October News

This month's newsletter is full of news and updates, including special events from our partners: 

• Stay warm this winter 
• Autism Hub - open day on 30 October 
• Black History Month - Healthy Heart 
• Looking after your kidneys - free webinars
• Mental Health Practitioners 
• Share your feedback

As always, you can contact us if you would like to share your views on health and social care in Barnet.

Stay warm this winter

As the nights are drawing in, we've pulled together some resources on staying warm and well during the cost of living crisis: 

• SHINE is a free energy advice service for Londoners. They offer a dedicated helpline, 'energy doctor' home visits, referrals for supplier discounts and advice on tackling energy debt. In some cases they can provide services such as draught proofing. 
• Help with food: Barnet has a network of food banks, and in addition specific support is available for pregnant women and families 
• Support funds: if you need help with bills, buying food and other household costs, there are a range of support funds you can apply for
• Staying well: see this Barnet Council page on ways to stay healthy in winter, including medical help, housing issues and cost of living support

Autism Hub

The Finchley Autism Hub is running an open day on Wednesday 30 October, from 12pm to 3.30pm. If you self-identify as Autistic, please come along. It's a free event at the Barnet Mencap Autism Hub, 23 Hendon Lane, N3 1RT.

Join us for a cup of tea and: 

• Visit the Hub, find out what's on offer, meet Autism champions & reps 
• Get a blood pressure check from Healthwatch Barnet 
• Meet Inclusion Barnet's Touchpoint team - they offer one-to-one support to help Disabled people achieve their goals 
• Get to know Barnet Mencap's Working for You and Bright Futures teams - help with housing, money & employment 
• Meet Barnet's Liaison Nurse and learn about the Autism hospital passport 

Barnet Mencap's Autism Hub is a free service for adults (18+) in Barnet, who are either diagnosed, on the pathway to diagnosis or suspect/self-identify as Autistic, without a learning disability.

Black History Month

Our Healthy Heart team have had a busy few weeks, working with dozens of their peers in Barnet’s African, Caribbean and South Asian communities to promote heart health.

In the coming month, a wealth of events are taking place in Barnet to celebrate Black History Month, including Barnet African Caribbean Association's party on 15 October, Age UK's celebration on 21 October and Unitas' family fun day on 26 October, to name a few. Coming up this week, Healthy Heart will have a stall at the Meritage Centre's free World Mental Health Day event on Thursday 10 October - hope to see you there. 

Looking ahead to November, we'll be offering blood pressure checks and heart health information at a range of venues - feel free to drop in: 

• Edgware Hospital, HA8 0AD: 8th & 12th November, 9.30-12.30am  
• Watling Medical Centre, HA8 0NR: 7th & 15th November, 9.30-12.30am  
• Grahame Park Health Centre, NW9 5XT: 5th & 14th November, 9.30-12.30am  

For more information, see our Healthy Heart Project.

How to look after your kidneys

On Tuesday 15 October at 12.30 - 1.30pm, the NHS in North Central London are offering a free webinar on how to look after your kidneys. It's open to anyone with chronic kidney disease in North Central London, as well as your family, carers, and friends.

You will hear from specialist kidney professionals, and have the opportunity to ask questions. There's no need to register in advance. The webinar will cover:

• What is chronic kidney disease?
• How can I live well with chronic kidney disease?
• How will I be cared for?

There will be more webinars - on 19 November 9-10am and 17 December 12.30-1.30pm. For full details, and a wealth of other information on kidney health, see the bottom of this webpage. 

Mental Health Practitioners

Did you know that some GPs now have in-house Mental Health Practitioners, who work with both surgeries and mental health services? These practitioners may be able to help you get referred to other NHS services, as well as providing ongoing support. The charity Mind have produced a guide on ways to get started with talking to your GP about mental health. 

You can also refer yourself directly to certain services in Barnet: 

• Barnet Wellbeing Hub: one-to-one support, social activities, peer support and referrals to other services and community groups 
• Barnet Crisis Hub: one-to-one crisis support, safety planning and referrals 
• Barnet Talking Therapies: cognitive behaviour therapy, counselling, other therapies and guided self-help
• Other options include phoning NHS 111 and selecting option 2 for mental health support, or calling the Samaritans 24 hours a day on 116 123
• If you need emergency medical help, please call 999 - the NHS has a guide to getting urgent help for mental health

If you've got five minutes, please use our webform to tell us about your experiences of the NHS and social care in Barnet. You can also give us your feedback over the phone.

We regularly share residents' views with the NHS Integrated Care Board and Barnet Council, and advocate for improvements to services. Your feedback is confidential and won't affect your care, but it can help improve services for everyone. If our standard webform isn’t accessible for you, please download our easy read survey.