Author Archives: paulcrompton

Cold snap highlights need to protect yourself from the cold

The cold snap may have passed us – for the moment – but February’s wintry weather means you should still be thinking of how to safeguard your own health and wellbeing.

Keeping warm over the winter can help prevent colds, flu and more serious health problems such as heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia and depression.

Firstly, if you are eligible NHS Sussex is urging you to get the flu vaccine.

You are also asked to treat winter and seasonal viruses in the warmth and comfort of your own homes and try to avoid visiting hospitals or vulnerable relatives if However, we appreciate that keeping your home warm is getting harder, so for help and advice on staying warm this winter visit our Cost of Living page.

And please look out for friends and family who may be vulnerable to the cold, ensure they have access to warm food and drinks, can heat their homes adequately and have any prescription medicines they need.

Tips for staying well during low temperatures include:

  • Don’t delay treating minor winter ailments like colds or sore throats. People can visit their local pharmacist for advice and treatment.
  • Try to maintain indoor temperatures to at least 18°C, particularly if you’re not mobile, have a long-term illness or are 65 or over.
  • Wear shoes with good grip when outside to avoid slips and falls on slippery or icy surfaces.

And don’t forget, you can sign up for free Cold Alerts to make sure you’re prepared for any cold snaps during February.

Importance of cervical screening highlighted during Cervical Cancer month

The essential message to take action and book a cervical screening was given out throughout January as part of Cervical Cancer Awareness month.

The NHS is urging anyone eligible for cervical screening to book a potentially life-saving appointment at their local clinic.

Around 2,700 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in England each year, but the NHS screening programme helps save around 5,000 lives each year.

The health service wants to eradicate the cancer through a combination of vaccination and early identification.

Screening checks are made to detect high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), which is found in more than 99% of all cervical cancers and which may cause abnormal cells to develop in the cervix. These abnormal cells can, over time, turn into cancer if left untreated.

Residents asked to have their say on health-related behaviour change services

At this time of year, many of us are thinking about our New Year resolutions to eat well, manage our weight, move more, quit smoking and drink less.

There is a local service in East Sussex called One You East Sussex that helps people do just that, but we are thinking of making some changes to how the service supports residents. Before we make any changes it’s important we understand how people and communities would be affected.

We’ve included a short summary about the changes below. You can find out more and complete the consultation survey on the East Sussex County Council consultation website until 10 March.

To get back to a healthier you and make simple changes towards a longer and happier life visit the One You website.

Proposed changes

The changes would mean only those in greatest need will be routinely offered more intensive forms of help. This might include face-to-face support from a health coach, or a weight management group delivered online or in person.

Eligible residents will continue to be offered a holistic health assessment, and you’ll have access to online support programmes to help make changes to your health-related behaviours.

The proposed changes would mean the service can offer greater levels of support to those who need it the most. For example, this might include people living in areas where deprivation levels are high and life expectancy is lower than average, or people living with a disability or mental health issue.

Any savings from these changes would be used by the service to help it achieve the best possible health outcomes for residents and communities.

A final decision on the proposed change to the service model will be made in June 2023.

Get engaged in your community by joining an Older People’s Forum in your area.

If the New Year has inspired you to become more involved with your community, then joining your local Older People’s Forum is a great place to start.

The Forums are a perfect way to meet people, find out about activities, attend Older People’s Day events, or to just be better informed about issues that impact you, such as health and social care.

For example, as part of its relaunch Lewes and Villages Seniors Forum has been doing good work on eat and heat, including a recipe booklet for one pot cooking to save energy costs.

Membership of a Forum is free and open to anyone aged 50-years-old or over.

There are eight Older People’s Forums within the county to choose from.

Each forum is led by a committee of members. Some forums have formed special interest groups (such as transport, health and well-being) that reflect the concerns of their local members.

A year in review: 12 months of changes and celebrations

NHS Sussex’s big milestone

There was a big milestone for the county’s NHS services this year. On 1 July a new statutory NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) known as NHS Sussex took over from the three NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). It was an important step towards achieving the Services’ development of an Integrated Care System (ICS).

The ICS aims to enable NHS organisations, local authorities, social care providers, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise partners and other stakeholders with an interest in health and care to work together in a more formal way.

There were also changes to improve services. These included the minor injuries unit (MIU) at Crowborough War Memorial Hospital reopening in February and changes to how eye and heart services are delivered in East Sussex being agreed by NHS Sussex in November.

Planning for the future locally

It has been a challenging two-years, and to reflect that we updated our integrated strategy covering health and care. The ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People’ was refreshed in July to indicate our changing priorities, the learning from the pandemic, and national plans and strategies.

The strategy will guide our work over the coming years, so do have a read if you want to find out more about the shared priorities for health and care partners in East Sussex.

Then in August and September, we conducted our Adult Social Care focused ‘Living Well in East Sussex’ survey to better understand how we should update our long-term strategies for improving health, reducing health inequalities, and integrating care for you.

Almost 500 of you told us, via the survey and the focus groups, that your concerns ranged from the cost-of-living crisis to the need for more easily accessible information.

Work to continue developing the strategy will follow in the new year.

A decade of success as 1Space and People Bank celebrate 10th birthdays

In November, we celebrated two fantastic milestones. In the same year that London hosted the Olympics and Curiosity Rover landed on Mars, we launched our Adult Social Care & Health People Bank and 1Space initiatives, which both turned 10 years old in November.

East Sussex 1Space online directory was launched with a focus on care, support and wellbeing services for people who live in the county, and now includes 2,000 services.

To mark its 10th Birthday, we’re running a survey until 28 February 2023 that will inform and guide improvements to the site. If you’ve used the site and can spare a few minutes, please answer five quick questions telling us what you think of East Sussex 1Space.

On 29 November, we held a face-face meeting with members of the People Bank to celebrate its decade of success. Launched in 2012 with 31 members, today it has 144 members who volunteer their time to inform and give feedback of the services we provide.

To find out about joining the People Bank visit our website [add link] or get in touch to request an information pack. You can email consultation.ASC@eastsussex.gov.uk or leave a message by ringing 01273 335 267.

Life returning to pre-COVID-19 normalcy

Almost two years after we first went into lock down, life began to return to a post-pandemic normalcy in 2022. However, the ‘Help Us, Help You’ message from NHS Sussex remained. The message in February urged people to take a PCR test if they felt the ‘cold-like’ symptoms that could’ve been early signs of COVID-19’s Omicron variant. Now, as the year comes to an end, all eligible people are being encouraged to get their boosters and flu jabs to better protect themselves during the festive season.

How are you feeling? Ways to deal with life’s stresses

As always, our message to you this year was take a moment and not miss some of the signs your minds and bodies were giving you to slow down and take care of yourself. This point is always important, but especially so as the end of 2022 neared and concerns around the cost-of-living grew. To ease worries, we launched a dedicated website page in October that made accessing benefits and resources linked with rises in the cost of living simpler.

The ‘Support with the cost-of-living’ page assists people in the following areas:

  • Money, including help with benefits
  • Your mental health
  • Transport
  • Employment and learning
  • Your home

If you are feeling particularly low or worried at the moment and are struggling but aren’t sure, there’s an easy way to check. Take this quick, anonymous NHS mood quiz today.

Ukraine crisis: East Sussex residents rally to help

As the war in Ukraine entered its second month of conflict, we offered advice to East Sussex residents supporting refuges under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Advice included ways to welcome guests and how to get financial and other support. By November, the county had 529 hosts. To thank them for their continued support we’ve increased payments from October 2022 to March 2023 by £150 a month to help with cost-of-living concerns.

More information on hosting and the support available to Ukrainian guests is accessible via the County Council’s website.

East Sussex mourns Queen’s death

For many of us, some of whom had only ever known one monarch, September was a time of reflection and sadness following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The 96-year-old’s death on 8 September triggered 10 days of mourning across the county.

Her funeral on 19 September marked the end of a reign spanning seven decades, and this was reflected in the fitting tributes and celebrations of her life – not least from East Sussex residents. We took the opportunity to look back on the occasions she visited our county.

Take a look back at Queen Elizabeth II’s visits to East Sussex over the years – Your East Sussex by East Sussex County Council

10 years of People Bank celebrated at special birthday event

It is now ten years since the Adult Social Care People Bank initiative was launched by East Sussex County Council, and to mark the occasion we held a special birthday event for its members.

Celebrations included a day of adult social-care-focused activities, talks and discussions held at the Towner Eastbourne on 29 November.

It was the first time in two years the group had met face-to-face, and with membership almost doubling since 2020, the event was a great opportunity for members to make new friends or rekindle old friendships.

The People Bank began in 2012 with 31 members; today it has 144 people volunteering their time to help improve existing services and develop new ones.

Members sit on boards and steering groups, take part in project groups, support commissioning and share their views through surveys and discussion groups.

Ian and Christine Stewart are life-long carers for their daughter and started attending the People Bank to give her a voice in the services she uses.

Ian said: “It’s not a feeling of them and us, it’s a feeling that the council wants to hear what we have to say, and being a member also gives us the chance to talk to people like us.”

Christine said: “It’s how I was brought up, to give back to the community you live in and volunteer for things.  When I see a little success, not necessarily massive changes but some success, then it spurs me on to continue.”

Gwladys Mabb, from Eastbourne, has been a member of the People Bank for 10 years. With her nursing background, Gwladys is interested in people and joined because she wanted to make everything inclusive and ensure people got what they are entitled to.

She said: “I think it’s worthwhile because people moan and don’t do anything but if you come to something like this you can find out what’s happening in the background.”

Dorothy Rowland – known as Dot – is an unpaid, self-funded carer for her husband. Dot said she joined the People Bank earlier this year because she wants to be able to help people in similar situations as herself.

To find out about joining the People Bank visit our website or get in touch to request an information pack. You can email consultation.ASC@eastsussex.gov.uk or leave a message by ringing 01273 335 267.

Improvements to patient care in heart and eye services across East Sussex approved

The East Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) has endorsed proposals to improve cardiology and ophthalmology services for the people of East Sussex.

The proposals – which aim to improve the quality of care for all those who need it, cut waiting times, reduce how long people have to stay in hospital, and the number of times they need to visit for appointments or tests – were developed by hospital doctors, GPs and other health professionals.

The proposals had previously been unanimously agreed by the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) at its meeting on 2 November. The endorsement from East Sussex HOSC came at its meeting on 15 December.

Work will now begin to implement the proposed improvements to cardiology and ophthalmology services, which will provide the very best outcomes for local people.

For ophthalmology, care will be improved by consolidating the services currently provided at Eastbourne District General Hospital, Bexhill Hospital and Conquest Hospital into two sites at Eastbourne District General Hospital and Bexhill Hospital. This will enable patients to have quicker access to tests and treatment and more input from the most senior clinicians. It will also enable one-stop clinics, reducing the number of appointments patients need to attend.

For cardiology, care at both the Conquest Hospital, Hastings and Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH) will be enhanced by creating new cardiac response teams to attend at the front end of the hospitals. This will ensure that people are assessed quicker, when they first come into the emergency departments (EDs) of the hospitals, meaning that emergency patients start receiving specialist care more quickly.

The interventional specialist cardiac services will be sited at Eastbourne DGH. Concentrating the most highly specialised interventional and specialist inpatient cardiology services on one site meets national best practice and will mean the highest standard of care for patients. This will allow our staff to develop greater expertise in new treatments and ensure people are being offered the very best care when they need it. This is only changing for 3% of all cardiac patients seen in East Sussex each year.

The vast majority (97%) of cardiology services will stay the same at both the Conquest, Hastings and Eastbourne DGH. To make sure that the majority of patients receive good quality care close to home outpatients, non-invasive diagnostics, cardiac-monitored beds, cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure services would stay at both hospitals and in the community (where these services are already provided).

These plans are the culmination of a comprehensive programme of work that has considered the best clinical evidence, recommendations from clinical experts and a review and evaluation of feedback from two separate public consultations in which hundreds of people, including service users, carers and their families, as well as a wide range of organisations, took part.

Progress updates and further news on the improvements will continue next year.

You can read the HOSC papers and find out more about the improvements, as well as all the background reports and documents, on the cardiology and ophthalmology  home pages.

Ask your pharmacy for advice about minor illnesses and ailments this winter

NHS Sussex is urging everyone to stay well this winter and take advantage of the wide range of health services now available at local pharmacies, including asking your pharmacist for advice for minor illnesses and ailments.

People have always been able to get prescription medicines, care and advice for common illnesses, lifestyle support and medicines advice to help manage long-term conditions at their pharmacy.

Now people can take advantage of services such as blood pressure checks for over 40 year olds and expanded support for people with Parkinson’s disease and osteoporosis, among other conditions.

So, remember to ask your pharmacist for:

  • Advice and treatment for minor illnesses such as coughs, colds and earache
  • A free blood pressure check (for over 40-year-olds with no history of high blood pressure or those aged 30-39 with a family history of high blood pressure)
  • Flu vaccinations
  • Advice on staying well and preventing disease – private consultations are offered
  • Support to maintain good sexual health
  • Help to quit smoking
  • Personalised support to get the most from your medicines

For more information visit NHS Sussex’s Help Us Help You webpages.

Successful Listening Tour will inform positive changes to local services

Findings from this year’s Healthwatch East Sussex 2022 Listening Tour are being collated and will be used to support positive changes to local health and care services.

The organisation heard from 489 residents about local services across Eastbourne via surveys, focus groups, interviews, pop-up stands and events such as the Launch Event and Big Health and Care Question Time.

Some of its key findings include:

  • The challenge of accessing GP and dentist appointments
  • Anxiety around the cost-of-living crisis and what’s to come
  • Accessibility for disabled residents
  • The public and patients highlighted their appreciation for the professionalism, care and dedication of health and care staff
  • Gaps in Mental health support within the homeless community
  • The use of heteronormative language in health and care settings
  • Lack of knowledge around rights among refugees

The organisation said that by speaking up, residents were helping to change services for themselves and many others.

They thanked everyone who shared their feedback and experiences during the Listening Tour, and all the organisations and community groups that they worked with during the tour.

Healthwatch will use the feedback it received during the two-week programme of engagement activities and events in October to make recommendations to support future health care plans.

These recommendations will be shared on its website and social media, so keep an eye on these sites for any update over the coming months.

For general Listening Tour enquiries please contact Anna Hoad, Community Engagement Officer via enquiries@healthwatcheastsussex.co.uk or call 0333 101 4007.

To share feedback on health and care services in East Sussex any time, visit the Healthwatch East Sussex Feedback Centre. 

Housing Occupational Therapy team wins industry award

We’re proud to say that East Sussex County Council’s Housing Occupational Therapy team have won a national award for their excellent work.

They won the national Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) Home Adaptation Service of the Year award at the National Healthy Housing Awards.

The accolade reflects the work they do with housing authorities across the county to adapt properties for people with disabilities, older people, their families or their carers, to live comfortably in their own homes.

The judging panel thought this was a really strong example of innovation and doing things differently that the sector could learn from.