“We got to watch the opening ceremony, and as a massive fan of Duran Duran, it was a highlight. The CWG brought real energy, unity and joy to the city, and I am so grateful I made such wonderful memories.”

Sarah Cooke, Head of Infrastructure - Event Services Team Sarah jumped at the chance to support the games and put in an impressive eight shifts over ten days. She commented: “I supported netball at the NEC Arena, and I did several roles such as general meet and greet, assisting spectators to their seats, and ticket scanning.

“Being able to watch some of the actual games was amazing, but it was helping spectators in small and thoughtful ways, such as setting a chair aside for an elderly lady, that I enjoyed.”

diversity via festivals, street performances and a varied arts and heritage programme, including Abundance, currently located outside Birmingham Treatment Centre.

Our colleagues played an integral part in the games as several people put themselves forward to volunteer in their free time. We caught up with some of our SWB Commonwealth superstars to find out more.

Rachel Falkner, Highly Specialised Clinical Scientist (Neurophysiology) – Medal Ceremony Team Reflecting on her motivation to support the CWG, Rachel said: “Volunteering was a once in a lifetime opportunity with the games coming to my hometown.

“My most memorable moment was carrying the gold medal tray for the men's gold hockey winners presented by HRH Prince Edward, the Duke of Wessex.

I felt proud of all our athletes and honoured to be able to congratulate them and be part of medal ceremonies.

“I met lots of inspiring people, and I felt proud to be a Brummie.

Taking part has given me a new confidence - I'd recommend this to anyone and look forward to volunteering again soon.”

Elizabeth Isaacson – Sister, Resuscitation team – Spectator Nurse “When I realised that the CWG was coming to Birmingham, I jumped at the opportunity to support. I was a spectator nurse at Birmingham Arena, which can hold 7,000 spectators plus staff.

“My background in A&E came in handy, as the workload varied from treating blisters to stabilisation and transferring patients by ambulance.

“The CWG was a fun and enjoyable experience. I'm proud that Birmingham did such a great job hosting the games - I feel part of something very special.”

Cheryl Newton, Group Director of Nursing – Women and Child Health - Transport Cheryl’s role in the games involved dealing with the public arriving, supporting accessible transport to the hockey pitch and squash courts, greeting athletes, alongside arranging cars for families and representatives.

Cheryl explained: “I wanted to give something back to our community. As a proud Brummie, I also wanted to present the Midlands in a positive light, greeting visitors to the city with a warm welcome.

“Meeting Adam Peaty and the English hockey teams, alongside doing high fives with people with the Perry hand as they arrived was lots of fun. There was a real buzz and as a community, we all came together to make the games as successful as it was.”

Prinith de Alwis Jayasinghe, Paediatric Dietitian – Performer Prinith took centre stage in the closing performance for her part in the CWG. “The buzz as we entered and performed our three routines was the most memorable thing for me.

“We had auditions in March and that was the first time I'd danced in a room with others since the pandemic. It was a delight to dance contemporary again.

“I am so proud of Birmingham and the atmosphere created by the other volunteers around the venues. Being South Asian, I love how the closing ceremony told the post-war Birmingham story and the impact Commonwealth communities had on our city since the 50s,both working and adding colour, dance, new styles of music and events like the Daytimers.”

Theresa Hickey, Buyer – Umpire Chair for Event Services Joining the games as a volunteer for the first time, Theresa told us: “I was honoured to help showcase Birmingham in a welcoming light and to be a part of local history.

“There are many unforgettable moments for me. How lovely all the volunteers were to each other was heart-warming. All the extra services from the police, security, armed forces, and special volunteering services were all a pleasure to work with.

“At times I was placed where members of royal families from around the world entered the games. After my shift finished, I got to see sporting events taking place. This whole experience was special for me.”

Aoife Murphy - Senior Radiographer – medical volunteer Using her skills as a radiographer, Aoife supported athletes throughout the games.

She said: “I felt part of a team with the common goal of supporting Birmingham and the athletes.

“I was honoured to meet and shake hands with the UK Health and Social Care Secretary of State, Steve Barclay, when he visited the polyclinic in the games village. We discussed the pivotal role the imaging service played in supporting athletes from across the Commonwealth to perform at their best during the games.

“It was fantastic to meet so many different teams from the Commonwealth countries, make friends with other volunteers and professional contacts. It was a positive experience where I extended my radiography skills as I used the most modern MRI technology.”

Sabrina Ffrench, Nurse – Event Services Team From SWB to centre court, Sabrina experienced it all at the CWG. As part of the event services team, Sabrina welcomed spectators to venues and made the best memories along the way. She said: “I volunteered around my shifts at work to support my department.

My role was to ensure the public had a great time; I even had the opportunity to share information from an umpire chair with a microphone.

“The atmosphere was so much fun. I did everything from looking after spectators to welcoming VIP guests. I met HRH, Prince Edward, Team England Hockey Bronze medallist and BBC presenter Michael Absalom. It was a wonderful experience, and I even got to talk to and have my photo taken with Prince Edward on my last shift.”

Trust rolls out new equipment for patients who have fallen CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Colleagues from the moving and handling team are managing the rollout of new Banana Flojac equipment for inpatients who have fallen on our sites. Sourced by Lesley McDonagh from tissue viability using Trust funds, the machinery replaces the hover jacks currently in use by the Trust. We spoke to Manual Handling Lead Trainer Karen Morsley to find out more about this.

The new Banana Flojac equipment

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Karen said: “The new equipment has many benefits; whilst the old and new machinery are comparable, the new machines are slightly better, with advantages such as a headrest for elevation, a sturdier build, and a larger width”.

The equipment provides an adaptable, one stop solution for safely raising a patient who has fallen to the floor onto either a bed or trolley, whilst reducing the risk on injury to both patient and carer.

Any staff member can access the equipment, whether clinical or non-clinical. There will be four Flojacs at Sandwell Hospital, four at City Hospital, and one at Rowley Regis Hospital.

The moving and handling team have collated data on the most common wards for falls and will be contacting team leaders and managers to house the machinery on such wards.

The moving and handling team have been carrying out training on the new equipment, as advertised through internal communications channels. For more information on the equipment itself, search Banana Flojac online, or contact Karen Morsley with any training or placement enquiries on karen.morsley@nhs.net/ 07973 360225.

Boost your immunity this winter and ward off COVID and flu Colleagues across our Trust will be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccination alongside the seasonal flu vaccination in the coming weeks, giving them another ‘boost’ to immunity before a potential surge of COVID and offer protection from the seasonal flu infection.

With summer winding down, and Autumn in sight, it won’t be long before respiratory infections are on the rise including possibly a surge of COVID and seasonal flu. As in the previous year all colleagues at our Trust will be able to protect themselves with a COVID-19 booster jab and an additional flu vaccination, ensuring they are fully protected.

The lifting of restrictions and the easing of mask mandates is set to test the immunity of all who work in the Trust particularly with patient and colleague facing roles. However, the risk is not just at work and therefore protecting ourselves, our patients and our families is important.

So what do you need to do to protect yourself? Get vaccinated!

Stocks of vaccines for staff are expected to arrive around late September. Vaccination will be administered by the Occupational Health Vaccination Team and peer vaccinators across the hospital sites.

A programme of planned vaccination clinics and mobile clinics will ensure that colleagues out in the community are also able to get vaccinated.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS • It’s important to have vaccinations as soon as possible, it can take up to 2 weeks for your body to build up good level of immunity.

• Our flu vaccines do not contain any porcine or egg content.

Flu and COVID-19 are preventable infections and we’re keen to ensure that everyone is protected and ready to tackle winter safely.

Sign up to be a peer vaccinator

So, will you play your part and get your jabs?

Points to remember:

If you are a qualified nurse, midwife or doctor you can help keep our colleagues and patients safe by becoming a peer vaccinator.

• You can have the flu and show no symptoms meaning you can be unknowingly spreading the virus to your family, friends and our patients.

If this is of interest or for more information, please contact occupational health and wellbeing on ext. 3306 or email carashelton@nhs.net

If you are keen to ensure your colleagues are protected, you can also sign up to be a peer vaccinator!

Celebrating our stars of the week

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Star of the Week Eric Thomas, IT Analyst

Eric was nominated for the weekly accolade by colleagues in the Audiology department who he had supported to migrate over to Office 365.

Nominating Eric for the award, Clinical Scientist Claire Lingard wrote, “Eric was a huge help in getting Audiology transferred over to Sharepoint. He offered to come across to the department and show us precisely what to do. He took the time to understand the folders and permissions we Our Star of the Week for week commencing needed and set up our libraries. He was 15 August 2022 was IT Analyst Eric Thomas. exceptionally patient and supervised us

Star of the Week Olive Johnson, Senior Theatre Practitioner

For week commencing 22 August 2022, the Star of the Week was Olive Johnson, Senior Theatre Practitioner at BMEC Theatres. Olive

was nominated by Laura Young, Directorate Lead Nurse – Ophthalmology, for excelling in her unique role. Laura stated, “Olive is an extremely valued member of the BMEC theatre team, who also has a unique role within the Trust as being a 'Person Designate' to support our Human Tissue Authority license compliance to use Human Tissue within Ophthalmology for a broad range of patients with complex eye health needs. This includes the use of donated eyes for corneal and sclera grafts, amniotic membrane and pericardium.

“BMEC is required to demonstrate its adherence to strict licensing requirements

CORPORATE CORPORATEAND ANDGENERAL GENERAL NEWS NEWS

moving everything across in case there were any problems.

“He even went the extra mile and moved our remaining folders himself whilst on call over the weekend, so we were already ready to go on Monday morning. He contacted us the following week to check that everything was going ok. It was very much appreciated that he took this time to help us and having his support in person was a great reassurance that the move to Sharepoint was going to be a success.”

to maintain our ability to store tissue for our patients and we have had our biennial review with the HTA on 10.08.22. Olive has worked tirelessly since our last inspection to ensure our staff have the knowledge and skills to act within the license, that our tracking and paperwork delivers the need to effectively track tissue from donor to recipient and be an integral member of the HTA Sub Committee, overseeing the HTA activities within BMEC.” Do you know someone in your team that has gone above and beyond the call of duty? Why not put them forward for Star of the Week by visiting Connect.

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Off-duty colleagues swoop to save man with head injury WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH Quick-thinking colleague Fatema Amujee leapt into action on her drive home by delivering care to a man who had fallen off his bike.

The paediatric ward manager, along with two other colleagues happened to be in the right place, at the right time when they spotted a 19-year-old man injured on Newton Road in Great Barr.

She said: “I’d just finished my shift and as I was driving home, I came to the traffic lights on Newton Road and saw someone who had fallen off their bike, lying in the road.

“I’m a nurse, so my gut instinct was that I needed to go and see if he was okay.

Luckily enough, there were two other people also on the scene.”

Shortly afterwards, Fatema discovered they were colleagues at the Trust - one was a doctor and the other a community nurse. She added: “Although it was an unfortunate incident, it was the right timing for three healthcare professionals to be around to support him.

“When we got to the man, he was just about making conversation with us, all he could say was that he hit his head. He wasn’t wearing a helmet and his leg was twisted in his bike. Our priority was to move the bike safely, whilst supporting his leg. Nearby police officers were able to block off the busy road so that the team could work on the patient safely."

Fatema added: “The traffic was crazy and it was a warm day, so we were grateful that the police were there to redirect them.

“We were really worried about the man as he had no helmet on. We didn’t know if he had a head injury or not.

“Although I felt nervous about not having any equipment to hand, myself and the others quickly made the best out of the situation and went into our roles, as we would in a medical emergency because we all have a duty of care.”

As Fatema managed his airway and supported his C-spine, the doctor worked on circulation and making sure his pulse was okay. The nurse performed neuro observations as she luckily had a pen torch.

Fatema Amujee, paediatric ward manager, delivered emergency care along with two other colleagues to a man who’d fallen off his bike Demonstrating good communication, the three medical professionals carried out the ‘ABCDE’ assessment and ensured they kept the conversation going with the man, to prevent him losing consciousness until the emergency services arrived.

Once the emergency services came, they took over the man’s care and got him to the hospital.

Reflecting on the events, Fatema feels fortunate that the medics and police were there to assist not only the man, but each other. She hopes that more people would stop to help others, should they ever be in the situation to do so.

Fatema admitted: “I had pins and needles when I got up after 40 minutes, the doctor

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helped support me until he knew I was okay. It’s quite nice that we have people in the Trust who genuinely care, even outside of work everybody was looking after each other.

“It would be really nice to meet up with the two colleagues to express my gratitude, as I didn’t manage to catch their names in the midst of the emergency on the day.

“The man’s dad gave me a hug before he left, to show he was grateful. I told him I did what I’d do for anybody else.”

Are you the doctor or community nurse who helped Fatema? If so, please contact the Communications department at swbh.comms@nhs.net, we’d love to hear from you.

Paediatric allergy team produce a series of helpful animations The paediatric allergy team have been working with the communications team to produce a series of educational animations for patients.

WOMENS AND CHILD HEALTH

Currently, two videos have been created giving guidance about how to care for a patient who has an allergy to nuts or cow’s milk.

Gill Ashton, a dietitian for the paediatric allergy team said: “Having the information in a video format is extremely useful because it gives patients and their parents a quicker and more engaging way to learn how to manage allergies.”

She added: “People don’t always like to read leaflets and having multiple mediums increases the accessibility of information.

These videos have also been posted on both our YouTube channel and the Trust’s website.”

With digital media becoming increasingly popular, the animations are a key step forward for the Trust’s allergy team. In addition to this, the language used is simple and concise, meaning that people can understand it even if English is not their first language. This makes it accessible to the

A screenshot of the cow’s milk animation diverse range of communities in Birmingham and means that anyone, regardless of their ethnic background, can get the support they need.

The animations are between two and three minutes long and provide important information about how to manage a child’s allergy. This includes checking food labels, taking precautions when going out for meals and identifying available alternative, ‘freefrom’ foods.

Gill explained: “If the patient is allergic to cow’s milk, it is vital that parents are made aware of alternative options so that children can get the nutrients, like calcium, that they need for strong bones and teeth.”

The videos have proved extremely useful for patients and, as a result, the team are currently working on animations for other allergies such as wheat, egg and sesame. If not managed properly, allergies cannot only make a child uncomfortable, but seriously ill. In the worst case, they can lead to anaphylactic shock which is life threatening.

Dr Nick Makwana, a paediatric allergy consultant, said: “The number of children with food allergies is increasing which means it is very important that patients are provided with suitable guidance on how to manage them.

“Allergies can be very confusing because carers do not always know what precautions to take. The animations we have created aim to reduce some of this ambiguity and overall, make parents feel more equipped to look after their child.”

To watch the animations, go to https://youtu.be/dHZnrNdmhjI and https://youtu.be/QACVbdtQKJ4.

Have you got a story?

MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY CARE

We’d love to hear from you if you have…

• An event or special occasion in your department • If you work with an inspirational colleague • Does your department do something that makes a real difference to our patients?

Please get in touch if you’d like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Heartbeat!

Email swbh.comms@nhs.net to submit your story idea.

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Carol thanks breast screening service for lifesaving check-up IMAGING A previous patient of SWB, Carol O’Neill, recently reached out to the trust to say thank you for a routine appointment which ended up saving her life.

A number of years ago, she was contacted by the breast screening service via her GP, inviting her for a routine screening appointment. Carol said: “I knew that there are six signs to look for with breast cancer – I used to check myself regularly and never found anything. When the service notified me about booking a mammogram appointment, I went ahead with it. After the screening showed something, I had a biopsy and was told I had stage 4, aggressive breast cancer.

“When I was told, I didn’t cry, but my husband did. I then had to tell my four children, which was very emotional. I told them, ‘I’m going to be okay, I will do this and get well, for as long as it takes’. I had a single mastectomy and went on to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

“The staff at City Hospital breast unit were wonderful – everyone they care for is well looked after. We had our own little support group, knowing nurses by name, talking to other patients on drips: it sounds silly, but I enjoyed going there.

The staff were truly outstanding, as were Church Road GP surgery. My doctor was my rock, calling regularly to ask how I was doing. On top of this, of course, my husband and kids were wonderful.”

Carole got in touch with SWB at a recent Commonwealth Sports Day being held by the GP surgery. Health Promotions Specialist Claire Murphy was in attendance, and spoke with Carol about her story.

Claire said: “I did a presentation at Church Road Surgery in Aston, run

by Dr Sarwar. They invited me along to a Commonwealth Sports day, and Dr Sarwar spoke about healthy mind, healthy diet, and diabetes, while I spoke about breast cancer screening.

“I spoke at length with Carol who was diagnosed with breast cancer through the screening programme, and she was extremely thankful and had lovely positive comments about not only the breast screening service, but her treatment which stretched through Covid.”

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Carol O'Neill on her way to a chemotherapy appointment Discussing the service itself, Claire stated: “We have screening and assessment sites at City and Walsall Manor, and five mobile screening units in the community. Ladies are invited for screening from the age of 50 until 71: those over 71 can continue to attend, but need to self-refer. As well as screening, we encourage women to be breast aware and to check every month.

“If a GP refers a woman to a static site with any symptoms, they go through our rapid access service. Another pathway is through mobile screening, where women can be recalled through the unit.

“A big part of my job is to build relationships with GPs and ensure a smooth pathway through the system. We’re currently sending out open invitations, inviting women to ring

and book, and uptake is good. We work closely with GP surgeries, sending out GP endorsed letters in 10 languages according to preferred language records. We also send out reminder texts via GPs to reduce appointment DNAs.” Speaking about her experience of the service, Carol said she wants to encourage as many women as possible to attend their mammograms and stay on top of checking for symptoms.

“I wouldn’t be here without the service and the team will always be in my heart for saving my life. Five years on, I’m here and happy. I want to encourage everyone to please attend your mammogram: I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t.”

Life-saving bowel cancer screening programme extended SURGICAL SERVICES “We are investing in a campaign at West Bromwich Albion Football Club and will be attending Birmingham Pride to promote awareness.

“We've also set up a Bowel Cancer Screening Facebook page for information about new events and updates.”

The FIT test is highly sensitive and is completed at home. However, the barrier is that participants don't like the handling of stool and may not understand the importance of the test.

Staff from the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, with the giant inflatable bowel

The team behind the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) have become one of the first in the country to be testing people from the age of 56.

Eligible patients are sent a Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT), which looks for tiny traces of blood in a sample of the person’s poo, which could be a sign of cancer.

This is normally posted out to 60 to 74-yearolds but has now been expanded in our catchment area of Sandwell, West Birmingham and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham to include a younger cohort. Figures show that uptake of the test in those areas is low,

particularly in the black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

The team aims to increase the uptake in these communities; this includes working closely with GP practices where there is reluctance to take the test. They’ve been holding face-to-face and virtual team meetings to discuss strategies that increase uptake, and they’ve also been out into the community with their giant inflatable bowel to raise awareness.

Michelle Scott Harris, Bowel Cancer Screening Practitioner, said: “To increase uptake in certain areas, resources have been made available for GPs, detailing their uptake and ‘how-to FIT test’ videos to display in waiting areas.

Research has also found that people not completing their test were those living in multi-generational living environments; family discussions led to a lack of understanding of the importance of the test.

As a result the service aims to target the family as a whole and as well as individuals.

FIT testing is important as it can detect signs of cancer early on. It means treatment can be started immediately increasing the chances of survival. It will also save the NHS money in the reduction of emergency presentations, emergency surgery and advanced cancer patients needing longterm palliative care.

If any of the resources, uptake figures or initiatives are of interest, contact BSCP on 0121 507 3874.

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Surgery saves child’s eye SURGICAL SERVICES An emergency surgery around the left eye of a child has recently been successfully performed, saving the young patient's eyesight and helping them maintain a high quality of life for the future.

The surgery took place on a Saturday evening earlier in the summer, taking a total of around three hours to complete.

The procedure specifically performed was a left orbital abscess drainage to drain pus collection from the left orbit: the space around and behind the left eyeball.

The ophthalmic team who successfully completed the surgical procedure was made up of Mr Prashant Oberoi, Orbit and Oculoplastics Consultant and Mr Alexander Mitchell, Oculoplastics fellow. They were also accompanied by an ENT specialist who would later performance sinus drainage and other anaesthetists and nursing colleagues who would offer a helping hand.

Prashant, who stepped in to help a fellow consultant in managing the case, played a pivotal role in the management of the orbital emergency.

He said: “The child had severe orbital cellulitis which is a severe infection of the tissues around the eye and contained within the bony orbit there was the formation of an abscess.”

Drainage of such an abscess is urgently indicated in such situations and Mr Oberoi went beyond the call of duty by stepping in to perform the surgery on a Saturday night in order to help his colleagues and to prevent delay of the urgently needed procedure.

The abscess was drained successfully and, when asked about the surgery post procedure, Prashant said: “I feel very gratified that I and the team based at BMEC were able to successfully carry out this challenging procedure that night.

“I feel happy that I was able to help the child and also help my colleagues during this challenging time. This was a real team effort involving ophthalmology, paediatrics, anaesthetics, ENT and theatres. All of the teams came together to help this child."

Huge thank you to Mr Prashant Oberoi, Mr Alexander Mitchell and the other clinical colleagues who saved this child’s vision.

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Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre, which receives referrals from across the region

Stroke services to host workshop to help redesign pathway Our stroke service, which runs at both our Sandwell and City sites, is holding an event to help shape how care is given to patients.

The engagement event will be hosted on Thursday 8 September at Greets Green Access Centre. The team are encouraging those who have suffered a stroke, or cared for someone who has had a stroke to attend, with the aim of gaining knowledge and feedback to improve services in the future.

In England, the number of hospital admissions per year due to stroke is approximately 126,000 and they happen to be occurring at an earlier age.

Norman Pate was a patient at Sandwell and had a stroke a few months ago.

He said: “I had a stroke twelve weeks ago, I had been brought to Sandwell Hospital where the care has been absolutely fantastic, I couldn’t fault it one bit. They look after you and they’re one hundred per cent behind what they do, it’s been brilliant.

“I think it’s really important for people to have a voice on how the stroke services in this hospital work. Go along to the event in September and have your say.”

Clair Finnemore, Therapy Lead for Stroke Services is playing a vital role in helping organize the workshop.

She said: “We are holding this workshop because we’d like to hear the views of patients and carers about the services and how they should be shaped.

MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY CARE “We feel that the workshop is set at the right time for us to prepare and improve before we move to the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Spring 2024.

“We would encourage those wishing to take part to come along to our engagement event and have their say.”

Your Stroke Services department would love to hear from you; if you would like to share your views please attend the workshop. To book a place, call 0121 507 2671 or email swbh.engagement@nhs.net.

Norman Pate, a stroke service patient

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SWB and St Giles Trust begin offering violence intervention service MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY CARE Across the Trust we’re seeing an increase in partnership working, which aims to facilitate a smooth pathway through the healthcare system. This doesn’t just apply to medical care: some vulnerable young people require support with their lifestyle as well as their health, and the hospital setting provides a unique opportunity to reach this group.

Working in conjunction with St Giles Trust, SWB is now offering a violence intervention service across three A&E departments. The aim of the intervention service is to offer timely and tailored support to young people aged 11-25 who have been a victim of a violent attack (youth, gang, and domestic violence) and have attended the A&E department. The service aims to support them to establish lifestyles that move them away from gang activity, violence, crime, and victimisation.

Since 2014 St Giles Trust have been successfully delivering this service to vulnerable young people admitted to the Royal London Hospital’s Major Trauma Centre, and since 2019 in Wolverhampton A&E, and Coventry A&E. The latest project is within Russell’s Hall Hospital, Dudley; the project started in September 2020 with a total of 30 young people supported so far.

As of August 2022, both Sandwell General Hospital and Birmingham City Hospital have caseworkers embedded in the A&E departments, taking referrals from clinicians for young people that have been the victims of serious youth violence. The staff are predominantly people with lived experience, who have the necessary credibility and cultural competence to effectively engage with young people who are scared, at risk, worried about the criminal justice system and in some cases groomed to reject support.

The intervention is powerful due to its use in the Reachable/Teachable Moment. This is when a young person is receptive to support and leaving behind a dangerous, destructive lifestyle for good. Caseworkers engage with the injured people as soon as they are in a stable condition and start the processes of working with them.

Help doesn’t end at discharge: post discharge support will be offered to

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Sandwell Hospital Violence Intervention Service Team ensure young people are linked in with key services. Work continues with every young person in the community following their discharge from hospital. If a young person in need has been missed, the service can use clinical coding to redirect people into the service.

Working alongside clinical staff on a case-bycase basis, caseworkers are able to empower the young people to reject an ongoing cycle of violence. With a shared commitment to safeguarding, colleagues can ensure young people receive the support they need, be it addressing barriers that have led to them becoming a gang member (poverty, peer pressure, exploitation), re-establishing contact with family, or engagement with education, training, and employment opportunities.

For example, in July 2022 a 21 year old man was referred to SWB due to mental health difficulties. Colleagues noted his vulnerability and referred to him a caseworker, who offered him help from St Giles Trust: he was not in education, employment or training and had received no mental health support since being discharged from CAMHS aged 17. Over the last month, he has been setting goals with his caseworker and is now moving towards securing mental health support, applying for jobs according to his goals, and expanding his skillset through training.

Referrals will be accepted via staff with the A&E department at both Sandwell and City Hospital, with a caseworker now present in each hospital to act as the first point of contact for St Giles. Training sessions will be taking place soon, enabling healthcare workers to know exactly what they’re looking for and confidently refer patients to the service, and posters will be going up across both sites.

If you’re working within a hospital setting and you feel a patient would benefit from a referral to the service, please see the contact details below: West Midlands Community Delivery Manager Fiona Slym Mobile number - 07525234991 Team Manager Gemma Miller Mobile Number - 07590444172 Caseworker Scott Firkins Mobile Number - 07387411019 Caseworker Ashmeade Meikle Mobile Number - 07392313044

Skin Cancer: Fact vs. Fiction PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES AND THERAPIES Over recent weeks, we’ve been battling the sun over the course of a couple of separate heatwaves. This makes many of us think about protecting our skin, but there are many common misconceptions surrounding all things sun and skin. We spoke with Anne Rutland, Specialist Skin Cancer Nurse, to learn more about the subject and separate fact from fiction.

FICTION: Black and Asian people can’t get skin cancer Oftentimes, people with darker skin tones – types 5 or 6 – may not know that they are prone to skin cancer, just like people with lighter complexions. Though a higher amount of melanin in the skin does indicate more protection from the sun, it doesn’t make people immune; in fact, data shows that black people have lower survival rates from skin cancer than Caucasian people, as it is often diagnosed at a later stage due to people not initially noticing irregularities.

Certain immunosuppressant medications and immunodeficiencies can cause melanoma on the soles of the feet or palms of the hand and melanoma can also appear under nails or elsewhere on the body. It’s really important that people of all skin tones protect their skin from the sun and regularly check their skin; ask someone for help with this.

FICTION: You only need to wear SPF on sunny days Anne emphasised that we are prone to sun damage year-round, on any bright day. Whilst we’re more at risk on days when UV is high, any time spent in the sun can result in sun damage, even through winter. Anne notes that even snowy days present risk; snow actually reflects sun back onto our skin. We should be taking care of our skin with a decent SPF – Anne recommends factor 50+ – as part of our daily routine. She recommends to “build it into your morning: after you’ve showered or applied moisturiser, put SPF on any part of your body that will be exposed to the sun. It should be something that you just do on a daily basis, like brushing your teeth”.

FICTION: All clothes protect you from the sun Whilst staying covered up is great advice, it’s important to recognise that not all clothing provides protection from the sun.

Certain fabrics, such as microfibre or mesh, provide little to no protection and people can burn through them, meaning their skin is getting long-term damage from the sun. What’s worse is that these fabrics are often used to make sports clothing, meaning it’s much more likely that people buying such items will be spending prolonged periods in the sun.

If you run, cycle, walk, or play sports outdoors, make sure you’re choosing fabrics with good sun protection. Tighter weaves, darker colours, loose fits, and synthetic fabrics tend to offer better protection from the sun. If you’re unsure, hold the garment up to light: if you can see the sun through the clothing, the sun can reach your skin through the fabric. You can also buy clothing with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF), which guarantees the fabric protects your skin.

FACT: Serious sunburns increase your likelihood of skin cancer There are different types of sun rays, referred to as UVA and UVB. Anne says to remember this by thinking of ‘A for Ageing’ and ‘B for Burning’ (though they don’t really stand for this). UVA rays cause long-term skin damage, ageing, and melanoma. UVB rays cause burning. If you spend half an hour in the sun and your skin darkens, what you see is the impact of the UVB rays. What you don’t see is 30 minutes of UVA rays causing long-term damage.

Paler people are more prone to skin cancer as their skin has less protection, and it’s really important to protect skin from birth. Two blistering sunburns double a person’s likelihood of getting skin cancer at some point in their life, and childhood sunburns can increase an individual’s likelihood of skin cancer later in life.

FACT: Any natural tan is skin damage Whilst a tan may not cause the pain and discomfort associated with a sunburn, it doesn’t mean it’s harmless. Anne notes that “a tan represents damage to the DNA in skin cells – there is no such thing as a healthy tan”. The increase in melanin shows itself as a darker skin tone over the course of 48 hours, which is a visual representation of sun damage. Over time, damage can accumulate and cause skin cancer. Whilst, as previously noted, sunburns increase the likelihood of skin cancer, Anne stated that “it’s a common misconception that people get skin cancer after a sunburn or two.

What people need to pay attention to is their time spent in the sun over the course of their life.” Trips to the shop, dinner or drinks outdoors, walks around the park, time spent in the car or on public transport – all of these activities can cause sun damage, which over time can lead to skin cancer. It’s crucial to protect our skin during these periods spent in the sun not just when sunbathing.

FACT: It’s important to check skin often for irregularities In the patients that Anne sees in her clinics, she states that often people have come in after a friend, partner or family member has noticed something on their skin and told them to get it checked.

This happens more frequently in summer, where people may be wearing less clothing, but we should be staying on top of this year-round. Anne recommends checking your skin every three months, paying attention to moles or anything new. There are three major types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma.

BCC is the least life-threatening and can be treated within a year – it’s produced within basal cells, which produce new skin cells as old ones die off. BCCs often appear as slightly transparent raised bumps on the skin. SCC develops in the squamous cells, which make up the middle and outer skin layers, and can be aggressive.

They’re faster growing than BCCs, needing to be treated quicker, and can look like firm lumps with rough or crusted surfaces.

Melanomas are the rarer but one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer, requiring quick and serious treatment. They grow quickly, developing within an existing mole or appearing suddenly as a dark spot on the skin.

If you are worried about any marks or spots on your skin which cannot heal, please get them checked by your GP – try not to delay if you have any suspicion. It is better to be told it is fine than leave something which can develop.

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Pulse

If you have a story you would like to appear on the Pulse page, please email a photo and a short explanation to swbh.comms@nhs.net

News in brief from around our organisation

Children and young people enjoy outdoor activity day organised by our paediatric diabetes service.

The paediatric diabetes service recently arranged an outdoor activities day for 17 children and young people who have diabetes, aged 12-16. The service, led

by Dr Chizo Agwu includes paediatric diabetes consultants, specialist nurses, dietitians, and a child psychologist.

The team care for the children from a clinical perspective and believe in a holistic approach, organising events to benefit the children. For the outdoor activity day, the children were able to take part in ziplining, canoeing, archery and a woodland treasure hunt game (Geocaching). The team showed them how to exercise safely with diabetes: the children checked their blood sugar levels at arrival to make sure they were in optimum condition, treating themselves appropriately if necessary.

Dr Agwu stated: “It shows them having diabetes shouldn’t hold them back, and that they can lead a full, normal life. Some of the children in attendance have four injections a day, and some have insulin pumps or sensors.

This was an opportunity for them to have fun and to do so safely.”

The day had a positive effect on the children

in attendance, who were able to make connections with each other. The parent of one girl, previously struggling to come to terms with her condition, said her daughter “now feels so differently about her diabetes. It was so helpful for her to meet so many other young people with the condition, just getting on with their lives and having fun”.

Kelly Papavarnava Deputy Group Director of Nursing (Surgical Services) This month we say hello to Kelly Papavarnava - Deputy Group Director of Nursing - Surgical Services (DGDON).

Kelly joined SWB in March 2022 and being DGDON entails being the clinical lead for surgical services and theatres, focusing on standardisation across all theatres in preparation for our move to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), workforce, recruitment and retention. We caught up with her to find out more.

Kelly told us: “I have been a registrant for 21 years - I trained in the West Midlands. I am a dual registrant - a qualified nurse and midwife.

My background is predominantly surgery, and I've previously worked in research as the lead nurse in Wolverhampton.

Kelly Papavarnava

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“More recently, I have worked in surgery for the last six years, completing my Advanced Clinical Practice MSc, further working as a

surgical advanced clinical practitioner. This course allowed me to further develop my skills and knowledge in clinical practice, leadership and management, plus education and research.”

Midland Met plays a vital part in Kelly’s role as surgical services will be moving to our new hospital when it opens in 2024. “MMUH will offer us new, improved and modern facilities, something our team will benefit from,” Kelly told us. “From a theatres viewpoint, we are starting to work with our theatre colleagues across all three sites focusing on theatre standardisation, development of new theatre rotas and integration of staff from all across our sites.

“It will also mean an improved working environment which will benefit patients. Plus, we’ll be able to work more collaboratively with colleagues on one site dedicated to acute care.”

Wave goodbye to…

Joanna O’Donoghue, Senior Occupational Therapist at Leasowes Intermediate Care Centre will be retiring after 27 years with the Trust.

“I’m not the most IT savvy person however the majority of our health care systems are IT based so you have to learn to adapt and use them to be able to do your job to the best of your ability.”

“I first came to work at Sandwell General Hospital in 1995 as an occupational therapist in hand therapy, rheumatology and trauma and orthopaedics,” said Joanne.

She added: “Without the support of my amazing colleagues in Intermediate Care Therapies, and Leasowes my role would definitely have been tougher.”

“This was long before NHS Trust came into being.”

A career which spans over a 27-year period will have many formative experiences however one in particular still stand out to Joanna.

Having worked across multiple sites at SWB, Joanna has faced many challenges.

She said: “Having worked in all clinical areas expect stroke, paediatrics and community therapies, I have faced many obstacles during my nearly three-decade career.

Senior Occupational Therapist

“With that being said, one of my most difficult challenges has to be staying current with IT and technology.

It was the year 1995: Take That were number one in charts with Never Forget, Casper was the number one hit movie in the cinemas and Joanne came to work at SWB.

As the years passed Sandwell merged with City and became SWB. As a result of the merger, SWB and the NHS as a whole made occupational health more of a priority as the service played a fundamental role in ensuring a smooth patient journey, from rapid response, through to bed-based Intermediate Care as well as community-based services.

Joanna O’Donoghue

“One of my first patients was a man who was involved in a major industrial accident. Seeing him from his first plastic surgery appointment right through to visiting his workplace and supporting him back to work was truly rewarding. He really did make me understand the power occupational therapy can have on a person’s life.”

As part of her retirement, Joanna will be supporting a local charity which helps people who are blind as well as taking time to relax.

Happy retirement Joanna!

Joanna O'Donoghue

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Letters, of less than 200 words please, can be sent to the Communications Department, Trust Headquarters, Sandwell Hospital or by email to swb–tr.SWBH–GM–Heartbeat@nhs.net

YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD Can we make uniform policy changes permanent?

What's happening with protected mealtimes?

Dear Heartbeat,

Dear Heartbeat,

First off, I must say thank you to SWB for relaxing our uniform policy during the hot weather. However, are we are experiencing more hot weather more often due to climate change and what not, wouldn’t it be better and more easier just to do a more relaxed uniform policy during the summer months of June – September? I know the initial response will be we have standards to maintain etc. however during this heat it is so hard to work as it is as this would go a long way in helping staff during the hottest months. Its easy for an exec or boss to enforce these rules but I ask them, come and work on some of our older wards which aren’t well ventilated and are out of date for a week and then see if you would still enforce the uniform during the hot weather. I understand that when we move to our new hospital which is alleged to be 2024 this won’t be an issue but until then surely a relaxed uniform policy should be in place especially in the old wards?

Please can we get some clarity on what we should be doing during protected mealtimes as we are increasingly finding that we have patients booked in for imaging and diagnostic scans during mealtimes.

Kind regards

Paul Hocknell

Anonymous Dear Anonymous, Thank you for your letter and I am pleased to hear your feedback about the relaxation of the uniform policy during the hot weather. We are currently reviewing our current uniform policy and what you suggest is one of the areas we are considering being part of the new policy as is the availability of lightweight uniforms for the summer months.

The policy is due out later this year and I would be happy to reflect your points as part of the discussions.

Kind regards Melanie Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer

Will a payrise apply to us all?

Dear Heartbeat, So having spoken to a few people on the wards I’m hearing that the NHS pay rise is only for clinical staff. Do you know if this is true? I have done some research online and have found conflicting information. Some websites say it is for everyone, others say only nurses. If you could confirm what the truth and if indeed it will be back dated back to April that would be great. We are all living in difficult times with the cost of living going up so it would be nice to know how much money I will be getting paid going forward in my job.

Kind regards Anonymous Dear Anonymous, Thanks for your letter; I understand your concerns in light of the current situation and am aware that the information can be confusing. In this instance, there is a quick and simple answer - an NHS payrise would apply to anybody on Agenda for Change terms, whether in a clinical or non-clinical role.

Any payrise would be backdated to April 2022.

Kind regards Frieza Mahmood, Chief People Officer

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As porters we’re requested to help get patients to their scans but we often find ourselves stuck in the middle, with imaging on a tight schedule trying to fit as many people in and ward teams who are unwilling to accommodate any changes and insistent that protected meal times are just that.. protected. The result is that we end up having to take patients to their scans, and they inevitably end up missing their meals. This isn’t helpful to supporting their recovery and it falls far short of our standards. The evidence of the issues in scheduling are there, and as a portering teams we have seen this getting worse. What should we do?

Kind regards

Dear Paul, Thank you very much for your letter – you raise a very important issue.

Protected mealtimes are a period of time set aside for lunch and dinner when all non-essential activities on the wards will stop. The nurses, healthcare assistants and family members are available to serve the food and give help to patients who may need it. This will prevent unnecessary interruptions to mealtimes. It is one of our fundamentals of care.

The presentation of food in hospitals is important to ensure that meals are tempting, even to those with the poorest appetites. The only true measure of success is how much food is eaten. Protected mealtimes were introduced to help our patients get the most nutrition and benefit from the food provided.

We are currently discussing this issue with the imaging department so that we can find a balance on both sides to ensure our inpatients receive the scans they need but are also able to get the right nutrition at the right time to aid their recovery. Protected mealtimes will be relaunched over the next 12 months as part of our new Patient Strategy – Fundamentals of Care.

Kind regards Melanie Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer

Richard talks about: Our new Trust values Richard Beeken, Chief Executive

RICHARD'S LAST WORD We always said that our new Trust Strategy and 3 objectives, would be unlikely to be delivered unless it was underpinned by key things.

Clearly, delivering the Midland Met and developing our approach to research and development are two of those. But another, critical underpinning thing was our Trust values. In other words, the values and behaviours that will define how we do things round here, not just what we do.

I am really pleased that we have now settled on our new Trust values which are: Ambition We’re ambitious for our communities. We want to make a difference, improving life chances and health outcomes. We’re ambitious for our people. We want them to be happy here, to feel supported to achieve their own goals and ambitions. We’re ambitious for our Trust, open to new ideas, developing new technology and treatments to provide the best possible care.

Working together, and alongside our partners to continually improve.

Respect We’re a place of inclusivity. We value, celebrate and draw strength from the diversity among us, and in our communities.

This is what makes us special. Our people and our patients feel listened to. Everyone’s voice counts. We’re a place where people feel safe to speak up knowing their voices will be heard. Respect and dignity for everyone.

Compassion We’re a welcome, friendly Trust. We have care, kindness and compassion at our heart. For us, everyone matters. We’re a place where compassion is not just for our patients and their families, but a right for all of us. Our people are amazing, meeting challenges head on. They put patients first, day after day, to deliver the best care they can.

These values will and should run through everything we do as an organisation, as a team and as an employee. These values were developed through extensive consultation with colleagues right across the organisation as well as through engagement sessions with patient groups who told us what was important to them.

They will be used to recruit our people, to appraise our people and will be used to hold each other to account when our approaches are not consistent with those values.

The values will be accompanied by a set of behaviours and, as I write this, we are asking everyone in the organisation to choose the top three behaviours that best embody these values. We will hold each other to account over these behaviours that will act as a code of conduct for us all.

The values are the last piece in our overarching framework that brings together our purpose, our vision and our strategic objectives. In order to deliver on our ambitious objectives we need a set of delivery plans. These include the Trust’s People Plan which will be the focus of our Trust leader’s conference in September.

Purpose To improve life chances and health outcomes

Vision To be the most integrated health care provider

Our values Ambition, Respect, Compassion

It also includes our of Care framework, OurFundamentals strategic objectives: The 3 Ps for our “Patients” objective, which sets out the standards that we should expect everyone times when providing patient Patientsto follow at all People Population care. Our Fundamentals of Care framework has been shaped by colleagues and patients over the past few weeks and it will be launched during September.

To be good or To cultivate and sustain Fundamentals Approach outstanding in of Care happy, productive and everything we do

Our framework has three components: • Our ARC Values • 7 Fundamentals of Care Standards, adapted from best practice and shaped with staff and community • 6 work streams to achieve our Patient strategic objective and bring the change together triangulated with We Assure and We Learn

engaged staff

To work seamlessly ARC to with ourOur partners Values at the improve lives heart of what we do

Sandwell a West Birmingh NHS

7 Fundamentals of Care Standards

6 Work Streams

We know that we have areas of clinical best practice across the Trust that we should celebrate and learn from. However, we also know, that at times our care falls short of the standards that our patients and their families deserve. The key word here is “consistency”. I often hear from grateful families about the outstanding care that a relative has received, but I also hear and see, too frequently, about occasions where the care has been not good enough. I pick this up from signing off all our responses to formal complaints received by the Trust.

Fundamentals of Care will be the framework that we will work to, to assure ourselves of the quality of care that is being provided at all times, and to enable us to reach further to continually improve these care standards. That is, in part, what the “Ambition” value is about.

There is much still to do at our Trust, as we continue to develop plans to deliver our strategic objectives. We are making progress that we should be proud of. We have a new primary care strategy that aims to forge closer links with colleagues in primary care networks and GP surgeries; our community services provision is transforming how people are cared for at home with frailty intervention teams, virtual wards and the care navigation centre..

These new ways of working will make a real difference in the quality of care people receive, avoiding the need for a hospital stay wherever possible. That will drive our “Population” objective.

Of course, it is not just what we do, but it is also how we do it, which will mark our success. Our new values will support us in being a stronger organisation because we hold ambition, respect and compassion at the heart of our work. I am excited to see how these values will support a culture where everyone is valued and listened to, where people are given the opportunities to grow and develop and where the care we provide to all is truly good or outstanding.

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Wesleyan Foundation donates £35K to benefit children at Midland Met YOUR TRUST CHARITY

“We want to do as much as we can to encourage our young patients, and any siblings they may have, to seek, find, and learn through play. These funded activities are also particularly beneficial for young patients with physical and sensory disabilities, where they can play and forget about their treatment.”

The money goes to the “We Are Metropolitan” fundraising campaign, which seeks to raise £2 million towards added-value activities for the new hospital. These include projects such as new community spaces and enhancing research and development.

 @SWBHCharity To donate to the Your Trust Charity text “SWBH16 £5” to 70070 The Wesleyan Foundation, the charitable arm of a of leading financial firm Wesleyan, has donated £35,000 to boost the children’s area in Midland Met. The Foundation, based in Birmingham, gifted the money to Your Trust Charity, the registered charity of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.

Nathan Wallis, Chief of Staff at Wesleyan said: “We are very pleased to be supporting Your Trust Charity in creating a welcoming and healing environment for young patients at their new hospital.

This will help the lives of so many children

and young people in Sandwell and West Birmingham. Not only will they receive world-class care, but their experience in the hospital will be greatly enhanced.”

Mr Wallis added: “As a financial service mutual for teachers and doctors it is very important for us to support the things that matter most to our customers and supporting the We Are Metropolitan campaign is a fantastic example.”

Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity, added: “As ever we are grateful to all who fundraise for the charity. We remain on track to achieve our target for our We Are Metropolitan fundraising campaign.

However, we still need local businesses and our community to help us get to £2 million by the time our hospital opens.

To make the Midland Met more than a hospital, we must continue raising these much-needed funds.”

It will fund a play unit and interactive artwork in the children’s ward at the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, due to open in 2024.

The donation has naturally been well received by colleagues across the trust. Dr Nick Makwana, Consultant Paediatrician at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, said: “This fantastic generosity from the Wesleyan Foundation will help us provide an even greater level of care for our children and young people. This money will be used to create a homecorner play unit and an interactive artwork display within our children’s ward.

Midland Met Hospital

August 2022 staff lottery results 1st £159.00

2nd £95.40

3rd £63.60

Asha Saddiq

Anon

Kirsty Payton

Don’t forget that Your Trust Charity lottery costs just £1 a month and anyone who works for the Trust can join. Payment is deducted from your wages each month. To take part email johnny.shah@nhs.net.