Last Saturday and today (Tuesday) there have been two buses on Gerard Centre and the market promoting healthy living and safety awareness.
The health check initiative came from a meeting of a sub group of the Ashton Bryn Township Forum which looked at ways of making people aware of how they could improve their health. The group was concerned that life expectancy in the Wigan area was much lower than in other comparable areas and men especially were prone to ill health. This check was thought to be a good start to make people aware of how they could improve their life style.
On one of the buses there were nurses who checked your height/weight/BMI, took your blood pressure, measured your body fat rating and cholesterol and blood glucose levels. In addition they gave advice on diet and exercise - an excellent free service.
I was told today that this service had proved very popular and that more men than expected had the check done. There will be a report back to the Township Forum at the next meeting and I will be encouraging the Community Health Authority to repeat the initiative or something similar in the near future.
2 comments:
Its our own Clinic we want not just buses every other part of Wigan MBC has got brand new Clinics Golborne has 2 yet Ashton still has to put up with Queens Road a pre fab pre war building and broken promis after broken promis Why not convert one of the old warehouses that are empty into a clinic instead of Ashton people having to travel to get treatment all over the bourough!!!!
I entirely agree with this sentiment. That is why I have been working closely with Ian McCartney to get a modern medical centre fit for the 21st Century in the middle of Ashton.
As far as I am aware this project is still being considered by the PCT and the last communication from the Ashton Leigh and Wigan Trust stated clearly that they were fully committed to improving the range of services provided in Ashton.
I have asked for an update from the PCT and will post it on this blog as soon as I have further information.
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