October 2011 e-news

Hello from the Somerset LINk, 

Where we are sitting with our popcorn with one ear on the Health Bill debate in the House of Lords.  So before it’s all out of date, here’s the latest news roundup from the Somerset LINk:

HealthWatch update

We’ve had lots of positive feedback about out HealthWatch Briefing Paper – in fact, it’s gone positively viral, and we’ve received requests for it to be distributed to LINks across the country: North Tyneside LINk, Halton LINk, West Sussex LINk, Telford & Wrekin LINk, Hackney LINk, Lambeth LINk, Bath & North East Somerset LINk, Lincolnshire LINk, Leeds LINk, Bedfordshire LINk, Wiltshire LINk, Birmingham LINk – as well as requests from various PALS teams across the country too.  It was also distributed at the weekend at a national conference organised by the Department of Health and the National Association of LINks Members. So if you haven’t yet seen it, download it and have a read!

Enter & View Workshop

Jono and Lucy will be running an Enter & View training workshop on Friday October 21st at the Hambridge office. This will be for new volunteers who want to join our Enter & View Team, who visit residential homes and compile reports on their findings.  It will also be a refresher workshop for existing E&V Team members and a chance to talk about what works well and what could be improved. If you are interested, please email somersetlink@makesachange.org.ukand we’ll send you further information.

Patient Transport Report

We’ve had responses from NHS Somerset and Somerset County Council, following the publication of our report on patients' views on transport in Somerset. You can read the responses and the report here. Our report will be used to inform decisions about the transport service as it develops over the next few months. We will be making sure that your views are represented and inform any decisions made about patient transport services – particularly around information and access.

Starting a Somerset Neurological Alliance

The Somerset LINk is helping to coordinate a meeting to gather together patients and carers and those with an interest in neurological conditions.  This includes things like Multiple sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease and Parkinson's disease. Local Neurological Alliances exist around the country to enable people with long term neurological conditions and their families/carers to come together to speak with one voice on their common health and social care needs, monitoring local health and care services and where needed, campaigning to retain or improve local services. We are inviting patients and carers to come along to open meeting organised by the South West Alliance of Neurological Organisations (www.swano.org) and find out about forming a neurological alliance for Somerset. An initial meeting is planned for 24 October 2011 in Taunton. You can read more info here. To book a place, please contact Lucy at the Somerset LINk Office on lucy.nicholls@helpandcare.org.uk.

This month’s LINk Meeting

This month’s LINk meeting is on Tuesday 25th October from 11am at the Community Hospital in Minehead.  We’ll be holding our usual LINk meeting, followed by a tour of the new hospital. All are welcome to come along to any part of the meeting. Please let Theresa know if you are coming so there is no fighting over the crisps - email Theresa.Stanton@helpandcare.org.ukand she’ll send you an agenda.

Calling North Petherton patients!

North Petherton Surgery is setting up a new Patient Participation Group and is looking for interested patients to join. If this is your surgery, and you want to get more involved, contact Lesley for more information on Lesley.Mildren@northpetherton.nhs.uk.

Participation Training

A final call for the Participation training workshops which are being held by Somerset Parents and Carers Confederation (PACC) on Monday 17th October and Tuesday 18th October. The training will take place in Westonzoyland, near Bridgwater. For more information or to book your place, telephone 01278 691234 or email help@somersetparents.org or view more information on their website.

What else have we done this month? 

Also this month we've attended: the Carers’ Strategy Group, SREC’s BME Mental Health meeting, the Taunton branch of the National Autism Society AGM, Somerset County Council Scrutiny meeting, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust AGM, Clinical Commissioning Group Advisory Group, NHS Somerset Equality Delivery System meeting – and we’ve met with the CQC to discuss our Enter & View projects. We’ve met with Carers’ Champions from Edington Surgery, Ryalls Park Surgery, Wincanton Surgery and Penn Hill Surgery, and representatives from St. John Ambulance, local Carers UK branches, Mind in Taunton & West Somerset, South Somerset Mind and Headway.  We’ve held stalls at a Carers’ UK Day in Frome and an older people’s day in Bridgwater (very much enjoyed the Wrinkly Rappers). We caught up with the Somerset Patient Participation Group Chairs at their Network meeting (and have set up a PPG Chairs Forum at www.linkedin.com).

We’ve been interviewed on BBC Somerset radio on nursing staff communication and a carers report by the Princess Royal Trust.  We held a LINk Steering Group meeting in Hambridge (Minutes here). We discussed Somerset County Council’s involvement plans at our meeting, and submitted a response from the LINk.

Our LINk Reps have also attended the West Somerset Health Forum, NHS Somerset Board Meeting and AGM, Clinical Commissioning Group meetings, North Sedgmoor Health Forum and the Somerset Partnership Patient and Public Involvement Meeting (and if you want to read any of their reports from these meetings, please let us know and we can email them to you).

That's all folks!

That’s all from us for now – but we’ll send another update in November. We’re also putting together our Autumn LINk newsletter, which will contain some reports from our LINk reps across the county – we’ll email this out, but please drop us a line if you would like this posted to you as well.

In the meantime, let us know if you have any questions about our work or any views on health and social services in Somerset! 

Best wishes from the Somerset LINk Staff Team