Find out how they can support you and your family
If you are at Southside Shopping Centre this week (Monday 2 - Saturday 7 April) pop along and visit the NHS stand outside Waitrose to find out more about local services and healthy living for all the family.
One of the free services that the team are promoting is the Expert Patients Programme, which is a free, NHS run course for people with a long term illness or condition. It is run by experienced tutors who often have an illness or condition themselves, and teaches patients how to manage their conditions better and cope with pain and stress that a long term condition can cause. The course runs for an hour and a half each week for six weeks and is for anyone over 18 who lives or works in Wandsworth.
Agatha from Southfields says:“I went on the course in 2008 and it changed my life. You learn strategies that put you in the driving seat, so you can control your illness and don’t feel like it controls you. I always tell my friends about the course, it has made me so much happier.”
Colin Smith, Head of Patient & Public Involvement for NHS Wandsworth Borough Team, says: “People think about the NHS in terms of doctors and hospitals but we are also here to support people in other ways. Our team facilitates a variety of patient groups which support local people with their illnesses and also encourages them to get involved in the local NHS and help us with decision making.”
We will also be promoting other services like Wandsworth stop smoking service, reminding mums and dads to keep up to date with their children’s jabs, encouraging people to join the diabetes patient group and raising awareness of COPD illnesses like asthma.
To find out more email ppi@wpct.nhs.uk or call 020 8812 7946.'Like' Facebook page Healthy Wandsworth: www.facebook.com/pages/Healthy-Wandsworth/153286814774569 to keep up to date with NHS services and healthy living.
April 3, 2012