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News from the Lancashire Gujarat Health Users' Forum.
- Complementary Medicine - an Introduction
- Gold Award for Prof. Romesh Gupta OBE
- Supporting the Malaria Appeal
- OBE for Prof. Romesh Gupta
- Findings of Questionnaires & Mela Review Workshop
- 2008 Health Mela Review
- Alcohol - the True Cost
- Extended Health Events Programme
- Continued Support from NHS
- News Archive
Complementary Medicine - an Introduction
'Complementary medicine' is a phrase that is well known to many people but how exactly does it fit with what we often tend to think of as 'conventional' medicine and the work of NHS professionals?
To answer this question, Ravindra Shah from the steering group of the Lancashire Gujarat Health Users' Forum has put together a short overview of complementary medicines, which can be downloaded here as a Word document. (File size: 26k.) In it, he lists the most popular therapies and explains that complementary medicines and their associated treatments aim to stimulate the body's own self-healing abilities.
Gold
Award for Prof. Romesh Gupta OBE
On behalf of Gujarat Hindu Cultural Society and the committee members of Lancashire Gujarat Health Users Forum, we would like to congratulate Professor Romesh Gupta for receiving the "Gold Award", which has been made in recognition of his sustained and dedicated contribution to the NHS over and above any contractual requirements.
We are sure that with his record of achievement, Prof. Gupta will continue to be an example and inspiration to others, helping the NHS to continue to meet patients' needs, ensuring that the care they receive is truly excellent.
The decision to make this award has been made by various committees of medical colleagues, Health Service managers and public-patient partnerships. This is a public acknowledgement of Prof. Gupta's expertise and continued high quality of work and the award is an honour for which he can feel justly proud.
Ishwer Tailor MBE (President of GHS)
Ravindra A. Shah (LGHUF Committee member)
Malaria Net Appeal a Great Success
The
Gujarat Hindu Society and LGHUF recently joined hands to collect funds
to buy mosquito nets for the international Malaria Appeal.
Through their combined efforts, the two organisations were able to raise £1,500, which will buy 300 nets. These, in turn, will protect 300 beds against malaria-carrying mosquitoes - thereby helping to protect vulnerable families against a disease that is still responsible for one in five of all children's deaths in Africa.
By uniting to help save lives and combat malaria, faith communities can help themselves and the broader world to realise that while they may pray in distinct languages, they share a common concern to build a better world and that they are better equipped to achieve that together than alone.
The Health Forum would like to say a very big thank you to all those who contributed.
The Lancashire Gujarat Health Users' Forum is pleased to announce that Professor Romesh Gupta has been awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Heartiest congratulations to Prof. Gupta and his family. The OBE was presented "for services to medicine and the community in Lancashire."
Findings of Questionnaires & Mela Review Workshop
Following the successful conclusion of the 200 mela, the project team compiled the results of evaluation questionnaires and subsequently held a workshop to discuss proposals for future improvements.
The survey revealed that around 90% of all attendees found the event to be enjoyable, informative and well organised, with 91% stating that they felt the time they spent at the mela was valuable. Well over 90% would attend the event again. 62% of visitors took the opportunity to have some form of test carried out.
From the exhibitors' perspective, the event seems to have been equally successful. 100% of the respondents said that the number of attendees had made the event worthwhile for them and over 90% intended to exhibit again next year. (The remainder could not confirm at this stage but none ruled it out.) The following are some short excerpts from exhibitor feedback forms:
- An excellent and worthwhile day
- As usual, a most enjoyable day, very busy with lots of interest
- A good cross section of interested people
- Excellent day – well organised and planned out, hospitality excellent
- Excellent arrangement, good food, great work. Would like to be part of it again.
Suggested improvements for 2009 included:
- better parking for facilitators
- more local radio advertising
- better clarity with regard to seating and queuing for tests
- more seating need food stalls
- producing a floor map to help identify exhibitors' locations
The organisers are now considering plans for future improvements relating to the timing of the event, signage, collaboration with local schools, shuttle buses and other factors. They are also considering how to give the event more appeal to families and better support for exhibitors.
On
8th March 2008, the Gujarat Hindu Society hosted its annual Health Mela
in association with Central Lancashire NHS Primary Care Trust. The event,
which attracted upwards of 800 visitors, was held at its usual venue -
the GHS Centre on South Meadow Lane in Preston.
The chief guests were Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians, and Surinder Sharma, National Director of Equality and Human Rights for the Department of Health.
Chairman of the Lancashire Gujarat Health Users Forum, Professor Romesh Gupta said: "Since the Forum was established in 2001, strong partnerships have been developed with Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire County Council, Adult Learning, Police and Voluntary Services. Patients and the public feel empowered and engaged and have increasing trust in health care professionals by bringing services to them in their own environment.
"The main aim of the health mela is to improve access to health and social services. A healthy and well-educated community can help to reduce inequalities in society thereby contributing to the health and wealth of the population. The health mela allows partnerships to strengthen and enables the community to have a better understanding of the services being offered by the NHS.
"This is the only event of its kind in the United Kingdom and acts as a unique partnership between community and health related organisations in an effort to empower the public and healthy lifestyle awareness especially amongst the ethnic minority communities. This also gives the wider public a better understanding of different cultures, dietary requirements, religion and languages. It provides a platform for different cultures and age groups to come together and work towards a healthy community."
You can view/download a copy of the 2008 Health Mela review here. (Word format - 959k.)
Alcohol abuse is a serious problem in Britain today and Mr Ravindra Shah of Royal Preston Hospital has addressed the issue in a short presentation, which looks at its impact in terms of personal health and society as a whole.
The presentation begins with a stark message: "Alcohol related illnesses have a devastating effect on individuals as well as on their families and they are a significant burden to the state. Self infliction of alcohol infects our communities with violence and disorder and has a draining effect on health and judicial services."
Specific problems associated with alcohol abuse include heart and liver disease, sexually transmitted infections, suicides, road accidents and various forms of cancer, in addition to which there is the burden on hospitals. 35% of all A&E incidents are alcohol related, and the NHS spends hundreds of millions of pounds every year on treatments for alcohol related injuries, addiction, liver transplants and alcohol poisoning. Take into account the additional impacts in terms of crime, domestic violence and antisocial behaviour, the economic cost of lost productivity and workplace absences, and it's easy to see why healthcare professionals want to see the problem of alcohol abuse being taken seriously at every level.
A copy of Dr Shah's presentation can be downloaded here. (PowerPoint format: 55k).
Extended Health Events Programme
The events page of this site now features an extended programme of events, running through to April 2009. Subjects covered by the new programme include osteoarthritis, eye care and joint pain, amongst many others. It also confirms the date of the next Health Mela - March 8th 2008. To see the full list, please click here.
Continued Support from Central Lancashire NHS Primary Care Trust
Following the success of the 2007 Health Mela, Professor Romesh Gupta received a letter of support from Mark Wilkinson, the chief executive of Central Lancashire NHS Primary Care Trust. In it, he said:
"Following the above event, which I attended with my family, I just wanted to say thank you for the invitation. It is always enlightening to see first hand the services provided by different groups to improve the health and well being of local residents. For me, the Health Mela highlighted the positive outcomes brought about by multi-agency partnership working.
"Thank you once again for your hospitality, and I look forward to a continued, strong, joint working relationship between the forum and the PCT."
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