Working with Health Innovation North West Coast, etc
Working with the Health Innovation Northwest, February 2025
There was no meeting in January of the Patient and Public Involvement Senate, but at the February meeting there were several speakers.
- The first people spoke about the use of ‘Point of Care Testing’ and how this is being used in a group of GP practices on the Wirral for patients presenting with respiratory symptoms. The point of the test is to identify the presence of a respiratory tract infection, and if present whether the infection is bacterial or viral. The test gives a rapid result, meaning that the patient can be given appropriate treatment (if needed) and could hopefully reduce the use of antibiotics, as these can sometimes be prescribed for viral infections, for which they are ineffective. Such prescribing increases the risk of antibiotic resistance.
- Medication reviews have been discussed before and today we were asked to look at the revised patient information leaflets being produced for distribution to patients prior to a review, informing them of the benefits of the review. We have been asked to feed back any comments to the authors.
- We were then also shown an online GP access system that is being used in a group of GP practices in Liverpool. The creators have prepared a questionnaire for patients, as to how user-friendly they are finding the system, and we were asked to review the suitability of the questions.
Julia Bate
February 2025
Working with Health Innovation Northwest May 2025
At the meeting, there was a presentation about the Connecting for Lung Health Project which provides help for people with breathing problems.
It works by a member of the Community Respiratory Team visiting patients at home. They will check the health of the patient and find out what help might be needed.
They are able to organise Pulmonary Rehabilitation or Physiotherapy, Mental Heath Support, Smoking Cessation support as well as other wellbeing services.
Patients can also be referred to Citizens Advice on prescription, where they can be offered to projects which assist with heating costs and a household support fund.
The group reviewed and commented on the Patient Information Leaflets and the Patient Survey Form.
Julia Bate
May 2025
Working with Health Innovation Northwest September 2025
The meetings for June and August were cancelled.
The July meeting was an opportunity to review the website of Health Innovation Northwest Coast https://www.healthinnovationnwc.nhs.uk/ as it is in the process of being updated.
At the September meeting, a representative from Energy Projects Plus https://www.epplus.org.uk/ spoke to us about the valuable work that they do with the aim of reducing fuel poverty while mitigating the effects of climate change by helping people to reduce their fuel bills. They support about 8,000 households per year across Cheshire, Merseyside and West Lancashire.
They help with education on how to use heating controls to their best effect, install LED light bulbs, advise if necessary on tariff switching and also provide emergency support in the loan of electric radiators if someone’s heating breaks down.
They also assist with grant applications for items such as boiler repair or replacement, insulation, heat pumps, solar panels and improved ventilation of properties.
More details about their work and eligibility criteria for assistance can be found on their website.
Julia Bate
September 2025
Working with Health Innovation Northwest November 2025
At the October meeting was an opportunity to review the progress being made on redesigning the website of Health Innovation Northwest Coast https://www.healthinnovationnwc.nhs.uk/ as it is in the process of being updated.
The group also heard about the ENROL project which is a project on rehabilitation of stroke patients online and the patient survey which is being created to determine patients’ views on whether they find this preferable to attending sessions at a hospital. The project was tested in Lancashire and South Cumbria, and it is hoped that it can be rolled out to Cheshire and Merseyside patients. The initial findings were that patients preferred the online sessions as the sessions involved several patients which made them feel less alone that they would at a face to face consultation with a clinician.
At the November meeting we were given details of the new Community Acute Respiratory Infection (CARI) project. This was started initially in 2021 and involved patients being tested for flu or COVID in the community and treated accordingly. The aim of the project is to reduce hospital admissions for people with acute respiratory infections.
The season 2025/2026 will include point of care testing for more viral infections (flu, COVID, RSV and bacterial infections). It means that antibiotics and antivirals can be used more appropriately. There will be two locations in the North West (Kendal and Liverpool) with the intention of rolling the project out across the country if it is shown to be successful. Last year it proved successful in reducing deaths and hospital admissions.
We were also informed about a new planned pathway for obesity management services, but this is only at the development stage.
Julia Bate
November 2025
Working with the Health Innovation Northwest, December 2025
The December meeting of the Group was mainly a summary of the work carried out by the Group over this current year. It was announced that the CARI project (discussed in November) is due commence week commencing December 8th. One of the locations has been changed from Kendal to Chorley and the other has been changed to a different area of Liverpool.
Julia Bate
December 2025