£206,000 tonic for Burnley's health

5:13pm Monday 18th August 2008

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A MAJOR action plan to improve the health of the deprived and elderly in Burnley has been unveiled – hot on the heels of a drive to cut the number of obese children.

Young and old, and deskbound workers, will be targeted by the new Healthy Lifestyles programme which is set to be given the go-ahead by senior councillors.

And dozens of pensioners, who increasingly find themselves facing fuel poverty, will be given extra assistance to stay warm this winter through the Burnley council scheme.

The £206,000 initiative has been made possible through funding provided by East Lancashire Primary Care Trust (PCT), which has allocated cash to each of the five boroughs within its patch.

In Burnley, health chiefs identified tackling cardio-vascular disease, drink and drug problems, infant mortality rates and reducing fuel poverty as their top priorities.

Bosses across town can help their staff get fit in future by enrolling them in Wellbeing in the Workplace.

As part of the £51,500 scheme, health professionals measure blood pressure, body mass and lung function to come up with lifestyle assessments and recommendations on where individuals can improve their lives.

This would combine with another venture, Workfit, where a health co-ordinator visits firms and advises on maintaining safe and sound workplaces, retaining staff, reducing stress and substance misuse.

Just last week the Lancashire Telegraph revealed how PCT nurses would be calling unannounced at the homes of overweight youngsters, to encourage them to modify their diets and exercise more.

Under Healthy Lifestyles, £24,000 has been set aside so another scheme, the Buffalo Project, which has similar aims, can continue.

Five hundred ‘Keep Warm’ packs will be paid for with £10,000 worth of the funding, featuring everything from hot water bottles, fleece jackets and energy-saving light bulbs to cup-a-soups, thermometers and insulation mugs.

The packs will be handed out during September as part of the national Warm Homes Week.

They will also include leaflets on council-run schemes like the Staying Put handyman and Home Repair Assistance Scheme, the services of Age Concern and Citizen’s Advice Bureaus and the Government’s Warm Front grants.

Under the Warm Front grants, which pay towards heating and insulation costs, the work necessary sometimes exceeds the statutory £2,700 limit on offer.

Vulnerable homeowners would be able to apply for up to £500 in ‘top-up’ grants, from a £26,000 fund created under the Healthy Lifestyles initiative.

Other work being carried out jointly by the borough council and PCT covers alcohol abuse problems, following reports a week ago that the town’s drinking problems have not abated.

All of the work being carried out is aimed at contributing towards the PCT’s ongoing Save A Million Years Of Life awareness campaign.

The council has also recently been given £70,000 by the NHS Life Check programme to conduct health assessments on people living in the borough’s most deprived wards.