Happy New Year 2024! I hope you all enjoyed the festivities and managed to get some respite over the Christmas and New Year period.

The first week of January is traditionally always one of – if not the most - busiest times for our health and care system as people return to work, schools and nurseries start to reopen, and naturally more bugs and winter illnesses start to do the rounds. But this year, our busiest time coincides with the ongoing industrial action as we are coming to the end of the current six-day walkout, which is the longest continuous strike in NHS history.

Partnership working to keep our system afloat and manage the impact of the industrial action has never been more important, so I thank you all for the role you or your organisation is playing to manage demand and provide care and support to the people of Greater Manchester. We have a weekly winter brief which aims to update stakeholders on how services in Greater Manchester are performing. If you would like to be added to our distribution list for this briefing, please email gmhscp.media@nhs.net.

We’ve also information below on the new NHS Greater Manchester ‘Protect & Prevent’ campaign aimed at people with long term health conditions who have not yet been vaccinated against flu and COVID. If this is you, I really would urge you to get the vaccines and the protection you need from falling seriously ill.

I know the next few weeks/months are going to continue to be challenging times so please do take care of yourselves and know that everything you are doing is appreciated.

Best wishes,

Paul

Paul Dennett

Chair, Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership Board

NHS Greater Manchester has launched ‘Protect & Prevent’ – a new campaign encouraging people with long term conditions to get vaccinated against flu and COVID-19.

Winter vaccines are especially important for those with ongoing health concerns, such as asthma, diabetes or a heart condition. Flu and COVID can cause serious complications, like bronchitis and pneumonia - or it could make an existing condition worse even if symptoms are well managed and you usually feel well. Anyone who has not yet been vaccinated is encouraged to do so as soon as possible.

The campaign uses ‘trusted voices’ in the form of local clinicians including a nurse practitioner, GP and hospital consultant. The messaging highlights the importance of winter vaccines, combined with a call to action of ‘Get Vaccinated.’

As we are now some months into the winter vaccine programme, the priority now is to ensure that those who are most at risk get the protection they need.

The flu vaccine is available at GP practices and some local pharmacies. To find your nearest participating pharmacy, go to the Find A Pharmacy That Offers NHS Flu Vaccination page on the NHS Website.

COVID vaccines can be accessed quickly and easily at walk-in vaccine sites – without an appointment. To find your nearest, go to the Find a Walk-In Covid Vaccination Site page on the NHS website.

The NHS website includes accessibility information for all vaccine sites.

For more information, go to the Seasonal Vaccinations and Winter Health page on the NHS website.

You can support the campaign by sharing campaign messages and images on your social media accounts. Download the toolkit and assets from the campaign's page on the NHS GM website.

A new Chair has been appointed at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).

Tony Warne will take up the post of Chair at GMMH from January 2024. He will be taking over from the previous Chair, Bill McCarthy, who took up the post on an interim basis in January 2023.

Tony Warne brings an extensive range of experience from over 40 years of working in mental health services, in clinical, managerial and academic roles in the North West. He joins GMMH from his most recent post as Chair at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and partners, are joining forces to help residents improve their homes – making them greener, healthier and cheaper to heat.

Energy efficiency measures, such as improved insulation, better windows and low carbon heating technologies, can help to reduce carbon emissions and your heating bills – plus a warmer home is better for health and wellbeing too.

However, finding the right advice and support can often be complex and confusing. To help people make the change, the GMCA is joining with trusted suppliers offering free, tailored advice to help residents understand what improvements they could make to their homes – and what discounted or free upgrades they could be eligible for.

Anyone living in Greater Manchester can check their eligibility now by visiting the Greater Manchester Energy Scheme Checker.

Two of the four referral routes for the Energy Company Obligation Scheme 4 Flex (ECO4 Flex) allow healthcare professionals to refer patients, for whom living in cold conditions poses the greatest risk, to be assessed for fully funded home improvements. This includes those with severe long term health conditions (a cardiovascular condition, respiratory disease, limited mobility or immunosuppression) and households considered to be vulnerable. NHS GM is working to raise awareness of the ECO4 Flex scheme among healthcare professionals in GP practices and NHS trusts and this will continue in the coming months.

The Greater Manchester (GM)-wide campaign and consultation continues - in response to the rise of childhood obesity rates in GM. So far, the survey, which seeks to understand awareness, perceptions, and drivers of childhood obesity (from adults aged 18+) across the city-region, has had 2,850 responses, from across all 10 GM boroughs. An additional 10 focus groups coordinated by 10GM are also adding to the rich picture of responses from across the 10 boroughs.

The survey will remain live until 31 January, promoted to parents, carers, people with lived experience and the public - through a digital campaign as well as community engagement. The consultation report and findings will be used for system-wide engagement and to support production of a Strategic Delivery Framework to tackle childhood obesity across the city-region. The consultation will provide a public mandate to influence decision makers and facilitate and enact key programmes of work across 2024 and beyond.

Please share the survey, far and wide with networks: https://therealpicture.org/ or promote the campaign assets: Communications Toolkit

Clinicians, policy makers and staff past and present – including NHS Greater Manchester chief executive Mark Fisher - got together at Manchester Art Gallery to celebrate 10 years of achievements by Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks.

Each of the eight networks presented highlights of their work, showing how they had changed the lives of patients in the region for the better.

Read all about their work in the event programme. 

There is a full report and photos of the Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks’ 10th anniversary event in its latest newsletter.

Photo: Mark Fisher and the Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks' clinical director Dr Peter Elton.

Mental wellbeing is one of the many benefits that movement, physical activity, and sport brings to our lives - when we move, we feel better. Moving, physical activity and sport helps lift our mood by releasing ‘feel-good’ endorphins and supports our long-term mental health - decreasing the chances of depression and anxiety.

#BeeWell - a programme that annually measures the wellbeing of young people and brings together a coalition of partners from across civil society to deliver meaningful, youth-centred actions, recently found:

• Girls reported lower levels of wellbeing than boys.
• There are sizeable inequalities for young people who identify as LGBTQ+, who on average report higher levels of stress and emotional difficulties.
• Only 1 in 3 young people reach the recommended levels of physical activity set by the Government’s Chief Medical Officer.

In response to the #Beewell findings, GM Moving launched ‘Feel good your way’ - a campaign to encourage 11 to 16-year-old girls to move in whatever way they feel comfortable. Feel good your way aims to challenge preconceptions of what exercise is and inspire girls to be more physically active to improve their mental health and wellbeing in order to:

• Support active lives for all young people in an inclusive, accessible way, with a focus on mental wellbeing.
• Ensure that people and organisations across GM can use it in their work to support young people’s wellbeing.
• Give specific focus to 11–16-year-old girls.

A new programme designed to help people get ready for chemotherapy is launching this month at Maggie’s Manchester.

Getting Started with Chemotherapy is available to all cancer patients due to start chemotherapy at The Christie. From 8 January all patients will be booked onto one of the 15 weekly sessions by the hospital bookings team at the same time as they book on for their chemotherapy treatment.

The workshops take place in small groups in the Maggie’s building, which is within a short walking distance of the main hospital building. They have been created to help people understand cancer, the treatments available, potential side effects and how to manage them. The programme has been tailored specifically for people receiving treatment at The Christie and designed to prepare people before their first chemotherapy appointment. Those attending are also invited to bring one person with them.

A short film featuring NHS staff, Maggie’s staff and people who have undergone cancer treatment giving their own views and experience is played at the start of the session. Maggie’s Cancer Support Specialists are then on hand to answer any questions, as well as introduce the services available at Maggie’s Manchester. The sessions last approximately 45 minutes.

Maggie’s Manchester is located at the end of Kinnaird Road, in Withington. Cancer Support Specialists, Psychologists and Benefits Advisors are available for anybody affected by cancer.

We appreciate support from clinical teams at the Christie with signposting people to the free services at Maggie’s. The centre also hosts healthcare professional visits which take place on the third Wednesday of every month from 3pm-4.30pm. For more information and to book a place please email manchester@maggies.org.

Around 190,000 people in Greater Manchester are living with diabetes. There are many free services available to people living with diabetes, in addition to routine NHS services, that will help them to manage their condition. On World Diabetes Day, 14 November, our local Diabetes Network published a new patient information leaflet that lists all the support, services, and education available to adults and children living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. You can read this here. Please do feel free to share this far and wide to get the word out about these services.

This winter, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is urging people to make sure their houses are free from clutter to prevent trips or slips, particularly those who are more susceptible to falling.

Last year, NWAS responded to over 100,000 emergency calls relating to falls either over the phone or in person. The number of emergency calls NWAS receives for falls is always high, but this figure increases during winter. The service responded to 60% more falls-related calls across the North West from December 2021 to February 2022 compared with autumn of that year.

Having a fall can be startling, upsetting and even life-changing, especially as we get older. 78% of falls-related calls to NWAS in 2022 were for patients aged 65 and older, with this age group more likely to require hospital treatment than younger patients.

People can fall for lots of reasons. It may be because of a medical condition, medication side effects, delirium and fall hazards around the home. NWAS have shared their handy tips of how you can avoid falls in your home to their website.

The Department of Health and Social Care has launched a new, national smoking cessation campaign building on the creative route of ‘good things happen when you stop smoking’ developed for this year’s Stoptober campaign.

Capitalising on the New Year moment when there is greater intent for smokers to make a quit attempt, the campaign promotes the many benefits of quitting and signposts to a range of quitting support and information on the Better Health website. 

The campaign will be delivered through TV, video-on-demand, radio, out-of-home advertising, and search. A developed suite of free campaign resources to help support and amplify the campaign locally including assets for use on social media, posters, web banners and images for digital screens can be found here.

The campaign provides further support for Greater Manchester residents in addition to NHS GM’s hard-hitting ‘What Will You Miss’, behavioural change campaign which launched 1 November - 10 December and will begin its second wave in mid-February. The campaign takes a pan-GM mass media approach with features on TV, radio and social media, as well as targeted, local activations across Greater Manchester boroughs through out-of-home, pharmacy and partner resources. Current campaign resources can be downloaded below with additional resources provided over the coming weeks.