Hello and welcome to Healthwatch Wirral’s E-Bulletin featuring: Local and national news Local events in Wirral Useful links To find out more about what Healthwatch Wirral will be doing throughout the week, please click here to view the poster. Keep someone warm this winter Healthwatch Wirral are asking for volunteers to help with our Winter Warmer Event – we are asking people to knit or donate hats and scarves. During Healthwatch Week, Healthwatch Wirral will be running a Winter Warmer Event in Birkenhead Park Pavilion. Highlights of the day include: Free Health Checks Free Soup Learn some Yoga moves Free Manicures and Massages Art exhibition provided by Calm and Create Adult and Child Colouring Plus Much Much More.... To view the poster for this event, please click here Please bring your knitted donations along to the Winter Warmer event on Wednesday 11th November. If this is not possible, or you are unable to attend, then please contact the office using the contact details below and we can arrange for your donation to be collected prior to the event. If this is not possible, or you are unable to attend, then please contact the office using the contact details below and we can arrange for your donation to be collected prior to the event. Healthwatch Wirral at Moreton One Stop Shop 11am - 4pm, Every Monday in Moreton Library, Pasture Road, Moreton, Wirral, CH46 8SA Healthwatch Wirral is at Tesco’s Bidston 10am – 12pm, every Friday in the Community Room (upstairs) Bidston Village Road, Birkenhead, CH43 7AA Join Healthwatch Wirral staff and volunteers to share your views on local health & social care services, meet the team and find out how you can get involved! Come and see us at one of the above venues and give your issues, concerns, compliments or complaints on local health and social care services Alternatively you can also leave your concerns, compliments or complaints on our Speak Out page by clicking here Council launches new website designed for users’ needs Residents are set to benefit from Wirral Council’s new and improved website, redesigned to be simpler and quicker to use, which was launched on 6th October 2015. The site’s new innovative design uses research into what people want to do when they visit the council’s site to help ensure visitors will be able to find what they are looking for within a few clicks. The new site has been built to work well on PCs, mobiles and tablets, as six out of ten visits to the council’s website now come from people using these types of devices. This information was taken from Wirral Council's website. To read the full story, please click here Autism Together - New name for Wirral Autistic Society Wirral Autistic Society has changed its name. The organisation set up 47 years ago by a group of Wirral parents determined to do the best for their children is now known as Autism Together. Employing more than 800 staff, it supports over 400 people with autism across Merseyside and Cheshire. The name was voted for by the society's staff and service users, who chose the word 'together' to reflect the organisation's inclusive approach. This story was taken from Wirral Globe. To find out more, please click here Reminiscence boxes bring back memories for Wirral dementia patients A new initiative which will help people with dementia feel less isolated is being championed by Wirral Council and Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust. Reminiscence boxes containing retro household items, clothes and music will help dementia sufferers recall memories. Wirral’s libraries will have an important role in collating and distributing them. The service will make reminiscence boxes available to people with dementia in Arrowe Park Hospital, and for use by local community groups and care homes via their local public library. This story was taken from the Wirral Globe To find out more, please click here Wirral Personal Assistant Finder Penderels Trust are undertaking a recruitment campaign for the above register to attract as many Personal Assistants (carers) to our register as possible. This service is run by them on behalf of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council; the aim is to provide a central register where clients can search for a suitable Personal Assistant. Penderels Trust is a charity that supports people with disabilities (clients) to live independently in their own home. This information was sent to us from Penderels Trust To find out more, please click here North West Ambulance 'Shoctober' Campaign 2015 North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has launched their ‘Shoctober’ campaign to raise awareness of the importance of public defibrillators (AEDs) and to remind those who purchase and install them to make the Service aware of their location so they can be put to good use. According to NWAS, many life-saving defibrillators which have been installed with good intentions by well- meaning members of the public, business owners and clubs, lie gathering dust, tucked away in a corner. They now want to encourage people to ‘find the defib’ and make sure every single one in the region is logged on North West Ambulance Service’s database so they can be used to save a life. NWAS estimate that there are thousands of these life-saving portable machines in the North West which they don’t know about so if someone calls 999 in the event of a cardiac arrest, the Trust can’t direct them to the nearest one. This information was taken from Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group website. To read the full story, please click here From 2020, people with suspected cancer will be diagnosed faster The government has pledged that from 2020, people with suspected cancer will be diagnosed within 28 days of being referred by a GP. According to the Independent Cancer Taskforce, set up as part of the NHS’s Five Year Forward View to examine how to improve cancer care and survival rates, the target to diagnosis all suspected cancer cases within 28 days could help save up to 11,000 lives a year. Health Education England will start a new national training programme that will provide 200 additional staff with the skills and expertise to carry out endoscopies by 2018. This is in addition to the extra 250 gastroenterologists the NHS has already committed to train by 2020. Endoscopies are tests where the inside of your body can be examined for cancer. The newly trained staff will be able to carry out almost a half a million more endoscopy tests on the NHS by 2020. This story was taken from Department of Health. To read the full story please click here Prime Minister pledges to deliver 7-day GP services by 2020 Millions of patients will benefit from ground-breaking plans for 7-day access to both their GPs and hospitals, the Prime Minister has announced. The Prime Minister has announced details of a new, voluntary contract for GPs to deliver 7-day care for all patients by 2020. He has also unveiled proposals to deliver 7-day hospital services across half the country by 2018. These are the next steps in making England the first country in the world to provide a truly 7-day health service, underpinned by a strong economy and £10 billion of investment in the NHS. The plans are a key part of the government’s commitment to deliver security, stability and opportunity for the British people. This story was taken from Department of Health. To read the full story please click here National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is looking for members of the public to develop guidance and advice on four topics NICE are currently recruiting for lay members (so, those who are patients or people who use services, as well as those who care or advocate for them) for four of our NICE committees. They are looking for lay members to join their committees to develop guidelines or quality standards on: Sexually transmitted infections: condom distribution schemes – closing date: Wednesday 11 November 2015 Air pollution: outdoor air quality and health – closing date: Wednesday 11 November 2015 Contraceptive services – closing date: Wednesday 4 November 2015 Hip fracture – closing date: Wednesday 4 November 2015 Full information for each recruitment is available through the relevant linked title above, including details of the payment we are able to offer to lay members for helping to shape NICE’s work. They really value the contribution that people who use health and social care services, their carers and advocates make to our guidelines, and they would be very grateful if you could pass on details of this involvement opportunity to anyone you think might be interested in taking part. This information was sent to us from NICE via email Public consultation on plans for major new specialist cancer hospital Public consultation is to take place on plans for a major new specialist cancer hospital that will serve the whole of Merseyside and Cheshire. Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is holding three mobile exhibitions – in Liverpool, Wirral and Aintree in preparation for applying for full planning permission. The new 11-floor hospital will be built on West Derby Street in Liverpool city centre, on the same site as the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the University of Liverpool. The Trust says expanding into central Liverpool in addition to its existing sites in Wirral and Aintree will enable it to further improve treatment for the most complex and seriously ill patients, and to carry out early- phase trials of new treatments. This story was taken from the Wirral Globe.