Partners to shape local services

Take part in our listening survey to get YOUR views shared!

To say thank you, we can enter you into a prize draw to win a £20 Amazon voucher!

By sharing your experiences, challenges and ideas, you’ll help us to understand what matters most to our community. Your views on local health and social care services are vital in shaping the improvements we want to see for patients.

Our Annual Public Meeting was well attended and well received.

We wanted to say a big thank you to all the members of the public, volunteers, and especially all the support organisations that offered free advice and information to people.

A special thank you to our two guest speakers, Dr. Anand Rischie and Angela Poulton, who spoke about 'Primary Care Transformation', what it is and what it means to patients.

We appreciate the experiences and views you shared with us and continue to look forward to meeting members of the public in all the Walsall communities, visiting local groups, and working with existing support organisations and new ones.

With weather warnings in place and cold temperatures forecast for this week, people in the Black Country are being reminded to look out for those vulnerable to the cold weather.

The yellow cold weather alert, which was issued last week and due to last until Thursday 21 November, has now been updated to an amber alert and is in effect from today until 6pm on Saturday 23 November.
Prolonged cold weather can have a serious impact on people’s health and wellbeing, especially for young children, people aged 65 and over, and those living with a long-term health condition.

Dr Ananta Dave, Chief Medical Officer for the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board, said: “With more cold weather predicted over the next few days, it’s important that everyone stays warm and continues to look out for those more vulnerable to the cold conditions.

“Cold weather can seriously affect your health, particularly for the elderly and very young children. As well as physical injuries from the increase in slips and falls due to the icy conditions, the drop in temperature can also affect your immune system. That’s why it’s also important that those with long-term conditions, such as heart disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes, take care of themselves in the cold weather as it can make some health problems worse.

“Stay as warm as possible by heating your home, or the rooms you’re using, to 18 Celsius if possible, and wear multiple thin layers of clothing. Having regular hot drinks and meals will also help, and if you are at higher risk of cold-related illness or falls, avoid exposing yourself to the cold outdoor conditions. Make sure you have sufficient food and any repeat medication so that you can cope if you’re unable to leave the house.

“During this period, it is really important to check in on family members, friends and relatives who may need additional support. Prolonged periods of cold weather can often mean that some people feel isolated in their home. They may need help with food shopping or picking up a prescription, or they may just need a chat and to see a friendly face.”