Get Set Goal thanked for making a life-changing difference

The University of Huddersfield’s Get Set Goal has been praised by a local man who has the programme to thank for making a potentially life-saving change to his health.

Stephen Whitaker’s blood pressure was revealed to be very high when he had a health check carried out by students from the University at the Halifax Panthers’ Shay Stadium, where Stephen works as an operations manager on matchdays.

Previously unaware of how high his blood pressure was, Stephen has changed his diet and he exercises every day, as well as taking medication, all of which came about because he volunteered to be the first for a check when Get Set Goal visited a Panthers’ rugby league match in the summer.

Get Set Goal is a wellbeing service from the University’s Health and Wellbeing Academy. It is part of the ‘Find Out Who You Really Are ’ initiative, instigated by NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, which is working with several local and national organisations including Diabetes UK, Stroke Association and Pumping Marvellous as well as Get Set Goal.

“I volunteered to go first when the students came to us, and they showed me that my blood pressure was on the high side,” says Stephen. “I was given a note to say I should see my GP within 48 hours, then I was put on a seven day trial where I had to check by blood pressure morning and night, but it kept going up.

“On day six, I woke up and it was 212 over 145, which is dangerously high. I spent all day in A&E, trying to get it down, but it would not come down so I was admitted onto a ward as an in-patient.”

Stephen spent five days in hospital, and after his blood pressure came back down to acceptable levels he has seen his health change dramatically for the better with an improved diet and regular walks, but the catalyst was Get Set Goal’s initial health check.

“It was a scary, scary time. I don’t want to be dramatic but if I had not had that blood pressure check, it could have cost me my life. It was on a level with a stroke or a heart attack, it really brought it home how important your blood pressure is and that you should get your blood pressure checked.

“It’s great that sports stadiums are being used for this. I never had any symptoms, I could have carried on and not have been here now. Places like this need to get on board with organisations like Get Set Goal because it could have been a different story. It is so, so important. You might not have any symptoms, like I did, but look at the outcome.”

Visits to events included T20 games at Headingley, rugby league at the Huddersfield Giants. Castleford Tigers, Bradford Bulls and the Panthers and the Honley Show. Students offer a one-to-one health check that included blood pressure, oxygen saturation and pulse checks to help raise awareness of stroke and heart attack.

Get Set Goal recently won a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) from higher education charity Advance HE. It is an award given to collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning and highlights the role of teamwork in UK higher education.

Get Set Goal was created to address placement deficits for mental health nurses, creating community-based experiences with a focus on health inequities. Students and staff manage the service collaboratively, promoting health and wellbeing through community events, including health-check clinics, one to one wellbeing coaching sessions helping people manage their mental and physical health, wellbeing workshops and Restart a Heart training, a national resuscitation education scheme.

Since its launch in 2022, nearly 200 students have engaged in community placements through Get Set Goal, working with over 100 organisations in the region which include third sector organisations, voluntary groups and local primary and secondary healthcare providers.