Will you choose well this winter?

During winter, more people get ill or are injured than at other times of the year. This means the services provided by the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and the wider NHS are needed more than ever.

Many people call the ambulance service for help with minor symptoms that could be treated more quickly by their GP, their local pharmacist or even by themselves with basic self-care, first aid and advice.

Thanks to an established NHS Northwest and Department of Health campaign called Choose Well, which aims to boost public awareness about the NHS services available to them, there is lots of information available out there designed to help educate people on the most appropriate choice of care when it is needed.

In support of the Choose Well campaign, local high-street chemists across the North West are helping to tackle the high numbers of people who use Accident and Emergency (A&E) and 999 services by promoting a free “chemist finder” text service to members of the public.

To make use of this service, members of the public can simply text “pharmacy” to 64746 to receive three free texts which will contain the name, address and telephone number of three nearest chemists.  And as the service makes use of global positioning satellite or GPS, it doesn’t matter if you are in Stockport one day and Southport the next.

Members of the public are also advised that chemists will have a qualified pharmacist who can give medical advice, in many cases, in a private setting should you need to consult on a personal condition.

To give an idea of the statistics involved, NWAS receives over 3,000 ‘999’ calls per day and it is estimated that 10-15% are for ailments which would be treated more effectively elsewhere.

National figures show that 77% of emergency calls to ambulance services result in a journey to A&E, but only 10% have a life-threatening emergency; at least half of the original calls could have been treated in the community. 

To try to ease these pressures on our 999 services and in A&Es, NHS teams across the North West are also promoting the message that many common complaints, such as minor sports injuries, stomach upsets, coughs and colds, flu and sore-throats can be treated by having a well-stocked medicine cabinet.

As part of its Choose Well campaign activity, the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust is undertaking an understanding and awareness exercise through its Critical Friends - volunteers with an interest in ambulance services - of the information provided on out of hours services by GP answer phones.  This is being carried out over the next couple of weeks across the North West region in support of winter pressures and will help us to understand the options provided to patients seeking medical assistance out of hours. 

If you would like any more information on the campaign or any of the Choose Well initiatives, please call Karen Fitzhenry on 0151 261 2601 or email Karen.fitzhenry@nwas.nhs.uk.