Healthy Times Issue 8

Leading Leicestershire and Rutland to become the healthiest place in the UK

Inside this issue:

More than9500 members

Are you sun safe?- protect your skin, even on cooler days

Are you sun safe?- protect your skin, even on cooler days

Get walking!- with walk to school week

Leicestershire County and Rutland

NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland membership

Healthy TimesSpring 11 Issue 8 Members’ newsletter

Get walking!- with walk to school week

Meet ourcover starMeet ourcover star

37647-Healthy Times Issue 8 2nd proof_Layout 1 02/03/2011 11:15

Dear Members,

2 Healthy Times: Spring 11 Issue 8

Leading Leicestershire and Rutland to become the healthiest place in the UK

Welcome to the Spring edition of HealthyTimes. As we put the cold, grey days ofwinter behind us and look forward to lightmornings and evenings, it is a time to feel re-energised and think about how we can getthe best out of the opportunities this seasonbrings to get outside and exercise more.

A great example of how to do this is seen inour cover star, member Julia Kowal, whotells us how cycling helps to keep her fit andhealthy. Turn to page three to find out more.

Although it may seem early to think aboutprotecting your skin from the sun, as theweather improves and we start to be moreactive outdoors, it’s important to rememberto stay sun-safe, even on days that do notseem particularly sunny. Take a look at thearticle on sun safety on page eight to findout more.

As always, our members have beenincredibly responsive and supportive whenwe have asked for feedback. Turn to theregular feature ‘Be heard, your feedback’ tofind out how members are continuing tomake a difference.

I hope you enjoy this issue. Don’t miss outon the opportunity to win £25 of Asdavouchers by completing the wordsearch onpage ten. Try the healthy recipe on pagefour. And, don’t forget to let us know if youthink you could be the member cover starfor the summer edition of Healthy Times –we’d love to hear from you.

Wishing you goodhealth and happiness

Andrea ClarkHead of engagementand involvement

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Produced by NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland’s communication and engagement team, [email protected] telephone 0116 295 5866

Contents

Welcome to the Spring issue

Meet our cover star

A healthy recipe to try

Let's talk about health

News in brief

Are you sun safe?

Walk to school week

Wordsearch competition

Be healthy, your feedback

LINks update

Access for all


51 year old Julia Kowal is a realinspiration to anyone who wantsto get fit and lead a more activelifestyle. She cycles a 7 mileround trip each day to work, andhas seen real improvements inher health and wellbeing as aresult. Julia tells us more.In the summer of 2008 I took a summer holiday inCornwall with my husband. We hired bikes and triedcycling some of the many Cornish cycle trails such as theCamel Trail, Tin Trail and Clay Trail. I enjoyed theexperience so much that on our return home, I feltinspired and decided to purchase a cheap bicycle so that Icould start cycling to work.

I live in Ratby, and to get to Glenfield Hospital where I work,I use a designated cycle trail that runs via Ratby to Glenfield,called the Ivanhoe Trail, which is actually an old railway line.My journey is approximately three and half miles each wayor seven miles return. It takes me 20 minutes to get towork which is the same length of time as when I used todrive in to work, but without the stress of traffic problems!

I call my route to work the ‘green corridor’. The trail isadjacent to a stream and is very rural; I often see squirrels,rabbits and other wildlife.

Initially, I had planned to just cycle for the summermonths, but because I enjoyed it so much, I continued

into the Autumn and Winter andbefore I knew it two and a half yearshad gone by!

I have had some challenges along theway to keep me on my toes though –not only have I had many puncturesto deal with, I also was unfortunateenough to have my bike stolen. Also,last November I fell off my bike andbroke my two front teeth – but ithasn’t put me off!

I am absolutely hooked on cycling now – I wouldrecommend it to anyone who wants to improve theirfitness levels. I work full time, so my spare time is limited,but cycling to work incorporates exercise and fresh air intomy daily routine. I always arrive at work feeling refreshedand energised and I’ve seen a real improvement in mygeneral health and haven’t suffered from as many wintercolds since I started cycling. In addition to this I am savinga huge amount of money on fuel costs, and also helpingthe environment by not using the car.

Meet our cover star

Healthy Times: Spring 11 Issue 8 3

Want to be our next cover star?We want to lead Leicestershire and Rutland to becomethe healthiest place in the UK and we know that ourmembers, like Julia, will have some truly inspiring storiesto share.

If you’d like to inspire others, and have the chance tobe on the cover of a magazine, simply write and tell uswhat you have done.

Write to: NHS Leicestershire County and RutlandMembership, Freepost Admail ADM4149,Loughborough, LE11 1YW or [email protected]

Don’t forget to include a contact telephone number sothat we can get in touch with you easily.


Ingredients8 oz wholemeal self raising flour (200g)

3 oz sugar (75g)

2 teaspoons mixed spice

3 medium carrots (grated) (About 170g)

2 oz sultanas (50g)

5 tablespoons sunflower oil (75ml)

8 tablespoons milk (120ml)

2 eggs

8 oz soft cheese (200g)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence / extract

1 tablespoon caster sugar

Methodl Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. l Mix flour, spice, sugar, grated carrot and sultanas

thoroughly in a bowl.l Mix oil and milk together, add to the dry

ingredients.l Beat eggs together and add to the carrot mixture.l Place the mixture into a non stick loaf tin and bake

for 45 – 50 minutes, checking regularly.l Once cooked, remove the loaf from the oven and

leave to cool.l Mix together the soft cheese, vanilla and sugar and

spread carefully over the loaf.l If you like you can decorate the loaf with some dried

fruit such as raisins, apricots or cranberries.l Individual slices of this cake can be frozen.

A tasty recipe to try


If you fancy something a little bit different, why not try making this delicious carrot cake?

Top Tips l To make carrot cake cup

cakes, spoon the mixtureinto paper cakes and bakefor 10-15 mins.

l Watching your weight?Substitute the caster sugarfor a tablespoon ofsweetener and usereduced fat soft cheese.


Dates for your diary

Following your feedback, this year’s communitymedicine for members events have been re-launched to introduce you to a whole host ofdifferent health topics.

You told us in the recent membership questionnairethat you wanted to learn more about key topics suchas mental health, using NHS services, drugs, alcoholand more. As a result of this feedback we’ve teamedup with NHS Leicester City, Leicestershire PartnershipNHS Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trustand the East Midlands Ambulance Service to bring outa series of health talks to educate you on the topicswhich you have identified as most important to you.

This new stream of health talks is called ‘let’s talkabout health’ and will give you the opportunity to talkto the experts out of a clinical environment. The talkswill feature lectures from key speakers, theopportunity to ask your questions to the experts, andthe chance to meet other people and take awayadditional information.

Further events will run throughout the year, and a full timetable is available on our website atwww.nhslcrmembership.org. In the mean time if you'd like any further information, please call themembership helpline on 0300 555 5345 or email [email protected]

Community medicine for members events – Let’s talk about health


Date26 April 2011

26 May 2011

VenueVoluntary Action Leicester

9 Newarke Street,

Leicester, LE1 5SN

Tel: 0116 257 5038

Parklands Leisure Centre

Wigston Road, Oadby,

Leicester, LE2 5QG

Tel: 0116 272 0789

Time6pm to 8pm

6pm to 8pm

Event detailsIntroducing the new NHSSpeaker: Andrea ClarkHead of Engagement and Registered General Nurse

Helping you choose the right NHSservices for your health needsSpeaker: Andrea Clark Head of Engagementand Registered General Nurse



The Asda supermarket at FossePark shopping centre is now acorporate member.Asda have worked with our membership team toorganise a recruitment event so staff could sign upindividually. They are publicising the membershipscheme on their customer services stand.

We are also working with Asda to place material abouthealth issues such as healthy eating, stopping smoking,and stress/depression on their internal staff TV.

There are plans for a Medicine for Members eventexclusively for Asda staff. In addition, later in the year,we’ll be taking health information along to a staffhealth day at the store.

If you are a corporate member, and would like toinvestigate these kinds of opportunities, please contactus at 0116 295 5866

Changes to the NHS

News in brief

Since the last edition of Healthy Times therehave been further developments in the changesto the NHS first announced by Health SecretaryAndrew Lansley in July last year.

It has been agreed that there will be three GP consortia inLeicester, Leicestershire and Rutland – one in Leicestercity, and two covering Leicestershire and Rutland –broadly one in the east, and one in the west.

To start with GPs will form ‘shadow’ consortia who willwork with NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland andNHS Leicester City from April this year, understandingwhat is involved in commissioning services. The aim isthat the consortia will be fully operational by April 2013,and at that time the PCTs will be abolished.

Leicestershire County Council is in the process of forminga Health and Wellbeing Board, which will put togetherstrategies for health and social care in the county,working with health and county council colleagues.

The work to transfer management of community healthservices from PCTs to other providers continues.Community health services cover, for example,community hospitals, including day cases, outpatientsand diagnostic tests, health visitors, GP out of hoursservices, school nursing, and the walk-in centre inLoughborough and urgent care centre at Leicester RoyalInfirmary. The aim is for services to be transferred by 1April. This is really an invisible change which will notaffect patient care – the main change will be for staffwho will be managed by different organisations, such asLeicestershire Partnership Trust, University Hospitals ofLeicester NHS Trust and Derbyshire Community HealthServices. A small number of services (such as communitydental services) are going out to tender and will bemanaged by providers who could be from the public,private or voluntary sector.

Asda joins our corporate members



Staff at LoughboroughUniversity attended a health fairon campus where they were ableto have their cholesterol testedand then find out about a varietyof different health issues.

Stopping smoking, stroke services and mental healthwere just a few of the services that were on hand to givetheir expert advice. Staff also had the opportunity to signup to become a member of the ‘be healthy, be heard’scheme and also take away information on healthyeating and exercise.

Welcome to all our new members!

Loughborough university staff become members

Look after your eyes!Vista is a local charity dedicated to improving thelives of people with sight loss in Leicester,Leicestershire and Rutland. Here are some top tipsfrom Vista for looking after your eyes.

l Regular eye examinations once every two years ormore often if advised by a Health Care Professional.

l Nutrition, diet and exercise all contribute to healthyeyesight.

l Protect your eyes in the sun. If you are unable to wearsunglasses try to wear a hat with a wider brim toprotect your eyes.

l If you’re doing some DIY at home, make sure youwear safety goggles or adequate eye protection.

l Smokers are twice as likely to lose their sight! If you donot smoke, don’t start. If you do, try to stop!

For more information, you can call the Vista helpline: 01162498839 or visit www.vistablind.org.uk


8 Healthy Times: Spring 11 Issue 8 www.nhslcrmembership.org

Some limited exposure to the sun is good for you, asit helps your body to absorb vitamin D – essential forhealthy bone growth. However, too much sun can bedangerous, as this can lead to serious conditions suchas dehydration, sunburn, and in extreme cases, skincancer (malignant melanoma). Skin cancer is one ofthe most common cancers in the UK and can becaused by too much exposure to the sun’s ultravioletrays. Getting sunburnt as a child can increase your riskof developing skin cancer later in life.

From 2006 to 2008, 59 people died from skin cancer,and 416 people were diagnosed with it acrossLeicestershire and Rutland.

It’s important to protect your skin when out andabout. Even if the sun doesn’t feel particularly hot, itsrays can still cause damage.

Top tips for sun safety:l Spend time in the shade between 11am and

3pm, as this is the time of the day where thesun’s rays are strongest

l Cover up with a T-shirt, hat and sunglassesl Apply sunscreen liberally half an hour before

exposure to the sun and re-apply every two hoursor immediately after being in water

l Use a sunscreen of at least factor 15, and makesure you don’t burn

l Take extra care with babies and children. Keepthem out of direct sunlight, apply sunscreenregularly and have drinking water readilyavailable

People with fair skin, red or fair hair, lots of moles orfreckles or a family history of skin cancer should takeextra care.

If you notice changes in any moles or freckles youhave, visit your GP. These changes can be an early signof skin cancer, so it’s best to have them checked outas early as possible.

Find out more about skin cancer at:www.nhs.uk/conditions/cancer-of-the-skin

National Sun Awareness Week Now that the weather is warming up and the days are growinglonger, many of us will be looking forward to spending more timeoutside in the sun. National Sun Awareness week runs from 3 to 10 May 2011, and aims to help people have fun in the sunwithout causing damage to their skin or their health.

3-10 May 2011

Are you sun aware?Test your knowledge in our

sun safety wordsearch on page ten, and you could win £25 of Asda vouchers,

donated by Asda at Fosse Park.


Healthy Times: Spring 11 Issue 8 9members’ helpline: 0300 555 5345

NHS Leicestershire County andRutland are encouraging parents,carers and children to leave thecar at home and start their day bywalking to school.‘Walk to School Week’ runs from 16 to 20 May, and is anational campaign to get more children walking to schoolinstead of travelling by car. In 2009-10, only 57 per cent ofpupils aged 5 to 10 and 44 per cent of those aged 11 to 15in Leicestershire walked to school.* Walking to school is aneasy way to incorporate physical activity into your child’sdaily routine – and what’s more, it’s free!

Whilst not everyone can walk to school, ifyou are able it can be an excellentopportunity for parents, carers andchildren to enjoy quality time together.Why not catch up on the latestclassroom news or enjoy a game of ‘ISpy’ on the way? There are otherbenefits to walking to school too.

Did you know:l Walking for just 10 to 15 minutes improves your heart

and circulation, helps with maintaining a healthyweight and boosts your immune system – for bothyou and your child

l Walking can also help mental concentration, sochildren arrive at school ready to learn

l It’s better for the environment, and cuts down on thetraffic and congestion outside the school gates

l It’s a great chance to teach your child all about roadsafety, and helps them be more aware of theirneighbourhood

So, what are you waiting for? Put your best foot forward,and start your day with a fun, healthy, brisk walk to school!

Further details about the ‘Walk to School’ campaign,including free resources can be found on the Walk toSchool website:http://www.walktoschool.org.uk/what-we-do/walk-to-school-week/

Put your best foot forward

*Department for Transport National indicator 198, 2009-10: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/schoolt/



As we reported in our sun health article on page eight, Sun

Awareness week runs from 3 to 10 May 2011, and aims to help

people have fun in the sun without causing damage to their skin or

their health.

To test your knowledge, have a go at our sun awareness themed

wordsearch and you could be the lucky winner of a £25 voucher*,

donated by Asda at Fosse Park.

Send your completed entry with your name, address and a contacttelephone number (so that we can get in touch with you easily) to:

NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland Membership,

Freepost Admail ADM4149, Loughborough, LE11 1YW

Closing date for entries is 30 June 2011. The first correct entry randomly drawnon 30 June will receive the prize. *No cash alternative will be offered

CompetitionAre you sun aware?

Words:

Cancer

Dehydration

Melanoma

Mole

Shade

Sunburn

Sunscreen

Ultraviolet

Water

V X V L V X A X T Q B E M H P

D L S T T M K O J H I E B A K

R A U M E L A N O M A X U A U

S L N Q V Q Z H H P S N L X T

Y I B G M J E Y F G O N T C Q

V A U C A N C E R M B P R D D

R O R D N M O L E Q D U A E C

Z R N U L L D R E F R T V B P

M X W C D E H Y D R A T I O N

S Z A D H U S N C J T B O K E

T V T F K U C H G W S R L F S

J I E W Y K C C A C G K E X E

Q X R H M O L R J D S M T L J

L J H M S U N S C R E E N F A

K B U L X M R D Y R Y I Y I Y

!37647-Healthy Times Issue 8 2nd proof_Layout 1 02/03/2011 11:15


Be heard…your feedback

Spending NHS Budgets

Pharmaceutical Needs AssessmentA big thank you to all members who took part inthe consultation on the pharmaceutical needsassessment.

NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland, in line with nationalrequirements, has produced an assessment ofpharmaceutical need, referred to as the PharmaceuticalNeeds Assessment (PNA). The PNA describes the healthprofile and needs of Leicestershire County and Rutlandresidents, together with mapping and describing the currenttype and quantity of provision delivered by communitypharmacy contractors in Leicestershire County and Rutland.

Whilst putting the PNA together we asked people's viewsduring a period of engagement, and a public consultation.

The PNA will be used to examine the future commissioningdecisions for NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland inrelation to community pharmacy services and will replacethe current tool for market entry called Control of Entrywhen the new regulations are published later this year it willthen be used to determine new pharmacy applications.

More than 75 people from across Leicester,Leicestershire and Rutland attended a publicworkshop at Parklands Leisure Centre, Oadby, inFebruary to discuss the city and county’s NHSspending priorities.

Presentations were given by Sue Bishop Directorof Finance who gave a snap shot of NHSfinances, followed by Dr Tim Daniel PublicHealth Consultant who discussed how wemake our spending choices. Bothpresentations highlighted the toughdecisions our local health economy needsto consider for 2011/12.

Members of the public were invited to takepart in a quiz on how much various healthservices cost.

During the workshop activity, using informationgiven during the presentations, members discussedhow they would prioritise health services.

All information gathered will be collated and used toinform the decision making process on how NHSLeicestershire County and Rutland with spend NHSbudgets for 2011/12.

!37647-Healthy Times Issue 8 2nd proof_Layout 1 02/03/2011 11:15


The review of maternity and newborn care hasnow been completed. Altogether more than 800people told us their views.

It has been agreed to increase midwife numbers,reorganise the provision of caesarean sections toreduce the impact that emergency care has onplanned care, and increase the number ofneonatal cots provided in Leicester’s new £9 million neonatal unit. Plans alsopropose an increase in neonatalconsultant cover, and moving maternityassessment units away from deliverysuites (maternity assessment units area drop-in service for assessingwomen with pregnancy relatedproblems).

The current service was designedfor 8,500 births a year. That hasincreased and we are expectingalmost 11,000 births before theend of March 2011 –that’s around 28babies every day.

Pete Rabey, Leicester Hospitals’ Director of Women’sand Children’s Services and co-author of the report tothe boards, said: “Initially, the review team proposedmore far-reaching changes, detailed in the boardpaper, including a possible new build maternity unit,with birth centres in up to two community sites.

However, at a cost of more than £80 million it isfar too expensive and unachievable in thecurrent financial climate. We need to find aninterim solution to put our maternity andneonatal services on a sound footing for thenext few years, and this solution underlines

our commitment to improving quality inthe most affordable, sustainable way.”

The plans also include proposals for thereorganisation of gynaecology servicesin the future, involving consolidatingsome gynaecology services at theRoyal Infirmary and some at theGeneral Hospital.

Update on our review of maternity and neonatal care

We recently sent a targeted communication toaround half our members, asking for yourresponses to a questionnaire about bowelcancer. We wanted to understand whetherpeople knew the symptoms of bowel cancer, andalso to find out what people knew about thebowel cancer screening programme.

Around 2,000 people responded – thank you for yourfeedback. We have looked at what people said, andwe are now planning some publicity and otheractivities to educate people about bowel cancer andthe screening programme. Look out for these later inthe year, particularly if you live in the Coalville orLoughborough areas.

Your feedback on the subject of bowel cancer

Some members may remember that we asked your views onmaternity and newborn baby services, back in November 2009.


As you will be aware The Health and Social Care Billwas published in January, which will bring intoeffect the Government’s major reforms of the NHS.One of the changes will be that Local InvolvementNetworks (LINks) will evolve into a LocalHealthWatch by April 2012.

Although more details are awaited, Local HealthWatch willbecome a focus and champion for people’s views, supportedby HealthWatch England. HealthWatch will provide adviceand information to help people make choices about services,and they may also be involved in providing advocacy.HealthWatch will continue LINks’ role in promoting andsupporting public involvement in the commissioning,provision and scrutiny of local health and care services.

Leicestershire LINk has already set-up a Task Group tostart the work to become a Local HealthWatch, and willbe involving as many people as possible in shaping thisimportant resource for Leicestershire.

In the meantime, the LINk continues to be very proactive

in responding to the many important issues you haveraised with us. These are just three examples of what weare working on:

l Neurological long term conditions – working withthe County Council, PCT and local hospitals toimprove services for long term conditions

l Ambulance services – earlier in the year weundertook a joint survey with Derby LINk on theexperience of patients using EMAS (East MidlandsAmbulance Service) – the results are being used toimprove services.

l Students’ Mental Health – we’re building on thework with our 3 Universities and organisations thatprovide mental health services, to make sure thatcommunication between all service providers, suchas GPs, NHS Trusts properly supports students.

If you would like to be involved or have experience of anyof these issues, please contact Leicestershire LINk Tel:0116 229 3103 or Email: [email protected] orvisit www.leicestershirelink.org.uk

An update from Leicestershire LINk


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Healthy Times: Spring 11 Issue 8 www.nhslcrmembership.org

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We can provide versions of all ‘be healthy, be heard’ membership publications in otherlanguages and formats such as Braille and large print on request. Please contact theengagement and involvement department, telephone 0116 295 7626. Please state whichpublication you require when you call.

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Healthy Times Issue 8

Documents

Transcript of Healthy Times Issue 8