Patient, Public and Community Engagement Events

The Trust has been actively engaging with representatives from Pocklington’s (a charity supporting people with visual impairment) since March to identify and address the challenges that people with visual impairments may face when visiting Trust sites. Together, we have assessed Midland Met and Sandwell Health Campus, with feedback shared through the Patient Experience Team and Wayfinding Group to inform ongoing improvements. Engagement with Pocklington’s continues.

Youth Space meetings take place every last Tuesday of the month from 6.15pm to 8pm at Sandwell Hospital’s Education Centre, Hallam Street, West Bromwich B71 4HJ.

For more information about Youth Space click here.

The Improving the Future of AHP Services session, held on 13 August 2025 at the Yemeni Centre, brought together 26 attendees—patients, young people, and community representatives—to discuss the role and future of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs). Led by Paul McArdle from Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust and organised by the Engagement Team, who developed the documentation and designed the day’s activities, the workshop introduced the national AHP Strategy for England (2022–2027) alongside local priorities around leadership, digital transformation, and co-production. Through interactive exercises, participants explored comfort with digital healthcare tools, access to AHP services, self-care practices, and what matters most in receiving support. Key themes highlighted the need for accessible, person-centred care, better digital support and education, improved communication, and maintaining face-to-face options. Feedback from the session will help shape local AHP priorities and ensure community voices inform future service development.

A questionnaire was distributed to young people, secondary schools and colleges to help determine the preferred food offering for the Learning Campus, located on the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) Campus in Smethwick. The campus will accommodate up to 250 students aged 16–21. 30 people responded and their feedback will help to procure catering facilities.

The Trust held an interactive workshop on Wednesday 4 June 2025 from 10am to 12pm at Yemeni Community Association, Greets Green Access Centre, Tildasley Street, West Bromwich, B70 9SJ.(Registration from 9.30am). The event was well attended, with 31 participants in total. This included 27 individuals comprising patients, local residents, and representatives from community organisations, as well as four members of staff. The audience represented a broad age range, from young people to older generations, highlighting the wide-reaching appeal and relevance of improving local engagement, hospital services and getting involved.

The Trust has actively engaged with SCAT patients before and after the move to Midland Met, to gather feedback, share updates and shape service improvements. Recent sessions held on 17 July 2024, 28 October 2024 and 13 February 2025 explored patient experiences and priorities. The February session focused on what worked well and what could be improved at Midland Met, including the key priorities for SCAT pathways over the next 6–12 months and enhancements to the ED pathway. Feedback from these sessions continues to guide improvements.

The Trust transformed a disused patient transport van into a rolling billboard for the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital and visited our local communities to let them know what was happening.

Information was shared about the new hospital, what services would remain at Sandwell and City Hospitals (now renamed Sandwell and City Health Campuses) and what services transferred to Midland Met.

To ensure the right services were in the correct place ahead of the opening of Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, the Trust proposed changes to the way some care was delivered across its sites.

The Trust continued to focus on stroke services and produced a document outlining the proposed changes it wished to discuss with stroke survivors, their carers and loved ones, and other interested parties across Sandwell and West Birmingham.

The Trust proposed three different ways of caring for these patients, which were detailed in the report available via the Stroke Service Publication leaflet.

As part of engagement around the service, the Trust held a workshop at the YMCA West Bromwich, where feedback was gathered from the community about the improvements made so far.

• A Bereavement Workshop was held at the Brasshouse Community Centre. Friends and family members of loved ones lost under the care of our Trust told us about their experiences with our bereavement services and what they thought needed improving.

• A Food and Nutrition in hospital settings session was held at Sandwell Hospital, with discussions around what improvements could be made.

• A Focus on Frailty event took place at Yemeni Community Association in Sandwell. The current and new frailty pathways for the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital were discussed and vital feedback was gathered from staff, patients, carers and community organisations.

• A Carers Workshop took place at the Brasshouse Community Centre. Carers shared their experiences and talked about how we could work together to improve the services we provide, as well as how the Trust could support them in the process.

To ensure we have the right services in the correct place ahead of the opening of Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, we are proposing to make changes to the way we deliver some of the care across the Trust.

We are continuing our focus on stroke and have produced a document that outlines the proposed changes we wish to discuss with stroke survivors, their carers and loved ones and other interested parties across Sandwell and West Birmingham.

We are proposing three different ways in which we care for these patients which are detailed in the report accessed via this link: Stroke Service Publication leaflet.