Look after yourself

Ambulance services, hospitals, GP surgeries and Walk In Centres can get especially busy. By choosing the right health service, you will help to relieve pressure whilst also being better placed to look after yourself and others.

Help us help you stay well by following the top tips on this page to look after yourself and your family. You can also view our self help guides and apps.

You’re precious, don’t ever stop taking care of yourself. It can be hard, especially if you’re feeling unwell or anxious. But little things, a bit of time out, a pampering session or even just a walk, really do give you the feel good factor.

If you need same day urgent care, contact NHS 111 online or over the phone, it’s available 24 hours a day seven days per week. They’ll know the best service for your treatment need and can book you in to be seen at your local Walk In Centre. You can also turn up to any of our Walk In Centres without an appointment.

However, if its an emergency or a serious injury, please dial 999 or go straight to A&E.

See the range of topics below and our animations for further advice:

A mental health crisis often means that you no longer feel able to cope or be in control of your situation. It often involves a sudden or continued worsening of your symptoms. You may feel great emotional distress or anxiety, feel you can't cope with day-to-day life, think about suicide or self-harm, or experience hallucinations and hearing voices. Below are some suggestions for what you can do if you are experiencing a mental health crisis.

The option you choose will depend on how severe you feel your symptoms are and if you can wait a short amount of time to get help, or if you need help immediately.

Please visit our urgent mental health page for support.

A&E or 999 is for life threatening situations and emergencies, such as loss of consciousness, a sudden confused state, chest pain, breathing difficulties, fits that are not stopping and sever bleeding.

For any medical or mental health emergencies, you should call 999 or visit A&E. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk. Visit when to call 999 for further information and emergency examples.

NHS 111 can help if you need urgent medical help or you’re not sure what to do. Its available online or over the phone 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

If you are worried about someone with mental health problems, go to our Urgent help page.

Clinicians from Liverpool University Hospitals provide health advice on how to stay well this winter and explain the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi/Dari, Nepali, Nigerian (Yoruba), Pashto, Polish and Romanian on the Liverpool CCG website here.

Important information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) can be found here.

In the UK, we’re experiencing a cost of living crisis – costs of things like energy bills or your weekly shop are rising faster than our wages. This means more people might be experiencing financial difficulties, and we know that money worries can have a significant impact on our mental health and wellbeing.

Below you will find links to your local borough council with information on support and services that are available to help you:

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is encouraging parents and carers to protect their children this winter by ensuring they take up the flu vaccination programme.

From September, the vaccination and immunisation team will be administering the annual nasal spray flu vaccine to 40,000 primary school children across Liverpool in a bid to boost uptake. Letters, consent forms and information leaflets will be issued to parents and carers via their child’s local school.

Flu is a common infectious viral illness spread by coughs and sneezes. It can be very unpleasant, but you'll usually begin to feel better within about a week. You can catch flu – short for influenza – all year round, but it's especially common in winter, which is why it's also known as "seasonal flu".

The free flu vaccination is particularly important for those who are at increased risk from the effects of flu, and is available for:

anyone over the age of 65
pregnant women
children and adults with an underlying health condition (particularly long-term heart or lung disease)
children and adults with weakened immune systems.

Read more about how to stop the spread of flu.

Can help if you have an illness or injury that won’t go away and any long standing conditions. Other examples may include vomiting, ear pain, stomach ache and backache.

For further information on how to get the most from using your GP practice this winter, visit: Liverpool GPs set out six steps for using services.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust take preventing and controlling the spread of germs seriously. Patients undergoing treatment in hospital have an increased risk of infection because: • being unwell can reduce the ability to fight off an infection • many of the necessary treatments can break the body’s natural defences. So please help yourself and us by reading the advice given in this leaflet.

Beat loneliness

The Christmas and New Year festive season can be a joyous time for most, celebrated with friends and loved ones. However, many people can be gripped by stress, anxiety and loneliness.

Feeling lonely isn't in itself a mental health problem, but the two are strongly linked. Having a mental health problem increases your chance of feeling lonely, and feeling lonely can have a negative impact on your mental health.

To help people cope with loneliness we have produced a short animation, with handy tips and advice on how to maintain good mental health and wellbeing.

During winter you need to keep yourself well during the cold weather and self treat minor illnesses (eg. cold/ sore throat), therefore freeing GP and hospital appointments for those who need them most.

Help us help you stay well this winter by following the top tips on this page to look after yourself and your family. You can also view our self help guides and apps.

Our Hospital Mental Health Liaison teams offer a 24 hour service based at the A&E departments in

The teams provides support for people who are identified in A&E departments as having a mental health issue as well as a physical health problem.

If you need advice fast and you're not sure what to do, call 111 for health care advice that is fast, easy and free. You can also get answers to hundreds of health questions, including common childhood illnesses at the NHS website 24 hours a day.

NHS 111 will direct people to the most appropriate health service which may include a walk-in centre, GP practice, pharmacy or hospital.

Norovirus, also called the "winter vomiting bug", is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. It can be very unpleasant, but usually goes away in about two days.

Check if you have norovirus on the NHS website

The main symptoms of norovirus are:

feeling sick (nausea)
diarrhoea
being sick (vomiting)

You may also have:

a high temperature of 38c or above
a headache
aching arms and legs

The symptoms start suddenly within 1 to 2 days of being infected.

Are a great source of health care advice and information. They are experts in medicines and will help you decide if you need to see a doctor.

There will also be some pharmacies open in your area throughout the Christmas period. Visit www.nhs.uk to find a pharmacy that’s open near you.

This is the best choice to treat minor illnesses and injuries. A large range of common illnesses and injuries can be treated at home or with over-the-counter medicines and plenty of rest.

Take good care of yourself

Researchers from The New Economics Foundation* found that there are five factors to feeling and staying well:

Connect with other people

Feeling close to, and valued by, other people is a fundamental human need and makes you function better. Talking really does help. Try taking five minutes to get in touch with someone. Talking instead of texting or emailing ask how they are and really listen when they tell you. If you’re out talk to someone new,

Be active

Can a walk to the shops or mowing the lawn really be that good for you? The researchers say yes, the chemicals it releases called endorphins actually make you feel better and more positive. If you meet someone while you’re out even better.

You can do it at work too, walk to someone’s desk instead of calling or emailing. It’s simple but it works.

Take notice

We all get bogged down in our own thoughts and feelings. Stop and take notice of what’s around you, enjoy the moment – the researchers say being aware of what’s around you this can make you think more about what’s really important in your life – and make decisions based on what you want from life

Learn

It’s often said you’re never too old to learn – and the research says it’s true!

Starting a course when you’ve not studied for years isn’t easy – but the confidence and satisfaction is worth it and you’ll meet new people. Study something you think you’ll enjoy. It’ll help you to set goals and look forward which will help as part of your recovery plan.

Give

It’s official - people who give to others rate themselves as happy. Become a volunteer, maybe at a charity shop, through your local Council for Voluntary services or with Mersey Care.

Take part as a service user