Heartbeat November 2021

November 2021

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 147

Boost your immunity this winter

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Join your many colleagues by protecting yourself and those around you – get your flu jab and COVID-19 booster.

Jabs 1 and 2 are also available to those who are yet to be vaccinated.

Compulsory vaccinations for frontline staff

Zero tolerance for convicted teen

Alison is honoured as Queen’s Nurse

Could you be a fraud fighter?

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FROM THE CHAIR HELLO Welcome to your November edition of Heartbeat.

This month we raise awareness of the importance of boosting your immunity this winter through vaccinations. We bust some flu myths and cover the government's announcement on mandatory vaccination for frontline workers. But that's not all, we celebrate some more of our Star Awards winners, welcome Daren Fradgley as Executive Director of Integration (Interim) and wave goodbye to Sister Rose after 56 years within the NHS. Enjoy 

Contact us Communications Team

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

Sir David talks about…moving beyond the pandemic: Protect yourselves with the COVID-19 vaccines Unsurprisingly, this edition of Heartbeat contains stories about COVID-19. You all know, through your experiences over the past 18 months, just how devastating the COVID-19 pandemic has been. Our NHS and our Trust has been changed and tested like never before. All of you stepped up, putting yourselves on the frontline of the battle against the virus, to care for your patients, your communities and your families.

You have all seen first-hand how families have been destroyed by too many loved ones dying before their time. Often, you have taken the place of relatives as people became acutely unwell and were going through severe illness on their own. We are only just beginning to understand the impact of long COVID, and how people may well be affected for years to come.

Even if, so far, you have managed to avoid the virus, you will all recognise the impact on our communities as businesses and employment suffered as a result of lockdown and our daily lives became unrecognisable.

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.

Don't forget you can follow us on: Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE, Chair

The creation of effective vaccines is truly a remarkable achievement. The COVID-19 vaccines have saved countless lives.

Ensuring we are protected from the impact of the virus is the most reliable way to move beyond the pandemic. You can see the current rise in cases in some countries in Europe where vaccine take-up is low.

We can hope to avoid similar rises if people take up vaccination and this includes the COVID-19 booster jab. Immunity can wane over time. You can catch COVID-19 more than once. You can become seriously unwell with COVID-19 without protection from vaccines.

Just like you stepped forward at the start, and throughout, the pandemic, please step forward now to get your COVID-19 booster.

You can protect yourselves, your families and your patients. Your commitment and dedication to the NHS counts and has saved lives. With effective vaccination we can continue to save even more lives and put the pandemic behind us.

Government announces compulsory COVID-19 vaccine for frontline staff Following in the footsteps of guidance that recently came in to force mandating all care home staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the government have also now announced a policy mandating all frontline healthcare staff to also be vaccinated.

In a letter sent to NHS organisations across the country, NHS Chief Executive wrote: “The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has formally announced (9 November) that individuals undertaking CQC regulated activities in England must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than 1 April 2022 to protect patients, regardless of their employer, including secondary and primary care.

“The government regulations are expected to come into effect from 1 April 2022, subject to parliamentary process. This means that unvaccinated individuals will need to have had their first dose by 3 February 2022, in order to have received their second dose by the 1 April 2022 deadline.”

What does this mean for you? If you are a frontline healthcare worker providing direct patient care (determined as an individual carrying out CQC regulated activities), you must take steps to ensure you are vaccinated against COVID-19 as the vaccine will (subject to parliamentary process) become a condition of employment. Whilst

we are yet to receive the detailed national guidance on what this means for our staff, it is nevertheless a clear signal that vaccination is expected for all NHS staff providing direct patient care.

Whilst almost 80 per cent of our staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, we are now encouraging the unvaccinated minority to come forward and to make an informed decision to vaccinate well before the deadline.

For those colleagues who would like to come forward and get vaccinated, we still have a range of ways to allow you quick and easy access, the City vaccination hub based in the ground floor of Sheldon Block remains open seven days a week where colleagues can receive their COVID-19 vaccinations and flu vaccinations. And for those colleagues who find it difficult to travel between sites, we will continue to offer a range of pop up clinics on each of the sites where there is no need to book, simply turn up and receive your vaccination.

COVID-19 booster jabs are also available to those who have already had their second dose (including Pfizer or Astra Zeneca). COVID-19 boosters will be Pfizer unless you have a medical reason preventing you from having the Pfizer vaccination, you will then be able to have the Astra Zeneca booster vaccination.

COVID-19 contact occupational health on 0121 507 3306, alternatively you can contact the vaccine hub on 0121 507 4404.

Where can you get your vaccinations?

Sandwell: Pop up clinics for COVID vaccinations, COVID boosters and flu jabs are taking place in the Berridge Suite on 2 and 16 December between 9am-4pm.

City: The City vaccination hub in Sheldon Block is open seven days a week for COVID vaccinations, boosters and flu jabs between 8am and 6pm for walk-ins.

If you are have any questions or queries about COVID-19 vaccination, please contact occupational health on 0121 507 3306.

Act now and be prepared for the months ahead. If you are concerned and need support and information about vaccination please

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Sandwell pop-up vaccination team scoop national award health work in Sandwell. Everything is in partnership with our community. Our voluntary sector and faith groups have enormous expertise and influence that we could tap into. No words can express how grateful I am to those community leaders for their support.

COVID-19 Our pop-up vaccination hub that we run in partnership with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council was successful in winning the Public Health gong at the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) awards.

The awards identify, celebrate and help spread the finest example of innovation and quality delivered by councils on a daily basis.

The pop up vaccination hub were recognised for the work they did to support vaccination uptake in the borough, with a particular focus on black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, which traditionally have lower vaccination uptake rates.

This involved providing vaccination clinics in mosques, gurdwaras, community centres and other venues. The Sandwell ‘Vaccination Bus’ also regularly rolled up at the Hawthorns Stadium.

Sandwell pop-up vaccination team won the Public Health Award at the LGC Awards The public health team also trained up influential people in the community to support people to get their jab. The ‘community vaccination leaders’ course trained around 180 local people including faith leaders, community organisers and voluntary sector workers. The course proved so popular that other council teams in the UK came to Sandwell to learn how to deliver the course in their areas.

Dr Lisa McNally, Sandwell’s Director of Public Health said: “This is how we do public

“I’m also in awe of the work done by the Black Country and West Birmingham CCG and the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust. The effort, energy and enthusiasm put into this by everyone involved was immense.”

Mel Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer added: “Vaccination is the single most important step in our response to COVID-19. We see first-hand the difference it makes to patients who require hospitalisation and critical care support due to this virus.

Remaining unvaccinated is a frightening gamble with potentially deadly or life changing consequences.

“We appreciate the response and support from our partners across health in helping both to get the message out and to ensure the vaccine is delivered to those who need it, thereby saving lives across our communities.”

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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Give yourself a boost or gamble with your life?

Every year as winter draws closer we begin the annual flu vaccination programme – providing thousands of our colleagues with a vaccine that will not only protect them from flu but the frail, elderly and vulnerable around them too.

And every year, we get thousands stepping forward with their sleeves rolled up and a mutual understanding that the vaccine really is there to help them and those around them, but we also see many colleagues who decide not get vaccinated.

Is this a reasonable decision made with their best interests at heart, using clinical knowledge backed by scientific evidence to base their decision, or is it the unfortunate fallout from the prevalence of the anti-vax movement?

This month we’re going behind the scenes to look at what’s really in the vaccine, identifying the myths and putting an end to the whispers, rumours and misinformation that put our colleagues and patients at risk.

The flu shot gives you the flu The flu vaccine won’t give you the flu. The virus contained in the injected flu vaccine is an inactivated, non-infectious form of the virus. In contrast, the virus in the nasal spray flu vaccine contains live viruses. However, they have been weakened so that they will not cause illness. The virus no longer has the ability to replicate and therefore can’t infect you.

I got the flu after getting vaccinated The flu vaccine offered at our Trust is the quadrivalent vaccine. That means it covers four of the most prevalent strains of flu during that season. This means that sometimes you can unfortunately catch a strain of flu that you’re not vaccinated against, or you just didn’t get vaccinated in time. Remember it can take up to two weeks for the vaccine to take full effect and your body’s immune system to be fully prepared.

I’ll rely on my natural immunity Whilst being fit and healthy will help with your immunity, you only really build immunity when you’re exposed to the virus. Do you really want to risk catching the flu and dealing with the fever, aches and fatigue that comes with it? Projections show that there is the potential for approximately 60,000 people to die from flu this year. Alternatively, you could just get vaccinated and know that you have given your immunity a boost – with a perfectly safe vaccine.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS down into very small molecules called peptides. Nevertheless, this year’s vaccine on offer at our Trust contains no porcine, gelatine or egg.

I’m pregnant so I can’t get vaccinated It is important to have the flu jab if you’re pregnant because it will protect you and your baby. The vaccine is safe to have at any stage of pregnancy. If you have flu while you're pregnant, it could cause your baby to be born prematurely or have a low birthweight, and may even lead to stillbirth or death.

Where can you get your flu jab?

Sandwell: Pop up clinics are taking place in the Berridge Suite on 2 and 16 December between 9am-4pm.

The vaccine has pork products (porcine) in it

City: The City vaccination hub in Sheldon Block is open seven days a week between 8am and 6pm for walk-ins.

Porcine gelatine is used in vaccines as a stabiliser – to ensure that the vaccine remains safe and effective during storage. Vaccine manufacturers normally test a wide range of stabilisers and choose one that is stable, good quality, and available in sufficient volume.

Unlike the gelatine used in foods, the product used in vaccines is highly purified and broken

If you are concerned and need support and information about vaccination please contact occupational health on 0121 507 3306, alternatively you can contact the vaccine hub on 0121 507 4404.

Boost your immunity this winter Get your flu jab and COVID-19 booster

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Protect yourself this winter CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Vaccinations have saved lives of over 120,000 people and now that the colder months are well and truly upon us, all colleagues

are encouraged to help to stay safe this winter by receiving the flu jab and COVID-19 booster vaccination. We know during the winter months that cases of flu and COVID-19 begin to rise, and research has shown that contracting flu and COVID-19 at the time can make you seriously ill. So stay safe and do what you

can to protect yourself this winter, get your free vaccinations.

Not received your jabs yet? There is still time – join the many colleagues who have boosted their immunity this winter.

Where to get your jabs 6

Get your vaccinations at Sheldon block vaccination hub or keep an eye out for the daily communications bulletin for pop-up clinics around the Trust.

Much in store for you at Midland Met Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) stands proudly between Sandwell and West Birmingham. Our highly anticipated hospital will offer emergency department, maternity, children’s and adult acute inpatient services to over half a million people.

When it opens in Smethwick, it will signify a change in how we deliver care. It will serve acutely unwell patients that need a hospital stay; or whose care is an emergency. But what will it mean for colleagues that will call Midland Met home? This month we bring you an overview of some of the facilities you can expect to find if you are relocating to work at Midland Met. For those moving from City Hospital, there is a mile between sites and it’s just over four miles from Sandwell. Colleagues will have access to public transport routes which are under review with the local transport authorities. Plus, the site will be accessible by bike. All bikes can be securely left within our bike store within the car park and is close to the lifts for easy access into the hospital.

The hospital design has greater security, i.e. a reduced number of entrances, CCTV coverage and staff only entrances. There is also a dedicated staff car park entrance under the building and the car park will include electric vehicle charging points.

Colleagues will also be able to make their way into the hospital by using the lifts in the car park.

Jayne Dunn, Director of Commissioning

& Equipping, remarked: “The improved working environment includes 23 seminar rooms, of which 18 are bookable, including eight rooms set up for MDT purposes.

“There are several multi desk agile admin areas. Home zones will be identified for teams predominately working in MMUH and, there will be some general bookable desks on levels four and five. Each of the agile admin areas will have quiet rooms and, most also have small meeting rooms.

Within wards and departments, there will be at least one office and several staff bases. Colleagues will be able to work in the Winter Garden using Wi-Fi, so there’s choice and flexibility in how people can work onsite.

“It’s worth adding that the main admin base for most teams will be in the Sandwell Treatment Centre with the current ward areas on the fourth and fifth floors being converted into multi desk agile admin areas (once MMUH opens), with each clinical group being allocated one of these areas.

Each area will have several quiet rooms and small meeting rooms. Trinity House at Sandwell will remain the main admin base for corporate teams. We are also looking at options to create some additional multi desk agile admin areas in our retained estate at City Hospital.”

Speaking of how colleagues can socialise at MMUH, Jayne said: “The non-clinical environment on level five has space to work and get together. The Winter Garden space will be a relaxing area for everyone to use and enjoy - a real community space.

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

“We will have a restaurant within the Winter Garden on level five, a coffee shop, retail outlets and our spiritual care centre.

It will be a great area to sit with a coffee, catch up with colleagues, have small informal meetings or enjoy our 88ft gallery space.

“On a practical level, colleagues will have access to male and female changing facilities and restrooms, with shared facilities for several wards/departments located on each level. Colleague rest areas will have seating and facilities to make hot drinks, a microwave and a fridge. There are some exceptions to this, i.e. in operating theatres, the intensive care unit and ED – where for clinical reasons some of the facilities will be located within the department. Changing rooms will have showers, changing cubicles, toilets and lockers and will be available on each level.”

Rachel Barlow, Director of System Transformation, added: “Midland Met will be a vibrant hospital campus that I am confident colleagues will enjoy. We will also have a brand new learning campus that we have secured £13 million in funding to develop alongside MMUH. It will bring new learning opportunities with The Learning Works and help to train up the next generation of healthcare professionals and allied health professionals.

“It is a significant project that will add value to our wider communities and help them achieve access to education and development that may otherwise have been out of reach for them.”

MMUH is under construction and promises to be a vibrant hospital campus for colleagues to enjoy upon opening

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Teenager convicted for smashing up property at City ED CORPORATE AND GENERAL It was early on Saturday 7 August when a 19 year old was admitted to City ED. NEWS The teenager was then seen smashing up equipment across the department causing damage worth up to £15K.

Security officers very quickly came to the scene after seeing footage of the incident on live CCTV. The team managed to detain him as he attempted to leave and returned him to the ED department to await the police.

“It was a tense and scary situation for everyone involved,” recalled Mark Lee, Security Officer. “The security officers acted quickly to diffuse the situation and luckily no one was harmed. As soon as the police arrived, we were able to hand him over along with CCTV and body worn camera footage.”

The individual was subsequently charged, convicted and sentenced to 12 months jail, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay £1,200 compensation after he previously admitted criminal damage and using threatening words and behaviour.

Mark said: “This conviction enforces the message that violence and aggression and those that wish to disrupt services provided by our Trust will not be tolerated and action will be taken against them. I hope it also reassures colleagues that action is being taken against those who commit harm against them. Thankfully incidents such as these are rare.

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The security team at City Hospital He continued: “As security officers we are often the first on the scene to any type of indent on our sites. We approach every incident in the same way; observe, report, escalate to emergency services and senior management, mitigate where ever possible, evacuate, detect and detain, cordon off and isolate dangers and in the event of fire, extinguish where safe to do so. Our concern is always for the welfare of colleagues, patients and visitors.”

“Safety first,” he said. “We all have a responsibility to ensure our safety and that of others. If you feel unsafe call security on ext. 2222, if it is an emergency then contact the police on 999. You should then activate any personal attack alarms (personal or fitted). In such incidents colleagues are advised to create space and move away.

Consider escape routes and never put yourself in danger. All incidents should also be reported on Safeguard.”

So what advice can Mark give to colleagues so they react accordingly in such incidents?

Further information visit the security pages on https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/ trust-security/

David Nicholson, Chair showcasing zero tolerance poster

Lynda goes above and beyond Lynda Jones, Ward Services Officer has been a member of the SWB family for 19 years and has been recognised by the support services management team for showing courage, selflessness and excellent patient care in a patients’ time of need.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Sharon Bruce, Senior Ward Services Officer said: “Lyn went above and beyond her duties and showed courage to keep our patient from harm. Well done Lyn!”

It was by chance Lynda came across a job advertisement for a role at SWB in ward services almost 20 years ago. She wanted to try something new and enjoyed her role so much that she stayed.

Lynda is primarily based on Lyndon 4 and her day job consists of following a schedule to make sure all areas are completed and clean. “One of the best parts of my job is getting to talk and have a bit of laugh with the patients while I'm working in bays. I think it puts them at ease as being in hospital can be a scary experience for some,” said Lynda.

For an elderly patient, Lynda was her knight in shining armour as she demonstrated quick thinking and courage to remove the patient from harm’s way.

We caught up with Lynda to find out more, she said: “I noticed an elderly female patient while I was working my way through the ward doing rubbish collection.

Lynda Jones, Ward Services Officer was recognised for her bravery She was very distressed and shaking and I saw a man coming towards her, shouting and being aggressive. I could see she needed help so I started talking to her and reassured her.

“I then noticed that the male patient had picked up a chair and was coming towards us, he swung the chair and it hit the elderly patient on the neck. I acted quickly and immediately moved the patient and myself out of further harm into the kitchen.”

Colleagues commended Lynda on her courageous act and shared some kind words.

Aner Marcelo, Head of Support Services echoed this and said: “Our department's family is very proud of Lyn's courage, dedication and her actions. Protecting our patient under Trust care speaks volumes about the quality of a person who went above and beyond. Her selfless act is a reminder to all NHS colleagues 'we put our patients at the heart of everything we do'. Thank you Lyn!” In Lynda’s spare time she takes care of the latest addition to the family, her puppy, she told us: “My new puppy takes a lot of my time up (but he is adorable). I enjoy going out for meals with my husband too.”

Alongside a letter of recognition, Lynda received a Star of the Week award. Well done Lynda!

Innovation drives Sandwell team to prestigious Macmillan award There are many talented people working within our Trust, and awards ceremonies and events throughout the year further highlight the fantastic individuals within our organisation. The Macmillan Professionals Excellence Awards provided another success story for the Trust.

“The Macmillan Professionals Excellence Awards are an opportunity to recognise the outstanding contribution Macmillan Professionals make to cancer services.”

A Macmillan representative explained to Heartbeat. “The awards also bring our unique spirit to life by showcasing not just what Macmillan professionals do, but how they do it – with heart, with strength, with ambition.”

Macmillan professionals and teams have been at the forefront of the Coronavirus response, and have moved mountains to support colleagues and people living with cancer when they needed it most.

Sandwell Hospital was represented thanks to the Macmillan Upper GI/HPB CNS team who were nominated in the innovation category.

This category is for nominees and teams who

During the clinic, Jo (supported by CNSs Kath Johnson, Grace Preece and cancer care navigator Kerrie Burns) breaks the news to patients, organises tests and further biopsies and refers patients on to oncologists.

The Macmillan Upper GI/HPB CNS team have introduced a new approach to service or product development and delivery, and the team’s approach was such that not only did it make a massive difference to patients it also secured them victory and the award.

The Macmillan Upper GI/HPB CNS team identified that not all of their patients received a diagnosis within this timeframe because they had to wait for an appointment with a consultant for the news to be broken to them, and the availability of these appointments was limited.

To bring diagnosis times down, the team pioneered a structured cancer clinic led by Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Jo Harvey.

Not only has this innovative and costeffective way of working led to 81 per cent of patients achieving the 28-day diagnosis standard compared to the previous 46 per cent, but it’s also given patients a complete and holistic experience.

This year’s winners were announced at a ceremony held at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester on Tuesday 2 November. The ceremony, hosted by actor and presenter Richard Blackwood, was attended by 300 health and social care professionals and guests.

Speaking on behalf of the team at the event, Jo said: “The most rewarding thing is the autonomous practice that we have and the collaborative working. We function fully as a team and I think that’s because we have the same drive, passion and empathy.”

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Celebrating our stars of the week

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS

Star of the Week

Star of the Week

Nicola Antcliff, Operations Development Coordinator

Vicky Clifton, Improvement Project Manager

Submitting the nomination, Suleman Jeewa, Pastoral Support Care Lead wrote: “I was seconded in a new role as a pastoral support care lead for our international nurses quite recently. This role is new to the Trust and I look after up to 30 new international nurses each month coming into the Trust and are weeks into coming into the UK. I had roughly 30 nurses to induct recently, which includes organising bank accounts, GP registration and uniforms. Nicola went over and above her role assisting me with issuing their ID badges. She then went down to the uniform room and issued uniforms to all the staff. She treated the new nurses with respect, dignity and compassion.”

Vicky has been recognised for her hard work in supporting the rollout of the SurgiNet module in Unity which replaced the IT theatres system ORMIS.

successful. Any issues which occurred no matter the scale, Vicky played her part in helping resolve them in a timely manner.

Without SurgiNet, theatres would depend on manual processes which ultimately have Vicky, has project managed the a risk associated with manual error. Data implementation of SurgiNet across our retrieval would also remain problematic as theatres at our Sandwell and City sites the old system ORMIS is difficult to report ensuring clinical colleagues have been ready from. for go live which has overall been hugely

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.

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

Join our crane

ZIP WIRE CHALLENGE and raise money for Your Trust Charity’s We Are Metropolitan campaign.

Email trustcharity@nhs.net to register. Fundraising target – £250

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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.

To – Dale in IT Always pleasant when he attends the ward and will not only look at the job that has been reported but will help if he can with any other IT problems on the ward, so a big thank you for all your recent help on Priory 4.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS To – Jackie Williams, Avnash Nanra, Joanne Wright, Marie Hinks and Fatema Amujee

To – Rebecca Case

Shout out to the interim paediatric matron and ward managers for their patience and dedication in managing incredibly challenging staffing situations over the last few weeks. Thank you for all that you do.

Rebecca was ever so helpful, she helped me sort out payment of an invoice by making things so easy for me. She kept me informed of the progress of the payment and helped when the settlement invoice arrived.

From – Jayne Whistance

From – Jade Osborne

From – Dottie Tipton

To – Reception Team Sandwell Emergency Department

To – Windmill Theatres

To – Haroon Akhtar

Dedication, constant hard work and professionalism, 24/7, the true front line of our emergency department team looking after, day in day out, high volume patient attendances to ED.

Everyone within Windmill theatres have been working amazing together through SurgiNet go-live. The team have pulled together with positivity and resilience which has been a pleasure to be part of.

Keep up the good work!

Haroon professionally installed a new computer in gynaecology 6A main treatment room. This will greatly enhance the service we give to patients.

From – Hema Patel

From – Vicky Clifton

From – Tiffany Jones

To – Maggie at Sandwell, AMAA To – Tracy Banford Tracy has been acting up in the portering department at City for the last few months.

I popped in this week and the team are working wonders, morale was good, staff training is on the up, and there was a real positive vibe. Well done Tracy on such a brilliant turn around in a short time!

From – Simon Morley

To – Janaki Gaire Janaki, is very good dealing with patients, patient's family and whoever she is working with. She always has a smile on her face, is very approachable and she is a good and fast learner. As soon as she completes training, she is ready to go which has been very helpful for the doctors as well as nurses.

From – Norget Shikara

I work for the Trust and was quite poorly and attended AMAA. I was looked after by Maggie, she went the extra mile for me. I had finished a night shift the day before and was exhausted and she allowed me a safe quiet space to sit and wait as well as helping me get something to eat/drink and talked me through all the processes of what was going to happen. She was so kind I am so grateful to her. Thank you so much Maggie!

From – Megan Henwood

To – CECU

To – Iqra Imtyaz

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to all the staff on CECU. The last few weeks have been extremely busy and staff have worked above and beyond. Working over hours and working bank through their annual leave to ensure the children and families on the unit are cared for.

Iqra has worked extremely hard today facilitating the safe discharge of five babies from the neonatal unit as well as being team lead in the special care area. Well done Iqra!

From – Helen Scott

From – Marie Hinks

To – Lee Lloyd Lee has and continues to be amazing offering help and support with the move to Office365. He really helped me out last week with a query I had. He explained it so well and made me feel at ease with the transition. Thanks Lee :) From – Nikki Smith

To – Sian Edkins To – Maureen Smith, Ranju Bala, Tracey Ellis and all staff on Newton 5 Thank you all for your hard work on N5 over the weekend. The ward is spotless as result of effort and time spent cleaning and tidying up. The attention to detail is brilliant.

From – Natalie Bent-Malcolm

Sian went above and beyond to get a radiologist registered on to the doctors bank. What should have been a very simple task proved to be very complicated and stressful - Sian got involved at the 11th hour and moved things to a conclusion.

Thank you, Sian.

From – Nicola Plunkett

To – Annie Williams Annie volunteered to assist with the Sepsis awareness campaign. Being based across at Rowley Regis Annie took the lead for that site, encouraging staff engagement and ensured that staff had access to the Sepsis literature.

From – Lizzie Isaacson

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Carols and Christmas cheer in the corridors CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS The chaplaincy team will be out spreading Christmas cheer throughout December as they tour our sites with their band of merry carollers singing their hearts out for patients, visitors and colleagues.

Whilst it might be a bit dark and gloomy outside, the chaplaincy team will be out to brighten the days of everyone within earshot across our sites as they bring their Christmas cheer to the wards and corridors of our hospitals.

On Wednesday 22 December, colleagues can join the chaplaincy team at Sandwell, City and Rowley with carol (singing outside

the wards) from 6:30pm through to 8pm.

Meeting in the chapel at Sandwell and City from 6pm for refreshments before touring the hospitals. If you would like to join in, contact the chaplaincy team on ext 3552.

If you prefer something a little sweeter, you can pop along to a carols and cake drop in session at Sandwell on Tuesday 21 December from 12-2pm in the Chapel on the 2nd floor, or over to City Hospital on Thursday 23 December from 12-2pm in the Chapel (opposite D20).

in the run up to Christmas. (On Christmas morning there will be a communion service in Sandwell at 9am and City at 11am, all welcome.)

Sharing her thoughts on the upcoming Christmas celebrations and service, Lead Chaplain Mary Causer said: “We’ve all been through an incredibly difficult time over the last two years but we’re keen to get out across our Trust and try and bring a little joy to our hospitals. The chaplaincy team will be out and about and we would love for colleagues to take a few moments from their busy schedules to join us in our carol (singing outside the wards).”

And on Christmas Day, the chaplaincy team will be taking one of their Christmas services online to ensure as many colleagues as possible can listen in and celebrate with If you would like to lend your voice them, from the comfort of their wards and and join with some carols, contact the departments. Links to the service will be chaplaincy team on ext 3552. shared on social media and communications

What is Advent?

Some people may know that Advent serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. That's only part of the story. Lead Chaplain, Rev Mary Causer explains more about the celebration.

28 November and finishing on Christmas Eve. The churches light a special candle each week, three purple, one pink and the last one is white on Christmas day, (hope, love, joy, peace, and finally the birth of Jesus) as the anticipation of Christmas draws nearer.

Waiting in dread You’re standing in line at the shops (we can all remember that!), waiting for your turn. You’re tapping your foot and looking at your watch. You don’t want to be in this line. Before long, you begin to think, “Oh, I can’t wait for this to be over!” Often times, the other people in line with you feel the same way! No one speaks to anyone else.

Clearly few are enjoying the experience; the impatience or irritability you feel might even be visible on your face. Such an experience of waiting in line can seem isolating and almost lonely.

Waiting in excitement Now think about the times when you waited in line at an amusement park, to buy tickets to see your favourite football team, or to hear your favourite band. In

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Lighting up for Advent these instances, the waiting is much different.

People are excited and you might even be talking to some of them about the ride you’re getting ready to experience, the sports team that you love, or the band you’re about to hear.

We all have an innate sense of anticipation for something on the horizon; we can sometimes feel the change in us before it happens. New job, relationship, holiday, spa day, a new film or piece of music…the list is endless. However, some of that can be a let down, it’s not as good as we thought it would be, the job is a let down, the film was weak as well as the music.

Advent anticipation leads us through the four weeks gently, it offers hope to the hopeless things we carry, love because we need it, joy This second example is the kind of waiting we are because the last few years have drained it out of us and peace to the restless and weary. called to in Advent.

The journey leads us back to the centre of the Advent is a time of anticipation and waiting.

Christian faith, Jesus. I hope you take some During this season Christians remember the time to just stop and journey the season of birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. For hundreds anticipation through a different lens this year. of years God’s people anxiously awaited the What are you waiting for? What do you think promised saviour and we, as Christians today, God is waiting for this Advent season? anxiously await his return. There are four weeks of preparation and prayer starting from Sunday

Alison is honoured as Queen’s Nurse Our very own Alison Fletcher, Parkinson’s Disease Community Clinical Nurse Specialist scooped the Queen’s Nurse award this year and is thrilled. The Queen’s Nurse programme brings together community nurses to develop their professional skills and deliver outstanding patient care in the community. The title is awarded to nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care and nursing practice.

Overjoyed with the news, Alison told us: “I am very proud and extremely overwhelmed to be awarded the Queen's Nurse title for my continued commitment and dedication to community nursing. To say I’m absolutely over the moon is an understatement, I know this award will have a great impact on my individual role as a community nurse and support me in the leadership and development of the community Parkinson’s nursing service within iCares.”

Alison’s ambition to become a nurse stemmed from when she was a child and she began her journey with the NHS in 2004. Experiencing a number of community based roles throughout her career, it was Alison’s first role as community administration officer for the community nursing team and continence service which ignited a spark to take the leap and become a student nurse.

“I carried out my student nurse placement at Sandwell Hospital and Rowley Regis Hospital and was placed within the district

nursing team for six weeks. It soon became clear that community was the place I really wanted to be,” said Alison.

Throughout the years Alison’s passion for nursing shone as she grew within her career working within district nursing, becoming a Macmillan clinical nurse specialist, qualifying as a community practitioner nurse prescriber, and returning to the SWB family in 2018 as clinical lead within district nursing. She then went on to work in Lymphoedema service management at Dudley before returning to SWB more recently.

“Sandwell Community has always been my nursing ‘home’; it is where I first began my NHS career. I have been given fantastic opportunities and support to develop into the nurse that I am today with the qualities that have enabled me to become a Queen's Nurse.

I hope that my Queen’s Nurse award will support me in my new role as the community Parkinson’s disease clinical nurse specialist and in the ongoing development of the specialist Parkinson’s disease pathway within community services.

“Being a community nurse is a real honour and privilege, being welcomed into individual homes, to support and care for patients, families and their carers within their own environments at often difficult episodes of care or a person’s greatest time of need.

Community nurses play a vital role in enabling and empowering patients to remain in their own homes, by improving a patient’s quality of life and enabling individuals to live to the

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS best of their abilities in a safe way. This is extremely rewarding and is very special to me.

“I wish to thank my family and all of my amazing community nursing colleagues who have supported me throughout my nursing career and development.

This award is an opportunity to raise the profile of and champion an often invisible but valuable health service within the NHS. Community nurses are made of special stuff and it is truly an honour to be able to do what I do for my patients and nursing family each and every day.”

Sara Shakespeare, District Nurse Team Leader describes Alison as an excellent nurse and wonderful asset for the community. She said: “When Alison returned to Sandwell, she was no longer the shy nurse that I first met; she was full of enthusiasm, knowledge and clinical skills for her new job and straight away became involved in teaching students and junior staff.

“I am sure the Trust will benefit from her vision and experiences. Alison is a great person I am so proud of her and her achievements.”

A huge congratulations to Alison on her Queen’s Nurse title.

Alison Fletcher was recently awarded Queen's Nurse title

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ITU sister marries after wedding delayed five times due to pandemic CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS

It was a case of fifth time lucky for Critical became obvious they wouldn’t be able to Care Sister, Kate Mandiratta – who finally go ahead with their big day. said “I do” to her fiancé in August.

It was moved to 24 March this year, but The 34-year-old married GP Mohit finally after restrictions on numbers meant that they postponing their big day five times due to the wouldn’t have loved ones there with them pandemic. to celebrate. They settled on 6 June but again, the regulations around the number The pair, who first met at Sandwell Hospital, of wedding guests attending and other when Dr Mandiratta was a junior doctor and factors, meant they postponed it again.

Kate was working as a nurse in ITU, tied the knot with their family and friends around “It was just one thing after another so them on 18 August. when we got to 18 August we were so relieved for it to finally go ahead,” said Kate said: “I kept thinking something was Kate. going to happen that would mean putting it off again. But finally on the morning of the They wed at Shustocke Barn in Coleshill, wedding I believed it was going to happen. with their family and friends around them I was so excited and it went so well. We – and amazingly most of the suppliers who had everyone there who we love and it was had originally been booked for the first perfect.” date.

The couple had originally planned to marry on 26 March 2020, but three days before, the country went into lockdown, putting a brake on their plans.

Dr Mohit Madiratta and Critical Care Sister Kate Mandiratta on their wedding day

When it was reorganised to September the same year, the couple were hopeful. But as the pandemic continued to grip the world, it

Kate recalled: “Everyone has been really amazing throughout and on the day there was such a lovely atmosphere. I remember whilst I was getting ready thinking it was finally happening. I couldn’t wait to get down the aisle to see Mohit. It was such a fantastic day in the end – worth the wait!”

Trust plays host to Diwali/Bandi Chhor Divas celebration To celebrate Diwali/Bandi Chor Divas across the SWB, our chaplaincy team hosted two celebration events at both Sandwell and City chapels.

The joint Hindu and Sikh celebrations took place at the start of November at both chapels where colleagues across the organisation were invited to come along and join the festivities.

Both celebrations were opened with a short prayer from Rakesh Bhatt, Hindu chaplain who gave a blessing to all and wished good health upon our colleagues and patients.

This was followed by a speech from Joga Singh, Sikh Chaplain who expressed his gratitude to all those in attendance and everyone for their continued hard work in supporting our patients during the current pandemic.

The Diwali celebrations concluded with a selection of traditional Indian and Desi style foods and sweets from samosas to mithais for all to enjoy.

Rev. Mary Causer, Lead Chaplain attended both events and believes they were a great way to bring colleagues together and celebrate Diwali.

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Diwali 2021 Rev. Mary said: “Whether you’re Hindu, Sikh, or have any other religious belief, the celebration was a fantastic way to bring colleagues together.

The celebration also educated everybody about Hindu and Sikh traditions giving everyone in attendance a better understanding of Diwali/ Bandi Chhor Divas and why it is so important within Indian culture.”

Diwali usually takes place over a five day period between either the end of October and or the start of November depending on the Hindu calendar. Hindus celebrate Diwali as they believe it marks the return of deities Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after their 14-year exile. This is as well

as the Goddess Durga destroying a demon called Mahisha. Whilst Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas as it marks the release of the sixth guru, Hargobind Singh from prison in 1619.

The foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritsar was also laid in 1577.

The word Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word ‘deepavali’ which translates to a row of lightened lamps. This ties in with many traditions around Diwali/Bandi Chhor Divas which includes the lighting of lamps in houses and fireworks as well as worship around the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi to bring blessings for the upcoming New Year.

Could you be a fraud fighter?

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Do contact the NHS Counter Fraud Authority on 0800 028 40 60 or via the online reporting form at https://cfa.nhs. uk/reportfraud Do keep a copy of any documentation that arouse your suspicions Do not confront the individual with your suspicions Whilst we would hope that everyone in the NHS operated with impeccable morals, ethics and honesty, it’s disappointing to learn that fraud costs the NHS £1.29 billion each year – money that would otherwise be spent on treating patients and improving services. To put it in to perspective, it is equivalent to 40,000 nurses, 500 wards or 5,000 ambulances.

Fraud is a hidden crime and an ever present threat, perpetrated by individuals often for personal gain, involving everything from simply submitting fraudulent expenses claims, to complex schemes designed to siphon funds from the NHS. Whilst policies and procedures are in place to manage the risk and to ensure there is evidence and audit trails, the job of rooting out rogues in the NHS would be a herculean task – until you take in to account that it isn’t just one single team looking for fraudsters – you have 1.2 million colleagues, each with the specialist area and each able to keep an eye out for anything that seems suspicious.

To find out more about fraud awareness, Heartbeat caught up with our Local Counter Fraud Specialist, Sophie Coster, she said: “We all know that the NHS is under considerable pressure to deliver so it’s important that we are able to ensure that all tax payer funds go exactly where they were intended – and they do no fall in to the hands of criminals.

“Fraud in the NHS isn’t a victimless crime, it’s essentially the act of doing something dishonestly in order to make a gain or to cause a loss. The focus is on the individual’s behaviour and intent – showing that they understood their actions to be dishonest.”

Critically fraud isn’t just related to actions that are clearly for monetary gain, there’s an array of offences that can be perpetrated such as: • False Representation – Working at other organisations whilst claiming to be on sick leave, private work in NHS time and submitting false expenses or timesheets • Failing to disclose information – Not declaring criminal convictions on application forms or failing to disclosure external interests • Abuse of a position – Creating jobs for friends and family, providing preferential treatment and manipulating statistics to achieve targets

Do not convey your suspicions to anyone other than those with the proper authority to investigate

Reporting your suspicions or concerns The person you should report your concerns to is the Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) who is appropriately trained to manage and investigate concerns of fraud, or to your Chief Finance Officer– Dinah McLannahan.

It is important that any potential fraud allegation is investigated by the LCFS as there is clear guidance as to how a criminal investigation must be conducted and any breach of this can lead to it not being deemed appropriate for prosecution.

Your local counter fraud specialist (LCFS) team can be contacted using the details below: Sophie Coster, Senior Consultant, Lead Local Counter Fraud Specialist

• Possession of articles intended for use in fraud - Being in possession of false identification documents or false qualifications.

Email: Sophie.coster@rsmuk.com or Sophie.coster1@nhs.net

If you suspect fraud, what should you do?

Bradley Vaughan, Managing Consultant, Counter Fraud Client Manager

If you are suspicious or have concerns: Do tell your LCFS immediately by email or phone (07436 268747 or sophie.coster1@nhs. net) – your confidentiality will be respected.

Tel: 07436 268747

Email: Bradley.vaughan@rsmuk.com Tel: 07436 268 331

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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Safety tips for travelling to and from work CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS As the clocks have gone back and it is getting darker, it is important to continue to be vigilant on our journeys to and from work, particularly when public areas are less busy in the evenings and weekends. Take note of our safety tips:

Walk with a friend/colleague – Find a friend/colleague who will be taking a similar route. If you are parked on our sites and finish work in the early hours of the morning, you can contact our security team who will be happy to escort you to your car. If security colleagues are tied up with other matters they may be able to instead offer to monitor you on CCTV if you feel that would provide you with additional safety.

Ensure you lock your car – Wind up your windows and lock your car as you leave.

Charge your phone – Make sure your phone is fully charged before setting out so that it’ll be working should you need it.

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Plan your route – Try to stick to well-lit areas where you know it is likely that there will be people around.

Be alert at all times – Avoid wearing headphones and items of clothing that obscure your vision.

When travelling along a road it is safer to walk in the direction of oncoming traffic, so you are visible to drivers.

Keep expensive items hidden – Keep expensive items such as mobile phones and iPods away from sight.

Carry a deterrent – Having a deterrent such as a screech alarm or personal safety device can give you extra peace of mind.

Our security team have a stock of keyring torch alarms if anyone would like one for personal security.

Remember to keep where you work secure – Before you leave work, close the windows to prevent any intruders breaking and entering.

If you do encounter any issues call the police on 999. If you are on our sites then call the security team on 2222.

Be in the know about policing and crime alerts in your local area: West Midlands Police are constantly working to improve the flow of information between themselves and the people living and working within the region in order to make a greater impact in the prevention and detection of crime and anti-social behaviour. If you live, work or have an interest in the West Midlands area you can register for a new service offering free messages, crime alerts and witness appeals local to you. To sign up please visit https://www.wmnow.co.uk/.

As a registered recipient, you will not only benefit from free two way messaging but will also receive crime alerts, hear about positive police action in your community, help identify suspected or wanted criminals or learn about community groups, events and meetings in your area.

Richard aiming high after scooping HR award Richard Burnell has been named as one of three joint winners of the prestigious Rising Star gong in a HR awards ceremony.

The organisational development specialist trainer was shortlisted for the HPMA award which took place in early October.

In an online ceremony it was announced there were three winners of the category.

Richard, who has previously won Employee of the Year in the Trust’s Star Awards, said: "I'm very grateful for this award; individual recognition is always lovely and I would also like to share this with everyone who helped with the wellbeing work we did last year.

As the pandemic took hold, Richard showed incredible dedication and compassion to his colleagues by ensuring access to vital support for their mental health and wellbeing. Richard developed support tools, accessible 24/7, recognising the needs of those working within the organisation and beyond. These support mechanisms made a huge impact on the mental wellbeing of his colleagues and staff in organisations around him. He designed a format for resilience coaching and worked with occupational health to identify vulnerable individuals at the frontline.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS

Frieza Mahmood, Chief People Officer, said: “I'm delighted to see Richard being given the external recognition he so richly “In particular the contributions of Lawrence deserves for the tireless work he has done Kelly and his team at the Sanctuary, Masood to support the mental health and wellbeing Aga and occupational health for all their of colleagues during the pandemic within work and Mandeep Gill who managed to and outside of the Trust. balance her regular job as an electronic “His general selflessness in engaging patient records trainer and still somehow in wider Trust initiatives that drive find the time to keep the work we did on improvements in staff experience and track. ensure everyone’s voice matters, are also “It's a great privilege to have been given the well known. I could not be more proud to opportunity to help as part of a great team work alongside him. He is a credit to us all.” and to win an award is a lovely bonus."

The judges were impressed by the way he went beyond the role and had a real impact upon the lives of so many people.

Richard Burnell who has won the HPMA Rising Star Award

Will you take the Dry January challenge?

‘Tis almost the season to be jolly and all that comes with it. For most people, that usually includes a drink or two. For those of you thinking ahead and considering making positive lifestyle changes, then Dry January might be just the thing for you.

always, the alcohol team will be on hand to provide information and advice. A team member will be available each week via Microsoft Teams offering help, and we’ll be hosting an online quiz too. More details will be shared as we get closer to January, but in the meantime, if anyone would like any more information or support, please email me via cheryl.jones9@nhs.net.”

In a nutshell, the campaign encourages people to give up alcohol for the duration of January.

In 2021, 6.5 million took up the challenge and enjoyed an alcohol-free month.

We caught up with Cheryl Jones, Alcohol Specialist Nurse, who told us: “The alcohol care team are very excited about the upcoming Dry January. We have all decided to participate, meaning we will all have an alcohol free month – not a single drop of alcohol will pass our lips.”

Cheryl continued: “It might seem daunting to some people, a whole month without drinking,

but it’s certainly a challenge worth taking on.

We’re doing it to raise awareness around the impact of alcohol on people’s physical health, finances, relationships and mental health. Other positive side effects of not drinking include better skin, losing weight and sleeping better too.

“We are encouraging others to join us in this and share their experiences while participating. As

Cheryl, Alcohol Specialist Nurse

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Supporting you to realise your digital ambitions

By Paul Lilly, Digital Lead Nurse

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS I have recently started in my post as the digital lead nurse for the organisation and I’m really excited to be able to work with colleagues to realise the Trust’s digital ambitions which are progressing at pace to enable improvements in how we communicate and work.

The aim is that we are able to deliver faster and more co-ordinated care to our patients and use technology to support better diagnosis and treatment. This is of course a team approach and I will be working within informatics, clinical and support services to facilitate change as required.

I really want to hear about what digital ambitions you have to support your patients, their carers, your team, and the health and social care partners with which you work.

I want to re-mobilise our digital champions who were a vital resource as we embarked on our digital journey and of course welcome, support and encourage colleagues who wish to participate.

My role will be to support all colleagues in the operational direction of the Trust’s digital agenda, co-ordinating the implementation and use of digital solutions to ensure the delivery of high quality, safe and effective care.

We will achieve this together by being able to develop, promote and safeguard practices that support a positive, personal and organisational reputation and by being digitally inclusive so that colleagues feel supported and motivated and able to actively participate in decision making.

I will be working with you to make everything as inclusive as possible with visibility and transparency throughout.

This will be achieved by working across teams, specialities and services to create a better understanding of what you need so we can work together to optimise working practices, which ultimately will benefit better patient care.

I will also be working collaboratively with our education teams to ensure that the education and developmental needs of staff are met and to retain our excellent workforce with directed pathways of development throughout their careers with SWB, from induction to retirement.

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Paul Lilly, Digital Lead Nurse As a team we will be working on enhancing existing skills and providing skills training to empower our colleagues for future working.

For the coming year my main priority is to ensure that colleagues feel part of the digital journey, we have many exciting upcoming (and existing) projects as we head towards MMUH. There is already some fantastic work underway with our community teams and in the near future we will take advantage of enhanced technology to further support shared care records, diagnostics and self-

care at home, planning for patient care needs after hospital and the support of rehabilitation and care in a patient’s own home.

We will also look at promoting the excellent work being conducted across the Trust to a more national level through shared knowledge and practices.

I will be out and about to as many areas as I can to catch-up with colleagues; however, please feel free to contact me if I can facilitate any of your projects or ideas. You can reach me at paul.lilly@nhs.net or 07812 771149.

Remembrance Day Services held across three sites Colleagues gathered at Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals for Remembrance Day services held in honour of those who have given their lives for their country and those who are still fighting today.

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS friends when I was out in Namibia and also two others in Bosnia.

The short services were held in the garden areas of each site and led by members of the chaplaincy.

At Sandwell’s Courtyard Gardens, Rev Mary Causer told those gathered: “Across the world people are still fighting of every faith and none, and we want to represent those that have left us and those who are still here.

“In the first and second world war there were millions of soldiers of the Muslim and Sikh faith and African-Christian soldiers who fought with the allied forces.

“So when we think about Remembrance Day, let’s try and broaden what we remember. I am conscious that there are those of you who have lost family members and we say to you, we will remember them with you.

“We ask people to be conscious of those that are fighting today and have fought for us.”

At City Hospital around 30 colleagues watched as Rev Eddie Briones led the service whilst Rev Ebenezer Asaju was at Rowley Regis Hospital’s Courtyard to deliver a ceremony to mark the occasion.

Members of the chaplaincy at City Hospital During the lead up to Remembrance Day, colleagues heard from Jim Pollitt, ex-army and now Assistant Director of Strategic Development at the Trust, who spoke about the importance of the event.

Jim who was in the military for 22 years, said: “When I was growing up as a child it was one of those television occasions that the whole family had to get around and watch. I joined the army serving in the Royal Core of Signals and during that period I participated in many Remembrance Day parades myself across the country.

“It was only later on in life when I started taking my own family to parades that it really resonated with me about what it meant.

“I wasn’t just remembering people who died in the first and second world wars. I started to remember the people who I’d met and lost during conflict either in war or peacetime situations. Those conflicts and losses had a real impact on me. I lost two of my best

“When it does come to Remembrance Day, I give myself time to think. I listen to the Last Post which is quite haunting, which is then followed by the two minute silence. In that time I reflect on all the people I have lost who have fought their own battles and those on behalf of the nation.”

Trust pledges to support armed forces and their families Just days before Remembrance Day, Chief Executive Richard Beeken joined a senior Ministry of Defence Officer and representatives for other Trusts to collectively sign the Armed Forces Covenant.

The covenant demonstrates our commitment to recognising that those who have performed military duty deserve our respect, support and fair treatment and that those who have served should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services.

The covenant also includes a number of pledges in relation to supporting veterans, reservists and their families in employment.

World Diabetes Day: 100 years since the discovery of insulin Diabetes, it’s a complicated and serious condition defined by high blood glucose levels and the inability of the body to produce insulin, or to effectively use the insulin it produce. One in 15 people in the UK have diabetes, with over 1 million having undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

There are a number of types of diabetes, but the main two types are type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 is where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin. Approximately 10 per cent of adults and 90 per cent of children with diabetes will have type 1. At present, this type cannot be prevented.

Type 2 is where the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells don’t react properly to insulin. 90 per cent of adults with diabetes have this type but more than

half of all cases can be prevented or the onset significantly delayed for many years.

In 1921, insulin was discovered by Sir Frederick Banting to support both those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes across the world. This life-saving discovery has helped people living with diabetes to effectively regulate their blood sugar levels.

Before 1921, it was exceptional for people with type 1 diabetes to live more than a year or two. One of the twentieth century’s greatest medical discoveries, it remains the only effective treatment for people with type 1 diabetes today.

This means that in 2021, we’re celebrating 100 years since the discovery of insulin. It was one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in history, which went on to save millions of lives around the world and triggered a century of diabetes discoveries.

Sharing her thoughts on World Diabetes Day, Deputy Medical Director and Consultant Paediatrician in Diabetes and Endocrinology, Dr Chizo Agwu said: “100 years on from the discovery of insulin we hold more knowledge than ever in how to diagnose, manage and treat diabetes but there remain many challenges. Many people living with type 1 diabetes still struggle to achieve optimal diabetes control. Statistics show that almost half of people with type 2 diabetes go completely undiagnosed, with no support, intervention, or treatment.

We need to ensure that we follow best practice guidance in not only diagnosis and treatment, but in education equally.

Patients often live with diabetes for the rest of their lives, and although insulin can help many, it must be done alongside healthy eating and self-management.”

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SWB supports patients during Alcohol Awareness Week CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS We celebrated Alcohol Awareness this year at SWB with the aim to drive and encourage open conversation about alcohol and consumption as well as signpost those who need help and support.

According to recent figures from Alcohol Change, in England there are an estimated 602,391 dependent drinkers with only 18 per cent receiving treatment. More worryingly, 24 per cent of adults in England and Scotland regularly drink over the recommended weekly limit of 14 units and 27 per cent of drinkers in Great Britain binge drink on their heaviest drinking days (six units in one drinking session).

Senior Alcohol Specialist Nurse.

“With alcohol being a factor in more than 60 medical conditions, including mouth, throat, stomach, liver and breast cancers, high blood pressure, cirrhosis of the liver and depression, we knew it was important we host these stalls during Alcohol Awareness Week.”

And the hard work didn’t stop there – the team also recently introduced new pathways for supporting pregnant who were drinking alcohol.

To raise awareness, the alcohol care team put together a strategy to reach out patients across our three sites.

Carol Appleyard, Alcohol Specialist Nurse played a pivotal role in putting these pathways into place and said: “The alcohol care team and the specialist midwives teamed up to support pregnant women who are consuming alcohol. National guidance on drinking during pregnancy is unclear, but there is a collective recognition that any alcohol consumption is potentially harmful to the unborn baby.

Therefore, women who are drinking alcohol during pregnancy should be made aware of the dangers of this and offered treatment and support as required.”

“The first part of this strategy was during Alcohol Awareness Week where we hosted three stalls at Sandwell, City and Rowley showcasing the range support and services we offer to our patients,” said Samantha Morgan,

She added: “Two new pathways have been created to support clinicians in referring patients to the alcohol care team, and any woman who is drinking any amount of alcohol during pregnancy can be referred with their consent, with the first pathway advising

on how to refer to the alcohol care team and the second pathway guiding clinicians on how to manage alcohol withdrawal in alcohol dependent pregnant drinkers whilst they are an inpatient with us.”

In addition to this, the teamed joined forces with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) who kindly donated iPads so they can better support patients who use the digital alcoholics anonymous service.

Roxanne Mahroof, Alcohol Nurse, was thankful to RBS for their donation

Spreading the word about breast awareness According to recent statistics from research and care charity, Breast Cancer Now, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women the UK with one woman diagnosed every 10 minutes.

Around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK. In England alone, every year around 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

October was breast cancer awareness month and saw our breast unit who are based at the BTC put together a display outside their unit offering information and important resources around the disease.

Amanda Jones, Breast Cancer CNS helped put together the awareness stand and believes it was hugely beneficial for both patients and colleagues.

She said: “With an increased traffic of people now visiting our hospital site it was vital we put out the messages around breast cancer and the importance of getting yourself checked out despite the pandemic if you feel something isn’t right.”

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Zaidi-Crosse, Lead Breast Nurse, the team joined forces with established charity Future Dreams and the Victoria’s Secret breast cancer campaign during the month to spread the message across Birmingham Bullring which sees an average weekly footfall of approximately 750,000 people a week

Breast Cancer awareness month

Nazi Ahmadi-Doulabi Breast Cancer CNS also helped put together the stand and said: “In the month of October a variety of breast cancer related institutions and organisations have been aiming to raise awareness of breast cancer with the goal being to focus on accelerating research into prevention, diagnosis, and treatment which is what we have also tried to do on our unit with our display.”

Though generating awareness of breast cancer at our hospital sites is effective, the breast unit felt they wanted to do more and reach the wider community. With this mind, led by Catherine

Cathy said: “I represented the breast unit and SWB in Birmingham city centre on the Victoria’s Secret breast cancer bus giving my professional advice to members of the local community.

The event was a great success and I met lots of different people from across the city. I was also able to give professional advice to ladies who had finished cancer treatments, waiting to attend a breast clinic appointment and just general advice around breast awareness.”

She added: “If it meant just one person from the day got an early diagnosis and treatment because of the awareness day it will have been worthwhile it in my opinion.”

Should you wish to speak to a nurse from the service you can contact them on ext. 4976. In an emergency situation you should always call 999 or visit your nearest A&E.

Q-Park - coming to a site near you soon!

As you’ll be aware, Q-Park now manages parking across our organisation. Over the past few months, you’ll have undoubtedly seen them busy at work constructing our two multi-storey car parks with partners Vinci Construction UK Limited and Prime plc. They are building a 550 space fivestorey car park at City Hospital and a 400 space four-storey car park at Sandwell Hospital that we anticipate will be available to use by early 2022.

Diane Alford, Contract Performance Manager, told us: “So far, almost 2,700 colleagues have successfully applied for a permit and, over 4,600 people have expressed an interest in applying. If you have requested a parking pass, please keep checking your inbox for messages relating to your permit application, especially your permit offer, which you must accept within 14 days. If you do not, the application will be closed and, you will be required to submit a new application.

Q-Park have also been busy installing new car parking equipment at our Sandwell and Rowley sites and will commence the installation of equipment at City during November. Along with the equipment, Q-Park have also introduced a new permit system.

Should you wish to take advantage of parking, all colleagues should apply for a new parking permit as the old parking permits will soon be disabled. If you haven’t already done so, please visit https://permits.paysmarti.co.uk/acct/ qparkswbt/ to register and apply for your parking permit.

“Q-Park will begin to issue the barrier permits once the new equipment is installed. We will communicate news of this via the daily communications bulletin and email.”

Diane added: “If you currently have a Trust special permission windscreen permit that enables you to park in a specific area, e.g. on-call bays, community midwife bays, A&E consultant bays, Q-Park will be issuing new windscreen permits. Please email sandwellpermits@q-park.co.uk to apply for your replacement permit.”

CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Some interesting construction facts • Approximately 5,000 tonnes of concrete have been used so far on the Sandwell car park.

• Approximately 7,500 tonnes of concrete have been used so far on the City car park.

•

We plan to install 54 electric vehicle charging points. Some of these will be dual chargers, including 15 double chargers at Midland Met.

New risk management pathway for vulnerable adults A new risk management process for vulnerable adults has been introduced across Sandwell for colleagues to follow.

Deb Ward, Sandwell Safeguarding Adult’s Board Manager, said: “Using VARM, clinicians can ensure everyone, including the patient, has an agreed understanding of the risks and what needs to happen.

VARM - Vulnerable Adults Risk Management – aims to ensure an effective multi-agency working around vulnerable adults deemed to have mental capacity, but who are at risk of serious harm or death through self-neglect, risk taking behaviour or refusal of services.

The process aims to embed early intervention through multi-agency meetings and the use of a risk framework to manage the risk to a vulnerable adult.

VARM will: • Identify the relevant risks with the individual • Discuss and agree involved participants responsibilities/actions •

Record, monitor and review progress with the agreed action plan

•

Agree when the risks have been managed and evaluate the outcome

The new process has been developed in response to identified learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews in Sandwell.

These reviews identified that professionals

“A meeting takes place with the patient in which they are alerted to the concerns about risks that their healthcare professional thinks they are exposed to.

VARM is a new tool which will help colleagues to manage risk in vulnerable adults with mental capacity

often struggled to understand who to share information about risk with. Identified themes have included drugs and alcohol misuse, hoarding, mental health needs and/or learning disabilities, and homelessness.

A multi-agency task and finish group was set up by Sandwell Safeguarding Adults Board and working with partners, including our Trust, the framework for VARM was developed.

There are four criteria for the use of the process which must be met for it to be instigated. One of the four must be that the person has capacity to make decisions and choices.

“Together a plan is developed which identifies the agreed risk, and who is going to do what to help. It may also include any additional help, support or information that may be needed to manage risks. Others involved may also need to think about ways in which they could do things differently to help.”

A number of awareness sessions are taking place for those colleagues who will be using the new process, whilst a toolkit which contains an information leaflet for patients, meeting examples, and more information about the process. You can access the documents by going to https://connect2. swbh.nhs.uk/corporate-nursing/adultsafeguarding.

Sessions will take place on 7 and 13 December between 2-3pm and colleagues can book by going to training.sandwelllscb.org.uk.

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Procurement team achieve Level 2 in national standards CORPORATE AND GENERAL NEWS Congratulations to our procurement team who have achieved Level 2 in the NHS Procurement and Commercial Standards – recognition of the ongoing development of the team with regard to policies, procedures and delivery.

Mike Hanson, Black Country Alliance Director of Procurement told Heartbeat: “This achievement is fantastic news and is testament of the hard work and dedication of the team.

“SWB was awarded Level 1 status in November 2019 and followed this up with a Level 2 assessment in February 2021 which was successful and highlights the improvement in procurement.

“Having Level 2 status puts us in the top 25 per cent of all trusts, with no trust to date having achieved Level 3. If and when the Procurement League Table is reinstated following COVID-19, this will also mean a 10 per cent boost to our score within this measure.”

The standards assess NHS organisations in the following areas: • Strategy and organisation • People and skills • Strategic procurement • Supply chain • Data, systems and performance management • Policies and procedures

The procurement team

It is necessary for organisations to collect evidence and clearly demonstrate how they are achieving against each of the criteria.

which includes interviews with key Trust staff, presentations, stakeholder engagement and a final review of all evidence.”

“SWB was already achieving many of the aspects,” added Mike. “However for some aspects of the criteria it was necessary to create a gap analysis and strive to make improvements over a realistic period.”

The standards model is changing to align with the central government framework. Mike says the team will review these standards and look to submit an application for the equivalent of Level 3 as soon as practical.

Mike continued: “The assessment process is supported both by peer review and NHS England and Improvement. Following collection of all evidence, a submission for an assessment is made. The first step is a review of the evidence by an external assessor, with any gaps or requirements to clarify points ahead of the final assessment day.

“The final step is then the assessment day

There are 4 levels in the standards:

• • • •

Level 0 – No accreditation Level 1 – Building Level 2 – Achieving Level 3 – Excelling

It is anticipated that without aiming for higher levels of accreditation, an organisation would be required to apply every three years to maintain their level.

Alcohol team are keen to be green For two years now, the alcohol team has been showing colleagues the way when it comes to a greener way of working.

they can work and live in a greener and environmentally friendly way.

The alcohol care team has ten members including alcohol nurses, alcohol practitioners and a lead administrator. The clinical lead is Professor Sally Bradberry, Consultant Toxicologist.

They’d scooped the Green Award in the Trust’s annual Star awards in 2020 and have continued to impress by picking up the same prize again this year.

Speaking of their win, Sam Morgan, Senior Alcohol Specialist Nurse, said: “We are committed to ensuring the team work in a more sustainable way and are constantly doing things to do this.

“It’s fantastic that our hard work has been recognised for two years in a row and we will continue with our commitment to this. We are very focused on green and environmental issues.”

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The alcohol team won the Green Award at the Star Awards

Ways in which the team have been working in a greener way include recycling, the use of bikes and public transport, minimal waste, vegetarianism, and reducing litter. Green issues are discussed at every monthly meeting and colleagues are always looking for ways in which

During the pandemic the alcohol consumption of those already drinking to excess has increased, with many using alcohol to cope with stress and anxiety.

The team has been proactive in supporting these individuals and have adjusted the service delivery to better meet patients’ needs. As well as face to face support for inpatients, the team have provided online alcohol support meetings, have increased telephone appointments and enabled patients to access online AA meetings from their hospital bed using an iPad.

Thirteen cheers for acute medicine nursing!

MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY CARE successful participants 20 level 6 or 7 points.

Annabel Bottrill, Deputy Group Director of Nursing, Emergency Care congratulated the participants at the celebratory afternoon.

Thirteen colleagues from acute medicine have successfully completed the Level 1 course The acute medicine nursing team were beaming last month as 13 members of the team successfully completed the Level 1: Enhanced Care Acute Medicine Care course. They marked the achievement with a celebratory event on 21 October. The course runs over six months and is designed to enhance patient care by improving nurses knowledge and skills in acute medicine.

The acute medicine unit in SWB comprises four clinical areas, AMU at City and Sandwell, the ambulatory areas (AMAA)

and Newton 5. There are approximately 250 nursing colleagues who work on these areas and the patient mix is acute and varied.

Considerable skill is needed to achieve the best patient care.

Developed in 2020, the course is designed to enable nurses to achieve the critical care outreach forum Level 1 competencies. It is delivered by the professional development nurse team in acute medicine who are now working with Birmingham City University, who will accredit this course as one of their work based learning modules, where it will gain

Chris Ronayne, Professional Development Nurse also praised this achievement, she said: “The development of this course, and the success of the nurses who have completed it, will mean that the skill level of nursing staff in the units will increase, these nurses will act as role models and disseminate their knowledge to others, resulting in a general increase in knowledge, skill and patient outcomes.”

Congratulations to the acute medicine nursing team!

COVID intensive care team scoop Star Award SURGICAL SERVICES After navigating our way through the pandemic to this point, we were once again able to host our annual Star Awards in person this year at Aston Villa FC. The glittering evening saw 20 awards handed out to both clinical and nonclinical colleagues across SWB. Our awards ceremony, arguably the most anticipated event of the year, recognised the hard work and dedication of our colleagues and volunteers, both on the frontline and across our supporting services.

This year the team that walked away with the Clinical Team of the Year (adults) award was our COVID intensive care team.

Fighting off stiff competition, the team received the accolade for their unwavering commitment to patient care throughout the pandemic. As a service, they expanded to over 240 per cent capacity by opening to two additional wards.

To meet the needs of the patients, they redesigned how they worked to enable safe and effective team working with many people that would not have ever been in intensive care before. They took on new and evolving evidence and rapidly turned it into

to enhance future ways of working. One area they worked closely with was the respiratory hub that cared for our most critically ill patients.

The COVID intensive care team won Clinical Team of the Year (adults) protocols to support our sickest patients.

Despite being so busy clinically, the team contributed massively to the national research programmes, being one of the top Trusts in the country in terms of recruitment for some studies that led to ground-breaking new treatment for COVID-19.

The ICU team was one of the most active users of video LifeLines in the UK, helping patients keep in touch when families could not be present in person.

The team also enjoyed working together forging new relationships, which will continue

Dr Jonathan Hulme, Intensive Care Consultant and Joint Clinical Lead for Critical Care, remarked: “It's been a long COVID season. A positive to come out of this is that we have taken on the challenge as a team. As a result, we have developed several strong relationships and worked together, often with people outside of our area who had no intention of working within intensive care but who stepped forward to help.”

Rebecca O’ Dwyer, Lead ICU Nurse and Joint Clinical Lead for Critical Care, added: “Through working together, we have built good links. We are proud that we have taken a lot of new treatments and put them into place quickly for the benefit of our patients. Our treatments have changed to keep up with demand, and we've taken an active part in the research happening across our Trust. All in all, it has been difficult but, I could not think of a better group of people to do it with.”

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Why not home? Why not today?

Why not D2A? PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES AND THERAPIES Facilitating patient discharges isn’t about getting patients out of the door as quickly as possible, it’s about taking the time plan, prepare and take a person centred approach to supporting patients to get back to their lives, at home, with their family and loved ones. And here’s where Discharge to Assess can help!

Talking about plans to discharge before a patient has had a moment to settle in to their ward seems a little cold and calculating, but is it? Do patients really want to spend unnecessary days and weeks in our wards awaiting clinicians and social care to finally progress their plans to go home, or would they prefer a ward team who are forward thinking and accurate with their discharge.

Discharge to Assess, also known as D2A, is a model of discharge which we've introduced throughout the Trust. It is a national model and aims to simplify the language and processes for colleagues and patients.

D2A introduces a new language, describing all discharges based on Pathways 0-4, no matter which local authority or postcode the individual lives in. It also changes language around

Discharge pathway

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Medically Fit for Discharge, which now becomes known as ‘Criteria To Reside’.

This is not simply a change in language but is about changing a mind-set and really challenging each other and clinical teams to justify the medical criteria keeping the person in hospital.

Sharing her thoughts on the new programme, iBeds Directorate Lead Sarah Oley said: “D2A is a ‘home first’ model and focusses on identifying the needs of the patient, and exploring all options for them to return home before considering alternatives. It operates on the premise of ‘Why not home? Why not today?' Ensuring that we focus on getting patients back in to their home environments as soon as possible.

“D2A also removes the expectation for inpatient clinical teams to be experts in the complex and often confusing world of social care services, ward teams simply contact our Integrated Discharge Hub team who are on hand 8am-8pm, seven days per week on 07815 647936 to support all discharges for pathways 1-4. The team will be able to work with social care colleagues to develop a care package that meets the patient’s needs.

“For patients who require ongoing support from health or social care services after they have completed their acute medical treatment, D2A allows them to

be discharged within 24 hours and their needs assessed, and support arranged in the community – usually their own home.

This means they have more meaningful assessments e.g. climbing their own stairs, or making themselves a cup of tea in their own kitchen – things we can’t replicate in the hospital environment.”

Facilitating patient discharges is a critical element of not only keeping a hospital flowing but most importantly ensuring that patients get effective care in a timely manner and supporting their recovery in their comfort of their own home.

As we move through winter, it’s critical that wards are able to progress their patient care, discuss discharge arrangements and make good use of the Integrated Discharge Hub team to support patients who require health or social care support to return home.

Conversations about discharges should begin early, and colleagues should focus on ensuring all patients have a planned discharge pathway alongside their discharge date, and discharge-related issues are highlighted early to the Integrated Discharge Hub for support.

For more information about how the Integrated Discharge hub can help you, contact the team between 8am and 8pm on 07815 647936.

The return of the great paediatric bake off and their families to enjoy. This event was for children with Type 1 diabetes - a chronic illness, which can be hard to manage.

Dr Avann remarked: “We do social events annually for our children with diabetes. Last year, we had to do the session virtually, so we hosted an online session like this where we baked cheese muffins. It was such a success that we decided to host another event this year and opted to cook pizzas. It’s hard to believe a year has passed so quickly, but here we are hosting our second event, a fun and educational session that is fast becoming one of the highlights of our events calendar.”

Dr Avann continued: “These events have proved popular and they are an enjoyable way for One of our young patients featured children to learn about cooking and baking. with the pizza she cooked as part of our It provides a practical opportunity to revise online session carbohydrate counting and focus on healthy eating. These sessions help to emphasise how our For the second year running, the paediatric young patients can best manage their condition, diabetes team hosted a virtual cookalong especially by understanding what carbohydrates session for our young patients. Dr Avann they are eating and how that impacts them.” and Dietician, Prinith de Alwis Jayasinghe combined forces to cook up another Prinith added: “We talked about having their five fantastic event for our young patients a day and encouraged the children to put at least

WOMEN AND CHILD HEALTH two of them on their pizzas. We provided free ingredients packs to make sure the event was inclusive. We didn’t want anyone excluded because they couldn’t afford the ingredients or because of time pressures to purchase the ingredients needed for the recipe. We included spinach and sweetcorn in there to try too, which everyone seemed to enjoy.”

The event turned out to be another success.

Mums and dads helped their children preheat their ovens; add in their ingredients one by one until their pizzas were ready to eat. Some of the positive feedback received included: “We thoroughly enjoyed the session. It gave us a chance to make a pizza with other families who are experiencing the same daily routine as us”. Another said: “As a mother, I want my child to enjoy cooking and making meals when she is older without worrying about whether she has counted the carbs correctly.”

The power of play Being in hospital can be a daunting time for many of our patients - particularly our youngest patients. So what better way to help them cope with life’s challenges, and eliminate fears of anxiety and uncertainty than through the power of play.

Team of three, Abbie Hanlon, Beena Parmar and Jo Maher, also known as the play team, hosted a week of fun activities for our youngest patients to mark Play in Hospital Week. Organised by the National Association of Health Play Specialists (NAHPS), Play in Hospital Week is marked annually and this year took place between 11 and 17 October.

The theme for 2021 is ‘Playing through the pandemic – a narrative of positive interventions’.

The aim is to raise awareness of the benefits of play in the treatment of poorly children in hospitals across the UK. It aims to promote and ensure the provision of appropriate therapeutic and normalising play in healthcare settings.

This year’s activities included a host of exciting and engaging activities including arts and crafts, play dough germ mats, hospital hero mask making, decorating cakes and biscuits, toy raffle, hand washing using light boxes, and design a poster competition. But that’s not all, the team dressed up throughout the week in rainbow t-shirts and as superheroes to bring an extra element of fun.

Play in hospital is extremely important and makes a huge difference to our patients and their families. Play allows some normality in the time of uncertainty and worry, it is familiar and reassuring. It is the way children make sense of the world around them and it helps them to learn, develop and feel less anxious. Play allows children and young people to express feelings and worries and understand what is happening to them.

Parents and colleagues praised the work of the play team and their organisation of a fabulous week of activities. “We have received positive feedback from colleagues and parents, and many doctors thanking us for our help after creating a pleasant distraction and realising how important the role of a play specialist is. From this, we receive many referrals from different teams (e.g. physio, allergy, diabetes and consultants) to help prepare and distract patients to ensure their experience is more positive,” said the play team.

Abbie Hanlon, Play Specialist said: “Promoting play in hospitals shows people the benefits of play. Many people always say to us ‘oh your job is easy and fun’ but in reality there is more to our role. Play allows children to explore their feelings and can calm patients down. It allows them to have a voice in their treatment and feel more in control in a very unknown and scary time of their lives. We build up strong relationships and trust with our patients through the method of play.”

The play team hosted lots of fun activities for children in our hospitals Sadly, for children in hospital access to play and play professionals has undoubtedly been exacerbated by COVID and needs an ongoing concerted effort to resolve.

Abbie continued: “Play through the pandemic has been challenging, we have lost our play rooms and all play is now based at the bedside, which can be challenging when sometimes you are encouraging patients to be more mobile, or they are fed up of being in the same space. Our fundraising is extremely important too as we often find ourselves low on pencils crayons, fidget toys, stickers and arts and crafts.”

Support play in hospitals Text YTCPLAY 3 to 70085 to donate £3 Texts cost £3 plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to give £3 but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text YTCPLAYNOINFO 3 to 70085.

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Reflections of the pandemic from nuclear medicine IMAGING Nuclear medicine is an area of radiology that uses small amounts of radioactive materials, called radiopharmaceuticals, to examine organ function and structure. This branch of radiology helps diagnose and treat abnormalities very early in the progression of a disease.

This month, we caught up with our nuclear medicine team to share their experiences of the pandemic. Joseph O’Brien, Head of Nuclear Medicine, told us: “Our team provides nuclear medicine services to our organisation as well as neighbouring Trusts. We have close links to the Trust’s radiopharmacy team who provide us, as well as neighbouring Trusts, with radiopharmaceuticals for all our patients.

“Both teams consist of individuals with unique skills and capabilities and cover key areas of responsibility in providing safe and legal services. They include administration colleagues, radiopharmacists, technologists, scientists, nursing colleagues, imaging support workers and consultants. In addition, our technologists also run and manage our Krypton gas generator production service, which are sold

to other UK hospitals for lung ventilation studies.”

Joseph explained that during the pandemic, all teams continued to play a crucial role. “All our services have kept going throughout the ongoing pandemic as many of our tests are critical for patient care.

“There have been some changes to how we work regarding infection control, as you’d expect. Inherent in our training is to keep all our radiation doses to a minimum by following the rules of time distance and shielding. These mechanisms also apply to reducing the risk of catching and spreading COVID-19. So when the pandemic struck, the required behaviour modification was quite intuitive to pick up – it’s ingrained in our roles already.”

In terms of the work the team has undertaken, Joseph explained: “We had to make decisions about what nuclear scans must continue to go ahead and what we could safely postpone. It was an inclusive process, and we made a collective decision based on our clinical insight and experience.

In particular, we also had to decide on how best to offer lung V/Q scans for the detection of pulmonary embolisms. These tests are not ‘aerosol producing’, but they require the operator to fit a mask to the patient, so full PPE is recommended. We had the relevant PPE equipment and training to ensure we were working safely.

“We also understood that patients would

Members of the nuclear medicine team outside BTC

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be nervous about visiting the hospital for a nuclear medicine test, so we produced an additional letter to inform them of the measures we were taking to minimise the spread of COVID-19 within the department.

Plus, we had lots of useful practical ideas from our colleagues. When collated, these became a local guide to the situation, which ended up being published as national guidance by the British Nuclear Medicine Society in a paper, thanks to the support of Jilly Croasdale, Head of Radiopharmacy Department and Associate Director Healthcare Science.”

Joseph continued: “On a practical level, as a team, we followed social distancing guidelines and reduced the number of people accompanying patients in the department due to limited space in the waiting room.

“As a small team, communication was essential to navigating our way through this pandemic. We were lucky to be well supported by Fiona Rotherham, our Deputy Group Director of Operations who fed back daily on any useful information from tactical briefings. We all actively listened to any colleague queries and made suggestions to help solve or minimise any issues. We’ve also openly talked about positive developments that have impacted staff morale at our QIHDs and recognised the contributions people have made, sometimes with a small gesture as a way of saying thank you.”

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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

IMAGING

of new treatments and national care pathways along with expansion of the services provided by SWB. Heather has faced numerous challenges throughout her career however she believes the COVID-19 pandemic surpasses them all.

She said: “The last 18-24 months have been challenging with being redeployed to both the critical care unit in the first wave of COVID-19 and then to the respiratory hub in October of 2020.”

Despite challenges throughout her nursing career, Heather has always wanted to be nurse from since she can remember and said: “My great grandmother was a nurse and so were many of my cousins. My passion has always been caring for people which is what led me down this the path of caring form people with inflammatory bowel disease as these are a group of conditions that are long term, relapsing and remitting in nature but can be disabling to those who have them.”

She added: “I feel privileged and honoured to have cared for my patients through many years and milestones in their lives.”

Clare Smith, Jo Harvey, Kath Johnson, Grace Preece and Kerrie Burns all work within gastroenterology and feel Heather will be missed.

Heather Hart

Heather Hart retires after 24 years After 24 years, Heather Hart, Inflammatory Bowel Disease CNS will be retiring from the Trust.

Heather started her journey with SWB back in 1997 where she was appointed as the first gastroenterology clinical nurse

specialist in our Trust having previously worked at Heartlands Hospital. At the time, her role included looking after all patients with gastroenterology problems such as inflammatory bowel disease, liver problems, upper GI cancers, coeliac disease and gastrostomy tube feeding in both community and inpatients settings.

However as the years passed her role developed and changed with advancements

They said: “We have all worked together as specialist nurses for many years and have learnt from Heather’s wealth of knowledge and experience in gastroenterology especially in inflammatory bowel disease.”

As part of her retirement Heather plans to spend more time with her grandson and is planning on travelling around the UK and Europe in her campervan. Heather has also been involved with the air cadets for numerous years so is hopeful to invest more of free time into this venture.

Good luck with your retirement Heather!

Pay dates for 2021/22 With the build up to the festive period just around the corner, we would like to remind colleagues that the monthly pay date will be a week early in the month of December.

The monthly pay dates up until March 2022 are listed below as follows: • Monday 20 December 2021 • Tuesday 25 January 2022 • Friday 25 February 2022 • Friday 25 March 2022 Weekly Pay Dates 2021/22: Friday remains the usual pay date, unless this needs to be amended due to extenuating circumstances for example national bank holidays.

In these instances any change to weekly pay day will be shared ahead of time.

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Daren Fradgley Executive Director of Integration (Interim) as close to patients’ homes as possible,” he said. “Having spent my entire clinical career in a pre and post hospital setting, I strongly believe that good quality place based care linked with partners such as social care, housing and the third sector can deliver better and timelier outcomes for our patients whilst protecting acute and bed based services for those in greatest need.

“Having achieved this in Walsall and other places with the ambulance service I was excited to get the opportunity to come SWB to develop our place based model for the future. A model that is even more important now given the opening of Midland Met which will require thriving clinical and community pathways if it is going to be successful.”

Daren will be accountable for bringing partners together to deliver good quality place based care.

Daren Fradgley, Executive Director of Integration (Interim)

This month we welcome a new member of the executive team. Daren Fradgley has recently joined our SWB family as interim executive director of integration.

Daren has worked in the NHS for 28 years and joins us from Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust where in the last two years he was deputy chief executive and then acting chief executive.

saw me work in various areas of the service including operations, data and performance management and the emergency operations centres before finishing in NHS 111, where I led the migration from NHS Direct.

“In 2014 I moved to Walsall Healthcare as executive director of strategy with a brief to build the Trust’s integration offer. This developed into a place based care model called Walsall Together which quickly developed as a We caught up with him to find out more. virtual organisation in Walsall. Walsall Together “I spent 20 years of my career in the ambulance is responsible for the smooth running of all out of hospital health services, elements of primary service where I trained as a paramedic and I care, adult social care, mental health, housing still practice today with a clinical speciality in and the voluntary sector under a single clinical admission avoidance,” he said. “During my and practitioner management team. This time at West Midlands Ambulance Service I removed barriers between organisations and worked on the front line in South, Central and delivered services closer to people’s homes.”

West Birmingham before transferring to the Black Country.

“I then moved into a leadership role starting at station level and then director level of which seven years was as an assistant chief officer. My time as a director with the ambulance service

He added: “The Trust has already committed to be the host for this endeavour and therefore we are collectively responsible for the coordination and creating the success conditions for the partners to work on our place based partnership. The offer for the citizens we serve should be the same in West Birmingham as it is in Sandwell so we will need to work hard to stay aligned with other partners in Birmingham.

Looking forward, the creation of national policy relating to place based partnerships is moving closer to approval and will see providers take on a wider coordination role with commissioners coordinating population health budgets and addressing the wider determinants of health.”

Daren most looks forward to meeting new people and creating space to hear colleagues’ ideas and bringing them to life. He welcomes listening to your ideas to deliver better quality services closer to home. Drop him a line at daren.fradgley@nhs.net or a direct message on Microsoft Teams. He would also love to visit your service and discuss your ideas and ambitions.

So what does Daren do in his spare time?

We asked Daren what attracted him to SWB.

“What spare time?” he says. “I was born in Walsall and now live in Wombourne with my partner Helen and have three children aged 24, and 12 year old twins. Our days off are busier than work days – I hate sitting around so we are always exploring somewhere new. I hold a private pilot’s licence and I am passionate about anything aviation. I very nearly became a pilot with British Airways but the NHS grabbed me first, but that’s another story!”

“I am passionate about integrating services and providing the very best care and support

Welcome and good luck in your new role Daren.

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Rose Butler

Wave goodbye to…

Sister Nurse

After delivering 56 years of outstanding care for patients in Sandwell, Rose Butler will be retiring from SWB.

Sister Rose has left a lasting impression on many of her colleagues including Maria Yague, Staff Nurse who looks at Rose like a mentor.

Known to most across the Trust as Sister Rose, she started her nursing career in 1965 when she joined the state enrolled nursing programme at West Bromwich and District General Hospital which she successfully qualified from 18 months later.

She said: “Sister Rose is always there to lend you a hand, always listens, is always compassionate and she is non-judgemental.

This isn’t just for the nurses but also all radiographers, radiologists, IDAs, HCAs, porters and admin staff.”

“I have witnessed many changes over my 50 plus year career such as the merging of West Bromwich District Hospital with the Hallam Hospital and Heath Lane Hospital, which then later became what know now as Sandwell Hospital as well an evolution of the healthcare system from traditional, manual delivery of care up to the progression of the new technology like our electronic patient record, Unity,” said Rose.

Throughout her five decade career Rose has reached many milestones such as having one of her youngest patients, a baby girl named after her and being recipient of an MBE in 2008.

Sister Rose leaves the Trust

When asked about her MBE Rose said: "l remember it like it was only yesterday! I was travelling to Buckingham Palace and I had butterflies in my stomach. l couldn't eat anything on the day because I was so nervous even though it wasn't the first time I had been to the palace and I'd been invited to a garden party previously and met the Queen and Prince Philip which was equally as nerve-wracking but also amazing. When I received my MBE from Prince Charles, he asked me how long I had been nursing, and whether I enjoyed the job. It was a very special experience."

Carrie Goodship, superintendent radiographer and reporting radiographer echoes these thoughts and said: “In the team and across the department, I think we can all agree when I say that we are all very privileged to have worked with a very truly remarkable and successful nurse such as Rose. She is a true daughter of Sandwell Hospital.”

As part of her retirement, Rose plans to spend more time with her family and friends.

Everyone at SWB would like to Thank Rose for her service – good luck in the future Sister Rose!

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 Late LAMP test results Dear Heartbeat, We are all encouraged to do our weekly LAMP test to keep everyone safe and protected which is great. However myself and my colleagues have noticed inconclusive results and more worryingly late results are becoming more or a common occurrence. For example my most recent LAMP took two days to receive the results. So submitted on a Monday, this means I’d been on site for three days before getting results. The one before that took five days! I’d been on site all week and the text came through on a Saturday, thankfully negative but if it wasn’t the same outcome, I could have been unknowingly spreading COVID all week throughout the hospital during a time where we are approaching the winter months and cases seem to be rising. In that case it seems like lateral flow is better as it’s timelier, yet we are urged to steer towards LAMP testing due to accuracy of the test. Seems pointless if the results take so long to process – should we switch to lateral flow?

However there is a step in the background where if there is a positive result the positive result is escalated to enable the result to be sent to the individual without delay.

Thank you for your support in keeping our patients, colleagues and families safe by undertaking asymptomatic testing - please continue with the weekly LAMP testing programme.

Kind regards, Kulwinder Johal Deputy Director of Operations

Do we have the green light for Christmas get-togethers?

Kind regards,

Dear Heartbeat,

Anon

My team are small however have worked hard throughout the pandemic and throughout the last 12 months. I want to organise a little Christmas gathering at either lunchtime or after work. With the current COVID situation is this allowed or encouraged, are other teams arranging Christmas get-togethers and what about those bigger teams? I think it would be a nice treat for everyone but I don’t want to put the feelers out if protocol says we’re not actually supposed to encourage group gatherings due to the current

Dear Colleague, Thank you for enrolling on our asymptomatic COVID-19 testing programme, LAMP and I am sorry for the delay that you have incurred lately in getting your results. The delay has been due to changes in pathology and issues with transport to Wolverhampton which we have been working on to resolve once they

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became apparent over the last few weeks. The process of getting the samples deposited in the COVID sample bins to Wolverhampton has been adjusted to reduce the delay in the samples getting to the lab and hence reduce the time lag in getting results out. The process is being closely monitored and problems escalated at the weekly Black Country pathology LAMP testing meeting.

situation with COVID. Any kind of advice on this would be appreciated. It would be nice to hold a festive celebration of some sort but clarity on the views of the Trust would be good.

Kind regards, Anon Dear Colleague, Thank you for raising this. Healthcare have different guidelines to the general population and within the healthcare setting we must ensure that we still adhere to the COVID rules to reduce the risk of transmission.

Social distancing must be maintained, and rooms should be clearly labelled with the maximum number of people allowed in. This can be difficult when organising events for staff as often more people want to attend then the capacity of the room allows.

If food is brought in it should be individually packaged and masks should be in place when not eating. It is vitally important that social distancing is maintained whilst eating.

Hand hygiene and mask wearing are still a requirement. At social events we tend to be a little more relaxed and can be off guard and not adhere to these requirements.

If you are organising an event outside of the healthcare setting please follow the current Government recommendations.

Kind regards, Julie Booth Deputy Director of Infection Prevention and Control

30

Richard talks about: What is “public service?”

Richard Beeken, Chief Executive

RICHARD'S LAST WORD I took this from the free dictionary on-line.

Other dictionaries are available…. “public service n.

1. Employment within a governmental system, especially within the civil service.

variety of companies. I elected to put myself through this because I was spending my post-University time spinning waltzer cars at a fairgrounds and drinking too much. I needed to find a purpose.

One of the interviews I had was with Marks & Spencers. The interview was barely 20 minutes in, when the interview chair said,

2. A service performed for the benefit of the public, especially by a not for and I quote: “we are going to stop the interview now, Mr Beeken”. I asked why. profit organisation.

He said “because you and I both know, that

3. The business of supplying an you don’t want to work for this company do essential commodity, such as you?”. I paused and then agreed with him. water or electricity, or a service, such I had realised, subconsciously at that point, as communications or that I did not want to spend the rest of my transportation, to the public” life, selling things that people didn’t need, to help other people than me, make money.

I agreed with Ruth, our Director of I went on to throw everything I had at the Communications, that I would write about what it means to me to have spent an entire NHS management training scheme application process. I got on the scheme, starting my first working life in public service. The reason job at Darlington Memorial Hospital in County why we both agreed this focus is because Durham. That year was a good vintage. public servants are having a difficult, often The trainees I joined the NHS with that year torrid time at present. Whatever your role include my predecessor at SWB, Toby; Richard in public service, be it nurse, police officer, paramedic, social worker, civil servant or senior manager, we are all faced by similar challenges and a more difficult backdrop to our work than we did as recently as five or ten years ago. Eleven years of real terms funding cuts in government departments have led to a deterioration in most of the services we offer. Self-induced workforce crises compound this problem, for example the mass exodus of the invaluable workforce in adult social care. Public expectations continue to rise and these expectations cannot often be met. Public dissatisfaction is leading to an abhorrent rise in violence and aggression towards public servants, the very same people who were applauded as essential workers during the first wave of the pandemic, are now vilified.

Kirby, CEO of Birmingham Community Trust and Suzie Bailey, Director of OD at the Kings Fund. I’ve never looked back and never wanted to do anything else.

I remain committed to the values and ideals of the NHS and committed to strong public services to support the most disadvantaged in society. I remain firmly of the belief that my main job as chief executive, is to create the working conditions for my colleagues that will enable them to release more of their time to care for the most disadvantaged and unwell people in our communities.

We all should also be bound together by the unshakeable belief that we have to protect the quality and resilience of the services we provide, because our family, friends and descendants, will need those services. If we don’t continue as public servants, then who?

So why do we, colleagues at Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, continue to be public servants? I do hope that most of you joined the service for the same reasons as me and that you will continue to work in public servants for the same reasons. What are those reasons? To explain that, I will need to tell you a brief story: When I left University in the early 1990s, graduates like me, with non-vocational qualifications (2nd class degree from Dundee University in Politics and Geography) often took to the “milk round” of interviews to join the graduate management training schemes of a whole

Our vision, purpose and strategic objectives underpin our values as public servants

31

Paediatrics looks fa-boo-lous for Halloween conversation starter when colleagues from other areas visited the ward areas and saw the displays on show.”

YOUR TRUST CHARITY

Hasina added: “As things seem like they are slowly getting back to normal, it was the ideal opportunity to do this. As we had the all clear from infection control, it meant we could go ahead and do this.

Some of the Halloween displays kindly donated by Hasina for Halloween

 @SWBHCharity To donate to the Your Trust Charity text “SWBH16 £5” to 70070

Speaking to Heartbeat, Hasina told us: “I decided to donate to the paediatrics wards after spending almost two years tackling the pandemic because it had an impact on play in hospital and the activities available to young patients.

This year, paediatrics decided to go all out and made their ward areas boo-tiful in celebration of Halloween.

A kind-hearted colleague, Hasina Berryman, Paediatric Sister, donated balloon displays courtesy of her company, Kookie and Kings Creations.

“Each display has around 200 balloons from latex to large standing foil balloons.

It was important because I wanted to do something fun for the children and brighten up the wards after having an unsettled couple of years. It contributed to the morale on the wards and, it was a

“I feel that these displays have had a positive impact on patient journeys as I have witnessed children taking photos with them and getting excited. For me, this has helped reduce fear in children when coming into the hospital. I have also received positive feedback from my colleagues as well as patients and visitors.

“I have been approached by the ward managers on the paediatric ward areas to assist with our Christmas décor, within Trust guidelines of course, which I am keen to do.”

Visit Facebook: Kookie Kings Creations or Instagram: Kcre.ations for more balloon inspiration.

A generous donation to YTC

There’s no doubt we have some

pretty amazing colleagues here

at our Trust, but when those colleagues are recognised by our patients, that’s something extra special. Monarch Education generously donated £4,700 to Your Trust Charity following treatment received by long standing employee Sandy Sandal as she fought cancer at City hospital.

Now on the mend, Sandy Sandal expressed her deep appreciation for the care she received during her stay, she said: “I wanted to thank everyone on the D12 ward at City for supporting me through what was the most difficult time of my life.

During four months in hospital, I faced many dark days alone due to COVID restrictions and therefore relied on the consultants and nurses for both medical and psychological support. I

Monarch Education donate £4,700 to cannot thank them all enough for getting Your Trust Charity me back home to my family.”

As a thank you for the fantastic care provided by SWB, Monarch Education held a large raffle, with prizes donated from across the business with the board of directors matching penny for penny what employees were able to raise – the end result was a fantastic £4,700.

Esme Bianchi-Barry, CEO of Affinity Workforce Solutions (Monarch’s ‘parent’ company) shared kind words about the staff on ward D12 at City haematology department: “The staff at SWB provided outstanding care to Sandy and I'm so

pleased to be able to present £4,700 to such an amazing and dedicated team.

Sandy is a long-standing, pivotal member of our Birmingham team, so raising money for the Trust is very close to our hearts.”

Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity thanked Monarch Education for raising funds for the Trust, he said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to Monarch Education for their very generous donation. Not only was this donation made possible thanks to the fabulous efforts of Monarch Education’s staff team in running a charity raffle, but we are also grateful to their senior board for matching penny for penny what they raised. As a thank you to Monarch Education, we’ll have their business’s name printed on a glass border within the one of the courtyards of our new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. This donation will greatly help us add value and make a difference to our staff, patients, and families.”

November 2021 staff lottery results 1st £173.50

2nd £104.25

3rd £69.70

Anon

Kiera Simcox

Hermin Francis

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 amanda.winwood@nhs.net.