Practice manager asks patients to get active for NHS70

A practice manager and a GP based in Macclesfield are urging people to adopt health lifestyles as a birthday gift to the NHS.
 
Chris Campbell-Kelly and Dr Louise Hastings based at the Park Lane Surgery in Macclesfield, Cheshire looked at self-care as one of the solutions that will help the NHS face the next 70 years.
 
Mrs Campbell-Kelly and Dr Louise Hastings felt it would help reduce the number of people putting pressure on urgent and emergency care, according to NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (ECCCG).
 
 
They thought the NHS has a role to play when it comes to supporting people to live healthier lives. 
 
Mrs Campbell-Kelly told Management in Practice: ‘We want to encourage patients to think about how they are looking after themselves, especially since the NHS is strapped for cash and people.
 
‘The message are were trying to put across is that patients can help the NHS by better looking after themselves.’
 
Healthy lifestyles
 
ECCCG said that 22 GP practices in their area ‘have clinics to promote healthy lifestyles and help people with long-term conditions like heart failure, diabetes and serious breathing problems’.
 
Mrs Campbell-Kelly’s practice also offered a weight loss clinic run by the practice nurse and one GP in the early evenings.
 
She said two patients had particularly benefited from it as they reported considerable weight loss (a combined weight of two stones). 
 
Recently, Mrs Campbell-Kelly added, her practice signed up to join their local Parkrun.
 
She said: ‘We did one celebrating the NHS’s 70th birthday. We printed some ‘Parkrun on prescription’ leaflets to encourage patients to sign up for it.’
 
On top of offering leaflets on healthy eating, the practice also signposts patients to a ‘Live Well website’, managed by the local council, Cheshire East. The website proposes a number of activities such as free exercise and weight management initiatives for people to join. 
 
Mrs Campbell-Kelly added: ‘What we are trying to say is [that] care is a two-way thing: patients should look after themselves as well as needing the help of the NHS.’