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Having a mental health problem is hard enough, but
sometimes the isolation and stigma can make it even
worse. Talking about mental health doesn’t need to be
difficult and can make a big difference.
www.time-to-change.org.uk/timetotalkday
Welcome to the February - March
edition of The Calderdale Voice.
Over December and January,
Healthwatch Calderdale staff were out
gathering feedback about unplanned
dental services in Calderdale. You can
read more about what we were up to on
page 5.
No Smoking Day on the 11th March is
encouraging residents of Calderdale to
be ‘Proud to be a Quitter’ and there is
quitting support available via the link
on page 11.
Our ‘Did you know?...’ facts in this issue
are all linked to the heart, just in time
for Valentines Day! We have some heart
healthy tips on page 16 too.
Emma Worsley, The Calderdale Voice Editor
A Woman’s heart beats faster than a
Man’s - 70 beats per minute for a Man, 78 beats per minute for a Woman.
Healthwatch is the new Consumer Champion, or Watchdog, for health and social care.
The aim of local Healthwatch will be to give citizens and communities a stronger voice
to influence and challenge how health and social care services are provided locally.
Healthwatch Calderdale is an independent body that will raise your views and
opinions on Health & Social Care in Calderdale and to help make your voices heard.
What we aim to:
Enable local voices to influence the delivery and design of local health and
social care services
Use local volunteers to gather views and information from local people and
communities
Involve and engage local people, putting you at the heart of Health and
Social Care service decision making
Enable local people to make informed choices about their own and family’s
health and social care needs
Influence the way services are designed and delivered
Have a strong relationship with Health and Social Care providers as a
critical friend using community views to influence and improve planning and
delivery of services
Provide information, advice and support about local health and social care
services
Refer people to make a complaint via the Advocacy Service
Healthwatch is the new Consumer Champion,
or Watchdog, for health and social care. The
aim of local Healthwatch will be to give
citizens and communities a stronger voice to
influence and challenge how health and
social care services are provided locally.
Healthwatch Calderdale is an independent
body that will raise your views and opinions
on Health & Social Care in Calderdale and to
help make your voices heard.
The feedback we receive from local
residents allows us to understand what the
issues are from the people that use the
services. Your views will help us identify
areas that need to be looked into further.
Please get in touch by calling 01422 431099
or you can email us on
You can also give us your feedback by using
the ’Talk to Us’ page on our website
www.healthwatchcalderdale.co.uk
Healthwatch Calderdale, in partnership
with an organisation called Healthcare
Publications, has developed a Health &
Social Care Support Directory for 2015
The Directory provides local residents
with information and contact details for
a range of Calderdale Health & Social
Care services including GP Surgeries and
Residential Care.
The Health & Social Care Support
Directory is available online on the
Healthwatch Calderdale Website:
www.healthwatchcalderdale.co.uk
Hard Copies are also available. Please
call 01422 431099 to request a copy.
All blood isn’t red. Crabs have blue blood , Earthworms have green blood and Starfish
have Clear or yellow blood
Healthwatch Calderdale is a membership
organisation. We make sure that all our
members are kept up to date with
everything related to Health and Social
Care at both a local and national level.
Becoming a member is free of charge and
is open to anyone who lives in Calderdale
and/or receives substantial health and
social care services from any provider
within Calderdale. It is also open to
voluntary and community groups who
supports users of health and social care
services.
To become a member, please email
The Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) is a
committee of the council that leads on the
strategic co-ordination of planning and the
buying of: local health services; social care
for both children and adults; and, public
health services. It promotes more local
control over those services and includes
representatives from NHS, Social services,
child services, education, clinical
commissioning, and police in addition to
councillors.
Healthwatch has a representative on the
board and will be updating the board on
Healthwatch progress at its meeting in
January. We believe that Healthwatch can
usefully add to HWB activity and represent
the voice of the lay member of the public on
relevant matters because of its unique
position and contact with the public.
It is important to realise that the HWB is a
coordinating mechanism rather than a
director of any one sector. Representatives
of all of the operators who impinge on health
and social care in any way can come together
to ensure that all the activities lead to
progress in a coordinated manner in line with
the Joint Strategic Needs of the community.
A copy of the HWB latest news can be found
at the link below and will give readers a
flavour of the topics covered.
www.calderdaleforward.org.uk/workspace/uploads/files/1411health-and-wellbeing-
news-547367798f2b7.pdf.
In November, Healthwatch Calderdale ran
it’s second recruitment drive for Enter &
View volunteers. After the short listing
process, applicants were invited to
attend an interview. From this, 3 people
were successfully recruited.
Enter & View training began in late
January and taught our new volunteers a
bit more about the role, codes of conduct
and Safeguarding.
Pending successful DBS (Disclosure &
Barring Service) checks, our newly
trained volunteers will then be able to
start their Enter & View visits in Health &
Social Care settings across Calderdale.
If you would like to find out more about
Enter & View, please visit
www.healthwatchcalderdale.co.uk
Healthwatch Calderdale has recently finished
a joint piece of work with Healthwatch
Kirklees to gather patient’s experience of
Unplanned and Emergency Dental Care in
West Yorkshire. In Calderdale, these services
are currently provided by Locala at the St
John’s Health Centre, Halifax.
Throughout December and January,
Healthwatch staff talked to patients using
this service, to find out why they were using
this, as opposed to a “normal” NHS dentist.
Rory Deighton, Healthwatch Kirklees said
“There will always be a need for an
Emergency Dental Service, however, we are
also hearing from patients who can’t find a
local NHS dentist, and can’t afford a private
one and come because this is the only way to
get NHS dental care.”
In January 2015, NHS England start to
re-commission these services and we will be
sharing this gathered patient feedback with
them.
In an average lifetime the heart will beat
more than 2.5 Billion times .
The Healthwatch Calderdale website offers a number of different services:
Send us your feedback using the ‘Talk to Us’ page
Sign up to be a member of Healthwatch Calderdale
Find out about our volunteering opportunities
Search for local Health & Social Care services
Keep up to date with news from Healthwatch
Find out where your nearest Healthwatch drop in session is
Watch videos from Healthwatch England
See our Healthwatch Calderdale Twitter feed
Read the Healthwatch Calderdale Pledge
Find out about Healthwatch Calderdale local meetings
www.healthwatchcalderdale.co.uk
Twitter @hwcalderdale
Facebook Healthwatch Calderdale
An adult man’s Heart weighs about 10
Ounces and a Women’s weighs 8 Ounces
Lead the Way is an information and
advice service for adults in Calderdale,
their families and carers. We are based
at Centre at Threeways, Ovenden.
Lead the Way is a community based
advice and support service helping
people to stay healthy and independent
in their own community.
We support people and carers to find
appropriate services to meet their needs
offering advice and information in ways
that are easy to understand.
We offer volunteering opportunities and
the chance for people to provide peer
support.
Ring 0300 012 0416 for more information.
The NHS in Calderdale recognises that each
year nearly a quarter of us have difficulties
with common psychological problems such
as; anxiety, low mood, low self-esteem,
stress, trauma, phobias and anger as well as
problems with regards to relationships, work
or debt. Because these difficulties have a
considerable impact on our lives, Calderdale
Talking Therapies has been commissioned to
make the appropriate help more easily
available to those who need it.
Calderdale Talking Therapies is part of
Insight Healthcare, a not for profit
organisation and an experienced provider of
talking therapy services, on behalf of the
NHS.
Insight Healthcare provides services
face-to-face throughout Calderdale and some
therapy can also be provided over the
telephone if this is more convenient for you.
You can call us directly on 0300 555 0191 to
self-refer and arrange an appointment or you
can self-refer online
www.insighthealthcare.org
Calderdale Inn Churches is a Winter
shelter project for homeless people aged
18 years and over, it runs 7 days per week
(from 6pm to 9am) from Sunday 4th
January until Sunday March 29th 2015.
Evening meals and breakfast are provided.
This is a free service.
Who can use the shelter?
Temporary homeless – e.g. due to
relationship breakdown
People sleeping rough
Economic migrants
Recently released prisoners
Destitute asylum seekers & refugees
Hidden homeless – living in squats,
hostels or sofa surfing
For more information, please ring
07975 718 093
If you love art, dance, drama, music and
literature then Purple Patch Arts could be
for you! We run a number of different
workshops every week during term time.
Our workshops help adults with learning
disabilities to meet new people, improve
their health and develop self-advocacy skills.
Feel Good Workshops feature gentle
exercise, delivered at a level which suits the
individuals that attend, alongside art activity
which promotes relaxation, positive thinking
and self reflection. They take place every
Tuesday morning in Halifax.
Lifelong Learning workshops explore
everything from history and geography to
literature in an inspiring and inclusive way.
They take place every Friday in Halifax.
To find out more please ring 07725 041 801
or visit the Purple Patch Arts website
www.purplepatcharts.org
Dimensions, an organisation supporting
services for people with Autism, offer
Autism friendly film screenings at cinemas
across the UK.
Autism Friendly Screenings are
mainstream films shown in a sensory
friendly environment:
Lights on low and sound turned down
Trailers are not shown
People can bring their own food,
make noise and move around
VUE Cinema at Broad Street Plaza,
Halifax, have an Autism friendly screening
on the last Sunday of the month. The next
screenings is:
Sunday 22nd February
The Penguins of Madagascar
10am
Smokers in Calderdale are being urged to
take the first step in giving up cigarettes for
good on No Smoking Day which takes place
on Wednesday 11 March.
While studies show that two-thirds of
smokers want to quit, nearly one in five UK
adults continue to smoke, including 24% in
Halifax.
This year’s No Smoking Day theme is ‘Proud
to be a Quitter’. In life we’re told never to
give up, to keep going – but when it comes
to smoking, being a ‘Quitter’ is a good
thing. We’re using inspirational stories of
ex-smokers to highlight the life-changing
benefits of quitting.
The annual campaign is run by the British
Heart Foundation (BHF) and encourages
hundreds of thousands of smokers to make
a quit attempt on No Smoking Day.
To receive information and support on
stopping smoking visit nosmokingday.org.uk
and join the conversation of Twitter using
the hashtag #NoSmokingDay.
A national ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaign
has been launched urging people to visit
their doctor if they have heartburn most
days for 3 weeks or more, as this can be a
sign of oesophageal or stomach cancer.
The campaign launch coincides with results
of a new survey commissioned by Public
Health England, which reveals only 1 in 2
people (55%) would visit their doctor if they
had heartburn most days for 3 weeks or
more.
Early diagnosis of oesophageal or stomach
cancer is crucial and means treatment is
more likely to be successful. Around 67% of
people diagnosed with oesophago-gastric
cancers at the earliest stage survive for at
least 5 years.
Another symptom highlighted by the
campaign is that of difficulty swallowing
food. Here the survey found that 70% did not
know food sticking in the throat could be a
sign of cancer.
For more information, please visit
www.nhs.uk/be-clear-on-cancer
Save the date for Wear A Hat Day 2015 –
the UK’s fun-filled, premier annual brain
tumour awareness event helping support
long-term research and saving lives.
Every year 16,000 people are diagnosed
with a brain tumour yet sadly only 19.8%
of those will survive beyond five years.
Despite this, brain tumour research
receives just 1% of national cancer
funding.
Wear A Hat Day takes place every
March during Brain Tumour Awareness
month to raise both funds and awareness
for this somewhat overlooked disease.
People across the country take part by
donning crazy headgear, all in aid of
supporting Brain Tumour Research.
Register now at
www.braintumourresearch.org
Change4Life has launched a new healthy
eating campaign, called Sugar Swaps, to
help families to cut down on their sugar
intake through making simple food and
drink changes, or swaps, throughout the
day.
The campaign launched following a new
survey amongst Netmums users who were
polled on their views on sugar. The
results highlighted that nearly half (47%)
of mums surveyed think their family has
too much sugar in their diets.
The campaign asks families to sign up to
Change4Life online and choose a sugar
swap they are going to make for a month.
For more information, please visit
sugarswaps.change4life.co.uk
This year's Endometriosis Awareness Week
will take place between March 2nd - 8th.
Women and young girls are waiting an
average of two years before consulting their
GP about difficult or painful periods. The
Diagnosis Survey by Endometriosis UK found
that women and young girls do not realise
that what they are suffering may not be
normal and that they should consult a
healthcare professional.
Painful, heavy, difficult or irregular periods
can be a sign of an undiagnosed medical
condition, including endometriosis. Young
women – particularly - need to be
encouraged to seek help at an early stage.
That’s why Endometriosis UK say in their
campaign that: It’s ok to talk. Period.
Leaflets and information to give more
information about endometriosis and the
symptoms to look out for can be found on the
Endometriosis UK website with a Pain and
Symptom Diary available to download, plus
many other useful leaflets.
www.endometriosis-uk.org
When the body is at rest , it takes only 6
seconds for the blood to go from the heart to the lungs and back
Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in your blood. If you have too much
cholesterol in your blood, it can increase your risk of heart disease and other
cardiovascular diseases.
There are two main types of cholesterol:
Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is known as the bad type of cholesterol. LDL
carry cholesterol from your liver to the cells that need it.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is known as the good type of cholesterol. HDL
carry cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver to be broken down.
Many different factors can contribute to high cholesterol such as eating a diet that is
high in saturated fat, smoking or high alcohol intake.
How can I reduce my cholesterol level?
Eat a healthy balanced diet - Eating lots of fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain is
better than eating foods high in saturated or trans fats.
Do regular exercise - Regular physical activity can help increase your HDL
cholesterol (the good type of cholesterol).
Quit smoking - Quitting smoking can help to lower your cholesterol and
improve your heart health.
British Heart Foundation
www.bhf.org.uk
