More than 300 people attended an event at the Cliffs Pavilion on 25 October, aimed at supporting local patients with their health and wellbeing.
The event, organised by Southend West Central Primary Care Network (PCN) and Southend Victoria PCN, offered patients the chance to visit stands from local organisations with information about health and wellbeing and get some basic health checks.
There were also talks from experts on health and wellbeing topics, such as managing your cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure, as well as taster sessions for seated yoga.
Dr Irfan Akram, local GP and Clinical Director of Southend West Central PCN said, “Empowering patients to manage their conditions is a really important part of helping them to stay well. We’re really happy that so many people came along, and hope they found it an interesting and informative event.”
Clinicians from the PCN team were on hand to offer blood pressure, height and weight checks, with PCN pharmacists answering queries about medication.
Southend West Central PCN’s Clinical Team Leader Lionah Musengezi said, “Events like this give us the chance to give patients basic checks that they might not have otherwise had, and enter them on to their GP record so potential problems can be spotted early.
A simple blood pressure check can be really important, as high blood pressure rarely has noticeable symptoms. But if untreated, it increases your risk of serious problems such as heart attacks and strokes.”
Feedback from patients was extremely positive, including comments that the event was ‘enlightening’, ‘superb’ and ‘very informative’. One patient said, “I’m interested in this kind of event because I receive advice and support and I understand my health condition better.”
