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Somerset Health and Wellbeing Advisory Network
Helping you to help others
Covid-19 case numbers have increased across Somerset in the last week and remain very high, particularly among those of school age. A high proportion of Covid cases are now defined as being reinfections – the figure nationally is around one in ten. This means if you have caught Covid-19 before, you can still catch it again.
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Reducing the risk of infection and re-infection remains key to combating the spread of infection. As well as getting vaccinated and boosted, we ask that everyone continue to implement effective prevention control measures; consider wearing a face covering in crowded or enclosed spaces, let fresh air in if you meet indoors (meeting outdoors is safer) Get tested and self-isolate if required.
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Covid continues to present challenges and protecting the wellbeing of staff across all sectors is critical. Our staff are a precious resource: valuing them, their wellbeing and mental health, is a duty we all share. Mental wellbeing changes throughout our lives, but it’s important not to just put up with poor mental health. Check out the resources available in this weeks newsletter.
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Scam Text Message
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This latest scam involves a text message containing a link mimicking an official NHS website, which asks users to input personal information. We are urging the public to be cautious if they receive a text asking them to apply for an ‘Omicron PCR test’, it is a scam. Always be wary of text messages containing links or asking for payment details.
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Vaccination Clinics In Somerset
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Sydenham Community Centre, Parkway, Bridgwater,TA6 3BL
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Bridgwater Town Hall, High St, TA6 3BL
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Fridays in Feb: 9am - 5pm
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Hamp Pantry, South Bridgwater Together Team Hub, 2-3 Grenville House, Rhode Lane, Bridgwater, TA6 6JE
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Thurs 10th Feb: 1pm - 6pm
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Auction / Market at Junction 24, Market Way, North Petherton, TA6 6DF
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Truckers at Junction 24, Market Way, North Petherton, TA6 6DF
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Thurs 17th Feb: 4pm - 9pm
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Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, Yeovil, BA22 7LH
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Firepool, Canal Road, Taunton, TA1 1NY
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Dillington House, Illminster, TA19 9DT
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MMR Vaccination Campaign
MMR vaccine uptake has dropped to the lowest level for a decade, with 9.6% of children in the South West not up to date with both doses of the MMR vaccine. Parents who are unsure if their child is up to date with all their routine vaccinations, should check their child’s Red Book (personal child health record) in the first instance. If the parent or guardian remains unsure please invite them to contact their GP practice to check and book an appointment.
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Dr Julie Yates, Lead Consultant for Screening and Immunisation, NHS England and Improvement South West said:
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"Measles is an important childhood disease which can cause serious illness and even death. Whilst there have been very few cases of infectious diseases such as measles over the past couple of years, mostly as a result of social distancing, mask wearing and other precautions introduced to prevent the spread of Covid-19, as these restrictions lift and people start travelling again, we know that these diseases will start to come back and spread amongst those who are not immune.
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"The MMR vaccine is the best way to protect against measles, mumps and rubella. It is safe, effective and free. Children are routinely offered the first dose at age 1 year and a second at 3 years 4 months before they start school. It is important that parents don’t delay and get these vaccines as near to these ages as possible to provide their children with the best protection, but if they have been missed, it’s never too late to have them and we would urge that now is the time to make those appointments to ensure all who have not had MMR are fully protected."
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New Vaccination Centres in Bridgwater
The Vaccination Programme is working with health and community partners to identify locations for mobile vaccination pop-up clinics. By localising the offer, the programme aims to reduce barriers to access and better understand community needs.
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You can also pre-book an appointment. To do this, visit www.nhs.uk/Covid-Vaccination or call 119. The helpline has over 200 languages available if you or someone you know requires an interpreter.
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Covid Catch up Film
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Clinton clarifies the changes in national guidance from Plan B, back to Plan A. Please share this widely with your networks.
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Time To Talk
Stepladder is a men's mental health project, which aims to help reduce male suicides across Somerset. Research shows that men are much less likely than women to access metal health support until they're in crisis. 75% of suicides are carried out by men. A new report by charity Mates in Mind, someone who works in construction, particularly if self-employed, then they are three times more likely to take their own life than the national average.
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Stepladder as part of their 'Bacon Buttie Tour' across Somerset, will be offering men free breakfast rolls, a brew, Scruffs workwear goodies, information on men's mental health and the chance to have a chat.
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The Bacon Buttie Tour will be at:
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Bradford's Glastonbury: Friday 4th February
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Bradford's Taunton: Tuesday 15th February
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Grant money of between £300 - £1,000 is also available, to improve the mental wellbeing of men across Somerset . For more information click on button below.
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Emotional Wellbeing
Feeling lonely is something that all of us can experience at any point and it can have a huge impact on our wellbeing. The pandemic has been an unsettling time for everyone, and it’s important to remember that many people may still feel disconnected, and will feel comfortable with different things, even when out of restrictions.
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We want to change the idea that there is a stigma associated with loneliness, by encouraging people to talk more openly with each other about feeling lonely, and realise that there are easy steps we can all take to help each other during times of loneliness. We can all help to lift each other up.
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Help Towards Childcare Costs
Thousands of families in the South West are eligible to get up to £2,000 a year to help with the cost of childcare. Please share this support with your networks. Parents and carers can check their eligibility and register for Tax-Free Childcare via GOV.UK.
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The tax-free childcare 20% top-up, is available for children aged up to 11 or 17 if the child has a disability. It provides eligible working families with up to £500 every three months (or £1,000 for disabled children) towards the cost of holiday clubs, before and after-school clubs, childminders, nurseries, and other accredited childcare schemes.
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Dad Matter’s Coordinator
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The Dad Matters programme Home-Start UK are looking for a co-ordinator to join their team to develop local universal and targeted interventions for dads in the perinatal period. The successful candidate will work closely with colleagues from Parent Infant Mental Health Services and with colleagues from Maternity, Health Visiting, and Children’s Services and with a wide range of dads and dads-to-be. Closing date: 23rd February at 12:00pm
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Are you finding the Covid rules and guidance confusing and do you wish you could help better inform your work colleagues, friends, family and local community?
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If yes, you could become a Covid Community Champion, or enable one of your colleagues to. It doesn’t take much of your time. All you need to do is come along to a short online Welcome Session, then you’ll receive regular emails and invitations to online catch-up meetings.
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We want to hear from you
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As community leaders, your insights are valuable to us, which is why we have set up a function on the site to enable you to send information directly to us. This could be feedback you are receiving from your community, ideas on different ways to engage, issues you are spotting locally and anything that will help us to reduce barriers to adopting measures that protect us from Covid.
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Resources and Further Information:
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The Somerset Local Outbreak Management Plan outlines how we, the council, will work with the NHS Test and Trace Service, PHE, the NHS and other partners to ensure a whole system approach to preventing and managing local outbreaks. This can be found here.
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