York launches hard-hitting campaign that highlights 16 cancers linked to smoking

smoking_ceilingEvery month 18 people from York area discover they have cancer caused by smoking.

While most smokers know about the link between smoking and lung cancer, many people do not realise that smoking is linked with not one but 16 different cancers, including cancers of the mouth, nasal cavities, pharynx and larynx, stomach, kidney, bowel, liver, pancreas, ureter, oesophagus, cervix, bladder and ovaries as well as myeloid leukaemia.

Quit16 is a hard-hitting campaign that highlights the 16 cancers associated with smoking and asks people to quit.  It is the first region-wide anti-smoking campaign that includes advertising on television and online, by local tobacco control alliances, collaborating as Breathe 2025, and supported by Cancer Research UK.

It is based on a campaign first developed and run in Australia in 2014 by the Cancer Council Western Australia, with 74% of smokers who saw it seriously considering quitting and 20% discussing quitting with a health professional as a result.

Yorkshire and the Humber has the highest adult smoking rates in the country, with 20% of adults still smoking.
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Action in York to reduce number of suicides

Support for people having suicidal thoughts or who have been affected by a sudden death
 City of York Council is raising awareness of support available for people with thoughts of suicide and those who are concerned about someone else as part of its continuing work to improve mental health in the city.

The “Stay Alive” app, which is free to download, is part of the Grassroots Suicide Prevention work which looks to teach suicide alertness and intervention skills to community members and professionals.
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Hospital bed blocking problem in York getting worse

click for full figures
click for full figures
Staggering new figures highlight the problem of NHS ‘bed blocking’ in the York area.

Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign for an emergency cross party commission to solve the crisis in NHS and social care.

The funding crisis in social care means more patients than ever before are stuck in hospital beds longer than they need to be, adding pressure to local hospitals.

Bed blocking figures show in York there were 15 people stuck in hospital beds, despite being well enough to be discharged or transferred to social care.

The shocking figures for York reveal that the number of hospital beds out-of-action because of bed blocking is equivalent to 105 people staying in hospital for an entire week longer than they need to be.

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Norman Lamb has called for a national cross party commission to tackle the funding crisis.

Launching the local campaign today Westfield Liberal Democrats said:

“The NHS and social care face an existential crisis. Demand for services continues to rise year on year but funding is failing to keep up. The position in social care is perhaps even more serious.

“Growing pressures on services are so severe that all parties must come together to fundamentally re-think how we can guarantee the future of the NHS and social care services.

“The Government cannot avoid this issue any longer. Establishing this commission will show they are serious about protecting these vital public services.”

The recipe for a safe Christmas dinner

For residents planning to eat festive meals at home, City of York Council’s food hygiene experts are serving up a feast of tips.

MealWhile 43 per cent of people feel that buying presents is by far the biggest worry at Christmas, cooking Christmas dinner comes second along with family arguments! Yet nearly a third of people will be eating Christmas dinner with more than seven guests and 45 per cent will spend over five hours preparing and cooking the festive meal.

Sean Suckling, Public Protection Manager at City of York Council, said: “The Christmas period can provide challenges when it comes to avoiding food poisoning. Cooking for more people than usual can mean having to handle different storage, defrosting and cooking times for food, making sure that large amounts of food are stored safely, and ensuring that any leftovers are still safe to eat, all while reducing unnecessary food waste.”

Dr Kevin Hargin, Head of Foodborne Disease at the Food Standards Agency, said: “In that long list of things to consider at Christmas, it’s very important that food safety isn’t forgotten. Planning is key, so make sure you follow some straightforward steps to ensure Christmas this year isn’t remembered for all the wrong reasons.”

The Food Standards Agency has produced the following tips to ensure everyone has a happy and healthy Christmas.
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World Pancreatic Cancer Day tomorrow (Friday)

click to view

click to view

Many people in York is supporting World Pancreatic Cancer Day on Friday 13th November which aims to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer – considered to be the little known disease – with the public.

It is estimated that 926 people around the world are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every day, with 905 people will die from the disease every day across the world.

The number of diagnoses has continued to rise but there is still very low awareness of pancreatic cancer with over 60% of people surveyed recently knowing almost nothing about the disease.

World Pancreatic Cancer Day’s hopes to bring much-needed focus and attention to the disease, especially the need for increased symptom awareness and greater investment into research.  World Pancreatic Cancer Day encourages everyone to “see purple” on 13 November by wearing purple, lighting landmarks purple, using purple on social media channels etc.

City of York Council’s Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health Councillor Carol Runciman said: “Raising awareness is the first step to action.  The more people who know about pancreatic cancer, the greater the opportunity and need will be for more research and for the development of better resources for those facing the disease.”

Pancreatic cancer is considered to be one of the deadliest cancers, with just two to 10% of those diagnosed surviving five years.  In the UK 71% of people cannot name a simple symptom of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is sometimes referred to as a “silent cancer” because the early symptoms are often quite vague.

  • Classic pancreatic cancer symptoms can include:
  • Painless jaundice (yellow skin/eyes, dark urine).
  • Weight loss which is significant and unexplained
  • Abdominal pain which is new and significant.

Other possible symptoms of pancreatic cancer:
• Pain in the upper abdomen that radiates to the back which is new, significant and persistent that is relieved by leaning forward
• Back pain
• Diabetes which is new-onset and not associated with weight gain
• Vague indigestion or abdominal discomfort
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pain when eating

Not everyone will have all of these symptoms.  For example, those who have a tumour in the body or tail of the pancreas are unlikely to have painless jaundice.  All of these symptoms can have other causes, and there is not yet a reliable and easy test for pancreatic cancer.

If you have any of the symptoms of pancreatic cancer visit your GP.

For more information about World Pancreatic Cancer Day, visit www.worldpancreaticcancerday.org

York Dementia Action Alliance event

Groups committed to making York a ‘Dementia Friendly City’ are joining forces tomorrow (Tuesday 10 November) to share information and find out more about plans for the future.

The Action Alliance  a group of organisations, individuals and businesses who are working together to make York a dementia friendly city for residents and visitors – is hosting the event at New Earswick Folk Hall between 9.30am – 1pm.

The event will be introduced by the Chair of Yorkshire and Humber Dementia Action Alliance, Steve Poole, and sessions include hearing best practice about how to make cities more dementia friendly, the work of Dementia Friends and Champions, how technology can support people living with dementia, and their carers and help for organisations to create their own action plans.

Councillor Carol Runciman, Executive member for Adult Social Care and Health, City of York Council, said: “With 47 organisations and businesses signed up to York Dementia Action Alliance, more and more people across the city are becoming aware of dementia and how they can help make their work places more dementia friendly. I hope this event will enable organisations to share their experiences and find out what more we can do to make York a Dementia Friendly City.”

York Road Oakhaven older persons home plans announced

Will be replaced with an “extra care” facility.
Oakhaven site plan - clckc to enlarge

Oakhaven site plan – click to enlarge

Following a public consultation exercise, the Council is being recommended to go ahead with the conversion of the Oakhaven care home site on York Road into an “extra care” facility.

The City is gearing up to meet an expected 50% increase in the number of residents who will be aged over 75 by 2030.

This forms part of the Council’s plan to provide, by the end of 2018, 525 new units of accommodation of which 343 will serve those with high care needs including dementia.  “225 out of date care beds will be replaced”.

Another home – Grove House on Penleys Grove Street – will also be closed. That site will be sold in order to finance the improvements at other facilities for the elderly.

A report, being considered on Thursday, acknowledges that most “extra care” facilities are located on the east of the Ouse. However it fails to recognise the demand for more accommodation for elderly people on the Lowfields school site.

Instead in a separate report the Council is being asked to develop such facilities at the Burnholme school site.

Report fails to recognise the demand to establish more accommodation for elderly people on the Lowfields school site

Report fails to recognise the need for more accommodation for elderly people on the Lowfields school site, which has been left empty and derelict by the Council for over 3 years.

On Lowfields the report says, “The use of the Lowfields site for specialist accommodation with care for older people has been the subject of previous procurement which concluded that such development was unaffordable. However, we continue to examine the use of this site to meet housing, health and care objectives”.

Which means officials have made no progress on marketing the site?

The Oakhaven replacement will provide only 50 of the 525 beds needed to satisfy demand in the City

 The papers reveal that the Council will not run the replacement facility at Oakhaven.

Instead it will seek a “partner” to fund, build and operate the extra care scheme. The Council is also relying on another private sector home being constructed at the Terry’s factory site (which received planning permission last week).

It will also sell off the Windsor House home in Ascot Way.

The consultation exercise concluded, “That 97% of questionnaire respondents agreed that bigger bedrooms, en-suite facilities, wider corridors and more social space should be key features of residential care homes. Bigger bedrooms give more social space for residents to entertain visitors, they can accommodate the resident’s own furniture and bigger rooms give staff more space in which to work and support residents, particularly where bed hoists need to be used”.

Work on the Oakhaven Extra care home is expected to start in early 2017 and may be available for occupation in May 2018.

Given the Council’s shambolic record on project management, we doubt if we will see any improvements much before the end of the decade.

E-cigarette sales banned for under-18s

vapingFrom today (1 October) it becomes an offence to sell anyone under the age of 18 an e-cigarette.

E-cigarettes were designed to help smokers quit by mimicking the effects of real cigarettes by producing a vapour which, while free of tar, for example, does contain nicotine which is addictive.

Specific legislation regulating e-cigarettes is due to be introduced next year. However, many people report e-cigarettes have helped them to reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke and ultimately quit.

The legislation has been introduced to help prevent young people taking up tobacco after starting smoking e-cigarettes: studies show that they are more likely to consider smoking after trying e-cigarettes, than not. However the number of children thought to be using e-cigarettes is still relatively low.
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York Council Supports World Suicide Prevention Day

An international campaign to encourage individuals and organisations to help prevent suicide is being supported by City of York Council as part of its work to improve mental health in the city.

World suicide prevemtion day 2016

Thursday 10 September is World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) and the theme is “preventing suicide: reaching out and saving lives.”  It is designed to encourage people to consider the role that offering support may play in combatting suicide; the act of showing care and concern to someone who may be vulnerable to suicide can prove to be a life saver.

In England someone dies by suicide every two hours1 and while the long term national trend has been downwards, this reduction has halted and the number of people dying by suicide each year in York has been increasing in more recent years.   In York, 30 people died from suicide in 2013, nearly 3 times the number in 2012.
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Council plans for new healthy child service for 0-19 year olds

 Members of City of York Council’s Executive will be asked to approve plans for a change in the way future provision of services for children and young people in the city are delivered by health visitors and school nurses at a meeting later this month (27 August).

Healthy kids

The proposals come since the council became responsible for the Healthy Children Programme for children aged 5-19 years (which includes school nursing and the National Child Measurement Programme) with the transfer of public health to local authorities in April 2013.  Last year the Department of Health confirmed the transfer of 0-5 child public health services (which includes health visiting services) from 1 October 2015 which will complete the transfer of public health responsibilities to local authorities.

The Healthy Child Programme provides a framework of services for children and young people to promote the best health and wellbeing, prevent ill health and provide early intervention when required.

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