Newsletter 13 from the LINks Exchange picks up on the Government response to the reports it commissioned after the failures of care in the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The newsletter says
“The Government has promised to give extra support to LINks across the country including guidance for the pubic on ‘how to be heard’. There are also plans for a national publicity campaign to promote awareness of the role of LINks in influencing local decision making around NHS services.

NHS organisations are expected to publicly demonstrate that they are putting patients and the public at the heart of designing the services in their areas.

As a result, the Government will, “require relevant NHS organisations to publish a new annual statement of involvement to demonstrate how they are implementing the legal duty to involve patients and the public that came into law in November last year. We would expect the statement to include a commentary by the relevant local organisations that represent patients and the public, including the LINk and the Local Authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

“For acute providers, in producing their quality accounts, we would expect them to draw data from a range of sources, including direct patient feedback. We also want to ensure LINks are able to comment on quality accounts by requiring providers to consult them on their draft reports, as well as encouraging an ongoing, year round dialogue about the quality of care.”

There is also a reminder about the NCI Summer Conference on 2nd July in London to discuss the future of PPI and two blogs from different LINks on their experience of the first year. On the LINk forums, the discussion about CRB checks is still the leader with 46 posts on this topic.

Finally there are two more LINk Guides published – 18 and 19
Guide 18 is about the health and social care structures and organisations that LINks have to work with and Guide19 is addressed to health and social care managers and talks about how they should work with LINks to the benefit of their users.