Embracing diversity: A celebration of Vaisakhi and Rama Navami

Corporate And General News

Earlier this month colleagues across the organisation were able to join in with a joint celebration event organised by our Trust chaplaincy team. This special occasion brought together the vibrant cultures and traditions of Vaisakhi and Rama Navami, showcasing the rich diversity within our Trust. The event not only shed light on the significance of these festivals but also provided an opportunity for colleagues to meet and engage with our dedicated Hindu and Sikh chaplains.

Vaisakhi is a significant festival celebrated by Sikhs, marking the birth of the

Khalsa and the harvest season. Rama Navami, on the other hand, is a Hindu festival that commemorates the birth of Lord Rama, the embodiment of righteousness and virtue. Both celebrations are deeply rooted in spirituality, community, and the triumph of good over evil.

Our Trust chaplaincy team recognised the importance of embracing these diverse cultural celebrations and fostering understanding among staff members. The joint event was a testament to our commitment to inclusivity and respect for all faiths. Colleagues had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the colourful festivities, gaining a deeper appreciation for the cultural heritage of their colleagues.

Mary Causer, Lead Chaplain, expressed her joy and appreciation for the event, saying: “The joint celebration of Vaisakhi and Rama Navami exemplifies the vibrant unity of our diverse community. It is through such gatherings that we foster connections, deepen our understanding, and strengthen the bonds that hold us together. Let us continue to celebrate our differences and create an environment of harmony and respect.

“We encourage all colleagues to take the opportunity to pop in and meet our chaplains. They are an invaluable resource, providing spiritual guidance, support, and a listening ear for anyone in need. Their presence contributes to the holistic wellbeing of our organisation and ensures that every individual feels seen, heard, and valued.”

For more information on what the chaplaincy team can support you with, contact the team on 0121 507 3552.

Over the past several months we have celebrated winners of the 2022 Star Awards, recognising them for their hard work and the positive impact this has had on our people, patients and population.

We’ve spoken directly with the winners to get their views and hear what winning meant to them. For the final month’s Our Winners, we met with SWB’s Employee of the Year, Matron for District Nursing, Andrew Churm.

Andy first stepped into his role in 2020, in a seconded position within iCares. His focus was the community COVID-19 response, specifically looking after community swabbing and running testing clinics in outbreak areas. He ran teams across two sites; Little Lane at Sandwell and Summerfield car park at City. At the former site, the community outbreak response was commissioned by the local authority, who instructed SWB to set up a team and work to stop the spread of COVID-19 across areas where outbreaks had been reported. Andy took charge of this, building a team and managing the process of getting out and testing communities en masse.

He stated that this experience was, somewhat unexpectedly, an exciting highlight of his career: “We had an unmistakable vision and sense of purpose, which resulted in a strong and dedicated team. Owing to the nature of the team, there were no previous dynamics – within our roles, we were somewhat transient as we knew we were working on a specific project.

“This meant we could have fun with it, and there was a lot of team camaraderie.”

Andy thought back to a specific example in which the team were sent to a meat processing plant in Tipton that had experienced an outbreak. He utilised skills gained in previous work experience to meet the demand, stating: “Oddly enough, I fell back on my experience working at KFC! We ran the testing centre like a drive through, giving each team member an individual role and processing people through the ‘line’, setting up swabbing pods.”

This innovative approach enabled the team to swab 750 people in three days with a team of just eight colleagues carrying out this massive task. This was one of the first outbreaks the team were responding to, and the success of the approach was key. Andy stated: “We could see that the methodology worked, and this meant we could replicate the approach at volume. It was really time-critical work, as we needed the results back as quick as possible to prevent the spread of the virus and to ensure those that needed to isolate knew about it promptly.”

In addition, around Christmas 2021 Andy’s team was asked to support with the winter wave of COVID-19 vaccines for housebound patients in Sandwell. Linking up with the vaccination team at Tipton Sports Centre, he worked to establish the best method to launch a home-based vaccine programme. This spanned multiple areas, including maximising the number of vaccines from each vial to transporting them safely. They vaccinated around 100 people in total, many of whom were highly vulnerable.

This isn’t Andy’s first Star Award win – he was Digital Leader of the Year in 2019, and he thinks this digital focus helped him clinch the award in 2022. As the digital lead for iCares, he focused on SystmOne, which provides electronic health records for every patient, ensuring this worked effectively for district nurses. He helped to streamline the system, updating clinical information, and in 2021 completed a successful business case on autoscheduling software for district nurses. The team carry out around 800 visits a day and allocate a great deal of resource to scheduling alone. Andy’s focus has been on aligning SystmOne with the new Allocate system; the scheduling software is able to go into an e-roster to see who is on duty and then assign visits to district nurses based on expertise. This new system will be rolled out by the end of 2023.

Moving forward, Andy is keen to build upon his work in digital. In October last year he began studying for an MSc in health data science at the University of Birmingham, with the aim of helping to bridge the gap between clinical and digital, and to understand what the possibilities are in terms of machine learning and AI.

“I’m learning to programme in R and python, which is a challenge, but I’m doing well. I’d love to go into digital health leadership at a regional or national level: I want to be part of the future of the NHS.”

He states the win itself was surreal, and kickstarted a fulfilling part of his life: “On the night, I remember the cheer that I got. It felt humbling and unreal.

“I won the award on 7 October and then started my MSc on 10 October. One month later, I married my long term partner Ian. To be honest, it just really felt like I was winning at life! Getting that award knocked me off my feet and to say it was lovely doesn’t even come close to how I felt.”