Advice and information at hand to help you stay safe and well this winter

With winter ongoing, health teams across Shropshire are urging residents across the county to keep warm, and stay safe and well this winter.

Severe cold weather can be dangerous, and keeping yourself warm throughout the winter months is essential to staying healthy, especially for the very young, older people or those with a chronic condition such as heart disease and asthma.

Stay well this winter

Shropshire Council’s ‘Stay safe and well this winter’ website offers a range of advice and information, from helping vulnerable people to remain safe and well, to notifications of school closures and travel updates.

The website signposts people to a wide range of both local and national winter-related information which includes:

• Stay well this winter, NHS advice – to help those people who are most at risk of illness during winter to take steps to stay well, including make sure you get your flu jab. Pharmacies offer flu vaccinations in Shropshire, can be found here.
• Keep well and warm – Government advice on staying well in cold weather, covering issues such as financial help, healthy lifestyle and heating.
• Road gritting – updates on where and when gritters are out in Shropshire.
• Get Ready for Winter – Met Office advice and information of the dangers posed by winter weather and provide tips and advice on how to minimise its impact.
• Winter advice for older people – advice and information from Age UK.
• Shropshire Newsroom – news and updates from Shropshire Council.
• Travel updates – travel updates for Shropshire.
• School closures – updates of any school closures in Shropshire.

Flu jab campaign

Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for health, adult social care and housing, said:

“Shropshire Council’s ‘stay safe and well’ pages are designed to help residents in Shropshire remain well throughout the winter period.

“We are urging people to take practical steps such as to wrap up warm before the temperature dial hits freezing, so I’d really encourage everyone to view our stay safe and well pages, which offer invaluable advice and tips, as well as useful contacts, on keeping safe and well.”

Consult a pharmacist

Winter can be seriously bad for our health but there a number of things you can do to keep you and your family well this winter.

Top tips to stay safe and well include:-

• Get your flu jab! Cold weather can be very harmful, especially for people aged 65 or older: it weakens the immune system, increases blood pressure, thickens the blood and lowers body temperature, increasing risks of high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, and chest infections.
• Keep warm! It is important to keep warm in winter – both inside and outdoors as it can help to prevent colds, flu and more serious health problems, such as heart attacks, strokes pneumonia and depression. Heat your home to at least 18°C (65°F), if you can, you might prefer your living room to be slightly warmer. Try and keep active when you’re indoors, get up and move about and try not to sit still for longer than an hour at a time. Also, try and wear several layers of light clothes, as they trap warm air better.
• Feeling unwell. If you start to feel unwell, even if it is just a cough or cold, don’t wait until it gets more serious, get help from your pharmacist. Pharmacists are fully qualified to advise you on the best course of action, and the sooner you get advice from them, the better. They can also advise on the best medicines to have in medicines cabinet to help get you and your family through the winter. The sooner you get advice the better – pharmacists are here to help you stay well this winter.
• Don’t forget your prescription! If you’ve been prescribed medication, don’t forget to pick up your prescription before the Christmas holidays start. Many GPs and pharmacies will close over the holidays.
• Health advice – If you do need help over the holiday period when your GP surgery or pharmacy is closed, call NHS 111 or visit www.nhs.uk who can direct you to a local service that is open.
• Look out for other people – We can all do with a little bit of extra help and support at different times. If someone you know is feeling unwell or may need some support during the cold weather ask to see if they need any practical help.  For advice and information on how to stay safe and well this winter visit: https://shropshire.gov.uk/stay-safe-and-well-this-winter/.

Heat your home to at least 18C

For up-to-date news on keeping well in winter follow @shropcouncil.