   Thursday 2nd February 2023 Consultation on Acute Hospital-Based Stroke Services in Somerset  Stroke is a sudden and life-changing event, and is a leading cause of death and disability in the UK. Over recent years, there have been significant advances in proven, highly effective methods of stroke treatment and care. After NHS Somerset’s Stroke Strategy review in 2019, we identified a need to evaluate current acute stroke services in Somerset. Acute hospital-based stroke services is the specialist hospital care people receive in the first few days and weeks when they first have a stroke. Our ambition is to develop services so that the people of Somerset receive timely interventions and are able to access world-class care, regardless of where they live. We believe that by improving the way stroke services are delivered, we can enable better coordination of care, ensuring all patients have access to the right help, in the right place, at the right time. We want to work closely with local people on the development of these services. We’re committed to understanding the needs of our local population to make sure we can continue to deliver the best possible health and care services in Somerset. NHS Somerset is running a public consultation to gather feedback about the future of acute hospital based stroke services in Somerset, from people living in Somerset and people who use Somerset hospitals. The consultation runs from Monday 30 January 2023 for 12 weeks until midnight on Monday 24 April 2023. We want to hear your views on the future of hyper acute and acute stroke services in the county. Please click here to find out more and to share your views by completing the survey Building a Healthier Somerset Together  f you, a family member or someone you care for is receiving care now, what would make it feel personalised and co-ordinated to meet your or their needs? Which health and care issues matter most to you? What areas of health and care support would you like us to focus on? As one of 580,000 residents in Somerset, we want to hear from you to help us make sure that everyone can live well, supported by thriving communities, with access to high-quality public services when you need them. Don’t forget to have your say in the future of Somerset’s health and care by completing the questionnaire, which closes on Sunday 5th March 2023. Please click here to share your views and complete the questionnaire NHS Service Finder  Find the right services … fast! NHS Service Finder provides fast, accurate information about local health and social care services. It allows healthcare professionals to signpost patients to the most appropriate care and removes the reliance on outdated directories. It’s completely free and takes 2 minutes to register with your NHSmail address. For more information please click below or email service.finder@nhs.net Please click here for more information Healthcare Inequalities: Access to NHS prescribing and exemption schemes in England  Core20PLUS population uptake of NHS prescribing and exemption schemes Working together with the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, NHS Business Services Authority has published a new report on healthcare inequalities in relation to NHS prescribing and exemption schemes in England. The report considers uptake in deprived and under-served communities and provides actionable insights with a focus on three of the five clinical areas of focus outlined in the Core20PLUS5 approach – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension, and severe mental illness (SMI). Please click here to read the Healthcare Inequalities report Diversity Trust – Trans Workshops  Please click here to email Diversity Trust for more information Have Your Say  South West Children’s Palliative Care Strategic Clinical Network (SWCPC SCN) are looking to hear from parents and families with experience of children’s palliative care services within the South West. Willing parents and families are asked to provide their experiences of palliative care services either by sharing a written account, making a short film or providing a verbal account of their experiences. SWCPC SCN are also looking for parents to be involved in helping to plan and design new services – this could include being part of a virtual participation group, providing feedback in person at meetings or events or being consulted by email to review and provide feedback regarding new documents or developments. All of the above will help the team to understand what matters most to children and their families who have experienced children’s palliative care services in order to inform the development and commissioning of palliative care services in the South West. Please click here to complete a form and to find out more Major new enquiry into PREVENTION  The Health and Social Care Select Committee has launched a major new inquiry into PREVENTION and wants to hear from you! This is a once-in-a-Parliament opportunity to get involved and suggest what specific issues related to prevention we should be exploring. Areas could include upstream cancer prevention (including genomic sequencing), obesity and physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, mental health, healthy environments, healthy homes and workplaces, disease prevention and how we keep older people out of the acute sector. As you know, this goes much wider than the NHS so please think big picture and be as ambitious as we are. Your ideas will be used to help the Committee decide where to focus its attention in subsequent stages of its inquiry. They can be submitted via the online portal on the Committee’s website and the deadline for submissions is 08 February 2023. Please click here to submit your ideas Children & Young People – Self-Harm Training Online Events  If you or someone you know, would you like to learn more about self-harm and how to help children and young people in distress then please see course brief and registration details below for: Frontline practitioners Monday 13 February 2023 1:00 – 5:00pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/440923844087 Saturday 04 March 2023 9:00am – 1:00pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/440924867147 Parents, carers and family members in Somerset Wednesday 18 January 2023 10:30am – 12:00pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/439496244097 Monday 13 February 2023 1:00 – 2:30pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/439497648297 Thursday 23 March 2023 6:00pm – 7:30pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/439499102647 This training is delivered via Zoom/MS Teams. News from across Somerset Healthwatch Somerset   People are increasingly avoiding NHS appointments and prescriptions due to cost of living, Healthwatch England warns With spiralling costs of living, Healthwatch England is warning people are making changes to how they use health and social care services, which can have an adverse impact on their health and wellbeing. The impact the cost of living crisis is having on many people’s ability to heat their homes and eat well has been widely reported. However, new Healthwatch data suggests people are increasingly avoiding prescriptions, out-of-pocket costs for carers and attending NHS appointments due to the costs involved. National body Healthwatch England conducted a tracker poll with 2,000 adults in England between October and December to assess the impact of the cost of living on their health and wellbeing and whether it has affected how they use health and social care services. It found that more people avoided getting prescription medicines, and booking NHS appointments, including dental treatment, due to the fear of extra costs in December than in October. The number of people who avoided an NHS appointment due to the cost of travel doubled to almost one in 10, 11%, in December, from 6% in October. Healthwatch England has set out immediate actions the government working with health and care services can take to support people in the cost of living crisis and save money. Please click here to find out more Battle Scars Support and Training  Battle Scars is a small, dedicated, 100% survivor-led and run charity offering local, regional, national as well as international support around self-harm. Self-harm is far more widespread and complex than most people think. It’s also mostly hidden and often judged due to the stigma attached to it. Battle Scar’s aim is to break down this stigma, raise awareness, dispel the myths and support those affected by self-harm irrelevant of gender, age, background and location. Please click here to find out more about Battle Scars’ support and training        |
DR PATTI BOULAYE OBE – DIANA & ME
July 1, 2024
The Princess Theatre and Arts Centre – Saturday 27th July 2024 Dr Patti Boulaye OBE will be visiting Burnham-on-Sea with her show “Diana & Me” this summer! GROUP DISCOUNT OFFER 10 TICKETS FOR THE PRICE