Your Call - Summer 2019

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YourCall

ISSUE 06 Summer 2019

Down right amazing

AMBULANCE Behind the scenes special

Our new chief and his plans for the future www.nwas.nhs.uk

Welcome to the summer edition of Your Call

We hope you are enjoying your summer. It’s a feel-good season with everybody coming together - we proudly joined the nation in cheering on the Lionesses to reach the semi finals in the FIFA Woman’s World Cup, seven of the team are actually from the North West. Well done ladies!

Our next visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will inspect our patient transport and NHS 111 services. This will give us the perfect opportunity to highlight the safe and compassionate work of our staff, which is something that was picked up during during the CQC visit and rating of other parts of our service last year.

In this issue you will read about the amazing work of our staff and volunteers over the last few months.

Of course, we’ve included the important real stories that are affecting you – our patients, our public and our communities - right now.

We recently launched our new website which has been designed with you in mind as it is much easier to navigate – we hope you like it. Have a look www.nwas.nhs.uk and let us know your thoughts by emailing the address below.

We would like to invite you to get involved with our magazine, so if you have a story to share please get in touch: communications@nwas.nhs.uk.

Best wishes

Communications Team North West Ambulance Service

Our shared values

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Happy 10th Birthday HART! Set up in 2009 in response to the national terrorist threat, our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) this year celebrates its tenth birthday.

Trained to a national standard, the team of 84 experienced paramedics, split between two sites in Manchester and Liverpool, uses specialist equipment and skills to safely access and treat patients in hard-to-reach or hazardous locations.

We were one of the first ambulance services in the country to implement HART. A team that can safely work from heights, in confined spaces, in water and use breathing apparatus.

HART respond to major or large scale incidents and those where the patient will benefit from their additional skills and equipment, for example serious road traffic collisions or incidents where a patient is trapped. Notable incidents for the team in recent years include major flooding, gas explosions, the Manchester Arena attack and the Bosley Mill explosion, to name but a few.

By working and training closely with their emergency services colleagues, the team is able to create strong working relationships, plan and prepare for major incidents and provide a streamlined response to complex scenarios.

Joe Barrett, Head of Special Operations, said: “Over the last ten years, the team has gone from strength to strength. I am extremely proud of the whole team, they work together amazingly, knowing each other’s individual strengths and supporting each other after difficult incidents they’re like one big family!”

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g n i k a M It may just be an hour’s worth of viewing to the public but to us each episode of the BBC’s BAFTA winning documentary is the product of long hours, endless meetings, plans and telephone calls.

Contracts were scrutinised by Legal, Fleet arranged the fitting of fixed cameras in vehicles, Health and Safety advised on the safety of crews and Dragonfly staff.

Production company Dragonfly first approached us in 2017 – having already produced successful series with West Midlands and London ambulance services.

This time, they wanted to move north!

Communications Manager Fiona Bateson comments: “The work of NWAS impacts on organisations throughout the region and so it was really important to keep stakeholders such as the police, councils, hospitals and NHS England informed about what we were doing and what would be filmed.

We’re no stranger to documentary making having taken part in two series of Channel 4’s ‘999; What’s Your Emergency?’ so the Communications team knew what to expect. But a project of this scale doesn’t just involve Communications and frontline staff.

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“As an NHS organisation, patient confidentiality is paramount and in effect, by making this documentary, we were breaking that fundamental value so naturally, there was some nervousness amongst some of our stakeholders.

Viewing panel: Fiona Bateson (o pposite) with Gene Quin n, Dave Kitchin, Dan Sm

ith and Nick Sutc

“It was vital that we fully briefed all who could come into contact with frontline crews and had strong patient consent procedures in place and this took up a good proportion of our time in the initial planning stages.”

During the long round of briefings, Dragonfly went out and about meeting crews and spending time in control centres to get a feel for how our service works and what shifts they would prefer to film.

They also assisted with the briefings by meeting Communications staff in hospitals, police and fire services and local councils.

In total, five ambulances in Greater Manchester were fully rigged with fixed cameras – this had to be done in such a way that crews could still access equipment and if the patient didn’t give consent, the cameras could be easily switched off. We all know how bouncy those ambulances can get so perhaps more importantly, Fleet and Dragonfly had to make sure they would firmly stay in place!

Filming took six weeks in total and once the hours of footage were edited into a 60 minute episode, these were viewed by representatives from Communications, operations and senior clinicians and highlighted anything that may have caused problems.

While we have no editing rights on the programme, we are able to negotiate changes to make sure the footage is fair and accurate so the public are not misled about anything - we’re grateful to Dragonfly for being so open to discussion and the few minor changes we asked for.

liffe

In the run-up to broadcast, it was all hands on deck!

We briefed partner organisations on upcoming topical issues, prepared our staff for media interviews, supplied facts and statistics to Dragonfly, sense checked their short clips for social media, gave advice on clinical references in the voice over script, and tried to grab some time with the upcoming stars of the show to film our own behind the scenes clips.

While we may have seen an episode a couple of times before broadcast, the night it is shown to the world is still an exciting one. Our press officer prepares social media posts relating to what happens in the programme which go out live and we closely monitor Twitter to get a feel for the public opinion. We’re pleased to say the thousands of comments we received from the public were hugely complimentary of our caring staff.

Fiona adds: “It has been an amazing experience and we really hope our staff enjoyed taking part. The episodes are a rollercoaster of emotions where you are laughing one minute and crying the next. We have been so humbled and honoured to show the fantastic work of NWAS but more importantly, by all of the wonderful patients and their families who allowed us into some very traumatic times in their lives. They are the true stars of the show and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

The programme regularly pulled in viewing figures of over 4 million, making it the most popular BBC One documentary in its time slot. We loved it so much we have agreed to do it all over again showcasing the amazing work of our staff in Merseyside in the autumn - stay tuned!

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Thinking about a career in the ambulance service?

As part of a series of videos created for BBC Bitesize, Press Officer, Alice Finch has been speaking of her role to help inspire young people considering their career choices.

The 26-year-old from Preston, Lancashire has worked as part of our Communications team for four years.

Her role includes working with journalists to provide media statements, promoting the achievements of staff and being available in the event of major or large scale incidents to make sure that the public have all the information that they need.

Speaking to BBC Bitesize, Alice said: “Working for the ambulance service is really rewarding and I hope that these films help young people understand the different career routes available.�

The series of films feature on the careers section of the BBC Bitesize website and also include people working in different roles within the ambulance service such as emergency medical dispatcher, community specialist paramedic and air ambulance doctor.

Watch all the films at www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/careers

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#NoMoreKnives Choosing your son’s plot in a graveyard isn’t something any parent should have to face.

We spoke to Lynda and Karl Ashton from St Helens in Merseyside whose lives changed forever the day their son Daniel was fatally stabbed.

Daniel, a carer for children with autism, was 29 when he died after being stabbed in the chest in 2016.

Daniel’s dad, Karl, a police officer, recalls: “We had a knock at the door that evening and it was one of Daniel’s friends asking us to get to the hospital. We did not think that it was serious; we thought he would be ok.

“Lynda went to the hospital whilst I stayed at home with Daniel’s dogs; they didn’t like being home alone.

“Shortly after, I got a call from one of Daniel’s friends saying that we had lost him. I suddenly went into work mode and it was only when I got to the hospital and saw Lynda that it hit me.

“We kept asking could we see Daniel as we wanted to be with him. We were allowed in eventually but it was under police watch as we weren’t allowed to touch Daniel’s body. It is all a blur to us, we had never experienced anything like it before and it was cruel not being allowed to hold him.”

Following Daniel’s death, the family set up the Daniel Fox Foundation The Daniel Fox Foundation is about to get charity status and will campaign to eradicate knife crime.

Daniel’s family are now giving talks at schools in St Helens aimed at educating young people about the consequences of knife crime.

Karl adds: “Losing Daniel has affected the whole family in a deep way.

“Daniel had two dogs, Missy and Bailey. Missy adored Daniel and when he didn’t return home she went into a deep depression; she wouldn’t eat or drink and would sit in his room waiting for him.

“Not long after she died of a broken heart. She couldn’t live without Daniel.”

Lynda, whose own health has suffered since Daniel’s death says: “Daniel was our beautiful son and he was loved by hundreds of people. He was clever, lovable, a practical joker and he was always smiling.

He was beautiful in nature, he helped so many people. We get people telling tales of how he’s helped them, and it’s just amazing.”

According to reports, knife crime in England and Wales rose to record levels last year. BBC reported that UK police recorded 40,829 offences involving knives or sharp instruments in 2018, up 6% on the year before. In the same report, the Office for National Statistics said cases of murder and manslaughter, excluding terror attacks, increased by 12%. There were 732 killings, up from 655 in 2017 the highest since 2007.

We have seen a year on year increase in the number of stabbing incidents ambulance crews attend in the North West. In 2015 we attended 1,181 incidents, this rose to 1,335 in 2014, with 1,512 in 2017 and 1,688 in 2018.

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Returning nurse Leonie Corris, 111 Clinical Services Manager, is also a paramedic turned nurse who has always had caring bones.

Leonie wanted to be a paramedic from the age of eight years old but unfortunately funding was pulled just as she was about to start in the ambulance cadets, aged 16, and so instead she trained to be a nurse.

Leonie says: “I knew I wanted to work in healthcare so I followed in the footsteps of a nurse I met while working at an old people’s home. I loved working in hospitals and cardio patients were my area of expertise. Then another opening came up to be a paramedic so I went for it, passed all the training and worked all over Merseyside.”

In 2007 Leonie was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis which led to her being withdrawn from active service and she was transferred to clinical governance to a desk based medical role.

Several years later in 2016 she was made redundant and decided that it was time to return to nursing.

Leonie completed the return to nurses programme and joined NWAS as a senior clinical advisor.

Leonie, who was born in South Africa, added: “It can seem daunting to return to a career like nursing when guidelines change so much and things are updated so frequently, but I would say to anyone considering it to just do it.

“Nursing is not an easy job but it is so rewarding.

It’s the hands on feeling that you’ve made a difference to someone’s life and that instant satisfaction and feedback that I love.”

#WeAreReturningNurses

Her current role is a desk based job which is less physically demanding on her condition while still making the best use of her medical skills.

Nurses awarded Two of our 111 nurses who are described as going above and beyond their call of duty have been commended by England’s most senior nurse.

Chief nursing officer Dr Ruth May visited Parkway to hand out CNO silver awards for excellence in nursing to Mental Health Manager, Gill Drummond, and Advanced Practitioner, Craig Hayden.

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Our ambassadors

Our first nurse ambassadors have been appointed with the aim to promote a career in nursing.

The appointments have been made as part of a national scheme fronted by Chief Nursing Office for England Ruth May, to attract more people to the profession.

Our two ambassadors, 111 Clinical Advisor Gill Hargreaves (L) and 111 Clinical Duty Manager Emma McGoldrick (R) will assist their nursing colleagues to develop their careers as well as spending time in the community to recruit future nurses.

Stork badges for babies Contrary to popular belief it isn’t solely midwives or paramedics that assist in the birth of a new baby, as NHS 111 Health Advisor Scott Burke discovered.

Scott explains: “One afternoon in July I went online just to keep up my skills as I spend a lot of my time not on the phones myself but training others as a preceptor. It was then that a lady rang saying she had really bad abdominal pains.

“Initially going down the abdominal pain route I discovered she was 39 weeks pregnant, so I said, ‘Is there any chance you could be in labour?’

“Then quite suddenly it become clear that she was and things soon moved quickly after that.

“She was screaming in pain every couple of minutes.

I just kept saying to her, ‘You’re doing really well’, and told her to concentrate on her breathing and to try and get comfortable, while occasionally checking for baby’s head.”

Scott explained that English was not the first language of the expectant mum and communication was not always easy.

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He stayed on the phone with her until the ambulance crew arrived to take over and continue delivering the baby.

Scott added: “I talked her through what was happening until the ambulance arrived.

She was at home on her own so I couldn’t leave her.”

As part of our new initiative to recognise members of staff who have helped deliver a baby, Scott become one of the first to receive a stork pin badge and a certificate to mark the happy occasion.

Feature article

Meet our new chief Impressed with the positive approach and teamwork of everyone in the organisation, our new Chief Executive, Daren Mochrie talks about settling into his new role, plans for the future and the career journey that got him here.

Originally from Edinburgh, Daren began his career in the NHS straight from school where he worked in an operating theatre at his local hospital. He then gained an interest in the ambulance service and joined the Scottish Ambulance Service aged 19 in the patient transport service.

Working his way up through various roles over the next 26 years, Daren played a pivotal role in key projects such as the establishment of Scotland’s Hazardous Area Response Team as well as the implementation of new technology within the emergency operations centre and civil contingency planning.

In 2013 Daren was awarded the Queen’s Ambulance Medal Daren went on to lead South East Coast Ambulance Service as their chief executive officer, before heading to NWAS. With a vision to make NWAS a leader in the health and social care system by integrating its 999, 111 and patent transport services.

One of Daren’s initial priorities is to focus on strong leadership of the organisation by further developing the executive and senior leadership team, ensuring they each have strong and clear objectives.

Not afraid to highlight areas of improvement and learn from mistakes, under Daren’s leadership we are using quality improvement to provide the best clinical care to patients, reduce harm and improve outcomes.

Daren strongly believes in his staff and makes a conscious effort to meet as many people as possible and be visible across the region both inside and outside of the trust.

Daren says: “We are an organisation that is seen as a great place to work and I genuinely believe that if we do all we can to look after our staff, they will take better care of our patients right across the North West.

“We will be the best ambulance service in the UK providing high quality care to patients with improved clinical outcomes.”

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Queens Award for voluntary service Dawn Taylor and Brian Pickup at Buckingham Palace.

A group of volunteers based in Rossendale, Lancashire, have been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service; the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK, equivalent to an MBE. Community Defibrillators for Rossendale is one of 281 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, created in 2002 to mark the Queen’s jubilee, aims to recognise the outstanding work by volunteer groups which benefit their local communities.

Representatives from Community Defibrillators for Rossendale attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May, along with other recipients of this year’s award. They will officially receive their award from Lord Shuttleworth, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, later this summer.

Andrew Walmsley, a founder member of Community Defibrillators for Rossendale, said: “From Dawn Taylor’s initial idea in 2010, she remains a driving force behind making public access defibrillators available across the Rossendale Valley.

“We are honoured and delighted that the work of our ever-expanding group has been recognised

by Her Majesty the Queen.”

The charity’s members also respond to 999 emergencies as community first responders for NWAS. 12

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HOW ARE YOU? In our adult years, the lifestyle choices we make can dramatically increase our chances of becoming ill later in life.

Making small changes now can improve your health right away and double your chances of staying healthy as you get older.

It’s never too late to start.

Search One You and take the free health quiz to see how you score.

Š Crown copyright 2016

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PTSD in the emergency services Emergency services staff and volunteers are routinely exposed to distressing incidents which put them at greater risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the general population.

Common symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks and intrusive thoughts, feeling on edge and avoiding feelings or memories.

“I first suffered with PTSD after attending a fire where four children died. I was completely heartbroken at what I had seen. I was unable to eat and I constantly cried myself to sleep. No matter what I did, I could not get those images out of my head.

Your Call spoke to a Wigan based paramedic about her experiences of PTSD.

“To go home to your family after a shift on the ambulance is sometimes the hardest part. ‘Have you had a nice day at work?’ is occasionally answered with a lie.”

Ellie said: “Being a paramedic was my dream job as a child. I have always loved helping and caring for people; it’s in my nature. I never ever thought I would be the person that gets affected in the way that I did.

With the support of her family, colleagues and counselling, Ellie got through the worst. She now encourages colleagues to seek help when they are struggling: “It doesn’t make you any less of a paramedic. I am now a better version of me.”

In addition to counselling, our crews can now access TRiM - a peer support system designed to help people who have experienced a potentially traumatic incident.

Across the organisation, our newly established TRiM champions have undergone training to enable them to listen and offer practical advice to their colleagues.

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Some call it upcycling Breathing new life into old belongings and furniture might not be everybody’s cup of tea. For Safety and Security Practitioner Sandra Johnson, discovering the art of decorating old objects has become a passion and a real mind saver.

Decoupage has been around since the seventeenth century and had a big revival in America in the 1960s. It has since found its way to UK shores, making it fashionable to have “shabby chic” items in your home.

Sandra was looking for a hobby she could do in her spare time. After buying a small table through Marketplace on Facebook, which had been already upcycled with decoupage. This sparked her interest and drove Sandra to find a trainer local to Liverpool where she lives. She enrolled on the day-long course and hasn’t looked back since!

Sandra says: “I felt like I wanted something outside of work to help me relax and unwind and it’s so therapeutic. I have revived old tables, ceramic plant pots, a garden bench and a home bar through painting and decoupage and turned them into spectacular works of art.

“I go on Facebook Marketplace to find old objects that people are selling that are still in brilliant condition but just need some love, as there are some real bargains on there.

“It is also environmentally friendly to revamp old items. I am literally looking for things to decorate all the time. I caught my husband telling our dog to hide in case I decorated him next!”

We’re no experts in the matter but looking at these pictures, we think Sandra is on to something!

“The course was £45 for a day session which was well worth it and at the end of it, I felt confident to try decoupage at home. You do need to invest in the paint and decorative elements but once you start it, it is addictive.

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Feature article

Down right fa

Talking to Sheila Smith from Milnthorpe in that less than five months ago she nearly los pneumonia and sepsis. Her composu “The ambulance crew were fantastic with Billy. He doesn’t like anybody fussing over him or anything near his face or arms. They talked to Billy and reassured him and built up an amazing rapport with him. They put him on oxygen as his levels were dangerously low and took him to Lancaster Hospital.

“I went with Billy in the ambulance whilst my husband Ian stayed at home with our daughter Megan, 11. We arrived at Lancaster where they were on standby for Billy. They took him into the unit and had to sedate him to save his energy.

Billy is 13 and has Down’s Syndrome (DS) and he is in mainstream secondary school. It is clear to see that everybody in their local village loves Billy, not because he has DS, but because of his determined spirit and the amazing person who he is which he has clearly inherited from his parents.

Rewind back to a cold Friday in February, Billy became poorly, he was cold and started to be sick through the night. Shelia recalls the evening: “I didn’t think anything of it as when Billy catches a virus or a bug, he really gets a dose of it and he didn’t have a temperature.”

“The following morning, Billy’s legs buckled from underneath him, he looked up at me with a blank expression and I knew something wasn’t right. I dialled 111 and told them what had happened and it became very apparent he needed emergency medical help.

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“Billy deteriorated very rapidly. We were told very quickly that he had sepsis and there was a chance that we could lose him. He needed to go to a paediatric intensive care unit at Alder Hey, Liverpool and was transported in a special unit.

“I called my husband and told him to come to the hospital immediately. I remember sitting in the hospital car park in Lancaster and I didn’t want to leave as I knew at that stage Billy was alive. We somehow found the strength to drive to Liverpool together. We didn’t say two words to each other as we were so distraught about what was happening.

antastic!

n Cumbria, you would never think st her son, Billy after he contracted ure and spirit are inspiring.

We got to Alder Hey and went to intensive care, as soon as we saw Billy arrive it was shocking as he has about twelve machines and tubes connected to him keeping him alive.”

“I still have flashbacks but I accept them and don’t try to fight them and take it on board that they will happen.”

Billy stayed in intensive care until the Wednesday when they lessened his sedation and had to take fluid from his lungs. Shelia stayed in Ronald McDonald House, a charitable facility where parents can stay when they live out of area and their children are poorly. Ian went home to look after Megan to keep some sense of stability and normality in her life.

Sheila recalls; “Billy knows he nearly died. His sense of understanding is not fully there but he does know how poorly he was. When they brought him round from sedation he was really groggy and the first thing he said was ‘Mummy I love you’.

There have been a few occasions when he has had to learn about his behaviour in certain situations, for example in one of his swimming lessons, he was misbehaving and so I told him to get out and get dry and he missed out.

I want him to be the same as his sister and if he misbehaves there will be consequences to his actions and he will soon learn. The minute you start allowing for exceptions to bad behaviour is when he won’t fit into society and I want him to.”

Billy is now back at school and is doing fantastic and Sheila says that if it wasn’t for the ambulance service and the treatment at the hospitals, Billy would not be here.

“I’ll fight hell and high water for my kids and we very much get on with Billy having DS. We are very lucky to have the support around us and live in a lovely village. Having a child with DS is the best possible thing that could have happened to us.

“Billy is so determined. He took two years to learn how to ride a bike and the day he mastered it, he didn’t want to go to sleep in case he woke up and had forgotten how to ride. He has no fear and loves anything action packed; he’s been rock climbing and fishing and he loves trampolining and swimming.

He is such a charmer but we don’t let him get away with anything.

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Is it time to treat sugar like smoking?

A recent article from BBC news online has caught our attention. A leading think tank has suggested that to cut the ever increasing consumption of sugary foods and drinks, plain packaging should be used. This follows the same pattern as the unbranded packaging for cigarettes introduced in recent years in order to make sweets, chocolate, snacks and fizzy drinks look less appealing.

The NHS advises that children aged 11 or over and adults should consume no more than seven teaspoons of added sugar a day – 30g, less than a single can of Coca-Cola which contains 39g.

The report recommends no more than 19g for children aged four to six (around the amount of sugar in a pouch of Capri Sun) and no more than 24g for children aged seven to ten (around the amount of sugar in a Snickers bar).

For more ways to learn about the harmful effects of sugar on your body and to find out how you can cut the amount in your diet down visit www.nhs.uk/live-well.

Davina McCall’s sugar free flapjacks How about this recipe for some delicious sugar free treats? It’s from Davina McCalls’ cookbook ‘Davina’s Sugar-Free in a Hurry’, which is packed full of sweet recipes that don’t contain refined sugar. It’s a great one for the kids to get involved in as well!

The ingredients you need are: 200g unsalted butter 250 ml honey 150g chopped dates 400g porridge oats 100g desiccated coconut Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4. Line a 30 x 20cm tin with baking parchment.

2. Put the butter, honey and dates in a saucepan over a low heat. Melt them together, crushing the dates with a wooden spoon so they break up into the butter and honey and get all lovely and squidgy. Stir in the oats and coconut and mix thoroughly.

3. Pack the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 20–25 minutes until golden brown. The flapjacks will still seem soft at this point, but don’t worry – they’ll firm up once cool.

3. Remove the tin from the oven and immediately score the surface into about 15 squares. Leave the flapjack to cool in the tin, then cut it into squares.

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Living with Alzheimer’s Lesley Calvert from Salford in Greater Manchester loved her job as a community nurse, it was her career and it was all she knew.

Six years ago at just 61 years old, community nurse Lesley was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s.

It tore her world apart. She had to retire from her job which she’s done since the age of 18 and as a result lost her career, her income and her car; all of which she describes as her ‘lifelines’.

Things started to feel different to Lesley when she noticed she was getting forgetful at work. At first Lesley attributed her memory loss to getting older.

She remembers being unable to string a sentence together in a patient’s house and thinking it was due to the stress of her job.

“The more time passed, the more I couldn’t ignore what was happening. I had gone from being a very competent and capable nurse to getting confused by medication doses and getting lost in my car on familiar streets.”

Lesley’s dad and grandmothers had Alzheimer’s.

Lesley’s late mum, who was alive at the time of her daughter’s diagnosis, would worry that Lesley had the same condition as her relatives after she would repeat conversations with her.

“I visited my GP who referred me to a specialist who arranged a series of tests and assessments. I was then diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s which was frightening.”

Lesley’s late husband Sam retired when Lesley was diagnosed and became her carer but devastatingly two and a half years ago Sam passed away from pancreatic cancer - this hit her hard.

“Sam would look after me. He loved me dearly and did everything for me. Losing him in the way that we did was just devastating.”

Lesley has a brilliant support network and has three best friends from her nursing days who have helped her through the last few years, particularly after losing her husband.

“I don’t feel able to go out to places on my own like I used to and my friends will take me out to clubs, shops and wherever I need to go.”

Lesley has a lovely children - son Andrew and daughter Jane - who help her at every opportunity.

Lesley is moving house to live next door to Jane and her eldest granddaughter is moving in to give her extra support.

Lesley is a volunteer facilitator at Open Doors Dementia Service, a support network in Greater Manchester for those living with dementia, and helps people who have newly been diagnosed with dementia. She is an associate of Salford University’s dementia hub which provides support to people living with dementia.

Lesley is currently working on writing a book about dementia with Anthea Innes from Salford Institute for Dementia and her friend Gail Bowker who is a carer for her dad.

According to the Alzheimer’s Socity there are over 80,000 people with dementia in the North West of England. It’s predicted that this figure will rise to 100,000 by 2021.

If you would like more information contact the Alzheimer’s Society on 0330 333 0804.

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#TeamNWAS

Our social media accounts are bursting with news. Follow North West Ambulance Service on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Getting out and about We recently held a special event in Greater Manchester to meet with members of the local community, give them a greater insight into how we work and get their feedback on our services. Stars of BBC One’s Ambulance attended to chat with guests about the show and what it’s like working for the ambulance service.

The session was the first of a series of five events that we’ll be holding across the North West in the coming months. Email communications@ nwas.nhs.uk for more information.

Yet again, seriously?!

A woman was recently prosecuted after assaulting one of our Blackpool based paramedics Hannah, leaving her with a fractured and dislocated finger. This appalling act has left Hannah with permanent cartilage damage and she’s unable to return to work for a number of weeks.

We will not tolerate this behaviour.

Check out our new film The ambulance service, they handle 999 calls don’t they? Oh, it’s so much more than that! Watch the full video on our brand spanking new website and let us know what you think - https://www.nwas.nhs.uk/ about/who/.

Get in touch Trust Headquarters Ladybridge Hall, Chorley New Road, Bolton, BL1 5DD Tel: 0345 112 0 999 (local rate) Email: nwasenquiries@nwas.nhs.uk Website: www.nwas.nhs.uk

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