Health & Wellbeing

Stoptober is back to launch its 10^th mass quit attempt on October 1, calling on smokers in England to join the 2.3 million others who have made a quit attempt with the campaign since it launched a decade ago in 2012.

Over 6 million adults in England still smoke, with more than 651,000 adult smokers in the West Midlands region, and it remains the leading cause of premature death, with almost 75,000 preventable deaths a year.

Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice is excited to announce that their recent Enchanted 10k Walk has raised a record breaking £50,000 for local Hospice care. The Selly Oak based charity were finally able to hold their annual 10k walk through Bournville and Selly Park on Saturday September 11 after Covid 19 saw the event be postponed for 2 years.

Responding to the latest urgent and emergency care survey published that was published by the CQC, Dr Katherine Henderson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “The survey is welcome as it provides an invaluable insight into the patient experience and confirms that Emergency Departments are doing an incredible job in difficult circumstances.

“We are appreciative of patients engaging and providing this feedback in the middle of the pandemic in September 2020. Managing to continue these core assurance processes is a challenge but continues to be very important.

WV Active is working with the Institute of Swimming to offer Wolverhampton residents part-funded training to gain a swimming teacher qualification.

Those looking to start a new career as a swimming teacher can apply to join the Swimming Teacher Recruitment Academy.

The City of Wolverhampton Council’s leisure centres are teaming up with Diabetes UK to offer free physical activity sessions for those living with the condition.

Following the success of previous activity courses in other parts of the city, the charity will be launching session at WV Active Bilston–Bert Williams for 10 weeks, starting later this month.

A poll by the London and Australia-based interior design studio, Conscious Cribs, found that 87% of people who responded are worried about the hidden toxins in their home and how it could be affecting their health.

The interior design team at Conscious Cribs focus solely on healthy and sustainable interior design for high-end residential properties but are keen to share their expertise with all homeowners planning future redecoration projects.

Acas has published new advice today to help employees and employers at care homes in England understand the new Government rules around vaccination. 

From 11 November, anyone who works inside a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered care home in England must be fully vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19) unless they are exempt.

The latest Emergency Department performance figures for August 2021 published by NHS England show the worst four-hour performance since records began, the worst performance for an August, and the fourth highest number of 12-hour stays ever.

The data show there were 1,342,250 attendances to Type 1 Emergency Departments in England in August 2021, a decrease of 6% compared to the previous month.

The NHS in England will get an extra £5.4bn over the next six months to respond to Covid-19 and tackle the backlog caused by the pandemic, the government has announced.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the money would go directly to the front line and provide treatments people were not getting quickly enough.

A new snapshot survey by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has found that in August 2021 half of respondents stated that their Emergency Department had been forced to hold patients outside in ambulances every day, compared to just over a quarter in October 2020 and less than one-fifth in March 2020.

The survey, sent out to Emergency Department Clinical Leads across the UK, also found that half of respondents described how their Emergency Department had been forced to provide care for patients in corridors every day, while nearly three-quarters said their department was unable to maintain social distancing every day.

New research by Acas has found that over a third (36%) of British employers have seen their mental health support improve since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Acas commissioned YouGov to ask businesses in Britain about whether they had seen a change to employee mental health and wellbeing support in their organisation since the start of the pandemic. The poll found that: 

Labour has called for clarity on Covid vaccines for children to prevent further disruption to their education. However, shadow education secretary Kate Green said other measures including mask-wearing, ventilation systems and testing were also needed.

Vaccine experts did not recommend the jab for healthy 12 to 15-year-olds on health grounds alone. But the UK's chief medical officers have been asked to consider any wider implications of extending the rollout.

A leading housebuilder is breathing new life into Birmingham’s former Selly Oak hospital, with a contemporary redevelopment of the striking red brick property.

Ellis Court, just a short walk from Selly Oak High Street, is an exclusive collection of modern apartments in a stunning garden setting. The development is a jewel in the crown of award-winning housebuilder Charles Church, offering 44 beautifully equipped one-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments with a study.

The latest suicides statistics show that around 6,000 people die by suicide each year in the UK.

Now, one leading mental health charity is aiming to raise awareness of suicide and encourage conversations to help reduce the number of suicides and suicide attempts globally. The Kaleidoscope Plus Group is marking World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10 by asking people to start a conversation about suicide and show that recovery is possible.

An NHS worker was set to battle not just the elements and the heady heights of Mount Snowdon but also his own debilitating illness in order to help raise money for the homeless.

Martin Daker, part of the Informatics team at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, took part in a sponsored walk up Snowdon on behalf of Your Trust Charity and the Trust's Homeless Pathway Team. He suffers from Sarcoidosis, a condition that affects his lungs that leaves them with only 50 per cent of ‘normal’ capacity for a person of his age.

Covid-19 infection rates are now higher in Wolverhampton than any other part of the Black Country and Birmingham – with just shy of 1,000 people testing positive for the deadly virus in the city in the last week alone.

Latest figures show there were 375.9 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Wolverhampton over the last seven days and the infection rate in the city is now 27th highest in England; by comparison the next highest area in the region – Dudley – is 50th. Hospitalisations are also rising and the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust currently has around 60 positive Covid-19 patients.