Archive for July, 2009

NHS Wandsworth is currently reviewing Adult Community Nursing Services, including District Nursing, Community Matrons and Specialist Nursing Services (Diabetes Nurses, Heart Failure Nurses, Leg Ulcer Nurses, and Respiratory Nurses)

If you have received any of these services or are a carer of someone who has received these services, NHS Wandsworth would like to hear from you!

Please take the time to complete this short questionnaire and return it to NHS Wandsworth (not the LINk office).

• View the Service User Survey, July 2009 (opens in Microsoft Word, 127Kb)
  (Either click the link above, or right click and select ‘Save As’ to save it on your computer)
• or view the survey in PDF format

Please return completed surveys by Friday 28th August to:

Suzanne Lawler
Long Term Conditions Commissioning Manager

By email: suzanne.lawler@wpct.nhs.uk
By post:

Wandsworth PCT HQ
3rd Floor, Wimbledon Bridge House
Hartfield Road
London
SW19 3RU

Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton are looking for a volunteer to take part in their regular inspections.

Join PEAG and do PEATs

These inspections are called Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) inspections and assess a range of factors including standards of maintenance, décor, furnishings and cleanliness to help bring about improvements to the patient environment.

Queen Mary’s carries out 3 “mini-PEAT” inspections and one PEAT inspection every year through a group called the Patient Environment Action Group (PEAG). The PEAG meets every 3 months, and volunteers will be expected to take part in each meeting and inspection (i.e. 8 sessions per year).

The hospital is looking for volunteers who have a keen interest in the patient environment and experience, and are able to report back to the LINk (verbally and in writing). They will cover all expenses that you incur when taking part in this role and can provide additional support in the form of basic training (giving background on PEAT inspections).

The deadline for submission is the 4th August, applicants to supply a short personal statement (no more than 200 words).

Please note if there is an insufficient response, they will defer an appointment until October so there will be another chance to get involved.

If you are interested in this opportunity please contact Tom Magill on 0208 812 7642 or Tom.Magill@wpct.nhs.uk.

Some totally timely topics in the latest issue of the report from the PEC/ NHS Wandsworth Management Team meeting (link opens in PDF). This is personal feedback from Andrew Craig in his role as the Lay Member  on the PEC.

Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Plan

Local data shows a clear link between deprivation and cancer mortality with the more deprived Wandsworth wards (Latchmere, Queenstown, Northcote) having higher rates than the rest of London. The action plan covers

• Smoking cessation
• Obesity control
• Increasing physical activity
• Alcohol reduction
• Cancer screening
• Raising awareness
• Sun protection and early detection of skin cancer
• HPV vaccination

More work is needed with users of cancer services and those who were identified as being at risk. To be successful, these programmes, Andrew argues, must be engaged with users – for example finding out what young people in particular know and understand about skin cancer risks.

Swine Flu and the provision of antiviral drugs in Wandsworth

Swine flu seems to have well and truly arrived in Wandsworth and the PEC queried why drugs like Tamiflu could not be obtained from ordinary chemists rather than two designated health centres and one chemist in Tooting? If things get worse, the PEC wants to see these drugs available in all pharmacies in normal hours as well as a convenient out of hours service.

Money

NHS Wandsworth (NHSW) has a surplus at the moment of £6.3million. This gives NSHW some financial headroom to plan for the future. But government rules mean that any surplus has to be spent and not used to help out in a future with less money. So a deficit looks likely after 2011/12 and people will have to use the money they do get more efficiently. The NHSW board is discussing the future strategy needed to cope at their meeting on 29th July.

Other Business

The committee considered a report on user and patient engagement in the groupings of GP practices known as clusters where the situation is very mixed. A reminder was needed that involving patients was not an end in itself – there needed to be a purpose and some results.

NICE Work on Lower Back Pain

NICE is the body that issues advice on how best to treat people and a recent May publication gave guidance on lower back pain. The PCT has to act on such guidance and provide the services that do seem to work and decommission those that do not. The clinical effectiveness group will look at the NICE guidance and advise the PCT on what it needs to do.

For a copy of the full report of the meeting, go to the NHS Wandsworth website featuring Board Reports. All the PEC Lay Member reports can be found on the Resources menu under Health & Social Care.

There are some 19,000 carers living in Wandsworth and the new Carers’ Strategy will cover how the statutory and voluntary agencies will help carers over the next 5 years.

Wandsworth Council, NHS Wandsworth and other partner agencies are currently consulting on the draft strategy and plans for Carers – this includes young carers too. Wandsworth LINk has been asked to help gather views, comments and suggestions to help improve the current draft plans.

If you would like to see the draft strategy and action plan (which are being consulted on) they are available by from this website or we will send them to you in the post.

Your Views in Writing, by Phone or by Web Comment

You can reach us to ask for a copy of the plan and give us your views at Wandsworth LINk, 2nd floor, Bedford House, 215 Balham High Road, SW17 7BQ, on 020 8696 1709 or leave a comment after reading this by clicking on the blue comment text at the top of this piece.

Your Views in Person

If you want to give your views in person, come to the one of the two Carers’ Voices discussion being held in August and have a chance to win £30 of shopping vouchers (the draw is after the second meeting) as well meeting other carers over tea.

Tuesday 18th August 11-1pm at Balham Library Hall, 16 Ramsden Road, SW12 8QY

OR

Wednesday 19th August 6-8pm Putney Library Meeting Room, 5/7 Disraeli Road, Putney, SW15 2DR

Call Daniel at the Wandsworth Carers Centre on (020) 8675 0811 to register your place, or find out more.

The Wandsworth LINk is committed to improving the services for Carers in Wandsworth – and in order to achieve this we would like to hear from Wandsworth residents what they think of carers’ services now and what improvements they would like to see in the future.

The Members of the Primary Health and Social Care Sub Group would like to hear comments and get views from anyone who has attended one of the South Wandsworth Health Consultation meetings recently.

Did you think the main questions were put over clearly? Did they address the main issues? Did you manage to have your say? Do you think you were listened to?

Even if you put your own points directly to the NHS Wandsworth at the time, the LINk is here to take the representations made by individuals and use them to strengthen our submission to NHS Wandsworth on this important development in health services.

Susan Wheeler-Kiley at the LINk Host Office will pass what you say to us on the sub-group.

She can be reached at the usual address:

Wandsworth Care Alliance, Bedford House, 215 Balham High Road, Balham SW17 7BQ.

Phone: 020 8682 7263.
e-mail: freechoice@wandcareall.org.uk

or just leave us a comment by clicking on the blue comment link at the top of the news item and Susan will see this.

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This is the Agenda of our Executive Committee meeting on Monday 20th July 2009, 6.00-8.30pm at Atheldene Resources Centre,  305 Garratt Lane, London, SW18 4EQ.

We look forward to seeing you there and there is a link to all the meeting papers after the Agenda

Agenda items

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Chairs announcements
3. Declaration of Interests
   To be declared
4. Minutes of the previous meeting on Monday 8th June 2009
   To be agreed
5. Matters arising from minutes not covered on agenda
6. Presentation and discussion:
   Dawn Warwick, Director of Adult Social Services, Wandsworth Council – Transforming Adult Social Care
7. Updates from Sub Groups:
   - Chair’s group
   - Resources & Governance
   - Communication & Participation
   - Primary Health & Social Care
   - Secondary Health & Social Care
   Matters for discussions/decision:
8. Wandsworth LINk strapline
   To agree the strapline
   Matters for information:
9. Financial Report
   To note expenditure
10. AOB
11. Dates of next meeting:
    Monday 28th September 2009, 6.00pm, venue to be advised.

    LINk members/members of the public are welcome to attend and participate in the meeting and informal discussions and refreshments will be available.

All the meeting documents are available to download from the LINk Meeting Minutes page.

The next LINk Executive Meeting will be on 20th July at 6pm at

the Atheldene Resources Centre

305 Garrett Lane SW18 4EQ

On the agenda will be a presentation from Dawn Warwick, Director of Adult Social Services, Wandsworth Council on the Transformation Agenda. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions and comment on what she has to say.

The Council has been working on the Transforming Social Care and Personalisation Programme for a while now and if you have time before hearing from Dawn in person to do some background reading, take a look at a progress report submitted earlier this year on the Council website.

In this edition of their newsletter, the CQC announces the publication of its Voices Into Action manifesto – their commitment to giving people a bigger say in how health and social care services can be improved. They consulted widely when putting it together and have given good feedback (in line with one of their Voices in Action commitments) on the action they took. telling us for example that the title of the document was changed as a result of feedback at events. The section on governance was clarified and decisions made about which advisory groups the CQC was going to have initially.

The full report of the consultation is available via their news release.

Looking for independent committee members

The Commission is looking for independent members to serve on its Audit and Risk Committee and you can see how to apply here.

You can sign up for the CQC newsletter online.

A meeting of the Secondary Health and Social Care Sub Group will be held on Monday 13th July, at Putney Library, 5/7 Disraeli Road, Putney, SW15 2DR, from 6.00pm to 8.00pm.

If you want to come and have any transport or other support needs, please contact Susan Wheeler-Kiley, Wandsworth Care Alliance, Bedford House, 215 Balham High Road, Balham SW17 7BQ. Phone: 020 8682 7263.
e-mail: freechoice@wandcareall.org.uk

The full summer newsletter is now available to read here (opens in Adobe PDF).

News in Brief

Jeremy Ambache sets out the four Wandsworth LINk priorities selected out of the 29 suggestions received. Jeremy writes “It was not an easy decision for the Executive. The debate we had at the open meeting was heated and vigorous- but that is good as we had difficult choices to make.”

The four priorities are:

1. Transforming Adult Social Care
2. Health Consultations
3. User and Carer Engagement
4. Hospital Discharge and After Care.

The newsletter also updates you on the consultations on Polyclinics, news about the Springfield Developments and the response made to Adult Services Department of Wandsworth Council on their Service User and Carer Engagement Strategy. A new opportunity to participate has come with an invitation for the LINk to send a representative to the steering group for widening access to psychological therapies.