Announcements

New publication informs patients and families what standards to expect from the regulation of their NHS hospital

Following the introduction of a new law, all NHS hospitals in England must now be licensed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). To be licensed hospitals must show that they are meeting new essential standards of quality and safety. CQC continuously monitors them to make sure standards are kept or improvement action is taken. Now CQC has published a leaflet which informs patients, their carers and families, what they can expect from the essential standards. The leaflet also explains how important it is that patients or their carers tell the regulator about their experiences, both good and bad, to help CQC make the right decisions.  Called ‘What standards to expect from the regulation of your NHS hospital’ the leaflet can be read or downloaded from the CQC website.

At the same time the CQC website publishes an up-to-date directory of all licensed NHS hospitals. You can now look up the current status of any NHS hospital trust in England.

The licensing of NHS hospitals is just the first step in a programme which will see new essential standards of quality and safety gradually rolled out across all health and adult social care services in England. In October this year all adult social care services must be licensed by CQC and providers must demonstrate they are meeting essential standards of quality and safety; so too must all providers of independent healthcare.  You can find out more about the programme and how it affects the care you and your family receives by visiting CQC’s website at www.cqc.org.uk.  Or you can contact the Care Quality Commission on 03000 616161.

Tune in tomorrow, 22nd July, at 10.30am to the Number 10 website to see the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley field questions on NHS reforms.

And to get you in the mood, see this link to the Secretary of State’s testimony before the Health Select Committee yesterday, 20th July.

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.

The tenth annual Carers Week will take place from Monday 14 June with various events helping to raise awareness and express appreciation for carers in the community. Carers Week will highlight why supporting carers is so crucial and identify what must change in order to make sure that they are not taken for granted.

Seven national charities will organise for over 100,000 carers to take part in thousands of activities all over the UK to celebrate their wonderful work. We have arranged two free outings for Wandsworth Carers to the Science Museum and the National History Museum providing transport, entrance fees, lunch and volunteer support. We are also hosting a sponsored walk along the river Thames, passing through some amazing areas of London.

This week will also see Wandsworth Carers Centre celebrate its 15^th Birthday. We will be marking the occasion with a special event on Thursday 10 June which will give Carers a chance to have a break, have fun and get advice on how to enrich their own lives. The theme ‘A life of my own’ will encourage carers to talk about parts of life that many people take for granted e.g. their own health and wellbeing, family occasions, going on holiday, a meal out or even an evening with no worries or responsibilities. The ‘Rethink’ support group for carers of adults who experience mental illness, hosted at the Wandsworth Carers Centre, will be visited by guest speaker Jeremy Walsh, Associate Director at South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust. The group is open to all family members, friends and neighbours who support someone with a mental illness.

Stephen Warren, Associate Director of Commissioning for NHS Wandsworth, said:

“We are delighted to be able to give something back to the carers of Wandsworth who invest so much into this community. We are always trying to recognise their work and this week promises to be a great opportunity to engage with Carers on issues that are important to them. It looks set to be a very successful and rewarding week”.

1. For more information on all the events taking place please visit http://www.wandsworth.nhs.uk/Stayinghealthy/carers/Pages/CarersWeekevents.aspx

The Stroke Association’s Community Voices project

 The Stroke Association would like to invite anyone in the stroke community who wishes to influence stroke care in their local area to come to a networking event in Central London (Waterloo) on 26 Maybeginning at 10.30am and finishing at 3.30pm. Full details will be sent in due course once people have registered.

The project is currently being rolled out across England through a series of networking events. These events will be an opportunity for all those who are or wish to be involved in influencing stroke services to meet people from different areas, discuss experiences and tell us what improvements need to be made.

This event will include participants from London, Anglia, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent and Sussex and if you would like to come please fill out the online form in the link below.

http://www.stroke.org.uk/campaigns/community_voices/networking_event.html

Lunch will be included and attendees will be able to claim up to £30 for travel expenses. Please note that we need responses back by 14^th May so that we can order the necessary refreshments in time.

For more information on this event please contact:

Shawna Spoor
Campaigns Assistant 

The Stroke Association
Stroke House
240 City Road
London
EC1V 2PR
www.stroke.org.uk

Direct line: 020 7566 1510

Helpline: 0303 3033 100 (From a textphone, please dial 18001 0303 3033 100)

As the election looms, uncertainty prevails. What lies in store for LINks after the election?  

The conservatives have put together their 5 priorities for Patient and Public Involvement which outlines their aim to keep LINks and give them more power and autonomy.

• Tougher inspection to root out failure
• A strong voice for patients
• Power for patients to hold failing hospitals accountable
• An end to box-ticking and targets
• Exposing hospitals to public scrutiny

Click here to read the ConservativesPatient_safety_plan[1] and their  Health Watch Proposal

Co-Creating Health initiative Self-Management Programme for Depression

The Self-Management Programme for Depression is part of the Co-Creating Health initiative, a three year project set up by The Health Foundation, www.health.org.uk, that aims to embed support for people living with long term conditions into the core of what the NHS and its clinicians do on a daily basis – the initiative is being run in partnership by South West London & St George’s Mental Health Trust and NHS Wandsworth.

The Self Management Programme (SMP) provides an opportunity for individuals to build skills and confidence in managing day to day life with depression.  The programme runs over seven weeks with one 3-hour group session weekly, is free and open to anyone living in Wandsworth who experiences depression. 

Daytime and evening programmes are run at various locations throughout the borough of Wandsworth.

Quotes from past participants

”Throughout the course, I found my confidence building and my hope starting to revive”

“I found the peer support useful, as well as learning the techniques”

“This programme gives respect and dignity to the experience and impact depression has on the individual”

For further info about the programme and initiative can be found at www.swlstg-tr.nhs.uk/cocreatinghealth – there are also testimonials from people who have attended the programme and further details about the course structure and content on the website.

If you would like any more information about the initiative please do not hesitate to contact Hannah Nettle, cc’d into this email – Hannah is taking over as project manager for the initiative from 12^th April.

“Training to make a difference”

Are you a member of LINk?

Do you want to make a difference to health care services in Wandsworth?

Do you want to contribute your experience as a patient with a long term health condition or as a carer?

Do you want to be listened to as an equal with NHS managers and clinicians?

If so, this innovative and challenging training programme could be just what you need.

“Training to make a difference” is the first of a rolling programme of training which will be presented in six 2 ½ hour sessions from 10 am to 12.30 at accessible user friendly venues. Refreshments will be provided. Travel and other out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed.

The training sessions will include personal and electronic presentations and there will be visiting VIP speakers from NHS Wandsworth and local health providers.  The style will be participative with interactive exercises and in depth discussion that will challenge everyone’s preconceptions representation.

If you want to join “Training to make a difference” you need to be committed to attending the full training programme with a view to being actively involved in the future as a lay representative with NHS Wandsworth’s committees, working groups and consultation procedures.

On completion of the training you will receive a “Training to make a difference” certificate. We hope this training will be useful to participants in their own personal and career development.

The programme is designed to ensure the following outcomes for participants:

• Can participate fully at NHS Wandsworth committees and working groups
• Understand the way the NHS in England and NHS Wandsworth operate
• Have an understanding of the legislation and guidance governing involvement and engagement in the NHS
• Understand the roles of users and lay representatives and health professionals

• Can develop their communication skills
• Gain experience of developing involvement and engagement techniques

• Have knowledge of the barriers and benefits of working together

• Have the confidence to present the views and experience of patients to senior managers and clinicians

For further information, application form, and to sign up for this training, please contact:

Colin Smith, PPI Manager, 0208812 7743 or email colin.smith@wpct.nhs.uk

Michelle Heller, Patient Relationship Manager on 0208 812 7577 or email michelle.heller@wpct.nhs.uk

“Training to make a difference” is developed and presented by the Moore Adamson Craig Partnership LLP – consultants in public involvement – www.mooreadamsoncraig.co.uk  on behalf of NHS Wandsworth.

Last week saw the launch of the exciting new Newspaper for people with a learning difficulty in Wandsworth, WORD UP!

People with a learning difficulty have been involved in all aspects of the newspaper’s production and WORD UP! is the first of its kind in Wandsworth.

The launch event held at the Trident Business Centre last Friday was hugely successful  and very well attended by service users and supporters.

If you would like to be involved in the next issue please contact Tom on 0208 516 7785

If you would like to receive a copy of WORD UP! Please send your details to newspaper@wandacreall.org.uk or phone Tom on 0208 516 7785.

This is a collaborative event between the National End of Life Care Programme abd NHS London to launch the national E-Learning in End of Life Care for All (e-ELCA)

e- ELCA is an exciting and free on-line resource to help train and educate health and social care staff delivering end of life care. For more information visit the website www.e-elca.org.uk.

REASONS TO ATTEND

• Dr Bee Wee, Senior Clinical Lecturer in palliative Medicine at Oxford University will be presenting on the development of the e-ELCA resource.
• Test drive e-ELCA training modules and hear from the experts.

This is an exciting and essential event suitable for:

• Senior managers and clinician in health and social care organistions.
• Local education leads in health and socila care orgamisations.
• E-Learning leads from across health and social care.
• Those who mentor colleagues whose work involves end of life care.
• Anyone whose work involves caring for those approaching the end of life and would like an early look at what the new resources offers.

to book your free place go to www.eventprouk.com click on EVENT REGISTRATION then input:

username: EP1152 (Please use capital letters)

password: EL250310 (Please note that 0+ zero and use capital letters)