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Mummy is a Hero
This booklet is written by a long-term user of mental health services. She had a traumatic childhood, which shaped her personality and affected her mental health. When she became a mother, her mental health struggles worsened. This is an account of how she managed her severe and ongoing emotional distress while also fulfilling her role as a parent. It includes strategies that she put in place to protect her child’s well-being. This booklet is for parents, and aims to inspire them to seek as much therapy as possible so that they can learn to heal themselves and protect their children’s future mental health. You can find this booklet and more at Mummy is a Hero.
See Ability
See Ability is a fantastic organisation which helps people with learning disabilities who may also have sight loss to achieve ambitious lives through support initiatives.
For easy read fact sheets, please visit: Seeability Resources
Lift someone out of loneliness
Bye-Bye UTI!
Are you feeling the burn down below? You may have a urinary tract infection.
Women aged 16-64 can now be treated at participating local pharmacies.
If you have any of the following symptoms you may be asked to drop a urine sample into a local pharmacy, who are working alongside us to offer the Bye-Bye UTI service:
- Dysuria - painful or uncomfortable urination
- Nocturia - waking up in the night one or more times to urinate
- Urgency - sudden, urgent desire to pass urine
- Frequency - needing to urinate much more frequently than normal
- Visible haematuria - blood in urine
If you have two or more symptoms, you will have a consultation with the Pharmacist, who will provide a urine bottle and then check your sample. They will provide antibiotics if necessary and call you on days 3 and 7 to see if your symptoms have improved; if they have worsened, the Pharmacist will refer you back to us.
If you have only one symptom, the Pharmacist will give you advice and a leaflet for UTIs. They will call you on days 3 and 7 to see if it has resolved and, if not, they will ask you for another sample to be assessed again.
If antibiotics are provided, they will be free of charge for those who are exempt and the normal prescription cost for those who pay.
This May Help
This May Help has been created to support parents and carers with concerns about their child’s mental health. The subjects covered on this website have been chosen by families and young people who have gone through their own mental health challenges. What helped them may also help you. They cover self-harm, gaming and addiction, eating disorders, school avoidance and much more.
NHS Mental Health Services
We all experience times when we feel like we can’t cope, sometimes this can start to affect our everyday lives and prevent us from doing the things we normally do.
If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, excessive worry or low mood, then Vita can help. Working in partnership with the NHS, Vita provides talking therapy services, known as IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) and we can provide advice and guidance on the best options for you.
It is a FREE service and you don’t need to visit a GP to get help – the fastest way to get support is by simply clicking the Self Refer button or calling Vita on 0330 0534 230
Get help with NHS 111
If you think you need medical help right now, 111 online can tell you what to do next.
When to call 111 instead
Call 111 to speak to someone if you need to:
- discuss complex medical problems
- discuss worries about a long-term condition
- get end-of-life care, or report a death
- report child protection or vulnerable adult concerns
Other ways to contact 111 if you have a hearing problem or need help in other languages
Tyneside Integrated Musculoskeletal Service
Tyneside Integrated Musculoskeletal Services (TIMS) is a joint Newcastle and Gateshead service which offers self-care and fast access to expert opinion, diagnosis and treatment of a variety of muscle, joint and soft tissue conditions and chronic pain. You don't need to see a GP for a referral, you can self-refer by visiting the website, or calling the TIMS team on 0191 445 2643.
Aches and pains can be a normal part of life but can prevent you from carrying out your usual day-to-day activities. The good news is that most of the conditions that cause these aches and pains can be easily treated by you in your own home. Their aim is to help support you to get the right care, in the right place, first time, by providing advice and information from their dedicated team: TIMS Self-Care
If you have back pain and develop any of the following symptoms, you must contact your GP or ring 111 straight away.
- Onset of numbness or weakness in both legs at the same time.
- Onset of numbness or pins and needles around your anus (bottom) or genitals.
- Any change in sensation of a full bladder, of needing to pass urine (wee), or change in awareness of passing urine.
Escape Pain - NHS TIMS 
Have you experienced chronic joint pain for over 6 months? Are you over 45? Do you have a confirmed or likely diagnosis of osteoarthritis or degenerative joint changes? You could benefit from Tyneside Integrated Musculoskeletal Service’s ESCAPE-pain sessions https://www.tims.nhs.uk/escape-pain/
Escape Pain is an education and exercise programme for people with hip or knee osteoarthritis and low back pain.
- Information on what to expect from the Escape-pain for backs programme can be found in the Escape Pain for Backs patient infographic or by following the I have back pain link.
- Information on what to expect from the Escape-pain for hip/knee pain can be found using the I have knee / hip pain link.
If you have knee and hip pain and are aged over 45, find out how you can grow in confidence, feel, move and manage pain better, with improvements to both your physical and mental health. The following resources explain more about how Escape-pain can help you.
Alternatively if you choose to try escape pain independently you can access the videos for the hip and knee sessions by clicking on the links below