Health chiefs still want help from public

HEALTH chiefs in Warrington to continuing to ask for support from the public to help them cope with the impact of the severe weather conditions.
Interim chief executive of NHS Warrington Nicky O’Connor says action plans to manage the situation have been put in place.
But she said: “We would ask for people to be patient as NHS staff work hard to ensure that services are maintained as much as possible. Our priority is to maintain patient safety.”
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust now have all outpatient clinics running as normal.
However if patients have any concerns about travelling and wish to cancel their appointment they should call Warrington Hospital on 01925 635911 or Halton General Hospital on 01928 714567. Patients are advised not to contact the hospital if an appointment was cancelled on Tuesday 5 or Wednesday this week as a re-arranged appointment date will be sent in the post.
Extra antenatal clinics with community midwives are being provided at Warrington Hospital over the weekend for women who were not able to see a community midwife during the week. Antenatal clinics at Warrington Hospital are running as normal – and extra clinics are running today and tomorrow for women who have missed their antenatal appointment with their community midwife this week due to the weather.
Community midwives are running the extra clinics over the weekend at Warrington Hospital antenatal clinic in the Croft Wing. Patients can ring 01925 662092 if they need an appointment. But they should note these extra clinics are only for women who have missed their midwife appointment – there will be no doctors present.
Elective surgeries are operating on both hospitals and patients who had their operations postponed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to weather will be re-scheduled and will be contacted, if they have not already been. Patients are asked to keep checking the hospital website www.warringtonandhaltonhospitals.nhs.uk for updates as the weather continues.
Members of the public are still urged to defer from using NHS services if at all possible and asked to do what they can to care for themselves should they be suffering minor illnesses such as colds and flu.
Ms O’Connor said “Staff working in local NHS services continue to work very hard to respond to the problems caused by severe weather. The response from the public has been very positive and we will need their continued patience and support over the next week. The clear message is that we need people to continue to be sensible. Don’t travel or go out unless you have to – you risk the danger of injury and blocking roads which could make it difficult for ambulances to reach urgent cases. Our local ambulance and A&E departments are already dealing with high numbers of people who have slipped and injured themselves.
“We would ask for people to be patient as NHS staff work hard to ensure that NHS services are maintained as much as possible. Our priority is to maintain patient safety.”
The majority of community services and clinics are open with the exception of two – Woolston and the Child Development Clinics. It is hoped they will be open early next week.
The GP Out of Hours service is fully operational and can be contacted on 01925 650999 from 6pm-8am weekdays and all day Saturday &Sunday.