In this issue:

• New Healthwatch Tameside survey
• Community groups 
• What will I do today?
• The NHS is still open for business
• Other useful snippets
• COVID-19 (coronavirus) guidance 

At Healthwatch Tameside, we work with local health and care services to make sure they are working as best they can, influenced by what you tell us.

Due to the outbreak of Coronavirus (will be called COVID-19 for the rest of the survey), we have all been asked to ‘Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, and Save Lives’.
How are you coping with this?

This short survey will help us to understand, and gather information about what you think could make the situation easier to live with. We want you to tell us what is working well, as well as what could be improved. 

There have been several changes in the way that services have been delivered recently. Would you be happy to see any of these changes carrying on after the lockdown comes to an end? Would you need any help for this to happen?

We will be sharing the anonymised findings from this survey with Tameside Council, Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, along with any other relevant providers of services. The information will be used, alongside other feedback, to plan health and care services for the local population. The report will also be published on our website.

The survey can be found on our website at www.healthwatchtameside.co.uk/covid-19-survey  Paper copies will be available at a later date.

Community groups

Community Groups and charities - last week we asked groups to let us know what they were doing in Tameside at the moment. We heard from these groups, and this is what they told us:

The Alzheimer’s Society Tameside Dementia Support Service  - continuing to provide support by contacting service users and carrying out monthly Welfare Calls. This is to assess the person’s support needs, check on their safety and wellbeing, provide necessary advice and to signpost/refer onwards as appropriate. During the call the service user will be offered regular Companion Calls. This is a temporary service. The calls will take the form of an informal chat, to help reduce feelings of loneliness as a result of the national isolation measures. Should any concerning issues arise the volunteer will refer the person back to their named Dementia Support Worker. If you would like to more about the service, phone 0161 477 6999.       

The Alzheimer's Society is here to support anyone affected by dementia through this difficult time. If you need advice or would like to be referred into a local service, please call the National Dementia Connect Support Line on 0333 150 3456 (open every day).

Tameside and Glossop Bereavement Matters - This is a safe place for peer to peer support, for those who have lost someone during isolation to support one another. The world feels very unusual at the moment and we understand that you may have lots of emotions, concerns and questions about losing your loved one so please feel free to post in here or comment on other posts. A small number of volunteers from local services will regularly review page content and provide you with any additional support you may need.

Support is provided via their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/520474308636740/

Are you involved with a community group or charity working in Tameside? Give us an update on what's happening in your group, and we'll give you a mention in next week's ebulletin - info@healthwatchtameside.co.uk . Also, if you are in contact with your members, please pass on our details, so they can feed back to us about their own experiences of using health and care services.

What will I do today?

During the last few weeks we have provided links to activities that could be done at home. If you want to look back at these, they can be found at www.healthwatchtameside.co.uk/content/e-bulletin 

Here is another selection:

Deaf Awareness week - for more information see www.deafcouncil.org.uk/deaf-awareness-week/  You could use your time whilst staying safe at home to learn some basic sign language. There are various free online tutorials available.

Museum of the Manchester regiment - if you want to do a bit of research into past wars, this website tells the stories of the men whose medals are on display in the museum www.themenbehindthemedals.org.uk/index.asp?page=index

The NHS is still open for business

You can be assured that NHS primary health care and urgent care services in Tameside and Glossop are still ‘open for business’ during the coronavirus pandemic, even if it’s not related to COVID-19. 

A reduction in numbers of residents presenting with an unwell child, those with cancer symptoms or a long-term health condition including mental health has been seen in Tameside and Glossop, and people must continue to seek the appropriate medical help or treatment.

GP practices remain open and are taking measures to ensure the safety of all patients and staff. Patients are asked to phone their practice in the first instance or visit their practice website for details about accessing their GP via online consultation. Suitable arrangements will be made for those who do need to be seen face to face. In some cases, this may not be at their usual practice location.

GP practices and hospitals have strict infection prevention and control measures in place, so it is safe to attend appointments. It is important that patients attend routine appointments, such as antenatal checks, sexual health advice and contraception, and childhood vaccinations, as normal if they have been informed that it is going ahead.

For more information visit https://www.tamesideandglossopccg.org/news/the-nhs-is-still-open-for-business