September 2011 e-news

Hello from the Somerset LINk, 

Where we are missing our lovely Theresa who has swanned off on honeymoon after getting married to her dairyman fiancé - finally achieving every Somerset girl’s dream of becoming a farmer’s wife!  But we haven’t just been arguing about who will be writing the minutes while Theresa’s away - so here’s the latest news roundup from the Somerset LINk.

NHS & SOCIAL CARE REFORMS 1:HealthWatch update

In about a year’s time, your local LINk will be evolving into local HealthWatch (yes, this does make us sound more like the missing LINk than we might like).  We’ve put together a HealthWatch Briefing Paperto give you some ideas about what might happen over the next year. There are still a lot of questions left to answer, but we hope this might address some of the questions that we are being asked about what HealthWatch might look like.

NHS & SOCIAL CARE REFORMS 2: Health and Wellbeing Board Update

We’ve been keeping up-to-date with developments in Somerset – particularly the new Health and Wellbeing Board that will be part of the new commissioning world from autumn this year. This Board will eventually have a ‘HealthWatch Representative’ – and you can read more about developments in the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Task and Finish Group Report here. And if you are tempted by the idea of being a public representative on this board, do get in touch!

Patient and Public Involvement Map of Somerset

We're often asked what opportunities there are for patients and carers who want to get involved as patient representatives or feeding back their views to health services in Somerset. So we've put together a map showing all the opportunities for involvement in Somerset. You can view the PPI map here. The map is a work in progress, so if you have any comments or suggestions for improvement, please get in touch with us so we can make amendments. Email comments or suggestions tolucy.nicholls@helpandcare.org.uk.

Enter & View Reports

The Somerset LINk Enter & View Team have been busy over the last few weeks with their programme of visits – and have two more reports that you can read on our website:
>> The Elms Residential Home in Yeovil Marsh (visited on 18 July 2011).
>> Chelston Gardens Residential Home in Wellington (visited on 23 June 2011)
We’ve also added two more trained Authorised Representatives to our Enter and View Team – Anne and Penny – who will be joining the visiting programme shortly.

Carers UK Event: Carers Day in Wells

Carers UK (East Somerset) is Calling all carers in the Mendips, Bruton, Castle Cary & Wincanton to Wells Town Hall on Thursday 15th September 2011 for a Carers Day. The Mayor of Wells will open the event at 9.30am and there will be a talk at 12.30pm by Imelda Redmond CBE, the Chief Executive of Carers UK. This is a free day for carers with stalls of information, people to talk with, relaxation sessions – and Somerset’s only female magician! And if that isn’t enough to lure you in, Lucy from the LINk staff team will be available to chat and share your stories. For more information, see our website or email sarah.maude@virgin.net.

Somerset Parents and Carers Confederation Event: Participation Training

Somerset Parents and Carers Confederation (PACC) is running Participation training workshops 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.orgor view more information on their website.

What else have we been up to ..... ?

We haven’t just been sitting here listening to Theresa’s thoughts about wedding dresses – and to prove it, here’s a rundown of what we’ve been up since our last monthly update. We’ve carried out an Enter & View visit of a Somerset residential home, attended the Somerset County Council’s Carers’ Strategy Group, given a talk to the Disability Community Champions, spoken to BBC Radio Somerset breakfast show about mixed sex wards, attended the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Technical Working Group, held a LINk Steering Group meeting in Hambridge (minutes here), met with the General Medical Council south-west Rep, attended the Somerset Community Health Patient and Public Involvement Steering group, met with the PCT to discuss forthcoming consultations about Any Qualified Provider, attended Enter & View training in Bristol, attended the Somerset County Council Scrutiny Committee and presented a HealthWatch Briefing workshop at Hambridge – and made 13 requests for information from local health and social care providers.

This month’s meeting

This month’s LINk Steering Group meeting will be held on Tuesday 27th September at 11am at the Hambridge Office. Please let us know if you will attending, so we can work out where Theresa hides the biscuits …

That's all folks!

That’s all from us for now – but we’ll send another update in October .... in the meantime, drop us a line 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 (including Theresa Raymont – nee Stanton!)

Hello,

It's not our monthly news time again - but we want to bring the following local consultations to your attention:

Have Your Say: Extending Patient Choice consultation (NHS Somerset)

When should patients be offered choice of providers? In order to extend patients' choice, NHS Somerset needs to identify health services where patients should be offered a choice of provider. Have your say about what these services should be. You can view the consultation online.

Have Your Say: User and Carer involvement consultation (Somerset County Council)

Somerset County Council have been looking at the ways that they involve users and carers in their services. They want your views on their plans. You can read their plans and how to get involved on our website at http://tinyurl.com/sccconsult.

Taunton Deane - 'What matters to you?' Consultation

Here's one for Taunton Deane residents. What matters to you most in Taunton Deane – tackling deprivation or combating climate change? Would you pay more for services to ensure they continue? The Council is preparing to reduce its spending over the next four years and is keen to learn what matters most to Taunton Deane residents. The questionnaire can be found at www.tauntondeane.gov.ukand takes just a few minutes to complete.

NATIONAL CONSULTATION: 'Caring for our future'

This week the Department of Health has launched a three-month engagement exercise called 'Caring for our future', seeking views on the future of care and support. You can find out more at caringforourfuture.dh.gov.uk.

We'll be discussing these and other consultations at our LINk meeting on Tuesday 27th September at 11 a.m. at the Hambridge office - let us know if you'd like to attend.