Here's your New Year Poole LINk update !
Poole LINk
2011 was a really busy year, Poole LINk now has around 800 participants, including 150 local groups & organisations. The LINk has run projects and produced reports on social care, maternity services and hospital discharge this year. Your comments have influenced the decisions of the NHS and the council, prompting changes to maternity services, extra funding for people no longer eligible for social care, improved communication and a soon to be announced NHS Dentist in Hamworthy. Our visiting team has grown and worked jointly with Poole Forum. We also set up a Reading Group this year, volunteers who help the NHS & the Council produce easy to read reports, without all the jargon. The LINk has allocated £5000 as community grants, supporting 11 local projects. 2012 starts with the LINk working on the Youth Survey, building greater patient participation in GP surgeries and planning community engagement events for the year.
Thanks for all your help, the LINk can’t work without you. We wish you all a very Happy New Year.
New start date and more funding announced for Local HealthWatch
A new date for establishing Local Healthwatch in April 2013 has been announced to align this closer to the establishment of other new bodies such as the health and well being boards. The extension will also support preparations for implementation and enable Healthwatch England (which will be established in October 2012) to provide the leadership and support to Local Healthwatch organisations. Here’s a letter from David Behan, Director General for Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships, with more details: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_132020.pdf
LINk Community Grants
The LINk community grant of £500 to Compass helped them hold a Christmas event at Rossmore Leisure Centre for isolated older people on 8/12/11. There were lots of information stands, entertainment, craft activities and young people from St Aldhelms Academy served up Christmas lunch. This was a partnership event between Faithworks Wessex, St Aldhelm’s Academy, Poole LINk and the Borough of Poole. To find out more about this years LINk Community Grants have a look at our webpage www.poolelink.org.uk
LINk Youth Survey
So far we’ve gathered around 400 completed LINk Youth Surveys with lots of great ideas and suggestions. If you’re 25 or under and you live, go to school/college or work in Poole - please help us by filling it in. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete, and all the comments we gather will help to improve health and social care services in Poole. Our youth survey is available online: www.makesachange.org.uk/cms/site/news/poole/poole-link-youth-survey.aspx To find out more, or to request paper copies of the survey, contact Louise on Tel: 0300 111 0102, email: contact@makesachange.org.uk, or tweet @poolelink
Making Poole LINk more accessible
Our social care report ‘Just Another Day Spent on My Own’ is now available on tape and CD. If you support someone who would like to receive this report or our monthly email bulletins on CD or tape, please get in touch with Louise on 0300 111 0102. (NB. We also hope to have mp3 versions on our website soon – all thanks to BSVI). You can also follow us on twitter to catch up on all the latest news @poolelink. Just go to www.twitter.com/poolelink to find out more.
Older People’s Mental Health Services
NHS Bournemouth and Poole and NHS Dorset are re-commissioning older people’s mental health services. Previous engagement with stakeholders has helped in the development of plans for community services, the mental health strategy and a vision for mental health services for older people. The consensus of all those involved is the need to develop enhanced community-based care and to incorporate flexibility of response in order to better meet the specific requirements of individual service users and their families. NHS B&P would like to invite interested voluntary sector groups to attend one of two engagement events on Friday 13 January from 12pm at Canford House, Poole; or Wednesday 18 January from 2pm at Vespasian House, Dorchester. Each session will last approximately two hours, please email mental.health@bp-pct.nhs.uk to book a place.
The Big Plan for adults with learning disabilities
The Big Plan explains how Bournemouth and Poole will work together to provide health and social care services for adults with learning disabilities. There was a Big Plan event on 13th December at Poole Civic Centre which brought together almost 90 people to find out more about the plan and to have their say. This consultation is running until 10th February 2012 so there’s still plenty of time to take part, go to: www.boroughofpoole.com/thebigplan/ or for paper copies, please call Jannie Bowen on (01202) 633646, or email j.bowen@poole.gov.uk
Our Local Hospitals Discuss a Merger
PooleHospital has published further information about the potential merger with Bournemouth Hospital on their website, go to: http://213.106.147.101/trust_merger/?page_id=44 A full public consultation is due to start in January and if approved, it will be the first ever merger of two hospital foundation trusts.
Politicians urged to change social care
Plans to reform social care will be put forward in the spring. But before that politicians are seeking to achieve cross-party consensus on the best way forward. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, Lib Dem health minister Paul Burstow and shadow health secretary Andy Burnham are expected to hold the first in a series of meetings within the next few weeks. In a letter sent to the prime minister and published in the Daily Telegraph, 72 signatories, including leading figures from charities such as Carers UK and Age UK, as well as peers, academics and members of the British Medical Association and NHS Confederation, have suggested they should not squander this opportunity. The letter claims that 800,000 older people are being left without basic care – lonely, isolated and at risk - because councils have started restricting access to services.
New Debt Counselling Centre in Poole
LOCAL people struggling with overwhelming personal debt are set to get free help from an acclaimed charity opening a new centre in Poole. Growing debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) opened 37 new church-based debt centres around the UK in October, including one in Poole Christian Fellowship, Lagland St, Poole. CAP offers people a uniquely in-depth, caring service to people with spiralling personal debt. Poole Christian Fellowship, in partnership with Poole Vineyard Church, are running the Centre in Poole and are open for business now: visit www.capuk.org or call 0800 328 0006.
Lewis-Manning Hospice to benefit from Text Santa (nb. last date for text donations is 5pm on
the 6th January 2012)
Money raised by Text Santa will help the Poole hospice to make a difference to the lives of people with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and their families during the festive period and beyond. Text Santa, ITV’s new Christmas charity initiative closes for text donations on 6th January 2012. To donate £1 simply text SANTA1 to 70070 or for more details go to: http://www.itv.com/textsanta/
Holocaust Memorial Day
Bournemouth and Poole Holocaust Memorial Day Committee invite you to join them at the commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday 29th January 2012 at 2.00pm. This event will take place at Bournemouth University and will include an act of commemoration, a presentation from a student who has recently taken part in the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project, readings appropriate to the theme ‘Speak up Speak Out’ and the opportunity of signing the pledge to challenge the language of hatred and commit to using words which reflect respect for the dignity of those around us.
Brain Injury Information Events 2012
Dorset Healthcare are running a series of drop-in events next year for service users, students, carers, employers & staff who are interested in finding out more about brain injury. The first event is on Thursday 19th January, 11am at Poole Community Health Clinic, Shaftesbury Road, Poole. BH15 2NT. Please see the flyer with this and all the other dates. For more details, please contact Lynne Phillips or Andrea Latham at Poole clinic on 01202 308080.
An exciting invitation to young people across Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole…
Have you been to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, have you heard of it? Would you like to take part in the creation and/or performance of a professional, unique and original outdoor show both on and about the island? In April and May 2012 the Unlocked Partnership are going to create a fantastic outdoor show created for and inspired by the long history, eccentric characters and secret life of Brownsea Island. To find out more about this exciting opportunity, seethe flyer.
Thanks for your help, LINks can't work without you!
Happy New Year from Poole LINk!
We're always looking for volunteers to get involved in LINk projects and your comments direct the LINks work - so tell us what you think about local health and social care services. Contact Louise Bate, Poole LINk Development Officer: