Posted on: 1 June 2022
The North Kirklees lung health check programme is a targeted scheme with a focus on smokers and ex-smokers aged 55 – 74 who are registered with a GP in the North Kirklees area.
Lung cancer is the most common cancer in West Yorkshire. It is part of a national pilot being rolled out across England in 43 locations, prioritising areas with the highest rates of lung cancer mortality. There are around 19,000 people in Kirklees who are eligible for a health check.
The process
Step one: Phone call or face-to-face appointment to discuss breathing, overall lung health, lifestyle and family and medical history.
Step two: A lung scan may be offered to check the lungs are in working order. If a scan is not required but there are problems with breathing or the lungs, then a referral to the GP or another specialist may be made.
Step three: Required lung scans will be arranged via the mobile CT scanner placed in the local area.
Feedback
Angela, 55, Birstall “Going for a lung health check is vital.”
Angela quit smoking the day before she turned 50. She works as a part-time radio operator and after recovering from pneumonia she is keen to get checked and address any lung health issues as soon as they arise.
Edward, 69, Dewsbury “I’d encourage anybody to get their lung health check.”
As a retired engineer from North Kirklees, Edward recently faced some lung-related health issues. It’s made him keen to enjoy family life and not let any further lung problems develop.
What else has been happening this week?
Bradford Crowned City of Culture 2025
The winner of City of Culture 2025 is... BRADFORD! As well as this prestigious title, they’ll get £275,000 to put into a year of cultural activities Congratulations @bradford2025
You can find out more on the Government's website.
West Yorkshire services offer advice for a safe and fun Jubilee
West Yorkshire’s emergency and response services, including West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, West Yorkshire Police and the region’s NHS services are all key partners of West Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum. Together they are issuing advice to the public to ensure everyone can celebrate safely.
Please ensure you have enough of your regular prescription medicine ahead of the weekend and make sure your medicine cabinet and first aid kit are stocked up, to be able to treat common conditions at home. Think carefully before going to an A&E department. They are there to treat life-threatening and critical illnesses and injuries. If you have an urgent medical problem and aren’t sure what to do visit 111.nhs.uk.If your child is poorly, you can find helpful information at: togetherwe-can.com/children. Most minor illnesses can be treated at home.
There will be many events and activities celebrating the Jubilee across the UK during the extended bank holiday weekend. We would like to thank everyone who is working over the weekend, whatever you do to keep people safe and well, it’s very much appreciated.
Carers Week 2022 – please support and get involved
Carers Week runs from 6 to 12 June 2022. The theme is making caring Visible, Valued and Supported. As a Partnership, we plan to increase recognition and support for approximately 400,000 unpaid carers living in our local areas of Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield District. Unpaid carers need us to do all we can to support them in the huge challenges they face every day.
We are working with caring organisations across the region to encourage unpaid carers to complete a contingency plan, ensuring plans are made for the cared for person in case of an emergency. This will be promoted alongside ‘Message in a Bottle’. An initiative created by the Lions club charity, who encourage people to share important medical information in a green and white bottle in a standard location – the fridge. Find out more on the Message in a Bottle webpage.
Our new guidance for managers will support employers at place to have supportive conversations with employees who have unpaid caring responsibilities. 1 in 7 of our workforce is a working carer (Carers UK 2019). Overall, 1 in 5 of all working carers surveyed said that if they didn’t get affordable and accessible care to support them, they would have to reduce their working hours or be at risk of giving up work altogether (Carers UK 2021). Research tells us that allowing greater flexible working and support enables working carers to balance work and care successfully (Carers UK, 2019). View the guidance document and working carer passport information area of our website.
Webinars for all staff are being held in June dedicated to supporting working carers from ethnic minorities. You can register and find out more using the Eventbrite link.
- Working Carers (Local Authority), 13 June, 10am-12 noon
- Working Carers (VCSE), 15 June, 10am -12 noon
- Working Carers (NHS/Health care organisations), 16 June, 10am-12 noon. We are also working hard for our young carers across West Yorkshire and are happy to launch the new young carers education pack, containing resources to better support young carers. There will be videos, infographics, and resources to share on twitter throughout the campaign, and we would encourage you to like and share our work. We will be using hashtag #WYCarersWeek and the Partnership’s twitter handle @WYpartnership to showcase our work. You can also visit the Careers Week 2022 webpage.
Health leaders in West Yorkshire are encouraging unpaid carers to make contingency plans for the person they look after in the event of an emergency
To mark Carers Week, we are also working with Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS), teaming up to raise vital awareness of the ‘Message in a Bottle’ initiative.
‘Message in a Bottle’ is a simple and effective way for people to share their basic personal and medical details, including contingency planning for caring responsibilities, in an emergency. This written information is kept in a bottle in a common location in the home – the fridge.
The message to all carers across West Yorkshire is to think about a contingency plan so that the person they care for is supported at the earliest opportunity and the carer has peace of mind that arrangements are in place should they become unwell or be involved in an accident or medical emergency.
Local carer organisations across Bradford District and Craven; Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield District are supporting carers to have their own ‘Message in a Bottle’.
The idea was developed by Lions Club International, and the ambulance, police, fire, and social services all support this life-saving initiative by knowing to look for essential medical information in the fridge when they see a Message in a Bottle sticker in someone’s home. The scheme has been developed further so carers can also include information about what should happen to the person they look after in the event of the carer suddenly becoming ill or injured. There are a range of resources including films in community languages.
Wakefield’s Big Conversation is underway
Last week we saw the public launch of the Big Conversation, Wakefield organisations have been part of making this happen and many conversationalists make up the combined workforce.
More than 1000 conversations will be taking place throughout the summer. Conversationalists will be talking and listening to residents to find out what resident’s value most about their local area as well as their future aspirations for where they live.
The Big Conversation is different to other consultation or engagement methods carried out by Wakefield Council. It is not a consultation; it is a conversation that will create a sense of hope and opportunity. It will be more of an open-ended dialogue where Conversationalists listen to stories rather than lead. It will also give all residents the chance to become more actively involved in the decision-making process.
Insight from the conversations will be analysed and key themes will feed into several council and district wide plans including the Economic Wellbeing Strategy and Council’s Corporate Plan, the aim of which is to build a fairer future for Wakefield’s residents. You can find out more at www.bigconversationwakefield.co.uk
John’s 'Healthier You' journey
We asked John to keep a video diary of his journey on the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. John recorded seven videos over nine months which we’ve put together so you can see the whole journey. The videos range from when he first started the programme right through to the last session.
What a journey – and what a difference. The results speaks for themselves:
- Weight loss – one and half stone
- Blood pressure – down to 117/76 – from 140s/90s
- Body fat - down from 42% to 28%
- Blood sugar - now normalFor John, a healthier lifestyle and regular exercise are now part of his daily routine.
Children and Young People Programme
The Partnership’s Children and Young People Programme continues to progress areas of transformation for children, young people, and families. The collaborative work on long term health conditions includes a housing and healthcare commitment for children and young people with severe asthma is currently being signed off with the transformation group. We have recently appointed clinical leads to support the delivery of the national asthma care bundle and the diabetes Digibete app for type 2 diabetes has begun its design phase.
We have been successful in the recruitment of two assistant psychologists across West Yorkshire to scope and undertake development work as part of the longer-term approach to improve psychological support for children and young people with epilepsy and their families. In keeping with our commitment to co-produce work there has been agreement for the development of an epilepsy patient facing first year of care pathway and patient facing information.
Final amendments are being made to launch the ‘Healthier Together’ website later this month in line with our focus on children’s healthcare in the community. There are plans for ongoing development in co-production with our youth collective.
A Palliative and End of Life Care steering group with key stakeholders is being established to progress a 24/7 service across West Yorkshire. Our work with schools continues to progress and a video has been finalised for supporting asthma friendly schools.
To support family resilience and early help, an adversity, resilience, and trauma social justice workshop took place in May to identify areas to work together as a system on and links have been made with Wetherby YOI. Trauma informed Foundation Level Training has continued with West Yorkshire Police first response teams in Wakefield and Kirklees, housing staff across West Yorkshire and primary care in Calderdale. The training has evaluated well.
NHS Inequalities chief meets medics helping Bradford’s rough sleepers and vulnerable pregnant women
A GP who is leading the NHS’ mission to reduce inequality in healthcare has praised Bradford’s services for homeless residents and vulnerable women.
Dr Bola Owolabi, NHS Director – Health Inequalities, visited the Bevan Healthcare clinic which offers evening appointments and an outreach bus in what is one of Britain’s most deprived areas.
In 2019, as part of its Long-Term Plan, NHS England increased funding — estimated to be worth over £1 billion by 2023/24 — to tackle health inequalities in areas with the highest rates of early death and poor physical and mental health. Central Bradford was one of these places.
To tackle its health problems, a Reducing Inequalities in Communities (RIC) programme was created by the NHS Bradford District and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in collaboration with health and care partners such as the Bevan clinic. RIC is one of the enabler programmes for the Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership, reflecting the partnership’s Act as One ethos of people and organisations working together to keep people ‘happy, healthy at home’.
The programme granted NHS funds to Bevan Healthcare and Bradford Doulas which supports pregnant women before and after the birth of their child.
Dr Owolabi, who also works as a GP in the Midlands, said: “The services I witnessed support some of the most vulnerable groups in our society and those at highest risk of healthcare inequalities.
“Bradford is a great example of what can be achieved when services are designed and delivered with patients at the heart, an approach we need to see more of across the country.”