Archive for May, 2013

A free six week course aimed at building the confidence of people who have been through treatment for cancer is being run by the Macmillan Information and Support Centre in Southport.

The HOPE (Help to Overcome Problems Effectively) course starts on Friday 14^th June. The two-and-a-half hour sessions aim to bring together cancer patients to ‘meet, share, learn and get more out of life.’ The course will be run by a health professional and someone affected by cancer. Some of the topics addressed during the course are:

• Managing stress and emotional challenges
• Breathing, relaxation and physical activity
• Motivation and goal setting
• Identifying personal strengths and building confidence for the future

Mary, who completed the course after cancer treatment, says: “The HOPE course helped me to focus on the future and be positive about what lies ahead. I had been suffering from anxiety and wish I’d found something like this months before.”

Sue Summerfield, Macmillan Information Centre Manager and one of the course leaders, explains: “Cancer is the toughest fight most of us will ever face but people don’t have to go through it alone. The HOPE course emphasises the strengths people already possess and looks at how to make the most of them. It can play an important role in helping people who are living with cancer to find new ways to regain confidence and manage stress and emotional difficulties.”

Hope course details:
When:  Friday 14^th June and will take place on six consecutive Fridays (12^th June – 19^th July) from 10am – 12.30pm
Where: All sessions will be held at the Community Service Station, Scarisbrick Ave, Southport, PR8 1NW

For further information about the course, please contact Sue or Sarah on or drop in to the Macmillan Information Centre, Community Service Station, 23-35 Scarisbrick Avenue, PR8 1NW (opening hours 10am – 4.30pm Monday-Friday).

We are holding our first Governing Body meeting in public at the end of this month, since we formally became responsible for planning and buying, or ‘commissioning’, the majority of local health services on 1 April 2013.

Our Governing Body meeting takes place on Wednesday 29 May 2013, and it will be an opportunity for Southport and Formby residents to hear us discussing local health services and making decisions about our work and your healthcare.

Fiona Clark, Accountable Officer for NHS Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Although we only took on our formal responsibilities in April, we’ve been working hard over the past two years to improve health services and prepare for our new role. We’ve made good progress already, and our Governing Body meetings are a great way for people to hear about some of things we’ve been doing, and what we plan to do in the year ahead to improve health and healthcare for all our residents.”

The Governing Body meeting starts at 1.30pm but you are invited to come along at 1pm to meet members of the Governing Body and ask them your questions before the formal meeting begins. 

Anyone who would like to attend the meeting – being held at the Family Life Centre, Ash Street, Southport – should confirm their place by calling .

Healthwatch Sefton is the new independent consumer champion for health and social care.

There is a Local Healthwatch in every borough across England, and Healthwatch Sefton has taken over responsibilities from the Sefton Local Involvement Network (LINk) and additional services from the NHS around advice and guidance.

It will bring together the views and experiences of Sefton residents to improve health and social care services. Healthwatch Sefton will remain independent whilst challenging local providers and working in partnership to improve frontline services.

Maureen Kelly, the newly-appointed Chair of Healthwatch Sefton is looking forward to working with local organisations and individuals to ensure they are represented and their voices are heard.

“I am very excited to be taking up this new role as chair of Healthwatch Sefton” says Maureen. “I have lived in Sefton for most of my life and feel that it is a privilege to be able to represent the views of fellow Sefton residents in the very important area of health and social care which can make such a difference to our quality of life”.

Maureen is also Chief Executive of Neurosupport and represents Sefton residents on the board of governors at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital. “Working in this area has helped me to realise the importance of timely up to date information and the need to have someone to talk to at significant times in your life when, maybe for the first time, you come in contact with health and social care
services and need to find the correct route through the system”.

Maureen will be working with the Healthwatch Sefton Staff team to establish the network. “The launch of Healthwatch Sefton provides an opportunity to identify ways to capture the views of Sefton residents about the services they receive or want to receive and to feed them in to the planning and commissioning process and I am proud to be part of this new organisation”.

Once fully established, there will be opportunities for local people and organisations to become Community Members of Healthwatch Sefton and get involved with the different areas of work.

“On behalf of the Sefton Health and Wellbeing Board, I would like to welcome Healthwatch Sefton and congratulate Maureen on her new role as Chair” said Cllr Ian Moncur, Chair of Sefton Health and Wellbeing Board.

“We look forward to working with Healthwatch Sefton in the future to improve local services for Sefton communities”.

The valuable work of volunteers who have chosen to continue their involvement with the new organisation will also continue. Both the South & Central Sefton Community Champions network and the Southport & Formby Community Champions network will continue to play an important role in capturing the experiences of local people.

Sefton’s Public Health in partnership with other Sefton Council departments and One Vision Housing, are offering families, with a child under five years old, a free anti-scald valve fitted, to the bath tap.

Dr Janet Atherton, Sefton’s Director of Public Health, said: “Each year in the UK approximately 2000 young children are taken to hospital after being scalded by bath water. In most homes the water from the bath tap is so hot it only takes one second for a child to be badly scalded.

“This is why Sefton families are being offered Thermostatic Mixer Valves (TMVs). By supplying and fitting them for free we aim to reduce the risk of children being scalded by hot bath water. They work by mixing hot and cold water before it gets to the hot tap. When the hot tap is turned on, the water coming out of it is between 44 °C and 48 °C. At this temperature it would take more than five minutes to scald your child. By reducing the temperature of the water we are aiming to reduce the number of children getting scalded at bath time.”

Scalds are more likely to happen when a child climbs or falls into a bath of hot water or a brother or sister runs the hot tap when a younger child is in the bath. So, leaving your child, even for a moment, in the bath or bathroom without an adult is long enough for a scald to happen.

Helen Pilkington a Sefton mum, of two and a half year old Finley, said: “I was really concerned about bathing Finley, as our hot tap was always really hot. When I found out about the free valve we jumped at the chance to have it fitted. The workmen arranged a convenient time and they were done and dusted in about an hour.

“I can’t tell you how pleased we are its really helped giving us peace of mind that we can just put Finley straight in the bath. The valve has just brought the temperature down enough not to worry about him being scaled and it’s still warm enough for us to enjoy a bath.”

If you have a child under 5 years old and would like to have a TMV fitted for free in your home, then call Sefton Council’s One Stop Shop on . Thermostatic Mixer Valves are being fitted from May onwards so don’t delay, sign up for your free valve today.

Appropriate first aid must be used to treat any burns or scalds as soon as possible, this will limit the amount of damage to your skin. For more information on scalds visit www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Burns-and-scalds/Pages/Treatment.aspx or if you need advice on scalds call NHS Direct on .