The UK’s largest-ever health research programme has arrived in Ripon and is seeking volunteers aged over 18 from all backgrounds and communities to take part.
Working in partnership with the NHS, the charity Our Future Health has opened its large yellow mobile clinic on the Morrisons car park, off Harrogate Road, and will be there for a month.
Our Future Health aims to transform the prevention, detection and treatment of conditions such as dementia, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
With up to five million volunteers across the UK, the goal is to create one of the most detailed pictures ever of people’s health.
At their clinic appointment, as well as having a blood sample and some physical measurements taken, volunteers will be offered information about their own health, including their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
In the future, volunteers will also be given the option to receive feedback about their risk of some diseases and have the opportunity to take part in research studies.
Working in collaboration with the NHS, the programme is sending invitation letters to people who live near the new clinics. Anyone over the age of 18 can join by signing up online, completing an online health questionnaire, and booking a short clinic appointment.
Dr Raghib Ali, chief medical officer at Our Future Health, said:
“Our clinics are rapidly reaching more communities across the UK, giving more people than ever the opportunity to learn more about their own health and help people live healthier lives for longer.
“By placing our clinics in settings that people come across in their everyday routine, such as supermarkets, train stations and Boots stores, we’re making it easy and convenient for everyone to contribute to health research, particularly people who have never done something like this before.”
Read more:
- Hundreds attend Ripon’s Bank Holiday street party
- Ripon Spa Croquet Club offers free taster sessions
A concerned son has complained to the chief executive of Morrisons after its in-store pharmacy in Ripon stopped delivering prescriptions.
Jonathan Parkin’s mother, who lives in sheltered accommodation in Ripon, received free deliveries from the pharmacy for several years.
But the service ceased this month — leaving Mr Parkin’s family rushing to find alternative arrangements before her medication ran out.
During a recent visit to his mother, she told him she was worried about her supply of tablets expiring in a day or two. He helped her call the pharmacy, which told them its delivery van was no longer in use and the service had ended.
Mr Parkin subsequently wrote to David Potts, chief executive of Bradford-based Morrisons. His letter, which was also sent to the Stray Ferret, says:
“My mother is obviously heavily dependant on her medications so to be told this delivery, which she had come to rely upon, and I’m sure many other elderly people have as well, had now been stopped was devastating and very worrying to her.”
Read more:
- Ripon supermarket submits plans for car valeting pod
- The Queen’s funeral to be televised at Ripon Cathedral
The letter also accused the company of not communicating the news adequately to customers, some of whom, like his mother, are vulnerable. He added:
“We will obviously now have to find an alternative pharmacy with a delivery service, which is a pity as my sisters and I always did our own family shopping as well as our mother’s when we took her prescription in and so will not now be shopping in Morrisons again due to this heartless, penny-pinching decision.”
Mr Parkin, who lives near Pateley Bridge, today told the Stray Ferret he was glad his family became aware of the situation before Monday, when the Queen’s funeral could have caused major problems getting hold of the various tablets his mother takes.
He added he had yet to receive a response to his letter from Morrisons.
The Stray Ferret has contacted Morrisons but has not had a response.