As part of its work to improve health and wellbeing across the City, Collaborative Newcastle partners have installed new signage across public benches to help break down the barriers of social isolation and get people talking.
The ‘Happy to Chat’ benches feature a simple sign which reads ‘Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello’ and are designed to help combat loneliness and encourage community interaction.
Find out more
Artist Gail Curry, who runs Happy Planet Creative Arts CIC, used her creativity during lockdown to help manage her mental health, as well as to create items that helped her to reflect on the time she spent alone. She is creating an exhibition – Time on My Hands – around this lockdown creativity and is inviting North Tyneside residents to take part. Read more here
The Northern Guide to Happiness is a podcast funded by the National Lottery Community Fund that aims to put a smile on the faces of people across the North East and beyond. They’re talking to adopted and native Northerners about what makes them happy and what happiness means to them as well as exploring what’s special about the North and how living here makes life happier for its residents.
They are looking for more people to be interviewed as part of the podcast as well as community groups to get involved in the project through FREE happiness workshops.
For more information; visit thenorthernguidetohappiness.co.uk or email Alex on hello@thenorthernguidetohappiness.co.uk. You can keep up to date with the project by following them on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook
Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week will take place from 10-16 May 2021. The theme is ‘Nature’. There are lots of ways that you can get involved in Mental Health Awareness Week and #ConnectWithNature. Read more here
Episode 2 of the Northern Guide to Happiness podcast features Robin Fry, CEO of VODA, talking about his love of film and music making as well as VODA’s response to the Covid pandemic, supporting volunteers and the local communities over the last 12 months, including helping people with food and prescription deliveries and befriending opportunities. You can listen to the podcast here
Earlier this year, over 1,900 of you told us about your experiences of getting mental health support from the NHS by phone or online. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences so openly and made this report possible.
Phone and online support has really worked for many of us. And many have told us they don’t want services to go back to how they were run before.
But for some of us, it hasn’t worked. In fact, some people told us it made their mental health worse.
We might not have the technology, Wi-Fi or confidence to use services in this way. Even for those of us able to use the technology, using services by phone or online may not work for us. We might fear being overheard by family members or housemates. Or we might not feel able to connect with someone through a computer screen.
You can read more about the findings of our report, ‘Trying to connect’, on our website.
At Mind we have been campaigning for years for more say over how we are treated for our mental health problems. Now more than ever people need choice in how they receive these services too. Whether face to face, by phone, or online or a combination. Delivering services by phone or online cannot be seen as a simple answer for overstretched mental health services.
We’ll use what you’ve told us to push for choice, so everyone can get mental health support in the way they need it.
Thank you.
Take care,
Moya
Volunteers’ Week takes place between 1-7 June every year and is a time to recognise and thank volunteers. During an exceptionally difficult year, people from all walks of life around the UK have taken the time to volunteer and made a huge difference to people and their communities – just as they do every year.
That’s why the theme for this year’s Volunteers’ Week is ‘A time to say thanks’.
We’d like to encourage you to take the time to recognise volunteers that helped during the last 12 months and to thank those who usually volunteer but have not been able to because of the pandemic.
This 37th annual Volunteers’ Week is taking place during #MonthOfCommunity. Running throughout June, #MonthOfCommunity brings together some great organisations with some incredible causes from across the UK to encourage us all to think about and join in with the wide variety of activity happening in our local communities.
We’re really excited about Volunteers’ Week 2021; here’s how you can join in:
It’s time to get planning – please share your tweets, stories and messages with us using #VolunteersWeek – we’d love to see how you get on.
Kind regards,
Muireann Montague
NCVO
Hello,
Please see the poster for the next Click and Connect which will take place on Wednesday 19th May, 7-8pm. The social space is aimed at people with experience of mental health difficulties looking to connect with others, feel free to share with anyone you think might benefit.
Email me if you’d like to come along and I’ll send you the joining info nearer the time,
Download the poster here.
Many thanks,
Beth
Beth Allan (she/her)
User Development Worker
Launchpad, North Tyneside
I work three days a week, email is the best way to contact me.
Welcome to Healthwatch North Tyneside’s April eNews. This month you can download the new edition of Living Well North Tyneside and find out where to get Covid-19 rapid tests. Have your say on Accessing GP Services, getting your Covid-19 vaccine and Waiting for Treatment. There’s also the opportunity to become a Healthwatch trustee or volunteer.
Our news
Living Well North Tyneside is back with a spring edition
The spring edition of Living Well North Tyneside is packed full of useful information about health and wellbeing.
There’s advice about maintaining a healthy mind and body, support for carers, an introduction to North Tyneside’s Social Prescribing Service and the benefits of getting involved in the community, and a double page spread explaining where to go when you need medical help.
Healthwatch coordinated this booklet on behalf of the Living Well Partnership. Copies are available to pick up at the vaccine centres or to download on our website.
Download the Living Well North Tyneside booklet
We are recruiting voluntary trustees to join our board
Healthwatch is looking for people with a passion for making a difference to local health and social care in North Tyneside, to join our board of trustees. We are recruiting at least three trustees, including someone to be our treasurer.
We want to hear from anyone with the skills and experience to help us deliver our mission: To champion the experiences, views, values and needs of local people in order to positively affect the health and social care services in North Tyneside.
Our trustees oversee our work and help represent the voice of local people at key meetings with decision makers. They are from a variety of backgrounds, some from health and social care, while others bring an understanding of the local community.
If you’d be interested in joining our board, please visit our website for the full job advert and role description.
Find out more about becoming a trustee
Tell us about contacting your GP by phone, online and face-to-face
It has been 12 months since the way we access services significantly changed due to coronavirus. We want to know your experiences of accessing GP services (by phone, online, face-to-face, etc) and how you want services to run in the future.
Your views will help us gain a better understanding of what people think is important. This research will build upon work Healthwatch carried out last year on people’s experiences of changes in access during the pandemic. It will be used by the NHS and Primary Care providers to plan services for the future.
The information gathered will also feed into the evaluation of the Livi digital app service. North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group has asked us to gather feedback from users of Livi, who will be invited to share their views and experiences of the service in a separate survey.
We are keen to hear the views of people who we are not able to reach online. If you know of any local groups running that would be willing to share our survey or host a focus group, we would love to hear from you by emailing info@hwnt.co.uk or telephone 0191 263 5321.
Tell us your experience of accessing GP services
Become a Healthwatch research volunteer!
We are looking for volunteers to help us carry out our research projects. If you are interested in talking to people about their experiences of health and social care services, and contributing to our research projects then this could be the opportunity for you.
You can apply to become a volunteer by emailing a.graydon@hwnt.co.uk and telling us:
If you have any questions or want to apply for this role please contact our volunteers coordinator Amanda, on 0191 263 5321 or a.graydon@hwnt.co.uk. Find out more by reading the role description below.
Find out more about becoming a research volunteer
Zoom discussion sessions for deaf and hard of hearing people about issues accessing services
If you are deaf or have a hearing impairment, we’d like to capture your views and experiences of accessing local health and care services. Join our discussion group on Zoom, on either:
Register your interest by clicking on the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/hwnt_shareyourviews
Rapid COVID-19 tests for everyone
Everyone in England without symptoms will now be able to access twice-weekly rapid tests for COVID.
Twice-weekly rapid testing is a vital tool in helping to identify cases we would otherwise not find.
With 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 showing no symptoms and potentially spreading it without knowing, twice-weekly rapid testing enables us to find these cases and prevent the spread of infection.
Click here to find out how to get tests in North Tyneside
Have your say
We’ve lots of surveys on the go at the moment so please give us your feedback and share with others. All our surveys can be found on our website https://healthwatchnorthtyneside.co.uk/haveyoursay/
Tell us your experience of getting the COVID-19 vaccine
If you have had experience of the COVID-19 vaccine in April, tell us your views. Setting up the vaccination programme has been a huge task for the NHS and its partners. Your feedback will be shared with them to understand what is working well and what could be done better.
Are you waiting for treatment?
If your treatment has been delayed due to the pandemic, then we’d like to hear from you to find out if it has been dealt with well. Have you been kept informed or offered self-care advice? Tell us how your delay was handled in our short, confidential survey.
Everyone who completes this survey will be entered into a prize draw to be in with a chance of winning £25 Love2Shop vouchers.
Have your say about physical activity provision for people living with dementia
Age UK North Tyneside are carrying out a survey asking about physical activity provision for people living with dementia. Any information you can provide will be anonymised, kept confidential and secure. Your data will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team. Click here to take the survey
Have your say about vaccinations for care home staff
While vaccine rates are increasing, some care homes don’t have the level of protection they need to reduce their risk of a COVID-19 outbreak. Share your views on proposals to make vaccination a condition for those working in care homes for older adults by clicking here for the Department of Health survey.
Please note this is not a Healthwatch survey.
Local news
Vaccine update
As of 27th April, those aged 42 or above (or will be by 1st July 2021) can now use the national booking service to book their appointments – subject to availability.
Use this link to book: https://www.nhs.uk/…/coro…/book-coronavirus-vaccination/
Keep up to date with the latest information about Covid-19 and vaccines on the TyneHealth website https://tynehealth.org.uk/covid-19/
New vaccination support buddy scheme for North Tyneside
VODA has teamed up with local GP surgeries and North Tyneside Council to offer support to people struggling to take up their vaccine in North Tyneside.
VODA will provide a volunteer to accompany the patient through the vaccination process. These volunteers are already volunteering at the clinics so are very familiar with the process and can provide reassurance and support to someone who may be too nervous to go on their own. They can also help organise transport.
“It is vitally important that we provide every opportunity for people to take up their vaccine, we want to make it as stress free and easy as possible for those who are vulnerable or anxious about attending the clinics,” said VODA’s Keith Hardy, Core Services Manager responsible for delivering the project.
Referrals can be made via the North Tyneside Council’s Local Support Service on 0345 200 0101.
Launchpad North Tyneside’s Covid-19 and mental health survey findings
Launchpad received over 100 responses to their recent Covid and Mental Health survey and has shared the key themes in a series of posters, giving an overview of what people said. This information will be used to inform Launchpad’s work. Read the findings here
Please be aware that dentists are currently still prioritising vulnerable patients or those with urgent dental needs; it is therefore unlikely that routine dental care such as dental check-ups will be available at this time.
Useful information and opportunities
Latest news from Healthwatch England
Help find the missing men: prostate cancer referrals fall by 52,000 due to COVID-19
Prostate Cancer UK is calling for everyone to use and share their thirty-second risk-checker to help find the missing men.
The pandemic has made it more difficult for men to approach their GPs over the last year. The latest data shows that since March 2020, urgent referrals by GPs in England have dropped by over 52,000. As a result, more than 8,600 fewer men in England started treatment for prostate cancer in 2020 than in the previous year.
Some regions have been affected more than others, with the North East, Midlands and London seeing a greater drop in referrals compared to other parts of the country.
If you have found barriers to contacting your GP about this or anything else, then tell us about it in our online survey here.
Read more about the Prostate Cancer UK’s Find the Missing Men campaign here
Creative workshops for mental health
Local writer, Elaine Cusack will be running free workshops with Launchpad North Tyneside, exploring words and creativity. These sessions are aimed at anyone who struggles with their mental health and is an opportunity to explore the everyday in a creative way. People can attend as many or as few of the sessions as they wish but spaces are limited so need to be booked. The first two sessions are on Zoom. Dates: 5 May, 11 May and 18 May (outdoor).
Get further details by downloading this pdf
Diabetes and Me Competition
Diabetes UK North of England Team are running a family competition with great prizes up for grabs.
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who may find it useful and they can sign up here to receive their own copy. If you’d like an article included in a future eNews, please email l.johnson@hwnt.co.uk
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Hello,
We received over 100 responses to our recent Covid and Mental Health survey and I wanted to share the key themes with you. Please see the posters for an overview of what people told us. This information will be used to inform our work and we hope it will be used to inform the work of others too. A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to share such honest accounts of the impact of lockdown on their mental health and to members of our Service User and Survivor forum who helped with the creation of the posters. It is clear that the pandemic and lockdown restrictions has had a profound impact on most people but the effects have varied hugely, as you can see. While we have all endured the same pandemic, we have all experienced it so differently, with access to different internal and external resources to draw upon, it’s important that we keep this in mind going forwards.
Download the posters:
If you’d like any further information, please do get in touch.
Many thanks,
Beth
Beth Allan (she/her)
User Development Worker
Launchpad, North Tyneside
I work three days a week, email is the best way to contact me.
