Six year old Max helping to change health service behaviours this winter

A six-year-old budding investigator is helping the people of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire choose the right NHS service this winter with a series of heart-warming online films that go behind the scenes at the region’s health and care facilities.

Inquisitive Max Carter has spent time visiting the dedicated teams working hard across various local NHS services, and has documented his travels for the new video series.

Over the course of more than a dozen short films, the suit and tie wearing youngster channels his inner Louis Theroux to quiz different health and care staff on the help they can offer to local people this winter.

Some of the locations featured in the Max Carter Investigates series include the Accident and Emergency Department at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Chippenham Minor Injuries Unit, Salisbury Walk-in Centre and Hope House Surgery in Radstock. Gill May, Chief Nurse, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board.

Gill May, Chief Nurse, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, said: “While these videos are intended to be light-hearted, they do carry a very serious message, which is that it has never been more important for people to choose right when accessing health and care.

“Our services, all the way from emergency departments to GP practices, are under an enormous amount of pressure, and our teams are pulling out all the stops to help people get the support they need as quickly as possible.

“When people use a service for something that it is not intended for, such as visiting hospital for help with a sore throat, it takes staff away from caring for those in genuine need, which can lead to delays elsewhere.

“We know more people become ill or injured during the winter, and although it can be difficult to stop and think in the heat of the moment, we kindly ask people to do just that and ask themselves if where they intend to visit is really the right place for their specific condition.”

The films will be shared across BSW social media channels over the coming weeks and will be available on our new Winter Portal at https://bswtogether.org.uk/yourhealth