PCT director jailed for CV lies

A former primary care trust director has been jailed for lying on his CV.Lee Joseph Whitehead, 44, of White End Park, Bucks, was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for lying to employers including Stoke on Trent PCT.

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News story submitted by user. Contact: -------- Name: Elizabeth Howard Email: libby@lhpr.uk.com Tel: 07879 446277 Fax: Summary: --------- Press release about the launch of a three-month stop smoking roadshow by Newham PCT. An innovative new approach to mobile health promotion. Full story: ------------ PRESS RELEASE 6 January 2008 NEWHAM PCT LAUNCHES NEW YEAR STOP SMOKING ROADSHOW Newham Primary Care Trust is taking its stop smoking service on the road with an innovative mobile health promotion and support campaign. Launched on 5 January, the ‘Newham Lung Age’ Roadshow will use a high-profile mobile exhibition vehicle to deliver one-to-one support and advice directly into the heart of the community – one of the most ethnically diverse and deprived in London. The roadshow vehicle will pay weekly visits to five high footfall locations throughout the borough – including supermarket car parks and a local market – during the 12-week campaign. Each location is somewhere people visit on a regular basis. The objective of the campaign is to encourage hundreds of local people to stop smoking by taking practical advice and support directly to them, at a time of year when many are trying to quit. The campaign is designed around an attention-grabbing ‘What’s Your Lung Age?’ theme – highlighting the possibility of dramatic differences between a smoker’s lung age and their actual age. A recent study showed that telling smokers how much their habit has aged their lungs makes them more likely to stop smoking. Visitors will be offered a free lung age test on board the vehicle. They will be encouraged to sign up for continuous support and advice, including weekly motivational text messages, and to revisit the roadshow on a regular basis to track their progress. The roadshow is being project managed by health promotion specialists Event Marketing Solutions (EMS), which has extensive experience of working with PCTs and charities on mobile health awareness campaigns. The 10.5 metre long roadshow vehicle – designed and built by EMS – includes: • Eye-catching external and internal campaign messaging • Comfortable seating areas where people can talk to members of the Newham Stop Smoking team – many of them former smokers • Facilities to conduct both ‘lung age’ testing (using a spirometer) and carbon monoxide testing (a way of confirming that someone has remained smoke-free) • An interactive touch-screen display offering a short, informative quiz for casual visitors and weekly motivational support for registered ‘quitters’ (these people will access tailored information via personalised swipe cards) • Two DVD stations providing information about different ways to stop smoking (soundtrack available in: Urdu, Bengali, Gujurati and Polish). To maximise the impact of the campaign, EMS has also provided a ‘Hit Squad’ of promotional staff to raise awareness of the roadshow ahead of its visit to each location, and to pre-register as many people as possible for the campaign. Liz Hughes, Stop Smoking Programme Manager for Newham PCT, said: “This campaign is all about proactively targeting people as they go about their daily lives – and, crucially, providing ongoing support rather than just a one-off contact. “We are really excited about the potential of this direct approach to engage with hard-to-reach groups and to encourage more people to take advantage of our comprehensive Stop Smoking service.” She added: “We are absolutely thrilled with the vehicle itself, which is going to give the campaign a very high profile locally, and with the first-class help and support provided by the EMS team.” Keith Austin, Managing Director of EMS, said: “More and more PCTs are recognising the value of a mobile campaign in areas like smoking cessation and health promotion. “We are delighted to support Newham PCT and commend them for their forward-thinking approach to this campaign.” The Newham Lung Age Roadshow launched on 5 January and concludes on 27 March. Venues include: St Johns Road car park, East Ham; Rathbone Market, Canning Town; Sainsbury’s SavaCentre, Beckton; Tesco Extra, Beckton; The Picture House, Stratford. /Ends Picture caption: A visitor to the roadshow takes up the lung age test challenge. More pictures available on request. Notes to editors • Event Marketing Solutions (EMS) is the UK’s leading provider of vehicle-based marketing roadshows, specialising in creating and managing face-to-face campaigns in the UK and Continental Europe. The company has worked with City & Hackney PCT, Ashton Leigh and Wigan PCT, Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation on successful health promotion campaigns. www.eventms.com. • Newham Primary Care Trust serves the community of the London Borough of Newham, which is listed as the 11th most deprived ward in the UK and the fourth most deprived ward in London. It is estimated that 1 in 5 of all deaths in Newham are attributed to smoking tobacco. • The Newham Lung Age Roadshow is supported by a dedicated website: www.newhamlungage.info • Lung age tests will be conducted using a device called a spirometer, which measures how much air you can expel from your lungs in the first second of breathing out. This measurement can be shown as “lung age”. Lung function normally reduces gradually with age; however, smoking can damage lungs and cause them to age more rapidly than normal. Lung age is the age of a healthy person who would have the same lung capacity as the smoker. For example a 35 year old smoker, who has been smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years might actually have a lung age of 55. A recent study showed that telling smokers how much their habit has aged their lungs makes them more likely to quit. (source:http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2267989) Media enquiries to Libby Howard, tel. 07879 446277, email libby@lhpr.uk.com, or Kate Price at EMS, tel. 0151 350 1509, email kate.price@eventms.com. Attachments: ------------

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PCT manager caught swearing online

A primary care trust is to issue guidance to staff about the use of social media after an assistant director was caught describing her job as "bullshitting" on a social networking website.

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Meeting the healthcare needs of Armed Forces personnel, their families and veterans

This new leaflet is designed to help regular Armed Forces personnel, their families and veterans to understand how to access the health services they need, and what to do if things go wrong. The leaflet applies to health services in England

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Black and minority ethnic people are more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 no clear evidence why

Compared with white people, how frequently are people from black and minority ethnic groups detained under the Mental Health Act 1983? Is the question asked by this systeamtic review.

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Ethnic Diversity in type 2 Diabetes

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