News reports located on this page = 3.

Metro Mayor celebrates completion of new St Winefride's Campus

HUGH Baird College and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust today celebrated the complete transformation of the former St Winefride's Roman Catholic Church in Bootle into a state of the art health, social care and mental health training facility and Life Rooms. The celebratory event at the St Winefride's Campus was attended by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, Yana Williams, Principal and Chief Executive of Hugh Baird College, Executive Director for Mersey Care, Elaine Darbyshire and other key stakeholders. The transformation was funded with ₤3.9m from the Local Growth Fund (LGF). LGF funding is awarded to the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and invested through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority's Strategic Investment Fund. The funds provided by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority have been used to transform the main church into a Health Training Hub, which includes an innovative simulation ward complete with realistic and responsive dummy patients and state of art learning environments that will be a base for level 1 to 6 health, social care and mental health training.

On the site of the Church's former presbytery, a brand new building now houses the 3rd of Mersey Care's innovative Life Rooms. The Life Rooms, Bootle, will offer a range of community, social and learning programmes and services to support positive mental health and wellbeing. Additionally, it provides safe spaces and welcoming environments, with access to community resources. The Life Rooms offers real practical support for those wanting to take the next steps in their life journey, whatever those steps may be. The Life Rooms will play a key role in supporting Hugh Baird in strengthening the resilience and wellbeing of its student community as well as offering its full range of mental health support to the residents of South Sefton.

Yana Williams, Principal and Chief Executive of Hugh Baird College, said:- "Our excellent collaboration with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and other local Foundation Trusts will not only enable more of our students to gain good quality jobs locally, it will ensure our students, particularly those aged between 14 and 18 years of age, have their mental health and wellbeing needs addressed fully. Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our young people is a key national priority and the new St Winefride's Campus is an excellent example of how this should be done. The College is also proud to have led on a project that has regenerated a key landmark for the benefit of our local population and we are delighted that the St Winefride's Campus will support both our students and the local community to improve their life chances."

Elaine Darbyshire, Mersey Care's Executive Director of Estates and Communications, said:- "We're particularly excited to see this unique partnership between Mersey Care and Hugh Baird come to fruition in these beautiful buildings. At Mersey Care we're more aware than ever of the need to think very differently about the types of services we provide. In this partnership we see health and education come together in a way that clearly recognises that supporting the social and economic life chances of individuals and communities leads to better health outcomes. We believe the impact of this way of working will have a truly transformative effect on the people we serve but also transform how health and education services will work together right across the country. Our 1st Life Rooms opened in the Carnegie designed Walton Library nearly three years ago. Carnegie's philanthropic intent was driven by the belief that access to beautiful environments would lift people's spirits, give them hope, and provide them with an horizon of learning and opportunity on which to move forward in life. It's important that the Life Rooms maintains the Carnegie philosophy of a beautiful place to be and I'm delighted to see our newest Life Rooms live up to this legacy here in this community."

Steve Rotheram, Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, said:- "The Combined Authority exists to help transform our City Region for the better and encourage inclusive economic growth that benefits us all. This exciting new facility will do just that, by helping our young people to develop the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century, and I am very proud that we are able to support it."

Olivia, 5, joins UK search for best pneumonia treatment

Pictured, from the left: Emily McDonald, Research Support Assistant; Moira Morrison, research nurse; Olivia Isherwood; Eric Isherwood; Dr Sharryn Gardner; Zena Haslam, research nurse.

5 year old Olivia Isherwood is helping Doctors find the best treatment for children who fall ill with pneumonia. She became poorly with community acquired pneumonia just before Christmas 2018. Symptoms include:- a temperature, lethargy and a cough which can cause vomiting. Doctors usually prescribe the antibiotic Amoxicillin for the bacterial infection, but opinions differ the world over about how much and for how long.

Mum Erica was asked if she would like enrol Olivia on a research programme, CAP-IT, Ormskirk District General Hospital is taking part in and led by University College London. "Even though I'm a community children's nurse, I didn't know Ormskirk Hospital was involved in this kind of national research so, of course, I said yes. What we were asked to do was very easy to follow and there were things for Olivia too, including a diary she could draw in each day to show how she was feeling. I recommend anyone offered the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial to try it. You can change your mind at any time but the care is so fantastic there's no reason you'd want to." said Erica, who lives in Ormskirk.

The clinical trial is led at Ormskirk Hospital by Consultant Paediatrician Dr Sharryn Gardner whose team has recruited 14 children so far to the study – 4 more than they were asked and with a month to go before the trial ends. "Children like Olivia are helping us understand how best to treat pneumonia in children and use antibiotics to their best effect. We're very proud of the clinical trials we do at Ormskirk and Southport. Evidence shows Hospitals that do research have the best outcomes, so it's important to all our patients not just the children on the study." said Sharryn.

The Trust leads or collaborates in a range of health studies in priority areas identified by the Department of Health. Jeanette Anders, Research and Innovation Manager, said:- "We are involved in 39 studies to which we've recruited 336 participants. This is a great achievement and demonstrates our commitment to offering patients and the public the opportunity to take part in research."

Crimestoppers charity appeals for information after a spate of firearms incidents in Merseyside

THE charity Crimestoppers is today appealing for information on a series of recent shootings across Merseyside in areas including Norris Green, Croxteth and Birkenhead. Crimestoppers receives over 6,000 pieces of information from Merseyside each year, much of this on firearms. The charity is now offering rewards of up to ₤1,000 for information that leads to an arrest and charge of those responsible for these incidents. All information given to the charity by phone or via its online form is 100% anonymous. In over 30 years of our charity, we have always kept our promise of anonymity to everyone who contacts us. If you have any information on crime in Merseyside then contact Crimestoppers charity 100% anonymously on:- 0800 555 111 or through the untraceable Anonymous Online Form. Gary Murray, North West Regional Manager for the charity Crimestoppers, said:- "The community has a massive role to play in helping to put a stop to shootings on our streets and keeping families safe. We need information on who is carrying out these shooting, where the weapons and bullets are being stored, and the vehicles they are using. Every piece of information that we receive, no matter how small, is vital and is passed on to the Police. I appeal to anyone who has information about these attacks to contact us 100% anonymously and help save lives. Only you will know that you contacted us."