Market days over half-term

Market days during the school half-term holidays (Wednesday 28, Friday 30 andSaturday 31 October) will see plenty of family fun in Romford Market.

To keep the young ones busy there will be - weather permitting - an inflatable slide, merry-go-round and face painting on all three days.

Then on Saturday stallholders will be dressing up in scary costumes and decorating their stalls in spooky style. Children can take part in the pumpkin hunt with sweets and give-aways as prizes.

Give A & E a break and visit your GP at weekends for a better service says Council

 

Visits to Accident and Emergency in Havering's hospitals are among the highest in the country and patients are being urged to take advantage of new extended evening and weekend services from the borough's GPs instead.

As many as 50 per cent of visits to A & E could be managed by family doctors or even pharmacies, according to NHS England. Havering Council's Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services and Health, Councillor Wendy Brice-Thompson, wants people in need of medical treatment to visit GPs instead.

GPs in Havering have opened two late night and weekend practices to make it even easier for local people to get urgent, same day appointments with a family doctor.

The urgent appointments are open to anyone registered with a Havering GP and are available between 6.30pm and 10pm on weekdays, and between 12pm and 5pm on Saturday and 12pm and 4pm on Sunday.

Patients can call the service directly on 020 3770 1888 between 2pm and 9pm on weekdays and 9am and 5pm on weekends to book an appointment. Alternatively they can be booked in through your own GP or via NHS 111.

Pharmacists are another alternative. They give expert, confidential advice and treatment for common ailments such as coughs, colds and rashes. Pharmacies can also provide emergency contraception and may be able to provide a small supply of repeat medicines if you run out of medication when the surgery is closed.

Last year 8 per cent of A & E visits could've been dealt with by a pharmacist. That means hundreds of thousands of people sat in A & E for hours when a nearby pharmacist could have seen them within minutes.

Councillor Brice-Thompson said:

"Clearly the most serious cases will still need to go to A & E, but every year thousands of people with less serious conditions wait for hours at hospital to be seen by a doctor, when they would get much faster treatment by going to their GP. They also clog up the A & E service, ensuring that those who really need to be in hospital are also kept waiting unnecessarily".

Make sure ducks are healthy this autumn

​Havering Council is urging families to feed the ducks a different diet this half term week, which includes salad, grains and vegetables.

​Duck stickers will be given out to those feeding the ducks in Havering’s parks over the half term break, to help spread the word about the campaign to encourage families to educate others on why bread is bad for ducks. Residents can also get a duck icon for their Twitter photo, from the campaign page.

Issues at some of the borough’s parks, such as Harrow Lodge and Raphael Parks​, have seen wildfowl suffer fatal consequences due to botulism - a severe form of food poisoning. Uneaten scraps of mouldy bread can harm oxygen levels in the water in the lake and causes an increase in these harmful bacteria.

The bread also fills duck’s stomachs, making them feel full so that they don’t eat the grains or get the nutrients that they are supposed to. This can cause a syndrome called ‘Angel Wing’ – which can be caused by a high-calorie diet and means the joints in the wing become twisted and stops the birds from being able to fly.

In addition, overfeeding ducks with bread can lead to a build-up of droppings - this causes the growth of more algae, which can deprive the water of oxygen and be a source of botulism.

Items on the menu for a healthy duck include greens such as lettuce and spinach, uncooked grains such brown rice, linseed and plain porridge oats, bird seeds and corn. Some of these items are available at some local cafes in the borough’s parks, but most will be in the cupboard at home.

Councillor Melvin Wallace, Cabinet Member for Culture and Community Engagement, said;

“Residents will be used to going to the park to feed bread to the ducks because it’s one of those things that we have all got used to doing. But unknown to many, this is seriously damaging the health of the birds and the wildlife in the borough’s lakes. 

“This half-term, our parks are likely to be busy with families feeding the ducks and I ask residents to make sure our birds get a varied diet by feeding them the food they need.”m