Widcombe Surgery

18/02/2026

🏃‍♀️🌿 Parkrun in Bath 🌿🏃‍♂️

Looking for a fun, free way to be more active and enjoy the outdoors — for adults and children?

Bath is lucky to have two brilliant local parkrun events that are all about movement, community and wellbeing 💚

👟 Bath Skyline parkrun
A free weekly 5km walk, jog or run for adults (and confident young runners).
📍 Bath Skyline (Claverton Down area)
🕘 Saturdays at 9am
Perfect whether you walk 🚶‍♀️, jog 🏃‍♂️, run ⏱️ or simply enjoy the fresh air and friendly atmosphere.

👟 Bath Odd Down junior parkrun
A free weekly 2km event for children aged 4–14, designed to be fun, inclusive and confidence-building.

📍 Odd Down Sports Ground
🕘 Sundays at 9am
Parents and carers are welcome to come along and cheer 👏

Regular physical activity is great for both physical and mental wellbeing, and parkrun is as much about community and connection as it is about exercise 🌞

You just need to register once (it’s free):
👉 Adults: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/bathskyline/

👉 Juniors: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/bathodddown-juniors/

A lovely local way to start the weekend — for all ages 🌿😊

A free, fun, and friendly weekly 5k community event. Walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate – it's up to you! Nearby Sunday 2k junior parkrun events for 4 to 14 year olds and their families can be found here.

17/02/2026

🌱 Support for mental wellbeing in Bath 🌱

Know someone struggling with their mental health, confidence, or feeling isolated?

Grow for Life offers a free, welcoming, nature-based space to connect with others — with no waiting list and based centrally in Bath.

👉 www.growforlife.org.uk

📞 07729 906223
📧 info@growforlife.org.uk

A gentle, therapeutic way to connect and feel supported. 🌿

14/02/2026

💖 This Valentine’s Day, Show Your Health Some Love 💖

Valentine’s Day isn’t just about flowers and chocolates — it’s also a great reminder to look after your health and wellbeing 💗

Small acts of self-care can make a big difference, such as:
❤️ Checking in on your mental wellbeing
❤️ Staying active in ways you enjoy
❤️ Booking that appointment you’ve been putting off
❤️ Supporting loved ones to look after their health too

Taking care of yourself helps you be there for the people you care about — today and every day.

If you have any health concerns or would like advice, our team is here to help 💚

13/02/2026

🩺 Free Local Support to Improve Your Health 🩺

The Bath & North East Somerset Wellness Service offers free support to help people improve their health and wellbeing, including:
• NHS Health Checks
• Support to stop smoking
• Help to become more active
• Weight management and lifestyle advice
• Emotional wellbeing support

These services are free for local residents and designed to support long-term health in a practical, achievable way.

Find out more or self-refer here:
🌐

Our FREE B&NES Wellness Service will support you to address factors that influence your emotional and physical health and wellbeing. The service aims to work you to increase motivation, skills, capacity and resilience to improve your health. The service includes the following programmes: Depending o...

11/02/2026

💻 Free online session for parents & carers

Could you tell if your child was being exploited?

Avon & Somerset Police are hosting free online sessions led by Child Exploitation Prevention Officer, Andri Nicolaou, to help parents and carers understand the risks to children online and offline, recognise warning signs, and learn how to keep children safe.

📅 18 March (7:00–8:30pm)
📅 30 March (10:30am–12:00pm)

👉 Book via the Avon & Somerset Police Eventbrite page - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/free-session-on-online-grooming-and-exploitation-for-parents-and-carers-tickets-1978817541535?aff=erelpanelorg or scan the QR code on the poster below.

Raising awareness helps keep children safe 💙

11/02/2026

💓 February is Heart Month — a time to focus on heart health and reducing cardiovascular risk. 💓
Did you know high blood pressure is often a silent killer? Lowering it significantly reduces your chances of heart attack and stroke.

Keep us beating this Heart Month in February. Take on a challenge to walk 28, 50 or 100 miles, or fundraise your way to help us power lifesaving research.

09/02/2026

This week focuses on supporting children’s emotional wellbeing —reach out early, listen, and offer support. More info

Mental health matters at every age — if you or your child needs support, we’re here to help.

Place2Be's official Children's Mental Health Week exists to empower, equip and give a voice to all children and young people in the UK.

06/02/2026

💚 Support for Health, Wellbeing & Everyday Pressures 💚

We know that health is about more than just medical care. Worries about money, food, housing or mental wellbeing can all have a real impact on how people feel day to day.

The Community Wellbeing Hub supports people living in Bath & North East Somerset by helping with:
• Access to food support and food banks
• Financial and debt advice
• Housing and employment support
• Mental health and wellbeing services
• Help with transport, medication and lifestyle support

If you or someone you care for needs extra support, you don’t have to manage it alone.

📞 0300 247 0050

🌐

We know that asking for help can be the biggest barrier when people are feeling vulnerable and isolated. We try and make it as easy as possible to get the help needed.

04/02/2026

Today is World Cancer Day, a global initiative to raise awareness of cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. Learn more ➡️
🌍

💛 At Widcombe Surgery, we encourage everyone to attend regular checks, know their family history, and talk to their GP about screening where appropriate. Together we can make a difference in reducing cancer’s impact.

An international awareness day led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to raise worldwide attention and inspire action for a cancer-free future.

04/02/2026

💚 Friends & Family Feedback – Thank You 💚

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share feedback with us in January. We read every comment and use it to make improvements.

What’s working well:

⭐ Patients consistently tell us they value being seen promptly and the kind, professional and reassuring care provided by our doctors, nurses and wider team.

What we’ve changed (and what to know):

🔧 We always aim to see patients on time, however waiting times can occasionally be affected by urgent clinical cases, staff sickness, or appointments that need extra time for patient care. When this happens, we are working to keep patients informed as early as possible.

🔧 For blood test appointments, if you have difficult veins or have had problems in the past, please let us know when booking. This allows us to book you with the most experienced clinician, helping make the appointment smoother and more comfortable.

Thank you for your understanding and for helping us continue to improve the service we provide. 💚

21/01/2026

We’ve recently seen an increase in patients turning up asking to be seen there and then for things like dressing changes, stitch removals and blood tests and even GP appointments. We completely understand how frustrating it can be to wait for an appointment, and we want to reassure you that we are doing our very best to meet demand. However, we wanted to explain why we can’t offer a walk-in service:

• All clinical appointments are pre-booked and usually fully allocated each day.
• Each clinician can only safely carry out a set number of appointments per session.
• Even “quick” appointments still need preparation, infection control, equipment and documentation.
• Fitting in unscheduled patients would mean clinics running late, affecting everyone else.
• This also increases pressure on staff and can compromise safety and care quality.

We’ve seen comments saying “it’s only 10 minutes – I should be able to be seen.”
If several people did this each day, those 10 minutes quickly add up to hours of lost clinic time.

A helpful comparison 🚗

You wouldn’t turn up at a garage for an MOT and expect it to be done immediately without a booking. GP surgeries work in exactly the same way.

What we ask instead

• Please book in advance for dressings, stitch removals and blood tests.
• Our reception team will happily help you book the right appointment.
• If something feels urgent and you can’t get an immediate slot with us, the Minor Injuries Unit / Urgent Treatment Centre at the RUH may be able to help – but you may still need to wait to be seen there too.

A respectful reminder 💬

When we explain this, we are sadly seeing increasing anger and abuse towards our reception team. This is not acceptable. They are only doing their job and following practice policy.

We’ve also noticed comments being posted on various Facebook sites. While we understand people may feel frustrated, this isn’t helpful and doesn’t allow us to resolve concerns properly. We can only assist if issues are raised with us directly and respectfully.

Thank you for your understanding and for helping us run clinics safely and fairly for everyone 💙

20/01/2026

🎗️ Cervical Cancer Prevention Week (Jan 20–26)

It’s —a vital reminder that cervical screening saves lives. Every year, thousands of cases are prevented thanks to early detection.

✅ Who should attend?
Women and people with a cervix aged 25–64 are invited for regular screening.

✅ Why is it important?
Screening detects abnormal cells before they become cancerous. It’s quick, free, and could save your life.

✅ What about HPV?
The HPV vaccine helps protect against the virus that causes most cervical cancers. If you’re eligible, make sure you’re vaccinated.

📅 Book your smear test today—don’t delay. If you’re unsure when you’re due, check your NHS app or call us at Widcombe Surgery.
Learn more:

NHS Cervical Screening:

Find out about the NHS cervical screening programme, including when it's offered, how to book, what happens at your appointment, getting your results and how it can help protect you from cervical cancer.