{"id":203475,"date":"2026-01-16T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475"},"modified":"2026-01-16T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:00:00","slug":"nhs-cheshire-and-merseyside-january-2026-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475","title":{"rendered":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n

Firstly, I would like to wish you a happy and healthy New Year and thank all NHS staff who worked tirelessly over the festive period to keep services running.<\/p>\n

I am also grateful to the public for using NHS services appropriately during this time \u2013 your support truly makes a difference.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, financial recovery remains a key priority in 2026. Achieving our aims will require strong, system-wide collaboration, and I am encouraged by the shared commitment to this that I continue to see across our partners.<\/p>\n

To this end, our Chair, Sir David Henshaw, and I have been meeting with local authority leaders recently to work through some of our shared challenges to enable us to – collectively – deliver the best possible care for our communities.<\/p>\n

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate two colleagues on being named in HM The King’s New Year Honours List.<\/p>\n

ICB Board member Trish Bennett, the Chief Executive of Mersey Care, has been awarded an MBE for services to the NHS, while Dr Graeme Allan, volunteer Medical Director at the Southport Macmillan Centre, has been recognised with a British Empire Medal.<\/p>\n

These awards reflect their exceptional commitment to patients and communities and we are incredibly proud to see such shining examples representing our region.<\/p>\n

Finally, as the current cold weather persists, please continue to take care of yourselves and others. Do keep an eye out for weather warnings and remember to check in on vulnerable friends, family members and neighbours.<\/p>\n

We are also currently seeing flu levels rise again following festive socialising, so I would like to remind everyone who is eligible that there is still time to get both the flu and Covid vaccines.<\/p>\n

Best wishes,<\/p>\n

Liz Bishop<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chief Executive<\/p>\n

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside<\/p>\n

Click here to read our January 2026 Monthly Update<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Content provided by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.<\/p>\n

Published on Fri, 16 Jan 2026 15:00:00 GMT
Modified on Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:47:28 GMT<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liz Bishop (Chief Executive)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":203476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog - Hillfoot Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog - Hillfoot Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Liz Bishop (Chief Executive)...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hillfoot Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-16T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@healthhillfoot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@healthhillfoot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ab2743d9b0967ef8671f6f74c807ab1e\"},\"headline\":\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-16T15:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475\"},\"wordCount\":325,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475\",\"name\":\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog - Hillfoot Health\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-16T15:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?p=203475#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hillfoot Health\",\"description\":\"Hillfoot Health GP Practice\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hillfoot Health\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Final-logo-Hillfoot-Health-Roof-1.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Final-logo-Hillfoot-Health-Roof-1.svg\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"Hillfoot Health\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/healthhillfoot\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ab2743d9b0967ef8671f6f74c807ab1e\",\"name\":\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\\\/?author=48\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog - Hillfoot Health","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog - Hillfoot Health","og_description":"Liz Bishop (Chief Executive)...","og_url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475","og_site_name":"Hillfoot Health","article_published_time":"2026-01-16T15:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":350,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@healthhillfoot","twitter_site":"@healthhillfoot","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475"},"author":{"name":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ab2743d9b0967ef8671f6f74c807ab1e"},"headline":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog","datePublished":"2026-01-16T15:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475"},"wordCount":325,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475","url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475","name":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog - Hillfoot Health","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png","datePublished":"2026-01-16T15:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1o4ond8za0lqwh8wfeoyhtkxxa-1.png","width":350,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?p=203475#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside January 2026 Blog"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/","name":"Hillfoot Health","description":"Hillfoot Health GP Practice","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#organization","name":"Hillfoot Health","url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Final-logo-Hillfoot-Health-Roof-1.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Final-logo-Hillfoot-Health-Roof-1.svg","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"Hillfoot Health"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/healthhillfoot"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ab2743d9b0967ef8671f6f74c807ab1e","name":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"NHS Cheshire and Merseyside"},"url":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/?author=48"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=203475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/203476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=203475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=203475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillfoothealth.nhs.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=203475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}