Breast way to beat the credit crunch!

THE breast feeding message is still not being heard in Oldham, with health bosses making increased participation a key target for this year.

Breast feeding support groups have increased in the past quarter and a further three groups are planned. These groups provided daily support and information to women who are breastfeeding.

Training has also been provided to health care assistants and reception staff around breastfeeding issues.

Board member Sue Howard said: “In my experience working in this area, when we ask women who chose not to breastfeed what we could have done to persuade them, they have said ‘nothing’, so in some ways it’s difficult because it’s a personal choice.” And Hannah Roberts said: “We need to highlight that it’s a free option, which is quite important in current financial circumstances.”

NHS Oldham also fell far short of its target of 70 per cent of women seeing a midwife or maternity healthcare professional by 12 completed weeks of pregnancy, with just a fifth being recorded.

Shauna Dixon, executive director of clinical leadership, said it was vital to stress the importance of making contact with health professionals early on in pregnancy to ensure healthy foetal development.

The rate of local chlamidya screening is also well below the target and NHS Oldham will send a mailshot out to all 15-24-year-olds this year inviting them for screening.

They will also ensure that support is available to youth centres who will offer screening to young people in the target age groups.

Action plans will also be developed to help more young people stop smoking.

Some good results in the performance report included the high number of patients receiving hospital treatment within 18 weeks of being referred by their GP.

There was also an increase in the number of urgent cancer referrals, particularly breast cancer referrals, which has increased by 24 per cent since last year.