Archive for July, 2010

Wandsworth LINk’s next open meeting is on 19th July 2010, 6 p.m at the Platt Centre Putney (details attached), the subject of the meeting will be PERSONAL BUDGETS.

Personal Budget Poster

Carol Barton, Wandsworth Council’s Transformation Programme Manager will be at the meeting and this is the perfect opportunity to have your questions answered, we want our members and local people to determine what Carol talks about, not the other way around. To ensure that this happens we’re asking that, if possible, you submit your questions to us before the meeting, especially if you can’t make the meeting but still have opinions you want expressed, and questions you want answered.

If you, anyone you know or the organisation you represent has a question for Carol Barton please email me or phone the office on 0208 516 7767.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Wandsworth LINk

The budget sparked a debate about postponing retirement and getting your pensions. Elder citizens and users who are involved in public engagement must be heard in any such debate about retirement ages and reform of the job market. They frequently form a majority of volunteers in citizen participant groupings and all too often get precious little thanks for that. Instead they are lumped under such derogatory labels as the ‘usual suspects’ with their (majority) presence seen as proof of a lack of diversity and a narrow approach to inclusion. It may be that such unworthy thoughts may even have flashed on rare occasions through my and fellow partners’ minds.

Not just valuable but vital

Only to be dismissed at once when at a recent training we did for Wandsworth NHS we met active and interested older volunteers who were a strong reminder of the value of this resource. As people often tasked to set up user panels as well as train them, we readily acknowledge that many a participative venture would collapse without the time, energy and ideas that the older involved and retired citizen brings to the table. Is the prospect of working beyond the current pensionable age a threat to this resource? We say no so long as we get the flexibility in the labour market that encourages part-time working. The new volunteer in this context would have a wider set of choices between paid and unpaid work which may well enhance the chances of their participation and at the same time increase the value of that contribution because they remain connected to the wider world through their paid work.

Eight New Laws of LINks

Certainly when we look at any form of future development for LINks, no progress would be possible without good quality people being ready and able to serve on and contribute to them. The elder community will remain an important pool of recruits. Andrew was very gung ho about LINks in his piece. He wrote that LINks must not only survive but take on a more robust role. To that end, he promulgates eight news laws for LINks – essential reading for policy makers we would say.

Reorganisation – flavour of the month

Reorganisation – how fast, how far, how good – crops up in almost everyone of our blogs. Caroline Millar writes 12 years as a parent have provided many an example of how change gets sneaked through in the summer. Leading the charge for change in education, is the new Secretary of State for Education. Glinting in the sunshine of his new powers like the granite of his native Aberdeen, Mr Gove is granite-hard in his resolve to create Academies asap. In doing so he seems very ready to dump any commitment to consultation in his rush to deliver. He is of course ready to consult later when all the important stuff has got done. Why are citizens cynical about consultation do I hear you ask?

Trust the Teachers and GPs

Having identified bureaucracy as the enemy of local change, local authorities in education and PCTs in health are being bypassed in favour of teacher and doctor power. Parents are also being urged to get involved in schools but the knowledge that entry to ‘their’ school will probably be by lottery so their own children may not get in, is a bit of a bummer. However as graduates of the consumer movement in a number of its manifestations, three MAC partners have a superstitious reverence for the power of Young and so cannot dismiss entirely the chances of success for y0ung Young channelling his dad’s influence from beyond the grave to create a new school in West London. (It is an article of faith for all consumerists and others in the field of social policy generally that ‘Michael Young later Lord Young of Dartington was the greatest British social entrepreneur of the second half of the 20th century’. Discuss using one side of the paper only).

GPs working within consortia are going to be the new commissioners of health and social care services. We have two immediate concerns. The first is the very uneven record of GPs in setting up effective and credible patient participation bodies. Secondly, our work with commissioners of long term and not so long term neurological conditions makes us very wary about GPs being able to take on this complex and often neglected area of clinical and social care practice. Andrew discusses his reservations in a head to head with Lynn Young of the RCN which you can get a link to here.

More substantively, his piece Neuro Knees Up or Knockback? raises important questions on how best the Third Sector and in particular neurological organisations can safeguard what we know is a considerable investment in making the best of the commissioning system in place now. Reform threatens to waste this effort and set back their work in improving care for people with neurological conditions.

Colin Adamson

The Moore Adamson Craig Partnership LLP

Blog: http://www.publicinvolvement.org.uk/

Email: colin@mooreadamsoncraig.co.uk

Voice: 020 8670 0595 / 07785 552167

There are 101 locations across Wandsworth you can go to for FREE professional stop smoking advice and support

For more information please call 020 8812 7794 or freephone 0800 389 7921

Or visit www.smokefreewandsworth.nhs.uk

Or email stopsmoking.team@wpct.nhs.uk

Since the smoking ban on 1 July 2007, Wandsworth Stop Smoking Service has supported 3,880 smokers to quit, which means a lot more people who are:

• Enjoying better health

• Saving money on cigarettes or tobacco

• Protecting the health of their family

• Looking better, smelling fresher

• Free from the routine of smoking

SmokeFree legislation, which was introduced on the 1 July 2007, means smoking inside any premises or communal areas such as stairwells and balconies, other than your home, is not permitted. This includes areas designated by your employer that are outside but where smoking is not permitted (check the smokefree policy on staff room for details). While this has motivated some people to quit, evidence shows that you are four times more likely to quit with help from NHS stop smoking services.

An appointment takes just 15* minutes, so come in at a time convenient to you – taking the first step is easy and we will support you the rest of the way.

Ready to quit? Thinking about it? Need to try? Talk to us today.

*First appointments take 30 minutes

You may be aware that CareLine is closing its website service on the 1st July 2010 and its telephone service on 1st October 2010. Information that you would previously have found on the website can now be found at Wandsworth’s new Adult Care Information Service (ACIS) – www.wandsworth.gov.uk/acis

ACIS an easy to use directory, has been developed by Adult Social Services and connects social care and the community by providing information on everything from finding a care home and locating your doctor and dentist to keeping fit and healthy and claiming benefits.

The new site is now up and running and it would be appreciated if all members of staff could familiarise themselves with the layout and location of information and pass this information on to service users.

Currently there are minor technical faults with the navigation of the site which is a wider issue with the service provider, Jadu. The fault is that once you have selected a record there is no means to return to the previous screen, to overcome this problem please use your browsers ‘back’ button or ‘backspace’ key on your keyboard.

We hope that this new information service will provide a comprehensive overview of health and social care for our service users.

Circumstances have required us to get this up and running at very short notice so whilst confident that the website is a very positive starting point, please understand that it will benefit from further improvement over time.

Please email us at acis@wandsworth.gov.uk if you spot any problems or inaccuracies in the directory.

We need your ideas!

Have you had a stroke?

Have you cared for someone who’s had a stroke?

Do you live in South London?

Join us on Wednesday 28th July to tell us how we can improve stroke services in South London.

If you have been affected by stroke within the past two years, please join us on Wednesday 28th July from 12:00-4:30pm to help shape future stroke services.

The SLCSN will host a workshop for stroke survivors and their carers in South London (near Waterloo station)to get their views on what support patients need following a stroke. These ideas will be used to influence future service changes.

During the meeting:

• You’ll be asked for your views on what support patients would like six months after a stroke
• Leading clinicians will update you on the latest developments in stroke treatment
• You’ll have the chance to meet other patients and carers to share experiences
• You’ll be able to find out how the SLCSN is working to improve care in the region

If you’d like to join us or have questions, please contact us on

people@slcsn.nhs.uk or 0208 812 5950.

(Please note space is limited so you must contact us to reserve your place. )

The venue has disabled access and a hearing loop. Communication support will be available.

This is a free event and lunch will be provided.

This event will be held at:

Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre

108 Stamford Street

London SE1 9NH

www.coinstreet.org