There are a range of health and lifestyle services available to residents in Lambeth to improve their health and reduce their risk of developing a variety of diseases.
Lifestyle factors contribute hugely to poor health and whether it is becoming more physically active, stopping smoking, achieving a healthier weight, tackling diabetes or getting help and support with your mental health there is something for all residents in Lambeth.
Weight management service
If you’re a patient registered with a Lambeth GP, you can ask for a referral to the new weight management service provided by Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Trust.
This high-quality, individualised service will include both practical sessions to increase physical activity levels and education to improve quality of diet and reduce energy intake. The combination will help users achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
You will need to ask your GP to make a referral for a clinical assessment. You will be assessed on whether the programme is right for you based on your body mass index (BMI), any long-term health conditions, such as diabetes, and your motivation to change and stick to the plan to achieve your healthy weight.
Stop smoking service
If you are a current smoker in Lambeth you can access the Lambeth stop smoking service. You can get access to free one-to-one support as well as supply of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) or Champix medication from either the local community pharmacy service or the specialist team at Guys and St Thomas.
You can refer yourself to the Lambeth community stop smoking service by:
- calling 0800 856 3409 or 020 3049 5791
- emailing gst-tr.stopsmokinglambeth@nhs.net
- visit your local pharmacy.
Please visiting the GSTT Stop Smoking Service website for more information.
NHS Health Checks are about diagnosing common problems such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease as early as possible and encouraging those at a higher-risk to take action.
Lambeth residents aged between 40 to 75 years old can book a free NHS Health Check at their local GP practice (if they have not already been diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, or had a stroke).
The check will involve some quick, simple tests and some questions about your family history and lifestyle habits. The specialist will work with you to lower your chances of developing dangerous health problems in the future recommending tailored steps to maintain or improve your health.
NHS diabetes prevention programme
If you are registered with a GP practice in South London and are at high risk of diabetes, you have access to Healthier You NHS diabetes prevention programme. Healthier You aims to help people at high risk of diabetes to take control of their health by supporting them to make changes to their diet, weight and the amount of exercise they do. Taking this kind of action now can potentially reduce the risk of, or even stop the development of Type 2 diabetes.
You can find out your risk of Type 2 diabetes by using the Diabetes UK know your risk tool. If the Know Your Risk tool shows that you are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, you need to arrange the necessary blood tests with your GP Practice to check if you are eligible to be referred.
If your GP practice has already told you that you are at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and you haven’t already been referred, ask your practice to refer you onto the Healthier You programme. If you have already been referred to Healthier You, contact them on info@preventing-diabetes.co.uk or 0333 577 3010 to book your place onto the programme.
More information about the Healthier You programme can be found here
Your Health web page
You can also visit Lambeth’s ‘Your Health’ web page for information, advice and signposting to local resources and services.
