With students all over the country starting university, and many enjoying their new-found freedom during Freshers’ Week, local doctors are urging students to practise safe sex by taking care to use a condom or a dental dam.

Doctors at Cannock Chase Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula CCG and Stafford and Surrounds CCG are advising students to be aware of the risks associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and how to avoid them. In 2015, there were more than 435,000 STI diagnoses in England and there is still a great deal of confusion about how people can catch STIs.

Local doctors are calling on residents to familiarise themselves with the symptoms of blood cancer to help improve rates of early diagnosis.

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Monthand Cannock Chase Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula CCG and Stafford and Surrounds CCGare joining with several national charities and other NHS organisations in raising awareness of the symptoms of blood cancer, in an attempt to improve early diagnosis rates and save lives.