What does good health and wellbeing mean to you?

LIVERPOOL'S Public Health team is hosting a free health and wellbeing event, on:- Thursday, 23 March 2023, and everyone is welcome. From:- 10am to 2.30pm, Liverpool Town Hall will be transformed into a health and wellbeing marketplace; providing a perfect opportunity for residents to pop in and learn more about the local services available to them.

Visitors will be able to meet and interact with staff, listen to thought provoking presentations and be entertained by:- local School children and performance artists, including:- international activist, Singer and Songwriter, Nazeem.

City wide health and wellbeing organisations, charities and partners will be on hand throughout the day to answer questions, provide demonstrations, make referrals and showcase the support on offer to local people.

Stall holders include:- Everton in Community, The LFC Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool Chest and Heart Hospital, Feeding Liverpool, PSS, Smokefree Liverpool, Merseyside Fire and Rescue, Axess Sexual Health, Mersey Care Vaccination and Immunisation Team and the Liverpool Place team who are representing the local NHS community offer.

Specialists in drug and alcohol addiction recovery and mental health care will also be on hand to offer confidential and non-judgemental advice.

Director of Public Health, Professor Matthew Ashton said:- "The Liverpool Health and Wellbeing event is not only a chance for residents to find out more about the support services available to them, but is also an opportunity for stakeholders to come together and listen and learn from each other; and in turn improve services for local people. The event is also the launch of Liverpool's PHAR; and is the final in a trilogy of reports which document the City's journey through Covid19; from the declaration of the Pandemic, Public Health's role in keeping communities safe, and the City's ongoing recovery."

Teams from across Liverpool City Council will be in attendance too; including:- the Healthy Homes team, Liverpool Library Services, the Physical Activity and Sports Development team, Children, Young People and Families Services, Community Connectors and Liverpool's Community Champions who represent the diverse communities within the City.

Local School children who are part of the Child Friendly Cities programme will also be giving a performance to highlight the importance of health and wellbeing throughout our lives.

The event will also include the launch of this year's Public Health Annual Report (PHAR) which not only details Liverpool's health achievements and challenges against the backdrop of the Covid19 Pandemic, but presents future plans to reduce health inequalities.

The event is drop in, so there's no need to book ahead.

Public Health is look forward to meeting as many local people on the day as possible.

Event recap:-

Name:- Liverpool Health and Wellbeing Event.

Location:- Liverpool Town Hall.

Date:- Thursday, 23 March 2023.

Times:-10am to 2.30pm.

If you have any questions ahead of the day, please email:- PublicHealth@Liverpool.Gov.UK.

Paramedic apprentices graduate and hit the roads of Cheshire and Merseyside

47 newly qualified Paramedics will be hitting the roads across the Region from this week, with 11 more joining them at the end of the month. 12 of which will be based in Cheshire and Merseyside.

They are part of North West Ambulance Services' (NWAS) 1st ever cohort of emergency medical technician (EMT) staff to study the Paramedic apprenticeship and complete the course.

The BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science (Apprenticeship) Degree was launched in February 2021 in partnership with Cumbria University. As apprentices on the programme are EMTs, it takes them just 2 years to complete compared to 3 years for a traditional degree in Paramedic science.

Emergency Medical Technician 1 / Paramedic Apprentice Tom Wilkes, says:- "The journey has been challenging, in a good way. It has been great to develop my clinical skills whilst growing individually, especially with putting my skills into practice to help patients. For me being a Paramedic means having the autonomy to make critical decisions whilst forming part of the wider multidisciplinary team to benefit patients and colleagues."

All Ambulance Trusts in England are developing new Paramedics through this apprenticeship route. NWAS is 1 of 7 Ambulance Trusts that teamed up with Cumbria University for this exciting progression programme. It has seen around 1000 Paramedics trained in the last 2 years nationally, significantly increasing the country's Paramedic workforce.

Within NWAS, the programme is open to our existing EMTs that hold the Level 4 Associate Ambulance Practitioner Diploma to enable them to become fully qualified Paramedics.

This means the highly respected profession is open to our existing workforce. They can continue to work as an EMT whilst gaining a full BSc (Hons) in Paramedic Practice, allowing each Ambulance Service to develop its staff and grow its own workforce.

The apprenticeship offers recruits blended learning to allow them to continue their normal frontline roles while studying. This involves a mixture of:- classroom and online learning, practical sessions, tutorials and non-Ambulance placements within NWAS.

Carol Offer, NWAS Assistant Director Workforce and Organisational Development, says:- "This apprenticeship has given our existing EMT staff a new pathway to develop their careers as Paramedics. It also enables us to develop our workforce, and nurture and shape the talents we already have."

Redferd Ashcroft, NWAS Senior Learning Development Advisor who has supported all the cohorts on the programme so far, says:- "I am immensely proud of the hard work, resilience and dedication displayed by all of our apprentice Paramedics. It has been an absolute privilege to watch their skills and confidence grow throughout the programme. I look forward to seeing how they continue to develop within the Paramedic profession."

There are now 7 cohorts on the Paramedic apprenticeship within NWAS, with 3 new groups starting every year.