The South Glos Post

Free flu jabs are available for thousands of people across South Gloucestershire, as local doctors and Directors of Public Health have joined forces to challenge people to play their part in the fight against infection.

A free seasonal flu vaccination – which must be done annually to be effective – is available for:

• Pregnant women
• Children aged two, three and four years old on 1st September 2014 (via a nasal spray)
• People with certain health conditions
• People aged 65 and over
• Frontline healthcare staff

The World Health Organization recommends people in the vulnerable groups above should be vaccinated to prevent the virus being able to circulate at a harmful level.

Dr Mark Pietroni, Director of Public Health at South Gloucestershire Council, said:

“It is really important that as many people as possible in the groups most vulnerable to flu infection book their free flu jab with their GP. Since the flu virus circulates in winter they should do this as soon as possible.”

“Some 750,000 people nationwide visit their doctor with flu symptoms with about 27,000 people needing hospital treatment. If more people receive the vaccine then there will be fewer people with flu and so fewer people that others can catch flu from and fewer hospital admissions.”

“The flu vaccination has been rigorously tested and clinically proven to be the best defence against the flu virus. It does not give you the flu, as it doesn’t contain the active virus needed to do this, or any other disease. Contact your GP for further advice.”

The NHS Choices website has more information at www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Flu/Pages/Introduction.aspx or visit www.southglos.gov.uk/flu

South Gloucestershire residents are being asked to put forward their views about the NHS, locally and nationally, and what they think its future priorities should be.

South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the body responsible for planning and buying healthcare for the local population, is organising the survey to find out the views of local people.

It forms part of a national Call to Action led by NHS England, the national body responsible for NHS services. It is asking the public, patients, carers and staff to get involved in discussing the future of the NHS, so it can plan how best to deliver services, now and in the years ahead.

Dr Jon Hayes, Clinical Chair of South Gloucestershire CCG, said:

“The NHS faces many challenges including an ageing population and a rise in the number of people with long-term conditions. Finances are tight so we have to plan very carefully about where we spend our money to most benefit the people of South Gloucestershire.”

“Our role as a CCG is to look at the local population and the health services it needs, now and into the future, and plan the best way to provide this within the resources we have. To do this effectively it is essential that we listen to our patients, local communities and partner organisations and work with them to deliver the best services.”

The CCG is led by local GPs, supported by experienced managers. The GPs bring their knowledge of working with patients across South Gloucestershire to the decision-making process.

You can complete the survey on the CCG’s website: NHS Call to Action.

If you would like a printed copy of the survey, please telephone 0117 9474400.

The closing date is Tuesday 31st December 2013.

Source: South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group

Consultation has begun on South Gloucestershire’s first Health and Wellbeing Strategy and local people are being encouraged to have their say.

Prepared by the district’s Health and Wellbeing Board, the strategy sets out a series of priorities to make sure that South Gloucestershire’s health and care services meet the needs of local people in the coming years.

Among its draft priorities, the strategy says that health and care providers should make it easier for people to make healthy lifestyle choices, for example by providing advice on stopping smoking or taking more exercise.

The strategy also highlights the need to tackle health inequalities within the district and to ensure that when services are needed, these are provided in the most appropriate health care settings.

Consultation on the strategy runs until Wednesday 15th May, and residents are being urged to share their views.

Copies of the strategy and an online survey are available from www.ourareaourfuture.org.uk/jhws.

The strategy is also available by emailing cchengagement@southglos.gov.uk or by telephoning 01454 862 356.

Source: NHS South Gloucestershire

Frenchay Hospital campaigners grilled health bosses at a council meeting today (Wednesday 22nd January) about the latest uncertainty that hangs over a new community hospital.

Plans for Frenchay’s new community hospital – now known as a Health and Social Care Centre – were only agreed last year and envisaged a greater range of services than that proposed in the original Bristol Health Services Plan drawn up by the previous Labour government in 2005.

But a new review of services at Frenchay has recently been jointly launched by the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust Cluster and local GP-led Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The review had been due to report in March 2013, but councillors were told at today’s meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Public Health and Health Scrutiny Committee that they would have to wait longer before any decision would be made and no specific date was forthcoming.

Local MPs Jack Lopresti and Chris Skidmore met recently with the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, to raise their concerns over the hospital delay.

Speaking during the meeting, Cllr John Godwin (Con, Winterbourne), a former Chairman of the Save Frenchay Hospital Group who worked on the community hospital project group, said:

 “As a member of the Frenchay Hospital project group, we carefully gathered plenty of data on local health needs and future projections and so it’s unclear what has changed in such a short time in order to justify this latest review and all the uncertainty and local concern that it has caused.”

After the meeting, he added:

“It was disappointing to hear the inability of the local NHS to give us and the local community a clear date by which we will know what changes, if any, they plan to make to our planned new community hospital.”

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Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council