SWLondon & St. George’s MH Trust are aiming to become a Foundation Trust By 2012.

The Trust will be implementing a new approach known as the triangle of care whereby  the carer is more integrated as part of a three point approach with the service user and the professional.

The Trust has commissioned Canerows and Plaits to provide peer support and befriending to patients within the hospital.

The first recovery College has opened on the Springfield site offering training and support to users, carers and mental health professionals who are all treated equally in their roles at the college.

Wandsworth Councillors, at the last meeting of the Adult Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, agreed to set up a Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board.  This will have representation from local voluntary agencies as well as from the primary care trust and the local GPs and Councillors on a broad partnership body and there will also be a more limited Executive Group which will have representatives from local GPs, the Council and the PCT.  Wandsworth LINk has been given a seat on both the partnership and the Executive Group.  The first meeting will consider the updated Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

A major item on the agenda of the OSC was the approval of the closure of Hartfield House, a residential respite centre for Adults with a Learning Disability.  Councillor Clare Clay, as the Carers’ Champion gained an agreement from the Committee that Hartfield House would not close until its replacement services were in place, that these services would have sufficient capacity for friendship groups to be able to have their respite stays together and that the total respite resource would be large enough to accommodate emergency placements which had been steady at around five people at any time without impacting on the respite service.

Changes in the arrangements for the mental Health Resource Centres were also approved.  These signalled a move away from building-based services towards a more one-to-one support service to help users who had suffered from mental illness to return to normal life and employment.  The LINk representative made the point that the availability of social outlets for people recovering from metal illness was still an important part of the recovery process for many and that this need should still be addressed.

For the full details of the reports discussed at the meeting go to

http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=498&MId=3506&Ver=4

roger

Every GP practice in England needs to save £2,500 a day over the next three years to hit NHS efficiency targets, according to a senior DoH adviser.

By Nick Bostock, 26 January 2011

In an exclusive interview with GP, national clinical commissioning network lead for England Dr James Kingsland warned that the government’s NHS reform plans would fail without a ‘cultural shift’ among GPs.

To save £5 billion a year, the NHS needs to save around 40p per patient every working day of the year, Dr Kingsland said.

‘For a practice of 6,000 patients, that’s about £2,500 per day you need to save by doing something remarkable in your prescribing, in urgent care, in long-term condition management,’ he said.

GPs need to apply the management skills they use to run their own practice finances to their use of wider NHS resources, Dr Kingsland said.

‘That’s where it starts – within consultations, recognising that you align your clinical decision-making with the resources that are deployed.

‘If we don’t get that right in every consultation, in every general practice in England, the reforms can’t work.

‘Every GP needs to recognise that when you make a referral that is a commissioning act.’

By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor The Telegraph 6:30AM GMT 25 Jan 2011

Up to 50,000 people with dementia may be forced into care homes early at a cost of £70m a month because services are failing to support them at home, a report has warned.

A highly critical report by the Alzheimer’s Society has found substandard care was resulting in patients being admitted to care homes sooner than necessary.

There are 500,000 people living with dementia at home currently, but a report has suggested that up to one in ten of them may end up in a care home early. For each extra month they spend in care, rather than in their own home, it costs the taxpayer £70m, the report said.

Tens of thousands more patients are admitted to hospitals unnecessarily, adding even more costs, it warned.

The report Support Stay Save Care found that half of carers who said patients were not well looked after at home, reported they were being left bedridden, in unchanged incontinence pads and were malnourished.

The survey suggested more than half of carers were also being put at risk of stress, depression and other serious illnesses because they were being left to struggle unsupported.

In the current environment of spending cuts, Alzheimer’s Society predicts the situation is set to get much worse.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Society said: “It is an absolute travesty that so many people with dementia are being forced to struggle without the care and support they need. The consequences of this represent an unacceptable human and financial cost.

“Half a million people with dementia live in the community and many will need help with everyday tasks such as eating meals, washing or going to the lavatory. This help not only maintains dignity but prevents serious health issues. While staying at home is not right for everyone we know many people want to remain in the familiar surroundings they are used to with family or loved ones. Only with the right support will this be possible.”

Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said: “The Alzheimer’s Society is right to turn the spotlight on home care for people with dementia. While there are some outstanding services, as this report demonstrates too many people with dementia and their carers feel let down.

“What needs to be done to put things right is not rocket science, it requires compassion, common sense and a determination to treat people as people, not boxes to tick.

“This is not about spending more it is about spending better. We know we are already spending at European levels but not achieving the right results. As this report shows there would actually be savings made if people were helped to stay at home for longer.”

Carers’ Rights Day

Release date: Wednesday 1st December 10

By: Wendy Phillips
Telephone 020 8871 8902 or Email: wphillips@wandsworth.gov.uk

Comment on this article

Carers can find out what help they are entitled to at Carers’ Rights Day on Friday (Dec 3).

A carer is someone who, without payment, provides help and support to a relative, partner, friend or neighbour who could not manage without their help.

Carers can meet staff from the council’s Adult Social Services department, the Wandworth Carers’ Centre, NHS Wandsworth and Job Centre Plus.

There will be information available on benefits and pensions, carers’ assessments, special breaks for carers, training and employment and the support available to carers going back into paid work.

There will also be general information on other services and support available through the Wandsworth Carers’ Centre.

Go along to St John’s Therapy Centre, 162 St John’s Hill, Battersea between 10am and 1pm.

For more information contact the Wandsworth Carers’ Centre on 020 8877 1200 or email info@wandsworthcarers.org.uk.

Information for carers is also available at www.wandsworth.gov.uk/acis.

The right services in the right place, at the right time

 What does the future of commissioning look like?

Will GP’s be able to commission appropriately for neurology?

What sort of involvement will clinicians have in commissioning decisions?

What services do people both need – and want – to access?

Can we afford to meet those needs?

How many of us wish that we could answer these questions?

Well maybe now we can.

 The MS Society, MND Association and Parkinson’s UK, on behalf of Neurological Commissioning Support, their joint initiative, would like to invite you to attend an evening’s networking seminar on the Future of Commissioning and the third sector’s role within that process.

The evening will also see the launch of their new tool, Neuronavigator™

 Please see the attached flyer for more details – we look forward to hearing from you.

Evening_Neuro_Seminar & Launch_Invite 28Oct2010 

Programme of Events – 28th October 2010

Charlie Peel

Neurological Commissioning Support

‘putting service users at the heart of neurology commissioning’

info@csupport.org.uk

www.csupport.org.uk

If you are a Carer and want to advise the new Government about what help and support is important to you to live your life, now is your chance to speak up.

See our poster for the two events on the 8th and 16th September 

If you are interested in attending, please call Daniel at the Wandsworth Carer’s Centre on 0208 675 0811

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

Following the launch of the new Carers Strategy we are inviting Carers to join a group to work with services to support its delivery, putting their voice at the centre of the work. As a member of the group you will have an active role in making sure Carers views and needs are included at every stage of its development.

What is the ‘Carers Strategy Group’:

• Responsible for the delivery of the Carers Strategy
• Carers can positively challenge the work of local services
• Carers can ensure that services deliver what was promised
• Staff involved include Wandsworth Council, Social services, Mental Health Trust, NHS Wandsworth and Voluntary Sector Organisations

How do I find out more?

Contact Daniel at the Carers Centre on 020 8675 0811 before 14th December

You will receive full training as well as ongoing support from Carers Centre staff.

Please note this group is specifically for unpaid carers.

The Wandsworth Carers Conference – for those who look after an adult in Wandsworth and are not paid for the care they give.

10.30am to 3pm Tuesday 6th October at the Civic Suite Wandsworth High St., SW18 2PU

The LINks will have a stall at this event where Carers are invited to come and have a ‘speed date’ with the people responsible for providing support and services for carers in Wandsworth. These senior professionals from the Council, Health and Mental Health Services will be there to answer your questions about the plans they have made for action and improvement in these area.

National Carer in Chief will be there

Dame Philippa Russell Chair of the Government’s Commission for Carers will be there to give the keynote address.

Free lunch, Entertainment and Other Treats

Meet your fellow unpaid carers and don’t forget to come and tell us what we should be saying on your behalf to the bigwigs. No need to ‘speed date’ us – we’ll be sticking around.