Last year saw an increase in measles cases, taking the number of cases to the highest it has been in decades. Vaccination is important to ensure the long-term health of your child, and of the nation as a whole.

From 1 January 2026, all children will be offered the combined MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella) vaccine at 12 and 18 months of age. This adds protection against chickenpox to the existing provision of protection against measles, mumps, and rubella.

This guidance for healthcare professionals describes eligibility, administration and safety, and answers frequently asked questions about the new vaccination programme.

To learn more about the MMRV vaccine vist the NHS webpage https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/mmrv-vaccine/ 

Measles, mumps and rubella are highly infectious illnesses, with potentially life-changing complications, that can easily spread between unvaccinated people. Mumps outbreaks are currently occurring across England. Children need two doses of the safe and effective MMR vaccine. Both doses are needed to ensure full and lasting protection against measles, mumps and rubella.

If your child has missed either of these two doses, please contact us for an appointment with Nurse Jo. It’s never too late to catch up and protect those around you.

Alopecia simply means ‘hair loss’. There are many different types of alopecia, and various medical conditions and side effects of treatments that can cause hair loss. Some of the most well-known include:

• Alopecia Areata – an autoimmune condition that causes sudden, patchy hair loss on the scalp, beard, eyebrows, eyelashes, or other parts of the body. It affects people of all ages and backgrounds and can vary in severity from small round patches to complete hair loss.
• Chemotherapy Induced Alopecia (CIA) – hair loss that occurs as a side effect of chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
• Pattern Hair Loss – the most common type of hair loss, which occurs in both men and women and becomes more common with increasing age. Around 50% of men over 50 and women over 65 are affected, though it can also start in younger adults and occasionally in early teen years.

There is no cure for any type of alopecia, but there are treatment options that can work for some of those affected.

Alopecia Awareness Month aims to raise awareness about hair loss, reduce the stigma faced by people with alopecia and highlight the significant emotional and psychological impact of the condition. It is also an opportunity to raise funds for research into the various conditions and support for the millions of individuals affected.

You can find out more about the different types of Alopecia, treatments and support, as well as fundraising ideas and volunteering opportunities on the Alopecia UK website: https://www.alopecia.org.uk/Pages/FAQs/Category/treatments-for-alopecia.

There are more than 100 types of blood cancer, including leukaemia, lymphoma and Myeloma, and every year more than 40,000 people in the UK receive a diagnosis.

Blood cancer symptoms vary depending on the type of blood cancer, and not everyone will have the same symptoms. If you are worried, make an appointment to see a GP. The most common symptoms of blood cancer include:

• Unexplained bruising or bleeding
• Unexplained pain or aching in your bones or joints
• Unexplained pain, discomfort or feeling full (bloated) in your stomach area
• Frequent, persistent or severe infections
• Unexplained fever or a high temperature
• Unexplained weight loss
• Tiredness that doesn’t improve with rest or sleep
• Lumps or swelling anywhere on your body
• Drenching night sweats
• Paleness (pallor)
• Shortness of breath
• An unexplained rash or itchy skin that doesn’t improve with treatment

Blood cancers are the third biggest cancer killer in the UK, but it remains a hidden cancer, so Blood Cancer UK are asking all of us to raise awareness with family and friends and on social media. Find out more and sign up to their newsletter at https://bloodcancer.org.uk/about-us/our-campaigns/blood-cancer-awareness-month/

Gynaecological cancers include womb, ovarian, vulval, vaginal and cervical cancer. Great progress has been made in prevention, with HPV vaccines and cervical screening, but there is still a long way to go. Currently:

• There are more than 22,000 cases of gynaecological cancer in the UK each year
• 60 people are diagnosed each day
• 21 people die of a gynaecological cancer each day

Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month is designed to improve knowledge of symptoms, raise funds for more research into prevention and cure, and ensure that more people are diagnosed early enough.

If you have gynaecological body parts, you are at risk. Look out for the following symptoms:

• Abnormal bleeding in between periods, or during/after sex
• Pelvic/abdominal pain that isn’t menstrual cramps
• Menstrual cycle changes
• An itch or lump inside your vagina
• Blood-stained or unpleasant smelling discharge
• Skin changes in the vulval area such as lumps or rashes, or itching or swelling
• Persistent bloating or changes to bowel/urine habits
• Pain during sex

If you are concerned about anything that is unusual for you, speak to a GP or nurse.

You can find more information about the various cancers, including risk and prevention, diagnosis and treatment at https://foundationforwomenscancer.org/gynecologic-cancers/, and find fundraising ideas, support and more information about treatment in the UK at https://eveappeal.org.uk.

Eczema is a non-contagious, inflammatory dry skin condition that affects 1 in 5 children and 1 in 10 adults in the UK.

The skin of people with eczema may not produce as great a quantity of fats and oils as other people’s, making it less able to retain water. Gaps open up between the skin cells, allowing bacteria or irritants to pass through more easily. Some everyday substances like soap and washing up liquid will remove oil from anyone’s skin, but if you have eczema your skin breaks down more easily, quickly becoming irritated, cracked and inflamed. Mild cases of eczema cause itchy, scaly, dry, red skin, but in more severe cases, skin can weep, crust and bleed, while constant scratching cases it to split and bleed further, leaving it open to infection.

There are various medications such as emollients and steroid creams which can help to soothe eczema, and some people find that avoiding certain washing powders, foods or clothing materials can help, however, research is ongoing to try to find better treatments and cures.

National Eczema Week aims to highlight the prevalence of this sometimes debilitating skin condition, and Eczema UK’s website has lots of information about the causes, treatments and research priorities for eczema, as well as support for adults and parents of children of all ages suffering with eczema. Visit https://www.eczema.org.uk/support/all-treatments to find out more.

Sepsis is a medical emergency, where the immune system goes into overdrive in response to an infection and injures the body’s own tissues and organs. It can quickly be fatal, but can be treated easily with antibiotics if spotted early enough.

Last year in the UK 48,000 people died as a result of sepsis, and many more were left with life-changing damage. Therefore it’s really important that everyone is aware of what sepsis looks like. There is no single symptom, but if you or someone with you has one of the symptoms, Sepsis UK encourages you to call 999 or go to A&E and just ask, ‘Could it be sepsis?

In adults, symptoms can include:

• Slurred speech or confusion
• Extreme shivering or muscle pain
• Passing no urine (in a day)
• Severe breathlessness
• It feels like you’re going to die
• Skin mottled or discoloured

In children, symptoms can include:

• Breathing very fast
• Having a ‘fit’ or convulsion
• Looking mottled, bluish, or pale — on brown and black skin, colour changes may show on the inside of the forearms or palms
• Having a rash that does not fade when you press it
• Very lethargic or difficult to wake
• Feeling abnormally cold to touch

There is more information about spotting sepsis and what to do in an emergency at https://sepsistrust.org

World Sepsis Day aims to highlight milestones in the 2030 Global Agenda for Sepsis, which aims to avert millions of preventable deaths and disabilities through greater awareness and treatment capabilities worldwide. You can find out more about this year’s theme and events, and also social media materials, downloadable resources, and merchandise at: https://www.worldsepsisday.org.

Stammering, sometimes called stuttering, is a difference in how speech flows.
Someone who stammers might do one or more of these things at any point in a sentence:

• Repeat sounds or words. For example, ‘My name is J-J-J-J-John.’
• Stretch or prolong sounds. For example, ‘Can you read me a ssssssstory?’
• Have a silent block where a sound gets stuck. For example, ‘---------Can I have…" A block could last for a few seconds or it could last longer

Everyone does these things occasionally. But for people who stammer they happen more often, sometimes nearly every time they speak. People normally stammer less on some days or in certain situations, and more in others. Lots of people find they stammer more when they are tired.

Stammering is hardly seen in society. Job advertisements often have 'excellent communication skills' on their list of requirements. This can make people who stammer feel uncomfortable about applying. However not all fluent people are engaging speakers. And lots of people who stammer are effective, even brilliant, communicators.

There is a huge stigma around stammering, which can start from a young age when children see their parents worrying that there's something wrong with them. It can lead to being singled out throughout for being different, and being told by teachers, co-workers and peers to 'spit it out', 'slow down' or 'speak properly'. People often joke about a stammerer, or laugh at them when they struggle to get a word out, causing the stammerer to feel hurt, and become anxious about speaking in public.

Whether you are a stammerer yourself, have a child, friend or family member who stutters, or just want to know what to do when a stammerer is talking with you, you can find out more at the Stamma website. You will also find lots of resources and events to help you get involved this awareness day! https://stamma.org/about-us/news-features/news/stammering-awareness-day-whats-happening.

If you’re caring for someone at risk of going missing, you might want to have a look at the Herbert Protocol. Named after a war veteran called George Herbert, the Herbert Protocol helps you to establish information about someone who’s at risk before they go missing.

In the event that they later do go missing, you’re able to quickly share the information with the police force.

We’ve linked some national information below, but you’ll be able to find the information for your local police force and their forms by carrying out an internet search. The police will ask additional questions about what happened if/when the individual goes missing, but having the protocol ready helps you to think about important information beforehand when you’re not in a moment of intense stress.

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-s...gether-magazine/scheme-support-missing-people

The safety initiative ‘Ask for Angela’ has being rolled out to bars, clubs and other licensed businesses across England. 

People who feel unsafe, vulnerable or threatened can discreetly seek help by approaching venue staff and asking them for ‘Angela’. This code-phrase will indicate to staff that they require help with their situation and a trained member of staff will then look to support and assist them. This might be through reuniting them with a friend, seeing them to a taxi, or by calling venue security and/or the police. 

Venues that support ‘Ask for Angela’ have been given Welfare And Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) training. Delivered by the Met’s licensing officers and Safer Sounds partnership, it gives staff the ability to help customers who may be in a situation that makes them vulnerable or unsafe.

For more information about the scheme, visit: https://askforangela.co.uk/

Aged 17 to 65?

Generally fit and well?

Weigh more than 7st 12lbs (50kg) and less than 25st (158kg)?

You could help by donating blood as stocks are critically low.

Giving blood

You can give blood at thousands of donation venues across England, from permanent donor centres to pop-up community venues.

More about giving blood

Giving plasma

You can give plasma (part of your blood that can make life-saving medicines) at 3 donation venues in England:

• Birmingham
• Reading
• Twickenham

More about giving plasma

Information: 

Note that you can't donate blood and plasma at the same appointment.

If you have a baby under six months of age, it can be really difficult to know whether you need to make a medical appointment, or whether you can safely look after your baby at home.

The Lullaby Trust have built an app to help parents of young babies to know the difference:
https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/baby-check-app/

But don't forget we are here for you if you have any doubts, worries or concerns. 

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Babies are usually ready to start trying their first solid foods when they reach six months of age.

Giving your baby a wide variety of normal family foods can encourage habits for life, but we do need to make sure we’re careful as some foods such as salt and honey aren’t suitable for very young children.
https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/weaning/how-to-start-weaning-your-baby/