Wigan health service providing a lifeline to the community

Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors have teamed up with Wigan Council and the Primary Care Network to create a space they hope will improve the health of the borough.

The Pivot to Well-being scheme puts a major focus on prevention through basic health checks and creating positive lifestyle changes.

The NHS is facing increasing demand and with the emergence of new primary care functions, leisure centres were viewed as a feasible way to support this.

Four previously unused rooms have been transformed into “pivot rooms” for health providers.

Anne Humphreys, quality nurse manager, expressed her shock at the number of people who went to the first session in April.

“We had to do crowd control, but people loved it because it was on Saturday morning and their children were here as well,” Anne said. “They dropped them off for gymnastics or football, so it fitted in with their schedule.

“If someone gets a message to come to get a blood pressure check, if you work in Manchester but live here, you’ve got to take an afternoon off work – people aren’t going to prioritise that. So we had to change the way we think and approach health.

“One man who came in had significantly high blood pressure, so the doctor got him seen in A&E and got medication to get his blood pressure down and had a scan which showed he had signs of an aortic bulge.

“You can drop dead from them, and he only came because his daughter goes to gymnastics. This is not saving lives like they do on A&E, but that man would have just dropped dead somewhere if he didn’t get that check.”

According to Public Health England, Wigan is the second fattest borough in the North West, with almost three quarters of the population overweight or obese.

The risk of heart disease and weight-related illnesses is a concern and with the NHS under pressure, health bosses want to tackle the problem.

The service also provides rehabilitation for those recovering from severe health problems.

Classes get people back into active routines in a controlled, safe environment and give them the confidence to kickstart their recovery.

Mike Walker, who had a heart attack in September last year, said: “It’s not like you clutch your chest and fall to the floor, I had some tingling in my gums and my wife made me ring the doctor.

“I had stents fitted and then I came here to join the class run by Carol, which got me back into a routine of getting back into a routine and made you realise you can carry on as normal. You don’t have to be afraid it will happen again.

“After that I joined the cardiac class in Robin Park. The thing about it is that there is positivity and gets you into a routine of coming on a Tuesday and Thursday.

“I think if it was on my own accord going to the gym, I don’t know if I’d keep it going. I used to go and exercise years ago, you get into a slouchy lifestyle and you don’t realise the effect it is having on you until it is too late.

“The fact this is provided and available, I didn’t feel I could turn it down. It was going to be something positive after all that – it was so easy to join.”

Linda Robinson, who attends the classes following a heart attack in April, said: “The pain came in my chest as I leaned forward and I thought it was heartburn as I’d just eaten, so I stood up, started walking up and down taking deep breaths and then my ears started ringing – I thought ‘this is different’.

“Ambulance came and took me to hospital and later had a stent fitted. I have stopped smoking now, but that was really hard for me.

“When the ambulance man came to get me I asked ‘can I have a cig first before getting in the ambulance’, because I loved a cig. I’ve stopped for six months now but I did pile weight on to begin with.

“I was munching, I got referred to this service. I did my six-minute walk as a baseline test – I did another last week, six weeks on, and I had improved.

“This is something to look forward to. I have lost weight and I bought a Fitbit to keep track.”

The classes have been a huge success, with 1,205 people going to the Cardiac Rehab Phase 3 class and 814 attendees for the pulmonary rehab class.

They are put on by the leisure team at Robin Park, in conjunction with Wigan Council.

Chris Brooks, the incoming chairman at Wigan Warriors, said: “I am really passionate about health and health inequalities especially. I think there is a wonderful opportunity here now with two elite clubs in the borough and use their power to shift the dial in some of the inequalities of the borough.

“A lot of those hard-to-reach groups, how can we use the power of those elite clubs to engage with the fanbase and use that in a way to get people to be part of all the wonderful opportunities that are here? Using the brand of two clubs, for those that watch Wigan Athletic and the Warriors, how can we get them to have a full day here with activities – perhaps starting here where there is opportunity for health checks? After that, maybe they could go across and watch the wheelchair games before heading over to the stadium.

“Having access to all the facilities here, using the players and coaches as healthcare messages. Encouraging healthcare messages to those that come here is a great opportunity."