Bradford & District | Archive | 2000 | May | 24
From the Telegraph & Argus, first published Wednesday 24th May 2000.
Bradford people are doing more to improve their health, according to a new review.
Bradford Health Action Zone's (HAZ) second annual report, published this week, claims more people are giving up smoking, eating healthy food and taking exercise, thanks to HAZ projects across the district.
Other achievements highlighted include improved winter planning which saw flu vaccines being made available to stop the virus crippling hospital services during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
High rates of diabetes have been tackled through specialist clinics.
And young people have been warned off illegal drugs through education projects.
HAZ encourages communities and health staff to work together to re-shape services. Bradford's allocation for projects in 1999/2000 is about £9 million.
Communications manager John Callaghan said organisations involved now believed Bradford was on the right track towards making health services more flexible and patient friendly and to stopping people getting ill in the first place.
"It's the way of working that's the point," he said.
"We coped with winter because hospitals, the public, social services, GPs and nurses were all involved in the plan. That's why we think Bradford enjoyed a better winter compared to other areas. It's because we got the system to work."
Recent HAZ projects have included a dental campaign where health visitors encourage parents to take their children to the dentist. Bradford youngsters currently have the lowest registration rates in the north of England.
And future plans could include prescribing home repairs to tackle health problems related to poor housing conditions.
Acting chairman of the HAZ board Christine Parkinson said Bradford had been very successful in getting organisations and professionals to work together.
She said: "The Health Action Zone isn't just about better services and doctors and nurses. Health is everybody's business. We are joining up a lot of people who are working very hard.
"This is a long-term programme which is also delivering success here and now. Year by year we're making a difference in those communities with the worst health problems."
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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